Mixin' it up for the Glory of God!

What do The Case Against the Case for Christ by Robert Price and Abiding in Christ by Andrew Murray have in common?

Nothing, and maybe that's the point.

A few days ago I started plowing through The Case Against the Case for Christ in preparation for my classes beginning next week (we are spending a couple days on Bart Ehrman and a couple on Robert Price as preparation for college). It has been laborious let me tell you.

In TCATCFC, Price sets out to discredit Lee Stroble and the host of scholars and teachers he references and interviews in his A Case for.... series. Price spends as much time "bleeding his heart" and venting his bitterness as addressing real issues. His argument is full of opinion and scathing criticism, but not clearly conveyed. Thankfully, I don't think he has written successfully to students or scholars. He is far too technical for undergraduate students or a popular audience and his bias lacks the professionalism needed to make sense to Academics. It is difficult to take seriously someone who, without fail, accepts the most critical opinion on all matters all of the time (whether it is the most logical or not). It's a heart problem, in my opinion.

On the other side of spectrum, I have been reading Abiding in Christ by Andrew Murry. Many of you have probably read this book (if you haven't, you must), and have found it to be as enriching and encouraging as I have. In the book, Murray encourages the believer to not only hear God's loving and generous call to salvation, but also His call to abide. I am in constant need of this reminder. Like you, I have found that a busy life is not conducive to intimacy with God. I make myself too busy to abide, and so I fail to live in all of the blessing Christ's work affords me.

So why am I reading these two books at the same time?

Because God has called me to read and understand people like Robert Price, and He has called me to care for my soul. There are many scholars and students who have sacrificed their spiritual life for the self-made glory of academia. The academic world thrives on human pride and teacher worship. The cost of seeking to glorify God in this profession (I prefer to think of it as a ministry) can be high if you don't purposefully determine to abide.

At the end of the day, there is no life other than what is found in Christ, and there is not glory that lasts--save that given by Christ at the end of one's life.

Fulfill your calling, but also abide. You cannot accomplish the former without prioritizing the latter.

A Most Common Question

What should I do with my life?

It’s funny throughout the years of my life and interaction with people few questions have been asked more. The question comes most commonly to us at significant moments. 

Should I marry this guy/girl? What should my major be?

And now as a church planter I get calls/emails/etc. regularly from guys wondering if they have what it takes. In, and out of, for that matter, pastor circles it is known as the question of calling. 

Should I be a church planter?
Should I pastor an existing church?

The odd part of the question for me is most folks want to be called in some mystical, miraculous way. But it doesn’t happen like that very often, at least not for me. Jesus didn’t shine the cross shaped symbol in the night sky and stand on a roof waiting for me to arrive. I didn’t flip open my Bible to II Hesitations, drop my finger on Chapter 3 verse 5 and read replant this dying church. My call came from jail. Literally. Late on a Friday night a friend called, asked me for a favor and without realizing the implications of saying yes, I accepted. The craziest part was…I wasn’t even looking for a calling. I wasn’t asking the question. All I was doing was trying to faithfully serve right where the Lord had already put me.
And that to me is the real answer to the question of calling. Are you already being faithful? If you can’t be faithful to the girl while you are dating….God doesn’t want you to get married. If you flunked out of Algebra….God isn’t calling you to be a math teacher.

If you aren’t serving with integrity and faithfulness in a local church, making disciples, gathering people who want to follow you & haven’t read your Bible in a week….God isn’t calling you to church planting.
The reason we see so many men get their calling out of the wilderness is because the Lord was teaching them that faithfulness always come before fruitfulness. Most guys need to serve right where they are first and worry about the call second. I have seen few folks through the years who were simply walking with Jesus everyday being faithful to what was in front of them who didn’t get the call when Jesus rang.
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