Issues in Biblical Anthropology, Lecture
Key Topics
Transcript with YouTube timestamps
0:03today i think that we are tempted to uh a posture and an ideology that we
0:10have surfaced a number of times already in the class called gnosticism g-n-o-s-t-i-c-i-s-m
0:18now let it be said that as we’ve said in numerous areas of the course i think there are hard and soft forms of
0:24gnosticism many of you are going to know from your church history classes here ht classes here
0:30that there were actual sex that taught gnostic doctrines but what i’m talking about is not so much
0:36a full-fledged gnostic worldview as i’m talking about a tendency
0:42of some in the church some certainly beyond the church to see the mind and what the mind does
0:48as valuable but what the body does as less valuable things of the mind are important things
0:55of the body are not very important if you think about this from like a systematic theology
1:01perspective you’re not going to open up your average evangelical reformed systematic and read
1:08a section on work or on vocation not in the average one anyway
1:13now in a sense i get that because you would class normally vocation in perhaps another
1:20area of christian theology and yet i would submit to you in our time together that actually
1:26vocation slash work is a huge part of christian anthropology
1:32and i actually think that the lack of inclusion and the lack of teaching on this subject
1:39tells us a lot about why given individuals in the church men and
1:44women alike do not have in many cases a strong understanding of what it is
1:50they are to do with their time and they may struggle to believe that there is value in their day-to-day
1:57christian experience now you’ve heard me already call for us to have things like a strong
2:02devotional life to to be fervent in prayer to be doggedly
2:08zealously pursue pursuing the lord on a daily basis and so we know that we have to pursue
2:15the lord spiritually so we don’t want to pit sort of physical pursuits against
2:20spiritual pursuits we we certainly don’t want to think that a meaningful doctrine of vocation means
2:25that we take spiritual things off the table and everything’s equally spiritual you can make that mistake and people do
2:32trend in that direction and some facets some areas of this conversation that’s not what i’m calling
2:38for i’m calling for a kind of symbiotic blend in the christians lived experience in
2:45which some of what they’re doing on a daily basis is quite mundane and even physical if you will bodily
2:53uh this earthly you can choose your term and then other things are going to be more expressly spiritual
2:59but i want us to just note at the start that we must not fall prey to a division of our lives where
3:06mental things matter or only spiritual things matter and then bodily things
3:12don’t have value instead i think what we need is a richly
3:18biblical and theological understanding of our vocation and our avocations
3:26our vocation is really that daily calling that god has given us that’s
3:31what i mean by that term vocation basically synonymous with the term calling what you are called to do on a
3:39on a minute by minute hour by hour basis in your life and then your avocations are your hobbies your pastimes your
3:46pleasures entertainment rest could be included there depending on how you frame it
3:51and i actually want us to think about that as well now this is an interesting way to close the course because we have
3:56been doing pretty hard theology to this point and i actually think this is art theology
4:01but in terms of how people would view the class we’ve been in some controversial areas for example
4:07already this is not so much going to fit in that category we don’t usually have
4:14major social media battles over avocations or vocation something like this although there’s a
4:19lively theological conversation over this subject nonetheless i want you to understand for me that this
4:25is theological work is not just a practical matter for christians to think
4:30through well how do i work best as a christian work is not merely a matter of ethics though it
4:37surely is involved in ethics what i want you to hear from me is that work again
4:42is biblical and theological and deserves to be treated as such christians you lead christians
4:49you minister to in the local church need a meaningful theology of vocation
4:56calling and avocation why because all our life matters to god
5:04if you were giving a sermon series if you announced that in the church and people said why why are we going to
5:09talk about work why don’t we talk about something theological something biblical
5:15well our work our rest our play matter to god first corinthians
5:2110 31 whatever you do whether you eat and drink do it to the glory of god in a
5:27discussion of food laws anything you do should be done to the glory of god as a christian
5:33there isn’t a limited part of your life as a believer that is dedicated to the lord and like a
5:39prism reaching up to heaven through the night sky the bat signal or something that part of your life counts
5:45and then the other 23 hours and 45 minutes in the day don’t really count that’s not
5:51a right understanding i believe of a christian existence instead i think if you go biblically you actually recognize
5:58that our work matters to god our rest matters to god and what i’ve called here quickly our play
6:04matters to god our avocations uh matter to god we actually really should press
6:10in here in a culture and setting like ours and do everything we can to frame how people use their time but
6:19not first and foremost so-called practically first and foremost actually
6:25theologically so how do we do this well let’s build some doctrine in our
6:31morning session together here shall we the bible calls us to worship god as believers
6:38that is our fundamental calling in life to worship god and in doing so give him
6:44glory and in quick form the way that we do this
6:50is by working a lot resting easy and playing some by working a lot
6:58resting easy and playing some and a properly calibrated christianity
7:05has a place for all three of those but in proper proportion we are not called to our avocations to
7:11our hobbies or pastimes the same way we are called to our work we should not cultivate and pursue our
7:19hobbies and pastimes and smaller creature joys whatever they may be
7:24the same way we cultivate our vocation but it is not the case that we only work
7:32and we recognize right off the bat in biblical terms two things first that the lord is a
7:40worker we have already talked about the doctrine of creation at some length in the class and we’ve
7:46extracted numerous theological resources from the early chapters of genesis we need to
7:53simply note now from a different angle of the diamond of the doctrine of creation that the
7:59lord introduces himself as a worker one who creates through speech so for
8:06six days the lord works that’s again the very introduction we
8:13have to almighty god in the bible who is god what does god do
8:18what is he about what is he after well the lord himself is purposive lord himself
8:27makes something from nothing the lord you could say if you are being a little bit cheeky is
8:34the original entrepreneur introduced to the reader of genesis 1 as the creator
8:40he needs no assistance he gets no guidance from anyone he finds evident satisfaction in the
8:47world that he makes and as we have talked about it is a very good
8:52creation that he brings into being so the lord is a purposive being he’s a purposive being
9:00from the start as we are introduced to him in creation he has
9:05pre-existed his creation of course infinitely he is the one who gives us
9:11time if you will who creates time i believe and so he is not trapped in
9:17the confinements of time he is the one who in the work of creation
9:22actually creates uh 24-hour days works in six 24-hour days but we would
9:29not understand him as constrained by a 24-hour clock in the least
9:35the bible teaches us that god is a purposive being he wants there to be
9:40something he wants there to be life and the being he makes the image of god
9:48is also a purposive being where a being in other words that that is made to go after it
9:56to subdue the earth to take dominion you see how important it is to have a strong genesis 1
10:03grounded theology anthropology the first three chapters
10:10of the bible are so important for understanding who the human person is
10:15and who the human person is called to be if you don’t understand genesis 1 and 2 in particular in terms of
10:22creational design you will not understand who humanity is and is called to be in fundamental terms
10:29in christian theology these chapters are not important only for adjudicating the age of the earth
10:35they are important along those lines of course but the first two chapters tell us nothing less than who we are and
10:41show us that man is not dead going back to the very foundation we started with in this class god is not
10:49dead death of god theology is altogether wrong and man is not dead in terms of having no purpose
10:56yes the fall has affected our purpose and our days and our living altogether affected it
11:01changed our very nature from unfallen to fallen
11:06and yet nothing can scratch away the fact that we are a purposive being
11:15in light of being made as the image of god god creates all things
11:21god loves work god does not love idleness and nothingness that’s not how
11:29he wanted things to take shape the father desired a world that exists for his
11:36glory and trinitarian communion and harmony means that the three members of the
11:42godhead share this this desire and work together to bring about the accomplishment of the
11:51father’s plan ephesians 1 3 to 14. so
11:56the father desires a world that would exist for divine glory he creates through the
12:02sun the spirit hovering over the face of the waters and others in other words
12:07acting i think as the agent of the son’s executive role of creation
12:13all three members of the godhead we’re learning something about trinitarian theology aren’t we working together in perfect harmony and
12:21communion not at cross purposes not having the same role not being the
12:26same person and yet being one god together together carrying out the father’s will
12:35and the father’s plan the father’s will of course highlighted in ephesians 1 5 8 and 11 as that which drives
12:42all things this then tells us something massively
12:48important about who we are and understand ourselves to be
12:53compared to who unbelievers are and would understand themselves to be
12:58i don’t know if you have noticed this but we’re seeing in our time it seems to me
13:06a lessening of the will to exist in our time we’re seeing a
13:13seemingly a decreased interest in living a purposeful and meaningful life
13:20a lot of people are simply passively accepting this call for various reasons and we
13:27need to think through it carefully but i’m talking about simply this one aspect this call to just sit
13:33and be safe at home and be on your devices and and really do nothing in a lot of
13:39cases purposeful and not have a lot of meaning in your days and simply
13:45hide out and huddle uh out of concern and in some cases
13:51there are real concerns in our world of course but we have to note that even as we
13:58should handle real problems in our world in our society carefully and thoughtfully we all should
14:04with biblical wisdom and there are going to be ebbs and flows to the normal rhythms of our lives of
14:10course in different respects nonetheless we are not made to be
14:15purposeless drifting passively acted upon creatures that is not our fundamental
14:23calling and identity as the image of god as the imago day remember that the lord gives
14:31adam a major force and gravity behind his back in genesis 1 26 and 28
14:40specifically in verse 28 the call to take dominion multiply fill the earth subdue the earth what
14:47does that mean that means that there is exit velocity on the human
14:52person as the six days of creation come to a close the human person is not
14:58called to stand there passively and just wait around
15:04this matters tremendously for discussions of divine will for christians for for people in your
15:10ministry in your church who are trying to figure out the father’s will for their life what would god have them do
15:16how how should they go about making decisions well we all confront gray areas in life we don’t scoff at
15:22people who are we try to handle those gray areas with as much wisdom as we can we
15:29certainly dedicate those those realities to prayer we ask god for for much wisdom and
15:35direction and blessing you should you should be fervent in prayer and seeking god’s will
15:42and you should not go half-heartedly to god and seeking god’s will you should go all in and you should go
15:49like like a desperate beggar to god because you are at the same time
15:54remember human origins remember creation remember the very trajectory of the
16:01human person at the end of genesis 1. does god call humanity to stand still so that
16:09humanity would not make a mistake that’s the opposite of how things play isn’t it god
16:16sends adam and eve forward he gives them momentum he doesn’t want us
16:24to live as captives fearful that we would ever make a decision and therefore make a
16:31mistake the father wants us to press on to press ahead to be an active
16:39volitional being to go forward adam is called to work in the garden
16:46he must steward it he must take dominion of eden he must rule over eden he is the priest
16:54king of eden he is the one who is called to work and keep or work and guard eden
17:02work therefore is not a post-fall reality some have argued this
17:09in christian circles even in recent years probably the best known and best respected as john salhamer
17:15who ties the call to work the duty of work to the fall i do not follow salehamer in
17:24that respect though i significantly respect him i believe from a pretty straightforward reading of
17:31genesis 1 and then genesis 2 that if you’re honestly tracking with the text just at
17:38the surface level you’re seeing that adam adam is made for work
17:44adam is made for dominion this is a huge part of human identity and human
17:50vocation and specifically you’ve heard me apply that to the man the man is called to be
17:56working in the garden taking dominion of it and then the lord gives the woman this unique calling and
18:02ability to bear children which i don’t think is a mere biological fact as we
18:07said some time ago i actually think that is the lord signaling to her
18:12in normative terms at least what a major part of her life is to entail
18:17god willing god allowing of course post genesis 3 there are real effects of the curse so we note that and we have um we have a
18:26a recognition of that but just note what adam is called to do uniquely adam
18:33in genesis 2 15 to work so the commission from god to the man is
18:40is to go after it to go hard from the beginning not post fall
18:46not after the fall uh pre-fall this is adam’s calling and commission and charge from
18:53almighty god no evil in fact exists to push against
18:59adam’s efforts uh there there is no serpent yet that has shown up now we’re in genesis 2 15
19:05but regardless of that adam has genuine duties to perform and responsibilities
19:10to discharge i just want you to note that because that’s very important it’s very important that you not think
19:17that work is an effect of the fall as a result of the fall work as i read scripture
19:24is not in any sense a result of the fall the fall altogether corrupts work
19:32and even changes the nature of work and and means that adam must now work
19:38such that his body will break down because of the duress of work so that’s not nothing by any stretch and
19:45the woman’s child bearing as we talked about is cursed so both vocational callings of the man
19:51and the woman are cursed or or are subject to the effects of the fall to put it slightly
19:57differently both manly provision and womanly child bearing and child
20:04raising are now subject to the effects of the fall and that is a very challenging reality
20:12but but going back for just a moment even pre-fall the man is made for action he is not made to lie
20:20around he is not made for passivity he he is made for the mission of god a mission
20:28to glorify his maker that pulses with purpose and meaning mankind does not
20:35have to work as if it is a slavish bad duty mankind
20:42gets to work as a joyful duty let me say a quick word there about the
20:48word duty few words are more freighted with
20:54negativity than the word duty today nobody wants to
20:59merely do their duty people want to discover their life
21:06purpose and live that life purpose out in a exciting and
21:13even captivating way minute by minute in their calling and so in such a modern
21:2221st century framework duties sound terrible duties sound like
21:28drudgery and they sound sub-christian and people don’t want to do them as a
21:35result but calling is very closely synonymous
21:41with duty we need a repristination of duty today
21:47we need to understand that in the bible having a charge from god
21:53is never this this rote reality that has no meaning in it but we need to
22:01recognize on the other hand that actually duties
22:07are charged and infused with doxology
22:14a large part of how you’re going to glorify god on a day-by-day basis
22:19is very simply this to do your duty to do what god has called you to do just
22:26basically speak synonymously here you’re not going to
22:32at least most of us invent a whole new way of existence for yourself
22:38you’re not going to surf a wave of emotional highness at all times
22:44if you just discover the church you’re supposed to be in the specific role you’re supposed to be
22:50in the area you’re supposed to dwell in most of us are not going to go from one emotional
22:58high to another to another throughout our lives life in a fallen world even one where
23:05human humanity has been given this purposive call and our very identity in the very
23:11foundational uh chapter of our existence that continues into this day as a part of
23:16divine design humanity in general in a postfall world is going to have to navigate
23:22lots of challenges namely our own sin that is our central problem isn’t it as
23:29we’ve already talked about in different respects so what that’s going to mean for you and me is that a good number of days
23:38all we’re going to do is do our duty all we’re going to do is do our duty
23:47or actually do a whole number of duties our marriage is not necessarily going to
23:54be this instagramable uh excitement fest
24:00raising our children is not going to be uh this sort of catch it on youtube
24:08uh reality christian tv show that shows us as these amazing parents
24:14with methods no one has ever thought of going to work is not at least in most
24:22cases going to involve you and me troubleshooting and developing unbelievable
24:28new ways of crafting spreadsheets and sitting in meetings and proposing ideas and figuring out the
24:36plan for the church potluck dinner and planning the preaching calendar
24:42don’t misunders i’m not saying these things don’t matter you know that i am saying a lot of this falls under
24:48the category of duty do your duty we don’t want to do our duties what do
24:56we want we want that emotional high we want that sense of really unending
25:04catalytic fulfillment and excitement in our calling aren’t we owed that aren’t we 21st
25:10century people we’ve done away with just punching a clock in a factory that’s what our grandfathers did
25:15our great-grandfathers did we work in the age of ongoing vocational fulfillment
25:21everything has changed right well maybe some things have
25:27changed but fundamentally the world hasn’t changed it’s still fallen
25:32we’re still subject to the effects of the fall and we still need to do our duties before god
25:38and in truth we need to repristinate duty we don’t need to do away with it
25:43we need to say what are my duties from god as best i can perceive them and then how can i do them to the glory
25:49of god because the glory of god is in them this is how strong the gospel is the gospel redeems
25:56even the mundane the gospel redeems the ordinary
26:05the gospel enchants the ordinary that’s part of why i wanted to cover the doctrine of vocation and work with you
26:13because this is where i think we are most tempted to not see our lives as meaningful
26:19and god-centered and a theistic performance if you will understood rightly i think we’re tempted
26:26to to look at certain podcasts or instagram feeds or twitter profiles and we’re tempted to
26:34think in different forms depending on what we’re drawn to we’re in ministry this so this would be
26:39a ministry subset oh that guy that guy has
26:44the exciting ministry life that i crave and some do have more excitement than others let it be said
26:50some do experience more conversions than others more baptism baptisms than others more numerical
26:56growth than others let that be said we’re not blind to that that’s that’s true
27:01but we’re all drawn in some form yet to a lie not to a true version of
27:08that recognition but to a lie he has a a truly stratospheric
27:15ministry existence and i don’t mine is just humble and anonymous and plain and drudgery
27:22and that means that i missed out somewhere along the line i missed out i missed out on the excitement train i
27:29missed out two as well in my marriage look at their marriage look at
27:34look at how white their teeth are in these instagram photos look at how big their smiles are they
27:41caught the sun just right in that picture ah
27:46and they’re so cozied up together and just nestled in and i wish i had that
27:52marriage and if i had that woman as my wife i would i would probably have that marriage or whatever it may be
28:01we’re tempted toward this exciting vision of life that someone else has
28:06but we don’t have well look whatever the filter you use on social media however many pictures of
28:14yourself and your loved ones you post whatever god chooses to do
28:20in your life we’re all living in a fallen world no one is escaping the effects of the
28:25fall and we should not fall prey to a
28:30comparison driven vision of life and ministry where other people
28:36are leading this impossibly exciting life and we are leading a life of drudgery
28:43and duty some people will experience more
28:51manifestations of divine blessing on their ministry than others that is real
28:57you’ve heard me talk about my background in new england hey guys here’s a reality
29:04none of the cool kid churches when they’re going into their expansion plans
29:09uh plant one of their cool kid church campuses anywhere in new england
29:16except for maybe boston okay
29:22why why is that interesting to somebody who knows new england up and down back and through because new
29:29england is a graveyard for churches for church planters
29:34for revitalization efforts and nobody who is slick and smart would tie this expansionist
29:42rapidly growing brand to some far flung new england city or town
29:50because it’s way easier to get explosive results if you go elsewhere in america
29:58what’s my point my point is that the only people probably in most cases who are going to
30:04plant or want to plant or revitalize in new england are people who don’t first and foremost
30:10care about splashy results or any other context like that
30:16who plant in difficult places all across the world
30:21i’m not saying you don’t plant in meta cities or big cities or exciting places like i think we should
30:27we want churches everywhere i don’t only want churches in hard to reach places i’m simply saying
30:34if your ministry is fueled by the need for big splashy results
30:42there’s a lot of places you’ll dodge there’s a lot of places you’ll skip over
30:48and you’ll just go to the the heavy hitter cities that we all know about in america and beyond churches should be in those places
30:55actually a fair number of churches but churches should also be in hard to reach places
31:02someone has to pastor smaller churches the average the average congregation
31:10in baptist circles for example in southern baptist circles is something like
31:1580 people maybe 100 people it’s pretty small
31:23a ministry like that can go through waves of of real growth and spiritual awakening
31:29and i believe pastors in those contexts should pray for that
31:34but in practical terms demographically that should not be the normative
31:41expectation of pastors in far-flung places where
31:46there are very few christians god will do whatever god wants to do there are no demographic limits
31:53on god and on the gospel but it nonetheless needs to be observed that there are hard
32:00to reach places many places where there are not a whole bunch of people
32:05who want to show up for whatever reason true believer or not and identify as a christian
32:10the the rate right now in new england is something like two percent two percent of people self-identify
32:16self-identify as evangelical well if you want a splashy instagram
32:23feed for your church don’t go to new england because you’re not going to get it so who’s going to go the only
32:31people who are going to go to hard places are going to be those
32:37who believe in a big god and believe in a big gospel
32:42and believe that his glory is not just in the seemingly exciting and flashy
32:48and impressive actually in a lot of places his glory is veiled to the natural man
32:56his glory is not visible to onlookers his glory is seen
33:03in in congregations where pastors work very hard to evangelize and especially
33:10disciple and and yet over decades even
33:15there may not be explosive growth but there is continual faithfulness
33:20and and a major part of that faithfulness is driven by a strong sense of vocation
33:27a a vision of vocation a theology of vocation this is not merely practical a theology of vocation
33:35even in terms of ministry that sees working unto god as first and foremost
33:43about the glory of god not about any result certainly not about any metric that
33:50would make headlines in the american press or american social media
33:56your vision of vocation of calling whether in ministry or not matters
34:02tremendously and by the grace of god it is a vision like that that will
34:08propel you not to be discouraged and leave the ministry if after
34:14three or four years in a given location there is an explosive growth but it will actually do the opposite
34:22a strong biblical doctrine of vocation in any sense but we’re applying it to
34:28ministry for our context will do the opposite it will call you to be faithful not for the short term but to play the
34:35long game you’re not going out
34:42and you’re trying you’re trying to see the fastest possible microwavable
34:49results i keep using agricultural and natural metaphors here
34:55but you’re going out and you’re planting a forest think of yourself in ministry please as
35:00planting a forest isn’t that how psalm 1 encourages us to think in a fashion
35:06the righteous man is like a tree planted by streams of living waters
35:14okay i am not an arb arborologist horticulturalist
35:22choose your term i may have just made one up but i know this about trees you can’t grow them in an
35:28afternoon you can’t grow them in a week you can’t grow them in a
35:34year to have a strong tree especially a fruit-bearing tree let’s
35:40say takes years and years and really you shouldn’t expect to see
35:46results probably in a lot of cases for decades in terms of a big tree that
35:52is that would provide shade in your backyard or something like this if you have one that doesn’t just get created
36:00it takes tremendous patience and cultivation to be in an individual sense
36:07a tree planted by streams of living water isn’t that interesting as a vision of discipleship a vision of discipleship
36:15isn’t that an interesting connection that psalm 1 makes for us
36:20how is god framing our expectations right off the bat he’s saying this isn’t going to be some
36:27flashy quick enterprise in most cases no sometimes you preach the gospel man people just
36:33get saved left and right absolutely we hear stories like that we know that’s true from church history
36:40we want to get fired up by stories like that we want to hear about the extraordinary
36:45seasons of of god’s grace poured out on people we want to be encouraged by that we want
36:51to pray for that yes but we don’t want to miss that the normal calibration of the church of the new
36:58covenant people of god is ordinary faithfulness
37:04ordinary faithfulness doxological duty being discharged
37:12to the glory of almighty god such that we don’t create little ministry hot pockets
37:18we don’t go over to the microwave the spiritual microwave pop in a little hot pocket and two and a half minutes
37:23later it’s sizzling hot it’s piping and and look at what we have
37:29we have a little table look everybody our hot pockets we microwaved them we got them as fast
37:36as we possibly could we did it as quickly as humanly possible
37:43no no no no what does the bible say is our target in
37:50discipleship trees keep your eyes on the trees
37:56look at trees when you go out for a walk in a nature preserve or a park california
38:02beauty wherever you may be and you see big sturdy trees
38:09you are actually looking at what the bible says disciples are to be so how does a ministry here’s
38:16where all of this locks in bringing it to a conclusion how does a ministry not produce spiritual hot pockets
38:25microwavable quick results a pop-up church like a pop-up restaurant
38:32that’s now common it’s here for a week and then it vanishes no we don’t want that that’s not our
38:40goal how do we produce how do we produce oaks how do we produce redwoods
38:48that are standing for decades that get hit by weather of all kinds
38:54and their roots are deep and enduring and they persevere and live
39:03to the end how do we produce that a meaningful doctrine of vocation
39:13a properly calibrated understanding of vocation generally and ministry vocation
39:20specifically do not go into a church
39:26to try to microwave it go into a church to try to plant trees and
39:33tend the trees that exist and cultivate them unto health
39:39and thriving for the glory of god you might think yeah yeah yeah yeah go
39:46to masters it’s kind of baked into the dna here sure i’m trying to get a biblical church
39:51i understand just know how much how much the podcasts
39:57and the instagrams and the interviews and the books published and all of it will pull at
40:03your heart probably and and will discourage you will even drive you out of the ministry
40:10itself because you’ll think my ministry is just an ordinary ministry
40:15but that’s what most local church and christian ministry is that’s what most
40:21christianity is more broadly that’s why our doctrine of vocation matters most of it is not extraordinary at least
40:28seen by eyes of sight most of it is ordinary
40:34but here’s where we flip it too the ordinary in biblical terms is extraordinary
40:42this is also part of a rich theological doctrine of vocation
40:48the ordinary is extraordinary for christians the ordinary matters to god
40:54it’s not just those high points in your fatherhood training up children to know the lord
41:02it’s one basement soccer game for me anyway after another with my son
41:09it’s one walk around our neighborhood talking with my 12 year old daughter
41:16about school and life and all things that come to her mind after another
41:22it’s one family devotional session where my kids are frankly pretty
41:28tired and we’re kind of barely holding it together some nights
41:34but we open the word of god even for a brief time and we pray and i try to teach my family as much as i can in that
41:40brief time after another it’s just one after another
41:46most of the time it’s not highlights that would play on familial espn or ministry cnn
41:54most of the time honestly it’s pretty basic humble anonymous and ordinary but there is
42:00divine glory in the ordinary and it was always that way this is why it’s so important to
42:06understand that work is not a post-fall reality adam
42:11tending eden actually wasn’t going to be stratospherically exciting it was going
42:18to be tending a garden isn’t that
42:24remarkable how ordinary that is
42:30subdue the earth tend it get your hands dirty work in the earth
42:37welcome to eden welcome to paradise
42:42that’s what adam was supposed to do
42:47so the the ordinary in christian theology is enchanted by which i mean is suffused
42:54with the glory of god presents you and me and every christian with the opportunity
42:59to do normal things but to do them unto god and that matters
43:08tremendously and that is a distinguishing mark of the christian faith and that is
43:15a way to be a witness today and that is a way to have an evangelistic presence in your community and that is a way for
43:22church members who are not going to hold the next billy graham crusade frankly to witness to their co-workers
43:30to work at staples to work at a gas station to work as a plumber
43:35to work as a teacher to work as a basketball coach to be a mother in the neighborhood to do
43:42the ordinary anonymous things that we all do in our workplace especially in the local church context a
43:48whole body of believers doing a whole bunch of frankly pretty ordinary things but to do it all for
43:54the glory of god the glory of god saturating their every minute to clean toilets in a
44:00distinct way to plant trees in a distinctly christian way to raise up children not with
44:07complaining and bitterness over what these children have taken from you in your life but over joy because they’re little
44:13trees they’re little trees that you’re tending and cultivating lord willing as god
44:19moves in his kindness saving them making them disciples you and i can’t do that god can
44:26and on and on it goes checking out customers at staples making lattes at starbucks
44:33whatever it is that is where glory is for the christian
44:39most of the time it’s not to go high up to a mountain it’s not to cycle through jobs and
44:46experiences and living places in this ending never satisfied cycle
44:52of modern questing after personal vocational fulfillment on and on and on
44:58the carousel goes it never stops no it’s actually the opposite it’s actually to plant yourself somewhere
45:04rather stubbornly and say here i am let’s work here let’s get to work here
45:11yes it takes time to figure that out of course there will be different jobs that you hold there may be different ministry positions that you hold
45:17but then then to reckon at some point in adulthood
45:23with this is where i am called to be as best i can perceive this is where i’m called to be and this
45:30is where i will bloom by the grace of god these are the trees i will tend
45:38this may not be the forest glade i thought i would be called to applying this to christian ministry
45:43i may not have had any plans to go to this part of the forest i may not have any natural affinity for
45:50this part of the forest or you may love it i don’t know but the point is not whether you like it or not ultimately
45:57the point is not does it pluck every string of the cello of your heart at all times
46:03in excitement and delight the point is this is where god has put me these are the trees i need to tend these
46:11are the souls made for eternity that i need to shepherd
46:17is this enough for me is this enough is it enough for me to do my duty to god
46:27or or do i need do i need an extra special christianity
46:35where my life goes from one moment of excitement to another opinions widely vary about
46:45the new england patriots i feel like you’re getting a really strong dose of my new england pride here in the last
46:50day of class and i’m not entirely sure why it’s just coming out of me it’s natural
46:59you know belichick i i don’t think has made every decision right okay i can’t remember if i said this to
47:06you or someone else this week but i am not happy that we got rid of tom brady
47:11okay i just want to go on this is now on record uh on the interwebs
47:18i am not happy that we did i wish that we had not felt the need for whatever reason
47:23to break up this partnership robert kraft the owner bill belichick the coach and tom brady
47:30the superstar qb sometime diva okay i wish
47:37that we hadn’t done that but we did it bill belichick is known for
47:42this right bill belichick is known not for having this permissive
47:48anything goes locker room culture organizational ethos but actually for
47:54emphasizing what do your job that’s one of his sayings
47:59now you may hate the patriots okay bear with me extend christian grace to
48:05your brother here your weaker brother actually stronger brother one two three four five six six rings
48:12i digress belichick in cultivating that kind of spirit is
48:18absolutely marching against the spirit of the age isn’t he it’s gotten a few results hasn’t it
48:26six rings you may hate the patriots but there’s something for us to think through there
48:31not because this is a class on football that’d be an interesting elective not qualified to give that one but
48:37because there is a certain i think natural secular recognition
48:46that having a a culture where everybody is their own little crown prince
48:52generally doesn’t usually play out very well and in fact you can build an absolute
48:59title machine if you will get players to buy into what at base really duty
49:07doing your duty doing your job not not making it about you
49:15and and your accomplishments and attainments and even desires look you’re on the
49:23patriots you got a spot some somebody else wants your spot
49:2850 guys in the league want your spot if you don’t want it are you going to do your job are you going to be a diva
49:35interestingly part of the reason why this the the patriots won six super bowls in the last 20 years
49:41is because here’s another application i’m squeezing the orange here i admit but tom brady took probably 20 to 30
49:49million dollars less a year than he could have made isn’t it interesting how even in the
49:54natural world uh virtues when applied have major
49:59effect and something as insignificant and and meaningless as a football team
50:05i mean the kingdom of god a local you’re any local church that is preaching the bible in this area or across the world is far
50:13more important than the new england patriots and yet isn’t it interesting to know what happens when the leader
50:20does not exalt himself and does not say all right i’m getting my money i want 40 mil he
50:26could easily have 40 mil instead brady took salaries of like 10 million and and then what happened
50:32the patriots could actually afford not rookie contract linemen or or cast offs
50:39from other teams they could actually afford pro bowl linemen and what did that mean well that meant
50:44that tom brady was not getting his bell rung five times a game he was only getting it wrong one time
50:50again well that means you can play well into your 40s apparently on and on we go
50:56these are just theological insights from the new england patriots dynasty for you but it is funny to me how when you study
51:03a doctrine of vocation and you even think it through culturally a little bit you see how god’s
51:11wisdom and god’s plan even in even in a kind of natural version of it
51:17works doing your duty actually
51:23in sports if you can get a whole team to buy in and if everything clicks into place and if you have an organizational
51:28genius like belichick if it all works doing what happens actually
51:33doing your duty actually brings glory doesn’t it victory num being number one
51:42you think well that is an interesting spin on doing your job just doing your job
51:49not in the frothy self-driven modern way in the grit your teeth
51:56pick up your lunch pill and go to work way actually what happens is in a good
52:03number of instances you get a diamond encrusted ring
52:10and you’re a champion
52:15maybe there’s just ever so slightly a resonance with the christian faith
52:21i think there is right i mean way way more significant for us of course than any silly game silly
52:27sport you you plow now you work hard now
52:33you do your job now you get up early now
52:41you die to self now you love your wife now you love your
52:47children now you disciple people now you kill sin now
52:53glory later glory is coming
52:58reward is coming god will reward all his faithful workers
53:08colossians 3 23-24 whatever you do
53:14do it from the heart as something done for the lord
53:19and not for people knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the lord
53:28you serve the lord christ what’s interesting
53:36as some commentators have noted is that paul is framing reward in the context of
53:43slavery slaves are those in this passage who are
53:50what getting this amazing inheritance the inheritance
53:55an inheritance from the lord that’s not how things worked in the
54:01first century greco-roman world slaves got nothing but in the christian faith
54:08merely being a servant merely being a slave to christ a dulos christos means that
54:15you get everything you get everlasting life you get all of god
54:21you get all of divine grace and this is all what is the result of
54:28whatever you do doing it from the heart so teach this to your people teach a
54:35meaningful doctrine of vocation teach them that they should do what they do for the lord and not for people
54:45you’re not turning in your work at masters for your professor you’re turning it in
54:52for the lord you’re not laboring in ministry for
54:57people to have a pastor here take note of you or pastor somewhere else take note of you you’re doing it for the
55:04lord and the men and women you train are not doing their daily vocation for people
55:12but are doing it for the lord and we are called as christians to think about
55:17reward we are called to know that our god is a rewarding god
55:24he rewards faithful servants he will reward every act of faithfulness
55:32this dimension of christian sanctification has kind of been lost in recent years everything has been
55:39smoothed down to sort of just going to heaven when you die just living eternally it is gloriously
55:46true that every christian will live eternally but it is also true i believe from the new testament that we will be rewarded
55:52specifically and that those who press into the kingdom those who labor for holiness on a
55:59day-to-day basis will be rewarded in special measure
56:05that is is called to motivate you to faithfulness on a day by day basis
56:13listen there is no such marker in a secular doctrine of vocation and
56:19certainly in a neo-pagan vision of daily work work is just drudgery
56:24work is just what you do to pay the bills or conversely work is everything to you and and so it
56:31becomes your your very identity but there’s no heavenly reward on either side
56:37for us work and vocation has heavenly reward behind
56:44it eternal blessing powering it not just the high and mighty
56:50things not just when you’re called to preach the sunday morning service the anonymous things god knows
56:57that when you give up free time to bless others to disciple others
57:04he knows that he will reward it god knows when you go to a nursing home to
57:10visit aged saints in your congregation no one sees it you don’t put it on social media god
57:17sees it god will reward it god knows when you bite your tongue
57:22because you’re you could escalate an argument but instead of escalating it
57:27you choose the way of godliness and you and you de-escalate and you say to your
57:33spouse or to your roommate or to your fellow church member your seminary classmate let’s sort this out
57:39later isn’t it interesting how when you sort things out later it so often goes
57:45so much better than when you just dive in and wrestle in the mud now many many things are improved
57:54by letting tempers cool and hotness pass and returning to it
58:01later when you can actually reason it out this inheritance is personal
58:07it is a personal inheritance colossians 3 23-24 it comes directly from
58:13god god is the rewarder of the faithful it’s not a general abstract inheritance
58:19in the sky in the clouds it is god who rewards his faithful children
58:24think about what the father has done with christ according to the word of god according to the new testament he is already
58:31at the father’s right hand he is already exalted he already has a name beyond every other
58:37name that is not our precise fate we will not ever be the second person of the godhead
58:44and yet we will be rewarded he has shown you what he is going to do
58:49for you as you are faithful to him by the resources of divine grace
58:55he is going to exalt you you don’t deserve it i don’t deserve it
59:01but he is going to do it and he wants you to work
59:06from the heart from the heart not to obey merely
59:14as an act of show or performance god wants to change and transform our
59:21heart such that we end up doing even duties of
59:26so-called drudgery ordinary anonymity from the heart
59:33and that’s how you know that you’re maturing in the christian faith yes when you do the plain anonymous
59:41difficult tasks and you do them honestly with a sense of joy with a sense of
59:48gratitude to god that you would get to serve in his kingdom in any capacity not the high and mighty
59:54capacity any capacity that’s how you know god really is is bringing about that sanctifying work
1:00:00in your heart you don’t do it but complain and whine and moan and make excuses you do it
1:00:08and you do it straightforwardly
1:00:13there is so much to learn from that older generation that did have a strong conception of
1:00:19duty in a positive way world war ii generation generation before that
1:00:25do you think those men for example felt excitedly fulfilled in going out to not
1:00:32one but two world wars i mean maybe there was an initial kind of wave but do you think it was
1:00:37exciting to stay a soldier for years facing
1:00:43death at every turn being in miserable conditions
1:00:48honestly we are soft today we are soft we need to toughen up you think
1:00:55here of the apostle paul and his understanding of vocation go with me to second
1:01:00corinthians 11 24
1:01:07to 28. this all fits very much with what we are saying
1:01:12and calls us to toughen up in our understanding of vocation
1:01:17paul defending his ministry against the so-called super apostles gives us rarely uniquely
1:01:25a catalog in in condensed form of what he has faced
1:01:33five times second corinthians 11 24. five times i received at the hands of the jews the forty
1:01:40lashes less one three times i was beaten with rods
1:01:46once i was stoned three times i was shipwrecked a night and a day i was adrift at sea
1:01:55on frequent journeys in danger from rivers danger from robbers danger
1:02:01from my own people danger from gentiles danger in the city danger in the wilderness danger at sea
1:02:10danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a
1:02:15sleepless night in hunger and thirst often
1:02:20without food in cold and exposure and apart from other things
1:02:28there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches this is paul’s
1:02:34catalog of vocational suffering for the glory of christ
1:02:40i would encourage you to read that over i would encourage you to put that on a note card in your library
1:02:47carol i would encourage you to bring this regularly into your thinking about your
1:02:53life and your calling in your ministry you may not have the this depth of lowness you may i don’t know
1:03:01but this is this is paul’s doctrine of vocation isn’t it
1:03:07he was very tough he endured he persevered men there is a very strong
1:03:14need today for what we call tough-mindedness not driven by our own strength but
1:03:21grounded in the grace of god paul was tough-minded paul was not
1:03:28in in and of himself as grace took hold of him one who cut himself excuses for weakness
1:03:36he knew that christ was strong and he was weak spiritually but he recognized that what
1:03:43christ does for a christian is strengthen them make the one who is weak
1:03:48strong is that not what romans 8 says romans 8 37 are we not more than conquerors we are
1:03:56we are more than conquerors through christ
1:04:02that is how paul was able to endure these hardships five
1:04:08times he received 39 lashes
1:04:16five times that would mean being beaten until you are a quivering mass on
1:04:22the ground for the gospel for the name of jesus christ
1:04:28three times rods beaten with rods
1:04:33stones people picking up rocks and stones and chucking them at his head and
1:04:40hitting him and hitting his bones and paul does not seem to have been the hardiest of physical specimens
1:04:48we can assume that his body was damaged by this
1:04:53three times shipwrecked what have you suffered for the gospel you and i whine about our calling about
1:05:00our ministry about how hard things are paul was shipwrecked three times a drifted sea a night and a day
1:05:09on frequent journeys and then he catalogs all his dangers it appears that he really faced a lot of danger and hardship and
1:05:16water i don’t think he loved i don’t think he loved being adrift at sea
1:05:22it looks to me like there is some kind of of deep-seated dislike of that difficult experience
1:05:29danger danger danger danger he faced and then he was hungry he was sleepless
1:05:37often without food often cold often exposed
1:05:47not having enough clothes on his back
1:05:54this is all part of a biblical doctrine of vocation all of
1:06:04this suffering mattered all of it mattered to god
1:06:12and all of it as paul was received into glory in his martyrdom
1:06:20was rewarded by god and will be rewarded by god
1:06:25all of it all the pain he went through was seen by god and all of it will be
1:06:32rewarded by god and all the pain that you go through will be rewarded by god
1:06:40it is not missed by god because it is missed by men much of the time
1:06:47people will not appreciate you the way you you wish they would most of the time
1:06:54they will not celebrate you the way your heart would desire
1:07:00paul certainly did not have crowds cheer him as he walked on roman roads and went
1:07:06from city to city he had the opposite effect he was hated
1:07:11he had thrown stones thrown at him he received 39 lashes five times
1:07:18the jews despised him because he turned his back on them the gentiles hated him
1:07:23as well and yet what drove paul on
1:07:30what kept him going it was the glory of god and a proper vision of the glory of god
1:07:37makes you tough-minded it makes you say no i have a higher calling than my ease
1:07:44and comfort i have to give god glory i only have this life i only have these
1:07:50days i only have these hours i have to press on i have to endure what does first corinthians 15
1:07:5858 tell us to be and to pursue to be steadfast to be
1:08:04immovable always abounding in the work there’s our word in the work of the lord knowing
1:08:12that in the lord your labor here’s here’s vocation your labor is not
1:08:19in vain what is it going to take to get to the end and be faithful like
1:08:27the apostle paul that kind of mindset a doxological mindset a glory driven mindset a heaven
1:08:34enraptured mindset you cannot be too heavenly minded as a christian
1:08:39it is not the case that there is this weird class of people who are out there and who are so
1:08:45heavenly minded they are no earthly good it is the case that we do not have enough heavenly minded christians
1:08:51we have barely any and we need a ton more we need christians who who labor who work
1:08:58for the lord with heaven on their mind with god’s personal glory and greatness ever before
1:09:05their eyes and that makes them therefore tough-minded
1:09:10which is to say steadfast immovable you think about those words
1:09:18and how significant they are a large part of what you’re going to have to do in ministry is very simply that
1:09:26that’s a fancy description isn’t it don’t move don’t move
1:09:35don’t yield your ground don’t be fickle
1:09:43don’t drop out don’t leave us don’t leave
1:09:49us hold fast hold fast to your church hold fast to
1:09:55your fellow elders hold fast to your spouse to your wife
1:10:02hold fast to sound doctrine guard the good deposit second timothy 1
1:10:0813 and 14 don’t give it up don’t give it up everything around you
1:10:13tells you whispers in your ear presses upon you give it up move move
1:10:20and what does the apostle paul who went through wave after wave of
1:10:27ministry suffering tell us don’t move don’t give up your doctrine
1:10:36be steadfast abound in the work of the lord
1:10:44remember as they throw stones at your head
1:10:49as they bring out a steel rod for your back as the ship pulls apart
1:10:59and you’re clinging to a piece of driftwood in the sea know that your labor
1:11:08is not in vain this isn’t the spiritual all-star account for you
1:11:15and i to feel bad about ourselves by this is the bible this is the word of
1:11:20god and this is a charge from an apostle who
1:11:26kept the faith and it’s a summons it’s a summons to you
1:11:32to go and do likewise by the grace of god and you can and i pray that you will
1:11:42and all of this is a theology of vocation
Standing Before God, This We Are and No More 