Eating and Faith

A number of years ago Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma  was on bestseller lists and everyone was rethinking their relationship with food. I was living in the Bay Area at the time and was just beginning to understand and enjoy good food. But my interests really hadn't developed beyond wanting better tastes, excellent table service, and a warm ambience at local restaurants; I hadn't really begun to think about how my eating choices affected soil and water conservation, workers' wages, animal welfare, and even the built environment. 

While it may be true, as I read in this article, that eating organic foods can make you a judgmental jerk (because of course all of us can adopt lifestyle choices in order to feel superior to others), for me, I was humbled. Here was a non-Christian who was in many ways thinking more "Christianly" about food, farming, and eating than I was, taking time to consider the ethical implications of one of our most basic daily choices - what and how will we eat?  

If the gospel doesn't touch upon something so fundamental to each of our daily lives then why are we bothering with this Christianity thing?

But, it wasn't just Pollan who was challenging me, it was one of the primary subjects of his book - Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in Virginia. He is a farmer with a big personality and a crazy approach to farming and eating. He is also a committed Christian and was motivated in everything he was doing and promoting by his understanding of the gospel. His approach, and this book in general opened up for me a whole new horizon to think through my relationship with Jesus.

So, belatedly I commend Omnivore's Dilemma to you. You won't agree with everything in it, but aren't those the best books anyway?! And, I commend these videos as well. They are short, engaging, challenging, and it was stumbling upon them this morning that made me think about this post. If you only have a few minutes, start with video #2 and you'll see where he's coming from, and what I'm getting at in this post. 

What I meant to say was...

When you speak in publicly as regularly as I do, you're bound to make mistakes.

Whether it's failing to finish a thought, mispronouncing a Bible word, or worse, saying something really embarrassing (you can easily find many examples on youtube), preachers are going to have an ever-growing number of unfortunate gaffes.

After an hour of preaching and teaching on Sunday I committed error number one above.  

I was speaking in the context of financial giving and the gist of what I said was, "if you're not able to give sacrificially to Intown with enthusiasm, then let's talk about finding somewhere that you can because I'd rather have another church receive an abundant gift than for you to give sparingly or reluctantly to Intown."

I stand by this. I believe that Jesus is at work outside of Intown and I'd be thrilled for another church, as well as for you if you were able to fully and enthusiastically support Jesus' work in another venue. 

However, what I failed to say was that moving on to another church certainly isn't the only option!

There are any number of reasons why you might be less-than-thrilled to give to the mission and work of Intown: maybe you don't really understand our vision, maybe you're unclear about our budgetary priorities, maybe you've never experienced the challenge and joy of systematic giving, or maybe your personal spiritual life is suffering. 

Whatever it may be, these certainly aren't reasons to immediately look for another church!

Perhaps what is needed is just for you to share a cup of coffee or lunch with me or Steve, or one of the Elders so that we can work through these challenges together. We would be beyond thrilled to be invited into your life in this way!

So, let's talk!

In the meantime, in case you missed the launch meeting, the audio can be found here.

Practice Resurrection, an outline of our study of Ephesians

Here's where we're headed this semester. Use the list below to read ahead and prepare for Sunday morning. Notice: we'll be taking a break from Ephesians during Advent, thus the missing dates after November 17th. 

September 29, 2013 - Eph 1.1-14 - Grace

October 6, 2013 - Eph 1.15-23 - Power

October 13, 2013 - Eph 2.1-10 - Alive

October 20, 2013 - Eph 2.11-22 - Together

October 27, 2013 - Eph 3.1-13 - Purpose

November 3, 2013 - Eph 3.14-21 - Love

November 10, 2013 - Eph 4.1-16 - Service

November 17, 2013 - Eph 4.17-32 - Change

January 12, 2014 - Eph 5.21-6.9 - Submission

January 19, 2014 - Eph 6.10-13 - Conflict

January 26, 2014 - Eph 6.13-20 - Armor

Chosen? Predestined?

On Sunday morning we looked at the first 14 verses of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. It included some interesting, sometimes controversial language such as predestination.  

As I stated in the sermon however, Paul's primary interest here is not giving us a theology of who's "in" and who's "out." 

Instead, Paul is telling the Ephesians about God's love affair with them. 

Imagine two lovers sitting at a romantic dinner with one another on a special date, maybe a 25th anniversary. What are they likely to talk about? Their love for one another! Their story together.  

One might begin, "Do you remember when we first met? Do you remember our first date? This is what I thought of you when you first walked in the room, when you walked down the aisle. This is how my love for you began. I chose you over all other people!"  

This is what is going on in Ephesians, God is telling them their story. He is asking rhetorically, “do you know when I fell in love with you?” 

Before the foundations of the world, before time began! 

Instead of solving theological riddles, Paul is speaking very personally on behalf of God; he's sending them a love letter. 

There's a lot more we could  say about predestination and election but we would need to look at the Bible as a whole, not just one passage in Ephesians. If you would like to do a little more study on these topics, I'd suggest picking up a copy of James K. A. Smith's little book, "Letters to a Young Calvinist." He cuts through some of the misperceptions of Calvinist thought and speaks to both the head and the heart. 

(Many thanks to Scot Sherman of City Church San Francisco, for the illustration of comparing predestination language to lovers sharing their story.)

Great resources for our new series

Tomorrow we'll be starting a 12-week study of Ephesians entitled Practice Resurrection.

Many commentators have looked at Ephesians and divided it basically in half, with the first 3 chapters dealing with doctrinal instruction and the last 3 dealing with ethical instruction. In other words, Paul tells us what to believe then what to do in response.

While it's certainly true that Christian ethics must be grounded in Christian theology, dividing Ephesians in this way is unfortunate.

As we'll see tomorrow, even the first few verses of the book contain more than just "what to believe." These verses are loaded with implications for living, as is the whole book. Paul is teaching us about practicing resurrection, to borrow a phrase from the inimitable Eugene Peterson.  

Instead of a providing us with simply a doctrinal primer or systematic theology, Paul offers us a compelling alternative way of life.  

Here are two excellent resources that you can use to go deeper in our study. Use them for personal enrichment and/or to study in your community group.  

Intown is...pt. 2

Intown is a "Missional" Church

Following the transformation of Europe, America is increasingly a post-Christian society. In some places around the country, the day-to-day culture shows distinct signs of its Christian heritage, but this is not true of larger urban centers like Portland. Our city is self-consciously non-Christian. What are churches in areas like this to do? Should we be nostalgic for a previous time where the larger culture reflected and even reinforced Christian ideals, or could we learn to live and do ministry effectively in this new climate? 

When the nation of Israel was in ascendency and King David ruled from Jerusalem, it was only natural to assume that cultural institutions and the societal infrastructure would reinforce religious principles. But, when Israel was carried off into exile into Babylon, God’s people had to adopt a radically different posture regarding those outside their tribe. This is the situation that the church finds itself in Portland. We can no longer expect that neighbors share our values, but in most cases they will likely find them odd or narrow-minded. These are the people that Intown has been called to minister to and it will therefore take a sustained, inventive, and winsome effort.

Missionaries in new territories recognize this instinctively, introducing people to Jesus necessitates adapting their approach to the surrounding language and culture, raising up indigenous leaders, and not expecting growth by people transferring from other churches. 

While this situation may mean that church growth takes longer and demands more energy than in traditional contexts, it also presents a fantastic opportunity for the inward growth of individual members. When there is no cultural reason to attend church, and many reasons not to, it is only natural that those who do have given much consideration to identifying with Christ and his church. They are apt to be serious about their own spiritual journey and yet able to understand what it means not to believe. It means that on one hand, Christians will be far more dependent upon their church community because they live in a hostile world, yet at the same time will be far more accustomed to having vital relationships with nonbelievers and thus a Christian subculture is less likely to be appealing.  

We believe that a gospel-centered church in this context stands the best opportunity to both reach out to the world around it and build up the Christian community at the same time. We are committed to avoid becoming either a “seeker centered” church which only speaks the language of the world or an “information centered” church which becomes simply a delivery system for Bible knowledge. Whether in the pulpit or an adult education class or a community group, we desire that both the “seeker” and the “mature” believer would be able to grasp the gospel and it’s implications at a richer and deeper level.

Some implications of this, coming soon... 

A Simple Way to Pray

 This Fall we're beginning a series on spiritual growth. We'll be looking at Ephesians as our primary resource during the sermon series and will be supplementing this series with an IntownU class on spiritual practices and disciplines. From time to time I will be whetting your appetite with some resources that will help you get started or expand your practice in some of these key areas.

Here's an article by Timothy Keller, a Pastor in NYC, entitled A Simple Way to Pray using the Lectio Divina approach.

Here's an article from Martin Luther that he wrote for his barber who asked him how to begin praying.  

Intown is...pt. 1

INTOWN IS A GOSPEL-CENTERED CHURCH

The gospel is the “good news” of Jesus Christ, the proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen God, is the one, true and only Lord of the world. 

Often, the church has missed the goodness of the news in restricting it to primarily the personal realm - it is the way in which an individual can be in right relationship with God. This is certainly true, and an important aspect of the gospel; Jesus says, “repent and believe the gospel so that you may be saved.”  

But, the gospel is much more expansive than that. The Bible says that God created all things good and desired for all people to live in a loving relationship with him, but that we turned from him to live according to our own desires. As a result, not only are individual relationships with God severed, but the whole order of the cosmos is upset. 

The Old Testament points to a coming King, a redeemer, who will not only draw individuals back to a right relationship with God, but that he will inaugurate a whole new world. He will draw people into relationship with God, unite them together, and even utilize them in undoing all the effects of sin and human rebellion. 

When Jesus comes preaching the “good news”, he is providing the one true pathway to joining the family of God, while also inviting people into a crusade against darkness, injustice, conflict, violence and sadness. When someone “repents and believes the gospel”, it is not simply so that they can have eternal life (though the importance of this cannot be overstated!) but it is to be united to Jesus and his entire family in living out the implications of the gospel in the present age, while awaiting the “new heavens and the new earth.”

Intown is...pt. 1.5

THE GOSPEL IS COSMIC, BUT ALSO VERY PERSONAL

Keeping in mind the larger scope of the “good news”, how does the gospel begin to immediately change individual lives and their everyday experience with him? 

The early chapters of Genesis chronicle the first act of human rebellion against God. In these chapters we see a family turn away from the loving care of God himself and seek to be their own masters. As the story continues to unfold throughout the pages of scripture, we see the depths of human sin, the length to which humans will go to rule themselves and justify themselves before God. 

Though God would have every right to demand that we earn back his favor and love, he offers it freely. God in his mercy pursues us and offers a renewed relationship with him through the sacrificial act of his son Jesus. He says that though you are sinful, Jesus lays down his life for you so that you can return to him. 

It is not that we work off a debt to God and then try real hard to maintain the status he grants us, but that he pays our debt for us and grants to us the irrevocable status of Jesus himself. (II Corinthians. 5:21). 

The gospel is not that we go from being irreligious to being religious, it’s that we realize that our reasons for both our religion and our irreligion were essentially the same and essentially wrong. We were seeking to keep control of our own life and be our own god. When we trust in Christ as offered in the Gospel, we turn from trusting either self-determination or self-denial, self-rule or diligent religiosity, and trust in Christ’s work alone.

At Intown we assume that most people have not heard or thought out the full implications of the gospel in this way. We exist to bring things “in line with the gospel” (Gal. 2:14) which renews us spiritually, psychologically, corporately, socially. 

The gospel critiques both liberalism and conservatism, relativism and moralism, licentiousness and legalism, and yet does not produce “something in the middle,” but something different entirely. The gospel challenges both religion and irreligion (Matt. 21:31), and shows us a God far more holy than the legalist can bear (even your greatest spiritual achievements fall far short of God’s demand) and yet far more merciful than a humanist can conceive (he died because he loved us). This truth affects everything we do at Intown Church.