Category: <span>Ministry</span>

A couple of weeks ago during a discussion on a Sunday morning, one of the youth boys concluded that God must have a ‘bit of evil’ in him. We were quick to correct him as best we could and had to messily explain why it couldn’t be so, in response to why God seemingly almost enjoyed ‘killing people off’ in the Old Testament.

I was thinking further about it when I was reading about The Painful Joy of Justice in ‘The Pleasures of God’ (John Piper) and came across the following,

“From this I conclude that the death and mystery of the unrepentant is in and of itself no delight to God. God is not a sadist. He is not malicious or bloodthirsty. Instead, when a wicked, unbelieving person is judged, what God delights in is the exaltation of truth and righteousness, and the vindication of his own honor and glory” – (p.73)

Piper has a fair point (and one hard to elaborate on in one post – go read the book). How do you explain this to a 12 year old who hasn’t had the experience of looking at theology and clearly wouldn’t know what a sadist is (speaking only from experience – it’s the kind of thing I have to continually look up)?

We do, as Christians seem to do a lot of trying to understand God. Yet if God could be understood, he would not be as great (?), he would not be as wonderful and incompressible.
I have a question,

We should be striving to know God as best we can, but should we attempt to understand him? Is it the same thing?

Is it enough to simply apprehend who he is in what he is doing and the multitude of other ways that God reveals himself?

We should not and cannot claim to be completely in control of having this life and God in a box.

It’s a wondrous thing to glimpse a little bit more of Him and a frustrating (and false) point to think for a moment that I’ve understood as much as my understanding can allow.

Explaining, showing God and sharing who he is to others is no mean feat. It is difficult, exciting, complicated, terrifying. Who are we afterall, to explain him? And to make others satisfied with a realm of paradox and doubt… what are we getting them in to!

I was reading from John 15 this morning about the ‘Vine and the Branches’. I have underlined in my Bible the section about remaining in God’s love (v9-11) and my eye strayed further down to where it talks about bearing fruit.

The past few time’s I’ve gone on to Gush there have been a few posts that have to some degree made my blood boil. They are not flat wrong. I am simply hesitant about the way in which they were posted (which you have to be on the look out for as a mod – and I’d probably do regardless). I so far haven’t gone about addressing them, nor am sure if it is my place to do so. Perhaps it is too much to assume a person can change if you point out a few things. I certainly haven’t gone there yet – which has been a lesson learnt over the time I’ve been involved ie: leave it when you’re tired and frustrated because it doesn’t ever end well.

Something we seem to come across a lot in Gush or even in talking about Christianity is the question, ‘does it bear good fruit?’. A funny little analogy which I presume likens us to some kind of tree. If it appears to ‘bear good fruit’ then it’s usually fine and right and dare I say it, of God.

Reading it reminded me of how we so quickly grasp at a truth that works well for a large variety of issues and don’t take the time to actually head back to look at it in it’s fullness.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.” -John 15:16-17

We can bear fruit all we like. We can approve of something that has instant ramifications, an instant, ‘this is good’ justification by looking at what’s coming of it. But what about the longer term consequences?
Does the fruit last?

You can see much more from hindsight. I enjoy and even take a bit of pride in that I find it relatively simple to see the majority of possible problems that can arise from something, but it’s probably not the very first thing I’d look at – the long term. Regardless of who we are, some of it is unconscious and some of has got to be listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying.

We can charge into our ‘crusade for the greater good of the people’ and thoroughly disregard what real implications the apparently instant fruit we see may result in.

I find it interesting that I came into this considering how I am (still yet undecided) going to deal with what this person has put forward, in that I don’t think it will bear great long term instruction and now find the finger pointing a little back at myself.

It’s got to work both ways. You cannot avoid confrontation where it is appropriate, but you do need to decide when to just let things be.

Time Magazine has an interesting article on Youth Ministry.

Read it here

Over my holidays (which clearly aren’t here yet, because I’m procrastinating studying for my exam) I’ve had a book sitting on my shelf for a few months now about ‘Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture’. I intend to read it and have a bit more a think about some of this stuff.