Welcome to my digest of Christian comment.
For Biblical commentary, use the Bible Commentary menu above, and for topical comments, use the categories list on the right.
Jonathan
What is the mission of the church?
This question, argue Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, prompts a whole raft of further questions:
‘The question is deceptively complex and potentially divisive. For starters, what do we even mean by mission? And if that can be settled, we then face more difficult questions. Is the mission of the church discipleship or good deeds or both? Is the mission of the church the same as the mission of God? Is the mission of the church distinct from the responsibilities of individual Christians?
…‘I believe in…the life everlasting’ – sermon notes
“I believe in…the life everlasting.”
‘Who wants to live forever?’ (song by Queen).
How would you like to live to be 1,000? According to Dr Aubrey de Gray, co-founder of the SENS Research Foundation, scientists are well on the way to ending bodily aging. The first person to live to be 1,000, he claims, has already been born.
Or how about having your body deep frozen after you die, in the hope that one day science will be able to resuscitate it? …
Holistic mission
Over the past 50 years, evangelicals have debated whether the church’s mission is, or should be, primarily or even exclusively that of evangelism, or a combination of evangelism and social action.
At the forefront of this debate has been the distinguished evangelical leader and teacher, John Stott.
In The Contemporary Christian (chapter 20), Stott articulates his conviction that
‘authentic mission is a comprehensive activity which embraces evangelism and social action.’
In this understanding, the gospel has a vertical dimension (the salvation of souls) and a horizontal dimension (the improvement of society).…
Mt 3:17/Mk 1:11/Lk 3:22 – What did the voice say?
The three Synoptic Gospels each record the voice from heaven using different wording:
Ehrman summarises the differences:
Mt 3:17 – “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight.” The voice seems to be addressing the people around Jesus, or possibly John the Baptist.
Mk 1:11 – “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.” Here the voice addresses Jesus directly.
Lk 3:22 – “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.” …
Models of mission
‘There are’ (writes J.A. Kirk) ‘a number of diverse, but intimately related, models or paradigms of mission. Each is vitally important. By stressing one more than the others, different groups of Christians have tended to see them as alternatives. Ideally, there is no choice. The Christian community’s vocation is to ensure that each is fully implemented in its overall life.
‘(1) The care of the environment. This means encouraging a wise and sustainable use of the natural order created by God, by engaging in the numerous aspects of conservation and the elimination of pollution.…
The Christology of mission
In The Contemporary Christian (356-374), John Stott outlines a Christological approach to mission under the following headings:
1. The incarnation of Christ – the model for mission
In some ways, the incarnation was a ‘mission’ like that the Apollo space flight to the moon was a ‘mission’. Each was a daring journey between two completely different places and situations. But the Apollo astronauts had to bring everything needful with them, whereas Jesus brought nothing but himself. …
Our God is a missionary God
John Stott remarks that mission is at the heart each of the five parts of the Bible.
1. The God of the Old Testament is a missionary God, calling one family in order to bless all the families of the earth (Gen 12:1-4).
‘The tragedy of the Old Testament is that Israel kept forgetting the universal scope of God’s promises. They overlooked the fact that God had chosen one family in order to bless all families.
…Church planting 101
Why plant churches? Tony Merida answers:
- In order to align ourselves with the purposes of God. God’s purpose is not merely to bring individuals to heaven (Acts 18:9f), but to gather a people – a diverse, global people – to himself. When we plant churches, we are doing what God has always been doing.
- Because the Great Commission points to church planting. To ‘make disciples of all nations’ by ‘baptising them’ and ‘teaching them’ is to incorporate new believers into the life of a church (Mt 28:18-20).
Genesis 2:23 – Does naming imply authority?
Genesis 2:23 Then the man said,
“This one at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
Does naming imply authority?
‘No!’
Walton (NIVAC):
‘We would be mistaken to think that Adam names Eve here. He rather indicated what category she belongs in. When Adam named the animals in 2.19-20, a different vocabulary and syntax are used. Adam there was carrying out his function to ruling in that whatever he called a creature, that was its name.
…1 Peter 3:7 – ‘The weaker partners’
1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.
This expression tends to raise eyebrows nowadays. According to Hillyer, this does not refer to ‘physical strength, not to intellectual powers, moral courage, or spiritual standards.’
So what does it refer to?
Several older commentators (including, Calvin, Leighton, JFB) do not discuss it: presumably, they thought that its meaning was self-evident and indisputable.…