Asking Better Questions

So how many people go to your church?” That’s a question just about every pastor faces at just about every conference he attends. It usually doesn’t take long for a conversation to progress to that point. For the pastor this can be a moment of great pride or great humility, great freedom or great shame. Regardless, it is a question that always seems to come up. And it comes up for those who are not pastors as well; you begin to talk about your church and your friend inevitably asks that same question.

Today I’d like to make a two-part proposal: Let’s stop asking, “How many people go to your church?” And when someone asks us that question, let’s stop providing a direct answer.

We all pay lip service to the reality that we cannot necessarily measure the health of a church by its size. We all know that some of the biggest churches in the world are also some of the worst churches in the world. After all, the history of the church has long-since shown that it is not all that difficult to fill a building with unbelievers by just tickling their ears with what they want to hear. We also know that the Lord is sovereign and that he determines how big each church should be and we know that in some areas even a very small church is an absolute triumph of light over darkness. And yet “How big is your church?” is one of the first questions we ask.

Why is this? I don’t know all the reasons but I’d suggest at least three. First, I think our question betrays us and shows that in the back of our minds we equate size and health. Somewhere we make the connection between big and healthy, between big and blessing. We exacerbate the problem when we ask and answer this too-easy question. Second, we just haven’t taken the time and made the effort to form better questions. Instead, we gravitate to the easy one. Third, we are lazy and don’t really care. Asking “How big is your church?” is like asking, “How’s it going?” Neither one is a question that asks anything meaningful. If you are really interested in how a person is doing or how a church is doing, you will ask better, deeper, more meaningful questions.

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A La Carte (2/9)

Receiving Criticism - Dane Ortlund: “Seems to me there are two wrong ways to receive criticism and one right way. By ‘criticism’ I have in mind love-sent but hard words from a believing brother or sister that are meant for our good, in the spirit of so many NT passages (neglected by many today, first and foremost by me) that call us to exhort, rebuke, and sharpen one another.”

9 Good Purposes in Suffering - Rebecca has a helpful list, taken from scripture, of good results that come from the suffering of believers.

Radiant Inspiration - There are some nice Christian-themed wallpapers at this site.

Joke of the Year - “Comedian Tim Vine has cemented his reputation as king of the one-liners after he won the prize for joke of the year at the annual Lafta awards.” Some of the jokes here are pretty clever…

10 Digital Commandments - David has been reading a book about leadership in the digital age and provides what he is calling the 10 digital commandments. There’s some real wisdom there.

You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it may be too late. —Thomas Fuller

Are You Living by "The Prius Fallacy?"

The Prius Fallacy: “a belief that switching to an ostensibly more benign form of consumption turns consumption itself into a boon for the environment.” That’s how David Owen, in his recent Wall Street Journal article, “It’s Too Easy Being Green,” defines the Prius Fallacy. Here’s how he illustrates it in action:

A favorite trick of people who consider themselves friends of the environment is reframing luxury consumption preferences as gifts to humanity. A new car, a solar-powered swimming-pool heater, a 200-mile-an-hour train that makes intercity travel more pleasant and less expensive, better-tasting tomatoes—these are the sacrifices we’re prepared to make for the future of the planet.

He lays on the sarcasm pretty thick in that last sentence, but in case you don’t catch it in the article he finishes with the clarification, “Our capacity for self-deception can be breathtaking.”

Owen’s article is insightful and rather humorous as he considers what many of us find ourselves thinking about consumption: that by substituting what we would ordinarily consume with a different product (which, typically, also happens to be nicer, more expensive and “greener”) we’re somehow consuming less. But that’s not true. The result is that we actually end up consuming more, and justifying it more.

Even when we act with what we believe to be the best of intentions, our efforts are often at cross-purposes with our goals. Increasing the efficiency of lighting encourages us to illuminate more. Relieving traffic congestion reduces the appeal of public transit and fuels the growth of suburban sprawl. A robust market for ethanol exacerbates global hunger by diverting cropland from the production of food.

Near the end of the article he gets at the heart of what is going on:

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A La Carte (2/8)

Keller on NYC’s Decision to Ban Churches from Schools - “I am grieved that New York City is planning to take the unwise step of removing 68 churches from the spaces that they rent in public schools. It is my conviction that those churches housed in schools are invaluable assets to the neighborhoods that they serve. Churches have long been seen as positive additions to communities.”

Asperger’s - “Psychiatrists working on the latest edition of their profession’s diagnostic manual are thought to be tightening the definition of autism and dispensing with Asperger’s completely.”

There Was No Cross - It’s amazing how often this subject comes up in scholarship. And somehow people react like the person is breaking new ground. “Jesus may not have died nailed to the cross because there is no evidence that the Romans crucified prisoners two thousand years ago, a scholar has claimed.”

Spiritual Cardio - Erik Raymond shares some wisdom from Jonathan Edwards and compares prayer to spiritual cardio.

Women Are Better at Parking - Well would you look at that. “Covert surveillance of car parks across Britain show women are better at manoeuvring into parking spaces.”

ISS Night Flight Over USA - This is pretty interesting—a short timelapse film of the International Space Station flying over the US of A.

To see a man humble under prosperity is one of the greatest rarities in the world. —John Flavel

An Ordinary Podcast

  • Tim Challies
  • 02/07/12

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This week’s episode of the Connected Kingdom Podcast (another of our new, shorter episodes) has David Murray answering a question I asked him last week: What’s it like to be ordinary? You can listen in or read along…

What would you say if one of your friends asked you, “David tell us what it’s like to be ordinary?”

Well I had the privilege of “enjoying” that experience last week. When offered the opportunity to challenge me to speak on a subject of his own choice, my friend Tim Challies said, “David, why don’t you tell us what it’s like to be ordinary.”

So that’s what springs into Tim’s mind when he thinks of me: “Ordinary.”

I mean it’s not a huge insult I suppose. He didn’t ask me to speak on being “Ugly” or being “Offensive” or being a “Fool.” But it’s not exactly the greatest compliment either is it?! “Ordinary”

OK, I didn’t expect him to ask me about being “Extraordinary” or “Super-intelligent” or “Tall, dark and handsome,” but I expected maybe something a bit more than “Ordinary.”

Maybe something like being “Loyal” or “Consistent” or “Reliable” or something like that. But “Ordinary!?”

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Know the Enemy

For thousands of years soldiers have known that to defeat your enemy you must know your enemy. If you go into a battle blind, with no knowledge of the army against you, you can expect to be defeated. But the better you know your enemy—the way he moves, the way he attacks, the kinds of weaponry he uses—the more you can be prepared to defeat him.

In Ephesians 6, as Paul draws to the close of this letter, he begins to speak about spiritual warfare and portrays the Christian life as a battleground. When he does that, he introduces the enemy of the Christian and tells us five things about him.

The enemy leader is Satan

The enemy is led by Satan. Paul tells us that we need to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” The first thing he does is name the enemy general or the enemy king. This army is led by Satan. Ever since he fell into sin, Satan has been the enemy of God and God’s people. He is not the only enemy, but the arch-enemy, the leader of all the others.

Satan is unlike God in that he is not omnipresent—he is not present everywhere. He is a created being who can be in only one place at one time, but like any general, he has many captains and soldiers to do his work for him. So we battle against Satan the way Allied soldiers in the Second World War battled against Hitler: Not directly, but by battling against his foot soldiers. But all the while, we know that it is really Satan who is behind the enemy forces and that he is the ultimate enemy.

The enemy is spiritual

The enemy is spiritual. Paul says “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil.” This tells us that our enemy is a spiritual enemy. If we are to battle a spiritual enemy, it stands to reason that we need spiritual armour. Paul goes on to say, of course, that the Lord provides us exactly the armour we need. This also means that our battle is not against other people—not first and foremost—but against spiritual forces. Your unbelieving neighbor is not your enemy; he is a person created in God’s image who has been taken captive by the enemy and is in dire need of rescue. But your battle is not with him; your battle is a spiritual one against spiritual forces.

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A La Carte (2/7)

The Cross and the Crescent - Michael Horton: “Newsweek’s current cover-story is ‘The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World,’ by Ayann Hirsi Ali, who fled her native Somalia and served in the Dutch Parliament before taking a position at the American Enterprise Institute. As the article points out, widespread anti-Christian violence is exploding even in countries with Muslim minorities. How do we respond wisely as Christians to this growing threat?”

The Holy Superbowl - This is an interesting article to find in a secular publication. “To my way of thinking the Super Bowl is holy if by holy we refer to something that garners the simultaneous attention, interest, commitment and passion, of imponderably large numbers of people.”

Social Media Explained - This explains it all.

The Journal of Biblical Counseling - CCEF is bringing back The Journal of Biblical Counseling. The information hasn’t been posted yet, but check in at the CCEF site and it should be there this morning.

More Women Priests - “More female priests are joining the Church of England than male ones for the first time ever, it can be disclosed as it takes another step towards the introduction of women bishops.”

Sproul and Ferguson - “On January 20, 2012, Saint Andrew’s was the location for ‘Theology Night with Sinclair Ferguson and R.C. Sproul.’ Topics addressed included the doctrines of grace, when to leave a local church, Tim Tebow, dispensationalism, free will, and the peccability or impeccability of Jesus.”

Coffer - I like the way this guy rolls.

Is there nothing to sing about to-day? Then borrow a song from to-morrow; sing of what is yet to be. Is this world dreary? Then think of the next. —C.H. Spurgeon

Putting Sin to Death

This is my once-monthly post on the Puritan John Owen. In this series of posts I am sharing some of what John Owen says about putting sin to death, or what he calls mortification. I have been going through John Owen’s book Overcoming Sin and Temptation and trying to distill each chapter to its essence—to a few choice quotes that capture the flavor of what Owen is trying to communicate.

So far we’ve looked at The Foundation of Mortification, we’ve been encouraged to Daily Put Sin to Death, to understand that It Is the Holy Spirit Who Puts Sin to Death and to acknowledge that Your Spiritual Life Depends Upon Killing Sin. Last month we saw What It Is Not to Put Sin to Death. Today we look to the flip-side of last month’s teaching and see what it is to put sin to death.

Here are the three things Owen teaches…

Mortification Consists of a Habitual Weakening of Sin

Though this quote serves as introduction rather than the main point, I thought it was too good not to share:

The reason why a natural man is not always perpetually in the pursuit of some one lust, night and day, is because he has many to serve, every one crying to be satisfied; thence he is carried on with great variety, but still in general he lies toward the satisfaction of self.

Owen is a straight-shooter! He says that the only reason you are not absolutely consumed with any one sin is that you have many other sins to serve. And then he goes on to share the first thing you need to know about putting sin to death.

The first thing in mortification is the weakening of this habit of sin or lust, that it shall not, with that violence, earnestness, frequency, rise up, conceive, tumultuate, provoke, entice, disquiet as naturally as it is apt to do.

The first thing to observe as you begin to put sin to death is that sin becomes progressively weaker so that over time it does not rise up with the same violence, frequency or force. This means that success against sin is not only in destroying it entirely, but in weakening its grasp on us.

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Visual Theology - The Books of the Bible

I have now released the first two infographics in a series I am titling “Visual Theology.” Just as there are many words that can be used to describe any one fact, there are also many ways to display facts. I have been working with a few graphic designers in an attempt to display theological realities in infographic form. If you scroll down a little bit you can find links to infographics dealing with The Ordo Salutis and The Attributes of God.

Today I have the third entry in this series and it looks at the books of the Bible. Our inspiration for the way they are displayed was the periodic table of elements. I guess that means that you can consider this the periodic table of the books of the Bible.

Note: If you click on the graphic you will be able to see it full-size.

Books of the Bible

Update #1 - When I first released this graphic Titus was missing; it has now been restored. You may need to download this newer version.

Update #2 - All other issues have been fixed and a white background version has been added below.

You can also download this infographic in a high-quality PDF (1.2 MB). As with all of the inforgraphics in this series, you are free to print it, copy it, distribute it, and so on. Just don’t sell it, please. (Be careful printing it as that black background will gobble up your toner!)

Also, as a bonus, we’ve made up some desktop wallpapers if you’d like to use it for that purpose:

iPhone, iPad, 1440x900, 1920x1200, 2560x1600

And as a further bonus, you can also download it with a white background so it’s easier to print.

If you have other ideas for theological infographics, please feel free to leave a comment.

A La Carte (2/6)

11 Things Thabiti’s Thinking - Thabiti Anyabwile (can we agree that, like Price and Madonna, we can just refer to him by only his first name?) shares 11 things he’s thinking about the whole Elephant Room controversy. You may also enjoy Carson’s and Keller’s take. I think we’re all growing a little weary of this issue, but it’s an important one as it highlights some real fault lines within evangelicalism today.

Servanthood as Worship - This book is on sale at Amazon for just $0.99 (in Kindle format).

Tattoos - I appreciate Clint Archer’s take on tattoos and hermeneutics. “This is not a pointed tirade against tattoos, nor a defense of them; it’s a jab at bad hermeneutics. I have found that some like to decorate their arguments with Bible verses that have no place in the debate.”

JOB - In case you aren’t a weekend reader of the site, be sure to check out these amazing wallpapers Chris Koelle designed.

Finding a Solid Church - Bob Glenn offers some useful pointers on how to find yourself a solid church.

Reality Snapshot of Missions Teams - Here’s an interesting Q&A with a missionary on whether or not he finds short-terms missions teams to be helpful in his ministry.

A Pastor’s Final Words - This is something for pastors to think about: “Pastors, if you had one last word to give your congregation before you died, what would it be?  Most congregations do not get that final word, but Dayspring Fellowship was given such a gift.”

I am walking toward a bright light and the nearer I get the brighter it is. —D.L. Moody