Ignorant Historian

I must admit that when I first heard of this book I didn’t like it. I can’t quite remember now what my misgivings were, but it had something to do with the idea of “ambition” having anything good about it, or something.

Whatever my amorphous distaste about ambition I may have had, I don’t anymore, which is why it’s hard for me to recall them. I’m always like that…I rarely remember what my position used to have been…it’s like I’m my own Ministry of Truth (think 1984) rewriting history to always reflect the better understanding of today.

Anyway…

Reading Rescuing Ambition definitely changed my mind. Dave Harvey wrote this to two kinds of people: people who are ambitious for their own goals and people who aren’t ambitious at all. I’m definitely more of the former…we’re all basically one or the other.

While much of Christianity may seem to stifle ambition, that’s not what we’re supposed to do. We’re not supposed to simply “let go and let God.” We are to be ambitious, but for God’s glory, not our own.

So instead of  trying to squash those ambitious desires, we should give them over to God and pursue the things He’s laid out in Scripture. Perhaps God does want me to be a famous blogger and novelist (I doubt it!), but regardless of how God wants to use me, He wants me to trust Him and take opportunities to share God with others.

My favorite chapter of the book was the one about being ambitious in the church. I have such a great respect for the local church (and specifically, my local church), so I appreciated this emphasis. God has chosen to organize His followers into churches, local bodies of Christ. In order for us to do the work that God has given us, we must work together, not trying to promote ourselves but each doing our parts in a harmonious way.

I’m afraid I’m not telling the essence of this book very elegantly…just read it!

I recommend this book.

My pastor has been on a roll lately…each week he’s said something that has really stuck with me. I’m so thankful to sit under a pastoral staff who strive for truth and desire to our church glorify God in everything we do.

One thing Pastor said yesterday is that if you don’t know Christ, these are troubling times.

Of course they are: the American economy has shown no sign of improving (about 1/3 of my tax clients received at least some unemployment compensation in the last year) and now gas prices are starting to rise sharply again, likely taking food prices with them.

When we look internationally, things look worse. Riots and instability span the Middle East and North Africa. North Korea is threatening once again to blow us to smithereens. New Zealand has just begun to recover from the Christchurch Earthquake. Thailand and Cambodia are no longer actively skirmishing, but they haven’ t shaken hands, either.

Likely, you have some personal problems that loom larger in your mind than any of the above.

To put it simply, we have a lot to be concerned about. If there is no higher power, we must fend for ourselves or stick or heads in the sand. Perhaps the outcome is the same regardless of the course we choose.

But…(if I was sharing this with the kids at church, this is where the snickers would come in)

There is a higher power. A God who not only wants good for us (Romans 8:28), but is so great and powerful that the very nations that are in tumult are but a speck of dust on a scale (Isaiah 40:15).

That is the thought I want to rest in this week.

Photo by Alireza Teimoury

I’ve written more in the margins of Mere Churchianity than any other book I’ve read.  Makes me really wish Michael Spencer was still here with us (he passed away last spring, before the book was published) so that I could pose these questions.

Obviously, I could make this a very long review (but I won’t).

In Mere Churchianity, Michael Spencer speaks against what he calls “church-shaped spirituality” in favor of “Jesus-shaped spirituality.”

If you’re like me, you’ll wonder what the distinction between the two is.  After all, isn’t the church Christ’s body?  His bride?

Basically, “church-shaped spirituality” is the religious stuff that is found in all churches to a greater or lesser degree: the attribution of things to Jesus that aren’t him and all the rules we place on the faith.  These are exactly what you’d expect in churches made up of sinners (and I haven’t found one yet that isn’t).

I agree that this is a huge problem: at best these things distract from the gospel and at worst they’re blasphemy, leading people to hell.

Rather than calling this “church-shaped spirituality” I’d be much more comfortable calling it “man-shaped” or “sinner-shaped.”  I believe that God is jealous for His Church, like a good and faithful husband.  I don’t think he likes his bride’s name dragged through the mud, whether by the words of critics or by the actions of “Christians” who don’t follow Christ.

I agree with a lot of the problems Spencer points out.  Unfortunately, Christians sometimes are the worst advertisers for God and His Kingdom…but they are messengers God has chosen.

I think Spencer is incorrect about what drives people from the local church.  I do believe some leave because God is no longer the focus of that church (the reason he gives for the majority of the de-churched).  As Spencer puts it, “The God behind the labels and the church signs didn’t look like God to them, so they went looking elsewhere” (p. 17)

But I think that a lot more of us leave the church because we’re sinners who don’t really want to change our ways as demanded to be true followers of Christ.  Couple that with the fact that in most of America you no longer have to attend church to be accepted socially (which I believe is a good trend), and it’s easy to understand why many churches are disappearing.

It is these people who have left (or are in the process of leaving) the church that Spencer is addressing.  He encourages them in their pursuit of God over the institution, and does eventually encourage them to get involved into a community of believers, though he doesn’t go so far as to say that this has to be a biblically-defined church.

Though Spencer makes some great points, I simply have too many issues with his conclusions that I can’t recommend this.   But I’m not going to be speaking out against it, either.

If you’ve read Mere Churchianity or have specific questions about it, I’d be glad to talk to you more about it in the comments, or via email (ronnica@ignoranthistorian.com).

“You could always count on Mrs. Mohler to keep the gossip flowing, using church words to make it okay.” – Daisy Chain by Mary DeMuth, p. 139

“Faith is a lack of contentment with what I am, but a sense of satisfaction with what God has given me of himself in Jesus.” - Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, p. 146

“For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” – Galatians 6:1, NASU

about the Republican Party, but sadly, it describes a lot of churches, too: ”You have to look one way, think one way, and act one way.  Wear the uniform!  Embrace groupthink!  And for goodness’ sake, no strangers allowed!…The doors and windows aren’t just shut.  The curtains are drawn.” - Dirty Sexy Politics by Meghan McCain, p. 8

“There is little need for large churches stuffed with satisfied audiences.  There is a great need for a movement of disciples going into the overlooked places of the world to see and serve the kingdom of God.” - Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, p. 101

“They killed anyone who stood in their way.  They burned our house down and called it a mistake.  They weren’t in their own country so they didn’t have to answer to anyone.” - In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, p. 57

“Jesus’ assignment to the apostles was not to get people to respond to an altar call but to make disciples of all nations.” - Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, p. 99

“But lately, in the Republican Party, anybody with a new idea is labeled ‘progressive,’ that dirty word, or just ignored.  I can’t think of a greater turn-off.  Why would a vibrant young person, full of energy and passion and lots of creativity, be interested in the Republican Party if new ideas and fresh starts aren’t welcome?” - Dirty Sexy Politics by Meghan McCain, p. 38

“In the last century, evangelical Christians parted ways with Christians in mainline churches, in part over suspicions about ‘the social gospel.’  Evangelicals came off sounding as if helping people was borderline unbiblical.” - Mere Christianity by Michael Spencer, p. 203

“The country people around the farm say that until the nail is hit, it doesn’t believe in the hammer.” – In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, p. 20

“If a church isn’t supporting and growing disciples, isn’t crossing cultures with the gospel, and isn’t encouraging and producing Jesus-followers, I believe you’re entitled to look for a different form of community that is doing these things.” – Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, p. 212

“In rejecting a biblical view of people, the world eliminates any hope of answering the ‘what is wrong?’ question accurately.  And if it wrongly answers this question, how can it possibly provide a proper solution?” – Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp, p. 9

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

“Caring for hurting people will always require more strength and grace than we possess.” – Susan Hunt in Women’s Ministry in the Church, p. 93

“Jesus remains, depsite two millinnia of rotten publicity from his followers, a universally attractive and compelling person.” – Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, p. 49

“The West has finally achieved the rights of man…but man’s sense of responsibility to God and society has grown dimmer and dimmer.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, quoted in Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., p. 173

“I am persuaded that the church today has many more consumers than committed participants.” – Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp, p. XI-XII

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, not the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NASU, emphasis added

“Every Christian should have his church enclosed within his heart, and be affected with its maladies, as if they were his own, — sympathize with its sorrows, and bewail its sins.” – John Calvin quoted in Women’s Ministry in the Church by J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt, p. 45

“Christians have astoundingly clear vision when it comes to the vices, deceptions, and spiritual blindness of their neighbors.  But when it comes to Sunday morning and what gets talked about during the church coffee hour, it’s another story.” – Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, p. 34

“We cannot treat the Bible as a collection of therapeutic insights.  To do so distorts its message and will not lead to lasting change.” – Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp, p. 9

“The church is a bride being prepared for the approach of her lover and husband.” – Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible quoted in Women’s Ministry in the Church by J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt, p. 31

“But the truth is, all of the Christian life, and all ministry, is beyond the limits of our own personal power and abilities.  Ministry begins at the end of our own competences and abilities.” – J. Ligon Duncan in Women’s Ministry in the Church, p. 148

“We order our worship services around our age groups, with music designed to remind each generation of whatever was playing at the youth rallies of their college days. Our congregations are made up of people who look, talk, and think just like we do. And it never occurs to us that this is the same kind of unity the world has to offer. Even in our churches, we seem to identify ourselves more according to the corporate brands we buy and the political parties we support than with each other.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 38

“Becoming a Christian might look more like falling in love than baking cookies.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 155

“Beauty often seduces us on the road to truth.” – Wilson
“And triteness kicks us in the nuts.” – House, House, “Occam’s Razor”

“…it makes me wonder if secretly we don’t wish God were a genie who could deliver a few wishes here and there.  And that makes me wonder if what we really want from the formula are the wishes, not God.  It makes me wonder if what we really want is control, not a relationship.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 12

“The quiet scares me ’cause it screams the truth” – “Sober” by Pink

“There’s something about patience that God deems necessary for our life in the age to come and so, whether through agriculture or discipleship or bodily development or eschatology or procreation, God makes us wait.” – Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, p. 142

“And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.” – “Praise You in This Storm” by Casting Crowns

“He had forgotten how American children slept. They stretched out long and wide, dreaming of sugar-plums while they waited for handouts from tooth fairies.” – Run by An Patchett, 100

“It seems like, if you really knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you are the center of the universe.” – Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller, p. 38

“…the masses of the people could not be held back from Nazism, so powerful was its appeal, and this same priest, who would not leave his people, went with them to Nazism, too.” – They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer, p. 219

Yesterday was an ending for me. Not OF me…I’m not posting this posthumously.

Side note: I have wondered what would happen to my blog if I die.  Not that I’m morbid or anything, but I’m not promised a single day more of life on this earth, so I don’t want to presume God will let me live until I’m 100.  Perhaps I should put my wishes for my blog in a will.  I’d hate for my last post to be one like this or this.  I’d hope to have something truly meaningful as my last blog words, you know?

End side note.

Yesterday was an ending because it was my last day teaching kindergarten Sunday School after 4 1/2 years.  I’ve had 5 different classes of students, each with their own style, and I’ve enjoyed each and every one of them.

I wasn’t looking to leave the kindergarten class.  While I’ve made no secret of the fact that it wasn’t my favorite age group, I was happy to be where I was needed.  I liked being in the same class year after year, as it’s something the kids look forward to after hearing their older siblings talk me up.

But one thing led to another, and I’ll now be teaching Sunday School for 5th and 6th grade girls.  I’ve asked several of the girls in that group what they would think about me being their teacher, and they loved the idea.  Always makes you feel good, because I love them too.

I actually wasn’t set on this move (I had other options) until Kids’ Camp.  Spending time with that age group reminded me of why I love it so much.  I have a few weeks before we start, but I’m already excited for it.

After 5 years of kindergarten, I’m finally graduating!

Photo by cryptic_star

• Camp was just as easy as I expected.
• It was also as exhausting as I expected.
• We had one girl get sick our first morning at camp.  Thankful, after spending the morning resting and taking it easy the rest of the day, she was back in tip-top shape the next day.
• It was a super hot week (the hottest in my 6 summers in NC), but our kids met our challenge to drink more, and more, and more water.
• It IS possible to be cold in 100 degree weather, if you’re standing in wet clothes.
• The girls kept their rooms neater than I did (the incentive of an ice cream party is a great motivator).
• Watching a game of dodge ball made me realize just how dishonest kids will be when they think no one is noticing.  But I was glad that our church’s kids were more honest than most.
• We had some great discussions started by some great questions from the kids.
• I look forward to going again next year!

While most people are enjoying a long weekend or getting back in the swing of things after the 4th, I’m heading off to a 3-night kid’s camp today.

While it’s not a “camp” camp (yay for using a college campus!), I’m looking forward to being at camp again.  I LOVED going to Girl Scout camp as a kid, and then later working 5 summers at a Girl Scout day camp.

Since this is the first year for us as a church, we’re only taking 8 kids.  And 4 adults…AWESOME ratio.  Plus, I already know the kids, so I know that we won’t have behavior issues in our group.  I look forward to getting to know them more.

So, since I’m going to be off doing the camp thang, I’m taking a blogging break.  I’ll be back Friday with an awesome camp update!

Photo by ex.libris

I don’t remember what I was doing, but somehow I stumbled on a website that would tell you demographic stats on specific US zip codes.

For kicks, I entered the zip code I grew up in.

For whatever reason, the results surprised me.

Compared to the rest of the US, this zip code has:

• a high number of high school and college graduates
• a high median income (though Kansas has a fairly low standard of living)
• a higher than average number of married couples
• 2/3 of adults working in white collar jobs
• only 4% of its residents below the poverty line (national average is around 15%)

I was born into privilege.

Not only am I a part of the 4.5% of the world population who lives in the US, I’m among the 6% of that population that has a Master’s Degree.  While I myself don’t quite make enough to reach the US median household income in the US, it’s just me, so obviously my costs are much lower than most.

I was born (and raised) into privilege.

I thank God for the blessings He’s given me and my parents who gave me so much, but that’s not what I want to talk about.

I’m a numbers person, so when you show me my blessings numerically, it really sinks in.  I’ve always known that I was overwhelmingly blessed, but when everyone around me is too, it’s easy to forget.

These thoughts were already on my mind, when I started reading Radical.

Here are a few things that David Platt said that stood out to me:

“We are an affluent people living in an impoverished world.  If we make only $10,000 a year, we are wealthier than 84% of the world, and if we make $50,000 a year, we are wealthier than 99% of the world.” – p. 194

“But the reality is, if you and I have running water, shelter over our heads, clothes to wear, food to eat, and some means of transportation (even if it’s public transportation), then we are in the top 15% of the world’s people for wealth.” – p. 115

“The reality is that most everything in our lives in the American culture would be classified as a luxury, not a necessity. The computer I am writing this book on, the spoon and fork I will eat my dinner with later this evening, and the bed and pillow I will sleep on tonight (in additon to many other things in my life) are all luxuries.” – p. 127

All this merely starts to illustrate how blessed we are in America.  Yet we, the Church, wrap ourselves up in our own cares, ignoring the extensive needs of those all around us (even if we have to close our eyes to them).  If you’re like me, these facts might make you pause for moment, but then you shut them out because they make life too uncomfortable.

I don’t want to live comfortably at the expense of others (and that’s what it is…I don’t “deserve” a better life and haven’t earned it…I didn’t choose to be born here, to my parents).

I’m still thinking through what the implications of all of this.  I don’t have everything (anything) figured out.

While I don’t have much “stuff” by American standards, I’m sure if I added up the costs of everything I owned, I’d be shocked.  I do have more than I need.

I’m sorely tempted to give some of my income away and turn around and spend the rest on my own excesses.  I can placate myself by saying that I give more than most.   But would I except that excuse from my own child?  ”Mommy, I know I didn’t clean up my room like you asked, but I spent 2 minutes more on it than any of my friends.”

That’s not what God has called me to.

Photo by 96dpi