In with the Old, and the New

The First Epistle of Clement, the disciple of Paul, is an extremely encouraging missive. Writing to the Church at Corinth, somewhere toward the end of the first century, the Bishop of Rome was at pains to lead them to correct a grave injustice: The elders of the church had been summarily dismissed and replaced by a new slate. “Envy and jealousy” were obviously at work here on the part of those “who distrust the power of God” to order His churches the way He sees fit. True faith, and the good works which accompany it, had begun to lapse, and the unity of the church in Corinth was once again fractured and fragmented. The results were disastrous: “Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all.” We aren’t surprised; this was, after all, the Church in Corinth, where schism, envy and jealousy, immorality, and sluggardliness in good works had wrought such damage in Paul’s day. Some churches, it seems, just never learn. But I said this was an encouraging missive. Indeed, it is, for it seems that this most recent upheaval, to which Clement addressed his pastoral exhortation, had come after a season of revival, renewal, and restoration of the Church in Corinth. Clement was at pains to remind them of how powerfully God had worked in their midst: “For who ever dwelt even for a short time among you, and did not find your faith to be as fruitful of virtue as it was firmly established? Who did not admire the sobriety and moderation of your godliness in Christ? Who did not proclaim the magnificence of your habitual hospitality? And who did not rejoice over your perfect and well-grounded knowledge? For ye did all things without respect of persons, and walked in the commandments of God, being obedient to those who had the rule over you, and giving all fitting honour to he presbyters among you.” Remember your history, Clement seems to be saying. Learn from the mistakes and blessings of the past, and chart your course henceforth with a view to what God has already shown you in previous days. Just as it is impossible to row across a lake without fixing one’s eyes on points in the receding distance, so the Church cannot hope to navigate the treacherous seas of postmodernity into a safer, more prosperous future if it fails to learn from the generations who have gone before us in the Lord. This issue of Worldview Church reminds us that we can only advance the Kingdom by maintaining the trajectory established by those who have preceded us. Whether it is in the area of worship (David Naugle), what we confess and proclaim (John Armstrong), our mission to the lost and their culture (Bob Lynn), or the work of pastoral leadership (yours truly), we must struggle into the future with our plans and projects firmly rooted in the Word of God and the lessons of our Christian forebears. Along the way we must remember to seek the Lord earnestly in prayer (Stan Gale) and be available for every kind of service, be it ever so humble or demanding, to which He may call us (Jimmy Davis). There is much encouragement, instruction, and caution to be learned from paying attention to the lessons of the past (cf. Romans 15:4). Let us not be so foolish as to think we can simply throw out what God has accomplished and start the faith all over again, as the Corinthians evidently sought to do. Rather, let us remember where we have been, let us discern the lessons of our common past, and let us forge ahead into the future, safe on the trajectory marked out by the Spirit and the Word in the experience of the Church throughout the ages. T. M. Moore Editor Worldview Church, August-September 2007 Worldview, Worship, and Way of Life Dr. David Naugle At the heart of this discussion has been the question of the priority of the first two of these elements—belief or prayer—and the relationship of both of these to the third—action and practice. My Rather Idiosyncratic Worldview Reading List Rev. Robert Lynn My hope isn't only that you might find these particular books challenging and valuable for your own life and ministry. It is that this will also lead you to reflect on your own obedience to Christ's command to love him with all your mind. The Value of Christian Tradition for Modern Reformation and Revival Dr. John Armstrong Evangelical Protestants have a checkered history when it comes to dealing with the concept of a living tradition. While the early Reformers maintained it, their heirs have almost entirely seen this word negatively. Paying Attention to the Pattern by T.M. Moore Are we building our churches according to the pattern God revealed on the mount, or are we drawing on examples and models from the world of business and entrepreneurship to raise up a dwelling-place for God? Mobilizing God's People for Prayer An Interview with Dr. Stan Gale Prayer, by God's design, engages us in the accomplishment of His saving purposes in the lives of those around us. Book Reviews In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership Reviewed by Jimmy Davis

August-September 2007 Worldview, Worship, and Way of Life Dr. David Naugle My Rather Idiosyncratic Worldview Reading List Rev. Robert Lynn The Value of Christian Tradition for Modern Reformation and Revival Dr. John Armstrong Paying Attention to the Pattern by T.M. Moore Mobilizing God's People for Prayer An Interview with Dr. Stan Gale In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership Reviewed by Jimmy Davis

A Bibliographic Essay, Part II

I was talking with the general editor of an evangelical publishing house recently after sending him a book proposal in which I identified pastors and church leaders as the intended audience. His response was somewhat discouraging. “The problem is the book you’re proposing would be a seminary level text but our sense of things is that pastors stop reading seminary level books when they leave seminary.”

That was disheartening news—not about my proposal but about this man’s assessment of pastors. Jesus says we are to love God with our whole mind (Matthew 22:37). Paul says that life transformation is rooted in mind transformation (Romans 12:1,2), and so we are to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Christian discipleship is, necessarily, harnessing our brainpower for Jesus’ glory. Evangelicalism has produced numbers of men and women who have, in varied and remarkable ways, honored God with their minds. But exceptions only tend to prove the rule. The Evangelical church is largely a movement with populist roots that has tended to teeter between indifference and contempt with regard to the life of the mind. How sad to have an editor acknowledge that pastors often lead the way.

WITH ALL YOUR MIND . . .
My hope in writing these bibliographic essays isn’t only that you might find these particular books challenging and valuable for your own life and ministry. It is that these essays will also lead you to reflect on your own obedience to Christ’s command to love him with all your mind and consider what that means for the life of your congregation. Water doesn’t rise higher than its source. If we as pastors are not worldview disciples who do worldview thinking rooted in worldview reading, then our congregations will decide that what is not important to us need not be important to them. Quite frankly, brothers and sisters, in an image-oriented culture, reading is becoming a counter-cultural activity. Little in our world asks of us anything more than to respond unthinkingly to a rapid succession of ever-changing images. The kind of corporate Christian discipleship that can effect deep changes in a culture cannot be sustained apart from critical thinking. Indeed, the broader culture we have come to call Western Civilization cannot be sustained apart from the life of the mind.

If you don’t believe that’s true, consider the following. You have been charged with a serious crime but you are innocent. You now come to trial to be judged by a jury of your peers. Your peers have had little more going into their brains than Oprah, MTV, Jerry Springer, Fear Factor, any sitcom you can name, and People magazine. If you are not worried about whether justice will be served, this essay will not help you anyway and you may stop reading now.

WHAT’S NEW(BEGIN)?
For my money, one of the primary places where significant worldview thinking begins is Lesslie Newbigin’s, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. I am sometimes tempted to say that no single book has influenced me as this book has. Newbigin’s impact on me can perhaps be measured by a section in my library that contains all the books Newbigin ever wrote, books written about Newbigin, as well as books that significantly shaped Newbigin’s own thought. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society is the best expression of his thinking on the missional challenge of the church in the West following his return to England after 40 years of missionary service in India.

It is a wide ranging look at the Enlightenment culture of the West and the challenges it presents to the communication of the gospel. This is no simple book of “techniques” for “effective ministry.” Be prepared to wrestle with questions of pluralism, epistemology, history, revelation, and contextualization as they intersect such traditional theological topics as Christology and ecclesiology. And yet, for all that, he manages to show you how it all makes a difference at street-level for the life of the church in modern culture. This is theologizing at its best.

Four years ago our church was looking for another pastor. After the search committee was formed, its members asked each of the three pastors to meet with them so that we could have some input on the search process. Among my recommendations was this, “You shouldn’t hire anyone who hasn’t seriously engaged the work of Lesslie Newbigin. Thinking about the church and its ministry in Western culture is now dated pre- and post-Newbigin. To hire anyone who hasn’t engaged him would be like hiring a physicist who hasn’t read Einstein.” I still think that four years later, perhaps moreso now than ever. This book is like swallowing a 20-year theological time-release capsule.

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Next up is N.T. Wright. Recommending N.T. Wright is a bit more difficult in that I’m not sure there is one single volume that best serves as an introduction to the work of this remarkable New Testament scholar. But for brevity’s sake, let me recommend two. First, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. This book is a presentation, in popular form, of Wright’s much larger (and more scholarly), Jesus and the Victory of God. While I hope that the first book will cause you to read the second, the first has the added benefit of two chapters that apply Wright’s application of the life and ministry of Jesus in first century culture to the life and ministry of Jesus’ followers in 21st-century culture. Second, Paul in Fresh Perspective is a relatively brief (174 pages) look at the theology of Paul the Apostle. Wright’s skills as a historian serve him well here as he seeks to consider Paul in the context of his Jewish roots, the Roman Empire and Hellenistic thought.

So why recommend Wright? Two reasons, at least. One, few theologians or Biblical scholars will stretch your notion of “gospel” as does the Bishop of Durham. If you have come to be suspicious and dissatisfied with a gospel that has been reduced to the limits of your “spiritual life” so-called, then you’re ready for Wright. Here you’ll encounter a gospel as vast as the cosmos God redeems. Whether in his scholarly work or in his popular writing, Wright presents a gospel that isn’t simply a four-point outline about personal salvation. Rather, it is gospel as worldview; gospel as a way of seeing the world and everything in it in the light of God’s redeeming purpose. Two, Wright scrubs off the many grimy layers of churchly piety that have rendered the Jesus of the gospels as a rather dainty ecclesiastical moralist. This is scholarship that provokes wonder and worship as we see Jesus again with new eyes. If you have wrongly concluded that rigorous thinking gets in the way of genuine piety, then the necessary prescription is regular doses of Bishop Wright.

AND NOW FOR SOME LEITHART-ED READING . . .
If you want a real theological roller coaster ride, let me recommend Against Christianity by Peter Leithart. While written in a Nietzschean aphoristic style, Leithart is not (as you might wonder from the title) a cultured despiser of the faith. A conservative Presbyterian minister, Leithart has written a compelling book with such chapter titles as “Against Theology,” “Against Sacraments,” “Against Ethics,” and (rather unfashionably) “For Constantine.” This is a worldview book that interacts with a host of New Testament scholars, ethicists, systematicians, sociologists of religion and religious historians, and wrestles with questions of culture, church, and state on the way to defining the church as an “alternate polis.” And all in 143 pages! This book demonstrates that theology can be fun, unsettling, and challenging as it wrestles not just with “spiritual things” (that would be Gnosticism, after all) but the real world that God has made. Not for the faint of heart, this is a thought-provoking book that can stir the pot as you seek to make worldview disciples at church.

LOVELACE AND THE LIFE OF LOVE
Two other books need to be added to our list, Dynamics of Spiritual Life and Renewal as a Way of Life, both by Richard Lovelace. I’ve recommended these books constantly over the years as part of my personal campaign to keep them in print. When I taught at a seminary in the ‘90s, I made Dynamics required reading as often as humanly possible. In these volumes, Lovelace has articulated a biblically shaped, historically informed theology of spiritual life that simply cannot be beaten. My recommendation to students was that Lovelace’s taxonomy of spiritual life and renewal was so important that it should be the grid through which they looked at the life and ministry of the local church.

What sets these volumes apart is their depth and breadth. Many of the pastoral observations have so much wisdom that I find I turn to them again and again. And in an age of so many “Jesus-for-me-Jesus” books on spirituality, it is remarkable to turn to a book that sees such matters as social justice, issues of contextualization, and theological engagement as essentials for ongoing spiritual renewal. Equally refreshing is that Lovelace clearly understands that ongoing corporate renewal cannot be separated from personal renewal nor personal renewal from corporate. While Renewal is largely a condensation of the much larger Dynamics (each articulates the same basic taxonomy of renewal), it is—by Lovelace’s admission—something of an improvement in that it sets the theology of spiritual renewal of Dynamics into the even larger theological setting of what Lovelace calls the God-centered life and the Kingdom-centered life.

FOUR FOR THE KINGDOM (STUFF)
Lastly we come to the kingdom. Without your doctrine of the kingdom straight, you will misread the Bible. Period. To understand the kingdom is to read the Bible redemptively (not as a collection of moralizing stories), historically/eschatologically (not as a repository of timeless truths), and missionally (not as an “in-house” document). How important is the kingdom of God? Jesus announced the kingdom as the Good News of God (Mark 1:15): He commissioned the twelve to preach it (Matthew 10:7) and the seventy-two to proclaim it (Luke 10:9); He taught it to the apostles for forty days after his resurrection (Acts 1:3); the early church preached it; and it was the backbone of Paul’s teaching (Acts 8:12; 20:25; 28:23,31). Yet one of my seminary students said to me, “My pastor asked me the other day, ‘What’s with Bob Lynn and all this kingdom stuff?’” We are in deep trouble with respect to our reading of Scripture if its grand narrative simply becomes “this kingdom stuff.” The consequences for worldview thinking are enormous because worldview thinking rests on the foundation of the kingdom of Jesus who now rules until he has put everything—not just our spiritual live—under his feet (Ephesians 1:9,10,19-23).

In one sense we’ve traveled over this ground. A serious engagement with Newbigin and Wright, for example, will transform your thinking about the kingdom of God. Yet you may want to do some reading specifically about the kingdom. Over the past twenty years dozens of books have enriched my understanding of the kingdom of God in many different ways. But for now perhaps you should consider some volumes that help introduce you to kingdom theology. A slim but still challenging volume is Mortimer Arias’ Announcing the Reign of God: Evangelization and the Subversive Memory of Jesus. I must confess that one of the reasons I like it is because it has the word “subversive” in the title (it seems to make people nervous) but beyond that it is a fine introduction to the kingdom theology of the four Gospels.

So are George Eldon Ladd’s The Presence of the Future and Herman Ridderbos’ The Coming of the Kingdom. Finally, a brand new book certainly destined to end up in the next edition of My Rather Idiosyncratic Worldview Reading List, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative  by Old Testament scholar Christopher J.H. Wright. I’ve been waiting for a book like this for years. This substantial book (over 550 pages) develops a missional hermeneutic for reading the Bible. God has been on a mission from the beginning to redeem his fallen creation, and his kingdom of grace is the means by which he is bringing his sovereign, saving purpose to pass for us and for a broken world. To read the entire Bible—not just certain texts—as a mission text is to read it as a kingdom text. Wright’s book is exactly what you need to revolutionize the way you read the Bible.

The ancient Preacher said, “Of making many books, there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12b). Agreed. And in a culture where book publishers issue, not annual, but quarterly catalogues of their latest wares, it’s easy to find yourself reading and much, much wearied, yet none the wiser. The answer, of course, isn’t quantity but quality—reading wisely and reading well. It is my hope that God might use these essays and some of these books to move you along the road to better knowing him which, after all, is what wisdom is really about.

Rev. Robert Lynn is associate pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Mich.

How Worship Helps Us See the World

WORLDVIEW AND WORSHIP: THREE QUESTIONS
In the next several months we are going to consider the relationship between Christian worldview and the worship of the church. There are three sets of questions that we would like to consider in this discussion. Let me try to state them as succinctly as possible.

First, what doctrinal guidance and influence should a Christian worldview have on the content and character of the corporate worship of the church? How can and should the church’s biblically based, all-embracing vision of life inform the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the sacraments in the church’s worship?

Second, how might the totality of the church’s worship embody and manifest a scripturally based, comprehensive account of the cosmos and human existence? How should the liturgy (of whatever kind) inform and shape the essential consciousness and worldview of the Christian community? How should worship help us better understand God, the universe, our world, and ourselves? How should it also articulate the unique identity of the church as well?

Finally, what is or should be the compelling influence of both worldview and worship on the spiritual and moral formation of believers and their way of life in the world? In what way might worldview-based worship form the heart of the church’s essential paideia (education/training) in transforming the thought-styles, desires, and habits of believers into God-glorifying Christ-likeness? What epistemic (knowledge) assumptions and kind of pedagogy (teaching methods) make such transformation possible, so that believers become “constituted differently.” These questions address matters of orthodoxy and orthopraxy, and are of great consequence for God’s kingdom, church, and glory.

BELIEF, PRAYER, ACTION
An historic way of discussing this dynamic trilogy of worldview, worship, and way of life is found in the classic, ecclesiastical terms of Lex Credendi (the rule/law of belief), Lex Orandi (the rule/law of prayer), and Lex Agendi (the rule/law of action or practice). At the heart of this celebrated discussion has been the question of the priority of the first two of these elements—belief or prayer—and the relationship of both of these to the third—action and practice.

Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, that priority has been given to prayer or worship and the formula has read Lex orandi est lex credendi et agendi, that is, the rule/law of prayer is the rule/law of belief and action. In other words, prayer or worship is taken to be the source of belief and right behavior. Liturgical experience is determinative for doctrine and its ethical adornment. For example, Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann explains that the formation of an Orthodox worldview is not derived intellectually, “but above all from that living and unbroken experience of the church which she reveals and communicates in her worship, in the leitourgia always making her what she is: the sacrament of the world, the sacrament of the kingdom—their gift to us in Christ.” Accordingly, if one desires a deeper theological understanding or a biblical outlook on life, one need not read a book or take a class, but instead should attend worship. The church’s worship is the root of the worldview/theology tree, and “what is prayed indicates what may and must be believed.” In biblical language, the argument is this: “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). This worship (orandi) emphasis looks like this: Worship >>> Worldview + Way of Life.

Protestantism
On the other hand, by attributing supreme authority to God’s Word (Sola Scriptura), the Protestant tradition has sought to exercise Biblical or doctrinal control over both worship and way of life, and has generated the essential reformational conviction that Lex credendi est lex orandi et agendi, that is, the rule/law of belief is the rule/law of prayer and action (though this expression is used rarely in protestant circles). The reformers in particular sought to cleanse doctrine, liturgy, and Christian practice of its imperfections based on Scripture and Scripture alone, recognizing that because of her frequent lapses into error and sin, the church must be reformed and always reforming (ecclesia reformata semper reformanda).

John Calvin, for instance, taught in his Institutes that the church must be submissive to biblical authority since it is “built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles” (Ephesians 2:20). Accordingly, to foster theological understanding or worldview development, someone of this persuasion will not necessarily go to church or attend worship, but will probably read Scripture or a book, take a class, or go to a conference! Indeed, the Apostle Paul corrected the liturgical infidelities of the Corinthian church on doctrinal grounds by pointing out that “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). The doctrinal (credendi) emphasis expresses this relationship:  Worldview >>> Worship + Way of Life.

Now these traditions—Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant—all agree that there is, or at least should be, a harmony and interplay between belief (Lex credendi) and prayer (Lex orandi), as well as way of life (Lex agendi). But they disagree over which of these first two should “set the pace,” and both emphases, it seems, contain dangers. The Catholic and Orthodox stress on “prayer” has resulted in questionable “beliefs” (according to some). The Protestant concentration on “beliefs” has negated “prayer” (according to others). In other words, the former liturgical tradition generates doctrinal anxieties, and the latter doctrinal tradition is liturgically deficient. Both, therefore, have something to learn from each other—respectively, the restoration of doctrinal direction to the liturgy, and the renewal of liturgical meaning to doctrine—when it comes to this triad of worldview, worship, and way of life.

A TRINITARIAN MODEL
Now if I am forced to choose between these two alternatives, as an evangelical protestant, I assert my belief in the primacy of Scripture’s authority in all matters of faith and practice. Thus, I advocate that a Christian worldview, or what is believed Biblically and theologically (Lex credendi), ought to be foundational and determinative on the worship of the church (Lex orandi). At the same time, I affirm their reciprocal relationship, and believe that the liturgy of the church (Lex orandi) ought to manifest its biblical and theological beliefs and be expressive of a Christian vision of the world (Lex credendi). Furthermore, I assert that a Biblical worldview (Lex credendi) and form of worship (Lex orandi) are central to the formation of gospel Christians, and should have a radical impact on their way of life in the church and world (Lex agendi). Hence, my model is Trinitarian in nature, involving the “perichoretic” diversity and unity of these three fundamental elements as this diagram indicates:

But we have some big problems here. First of all, churches understand and impart only a fragment of a biblical worldview. Second, as a result, a biblical worldview is rarely on display in the churches’ worship. Third, this breakdown of worldview and worship authenticity has diminished the discipleship of believers who are also encumbered, often un/subconsciously, by the deadly, idolatrous influences of contemporary culture in them and their churches.

What we need, therefore, is fresh insight into the grandeur of the Biblical vision of reality, its impact on the church and in her worship, and how this renewal of vision and worship can reconstruct the catechetical development of the saints and their walk in the world. Next time, we will begin with look at a biblical worldview and its theological implications that may inform and guide the church as its rule or law of belief—its Lex Credendi.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.
World without end. Alleluia, Amen.

Dr. David Naugle is head of the department of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University.

Sin Has Consequences

Before we begin to examine the history of redemption, we need to take a look at the consequences of sin after the fall. Genesis 1-11 is often called the “primeval history” because it provides the earliest account of creation and the human race. These 11 chapters give us the proper framework for understanding Scripture as a whole, and are indispensable for the development of a Christian worldview. They can be outlined very easily: Genesis 1-2 presents the story of creation and God’s design for human life; Genesis 3 explains how sin entered the world and spoiled God’s plan; and Genesis 4-11 shows how sin proliferates and increasingly damages everything. The first 11 chapters of Genesis, therefore, are about creation and its corruption as a result of the fall.

There is no way to really appreciate the significance of our salvation except by understanding how deeply sin has wounded creation and everything in it. The catastrophic nature of our predicament must become transparent to us if we are to grasp the real triumph of the kingdom of  God. So, in this lesson on Genesis 4-11, we will learn how things go from bad to worse as sin spreads and escalates in the stories about Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and the tower of  Babel.

Verses 1-2 present the births of Cain and Abel and their occupations. Cain, whose name literally means “acquire,” “get,” or “possess,” was the first born and a farmer. Abel, whose name literally means “vapor,” “breath,” or “vanity,” was the second born and a shepherd. Their names signify lives of selfishness and brevity respectively. In due course, Cain and Abel presented offerings to the Lord based on their livelihoods. The Lord accepted Abel’s animal sacrifice, but not Cain’s agricultural offering (vv.3-5). This was because Abel offered the very best of his flocks in faith, whereas Cain apparently did not (see Hebrews 11:4; 1 John 3:11-12; and Jude 6). Cain responded vehemently to God’s displeasure (v.5), so God confronted Cain in his anger (v.6) and encouraged him not to give in to the controlling power of sin (v.7). Unfortunately, Cain paid no attention to God’s warning and shortly thereafter murdered his brother in the field (v.8). Cain failed both in his faith and with his family. He disregarded God and showed no respect for His image. For these reasons, John offers Cain’s action toward Abel as a tragic example of a failure to love one another (1 John 3:11-12).

Verses 9-15 present God’s judgment on Cain. Immediately, the Lord interrogates Cain regarding his brother’s whereabouts, and he responds defensively with his classic question of indifference: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (v.9) Yet God knows exactly what has happened. He says that Abel’s spilled blood cries out from the ground for justice (v.10), for the sixth commandment prohibiting murder was in place as a natural moral law even at this early stage in human history.

As a result of the murder, God pronounces a curse upon Cain just as He did on Adam, Eve, and the serpent. The ground that Cain will attempt to cultivate as a farmer will be fruitless, and he will be a fugitive on the earth (vv.11-12). Cain responds to God’s sentence with self-pity, but not repentance: “My punishment is too great to bear!” (v.13). He laments that he has been alienated from the ground and from God, and that in his vagrancy he will be the next murder victim. No one will be his keeper (v.14). God responds to Cain’s howling with grace. He issues an edict of sevenfold vengeance on Cain’s would-be murderer, and provides a seal of protection (a tattoo, perhaps?) that will enable him to live out all his days (v.15).

CAIN-LAMECH CIVILIZATION
The rest of Genesis 4 sets forth a picture of the godless human culture derived from Cain and his descendents. In it we see aspects of God’s original plan, and its woeful misdirection. Cain’s line multiplies and exercises dominion over the earth. They build a city and make advances in science and civilization. Nevertheless, this is accompanied by a radical increase in pride, immorality, and violence. Though ancient, it seems suspiciously modern, for human nature has not changed.

Genesis 4:16-18 is a short summary of Cain’s life after the death of Abel. Fleeing from God, he eventually settled in the land of Nod (Hebrew for “wandering”), east of Eden (v.16). He and his wife had a son Enoch, and they named the city they built after him (v. 17). The name of this eponymous city means to “initiate” or “inaugurate,” and it was a substitute for Eden. It was Cain’s attempt to create his own world without God. Cain intended for it to be a place of security in the midst of a hostile environment. He hoped that there he and his people could flourish in their undertakings. However, it was thoroughly secularized, grounded in self-love, and constructed for human glory. Its spirit culminated later in the tower of  Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Its ethos will be manifested again in its end-time descendent, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:5). These humanistic empires, both ancient and forthcoming, challenge the supreme authority of God and His purposes for human life.

The citizens of the city of Enoch weren’t good citizens, however. The city grew not only in population (Genesis 4:18) but also in corruption (v.19). Cain’s descendent Lamech married two wives, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. Despite this flagrant violation of monogamy (a natural law against adultery was already in place at this time), civilization began to flourish by God’s common grace. Adah’s side of the family contributed significantly to animal husbandry (v.20) and the musical arts (v.21). Zillah’s offspring flourished in the area of technology (v.22). Unfortunately, these remarkable cultural achievements were unable to change the spiritual texture of Lamech’s heart. In his noted “Song of the Sword,” he boasts to his two wives about his violent tendencies with an inflated sense of self-importance (vv.23-24). Cain and Lamech have the dubious distinction of producing the first apostate human civilization, and in it, sin continues to spread and escalate.

THE FLOOD
On the basis of Genesis 3:15, we can safely say that Cain and Lamech are the offspring of the serpent. Their wicked civilization is a manifestation of his work. This satanic line will culminate in two great world apostasies by the time we reach Genesis 11. The first is the pre-flood civilization (Genesis 6-9). The second is the Tower of  Babel (Genesis 11). A third great world apostasy is yet to come (Revelation 17-18). Yet the seed of the woman develops as well. We will trace the history of her line when we get to the topic of redemption. Right now, it is important to understand something about the first great world apostasy, which resulted in the judgment of the flood.

Cain and Lamech’s wicked descendents are on display in Genesis 6:1-8 where the causes of the flood are given. Verses 1-4 are considered difficult to interpret. There are three basic ways to understand this passage. First, the “angelic-demonic” view proposes that fallen angels assume human form, seduce mortal women, and produce giants as offspring. Their goal is to corrupt the human race and destroy the godly, messianic line of the woman.

Second, the “apostate Sethites” view suggests that the sons of God are the godly descendents of Seth who wrongly intermarry with the ungodly descendents of Cain. Out of these mixed spiritual unions a race of wicked tyrants is produced.

Third, the “divine kingship” view teaches that the sons of God are the demonically inspired kings or nobles of the ancient world who are the royal successors of Lamech. Their sin was not intermarriage between two worlds (angels and men), or between two religious communities (Sethites and Cainites). Rather, in the tradition of Lamech himself, their sin was polygamy (see vv.2,4; and Genesis 4:19). These kings violated the natural moral ordinance of God for human marriage. The result was the production of great dynastic rulers, men of great pride and power who did violence and promoted wickedness in the earth (just as arrogant, powerful leaders do today). As a result they corrupted humankind and aroused divine judgment. One thing is clear: God’s Spirit would not put up with this behavior forever. The time left for each person before he would face the judgment would be 120 years (v.3).

Verses 5-8 are much more straightforward in their explanation of the flood. What God sees is an evil heart out of which wicked actions spring (v.5). This verse is a vivid portrayal of the depth of depravity existing at this time. The human race has fallen away from God completely, and this degenerate condition has a decisive impact on God’s emotions and actions. He grieves over peoples’ sin and regrets that He made humankind in the first place (v.6). He resolves in His deep sorrow to bring judgment on His original creation by blotting out people, animals, creeping things, and birds from the earth (v.7).

Notice how God’s judgment on humanity affects the earth and its inhabitants. Solidarity exists between human beings and creation. Whatever happens to the former also happens to the latter in both judgment and redemption (see Romans 8:18-25). In this case, human moral chaos reduces the earth to disorder and brings death to its inhabitants through the waters of the flood. Unlike His original reaction to creation, God now looks upon the earth, and behold, it was very bad (vv.11-12; cf. Genesis 1:31). But God also looks upon Noah and his family with favor. Through them, humanity and the animal kingdom will be delivered through the ark. In due course, a new creation will be born out of the judgment waters of the flood.

THE TOWER OF  BABEL
A new creation is, indeed, born out of the waters of the flood (Genesis 9:1-19). Yet sin enters into this freshly cleansed world through Noah’s drunkenness in his vineyard (Genesis 9:20-27). Corruption grows among the descendents of Noah’s three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and culminates in a second great world apostasy at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). The narrative pattern of Genesis 1-11 is becoming clear. It runs from creation (1-2) to the fall and flood (4-8) to a new creation (9a) and then back again to another fall (9b-11). We move from Eden to Babel, where primeval history ends.

The Babel episode expresses a naive, yet strong confidence in what human beings through their technology could accomplish in the world. The builders of this city aspired to a unified and prosperous life. They wanted to be famous for their achievements. They wanted to do their own thing and be god-like in freedom. Along with the Cain/Lamech civilization of Genesis 4, Babel is the beginning of the humanistic utopian dream to which humankind has aspired ever since the fall. Humanity desires to see paradise restored, on its own terms. The Bible holds out the prospect of a perfect world as well, but one that will be achieved only in Jesus Christ in the context of a new creation.

The setting of the Babel story is presented in Genesis 11:1-2. Here we learn that the entire human race was linguistically unified (v.1). In journeying east, they settled on a plain in the land of Shinar (v.2). The next two verses present their rebellious plan (vv.3-4). By means of their technology (v.3), they resolved to build a city and a tower to make a name for themselves, and keep themselves from being scattered over the face of the earth (v.4). In titanic self-assertion, the Babel builders sought a unified physical and spiritual victory. They wanted their tower and city to serve as symbols of their power and pride, and they did not want to be subordinate to anyone.

But God was not happy that His human race was snatching at deity. His judgment was meted out in verses 5-9. Ironically, He must descend to the earth to see the tower, puny from the divine perspective, that the Babel builders had made (v.5). He makes careful note of their social and linguistic unity, and their remarkable technological prowess: “Now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them” (v.6). God’s purposes are now in danger of being replaced by humanity’s desires. To thwart their forward progress and to insure the continuation of His own agenda, God administers a two-fold judgment: He confuses them linguistically and scatters them globally (vv.7-8). As a result, they stop building the city. What better way to impede their progress than to prevent them from understanding each other.  The city was appropriately named Babel because of the confusion that began in this city (v.9). This confusion prevented early humanity from going too far in its power and pride. How far will God let us go in ours?

This event marks the origin of diverse cultures, languages, nations, and races (the table of nations in Genesis 10 explains how the peoples were divided). Division and difference mark the human condition from this point onward and division remains until the reversal of Babel at Pentecost, when the Spirit of God united people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation (Acts 2:1-12; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). God’s ultimate goal is a humanity that is renewed and reunified in Him.

Have you noticed that the account of Babel, unlike the account of Noah and the flood, lacks any mention of a righteous remnant? How will God’s story continue from here? There is no offspring of the woman for His kingdom. Have we reached a dead end only 11 chapters into the Bible? Here is how one theologian describes this situation:

The story about the tower of Babel concludes with God’s judgment on mankind: there is no word of grace. The whole primeval history seems to break off in shrill dissonance, and the question . . . now arises even more urgently: is God’s relationship to the nations now finally broken; is God’s forbearance now exhausted; has God rejected the nations in wrath forever?

What will God do next? We will find out when we begin our study of the history of redemption. For now, we see the world living in universal spiritual rebellion against God. No one is righteous, not even one. It seems that sin has spread and escalated to the point of no return.

CONCLUSION
Genesis 4-11 depicts the spread and escalation of sin: fratricide, Cain and Lamech’s humanistic civilization, and the two world apostasies at the flood and at Babel show that sin is out of control. God’s rule appears to be in jeopardy, and His creation and creatures seem to be thoroughly corrupt. Things have gone from bad to worse; a great tragedy has befallen the world. Only against this black velvet curtain will we truly appreciate the dazzling diamond of our salvation.

David Naugle is professor of Philosophy at Dallas Baptist University where he has served for 14 years. In addition to teaching and working with students, he maintains an active schedule of writing and speaking.

Naming the Elephant Well Worth Reading

A review of, Naming the Elephant: Worldview As a Concept, by James W. Sire (InterVarsity Press, 2004).

Jim Sire has been thinking about worldviews for a long time. His book, The Universe Next Door, was one of the first evangelical books to investigate this subject of rapidly-growing interest abd has been a staple in the InterVarsity literary cuisine for years. This new book is something of an addendum to Universe; in it Sire brings his thinking on the subject of worldview up to speed, with a little historical backing and some new insights added for good measure. As with any book by Jim Sire, Naming the Elephant is clear, cogent, and well worth reading.

But what I really like about this book is Sire’s unabashed enthusiasm about our good editor’s Worldview: The History of a Concept. Indeed, Naming the Elephant amounts to little more than an animated dialog with David Naugle’s landmark book; in his book Sire testifies to how Naugle, whom he regards as having broken new ground in worldview thinking, has helped to clarify and expand his own views on this subject. There is no attempt here to pre-empt or co-opt Naugle. Instead, Sire waxes enthusiastic about Naugle’s work and shows how his own concept of worldview has been enlarged and made more compelling.

If you haven’t read David’s book, Jim Sire will make you want to. But that aside, Naming the Elephant is a useful introduction to the history and current state of thinking about worldviews, showing how they function and, therefore, why understanding them is so important. Sire shows that because worldviews define ways of living in the world, it is important to understand the worldviews with which we in the Christian community must contend. While working to understand the worldviews of others, we must clarify and enlarge our own Biblical view of life. This is truly a task for today’s sons and daughters of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32), and Jim Sire is just the kind of advisor you’ll want to consult for help in shaping your thoughts.

T. M. Moore is a Fellow of the Wilberforce Forum. He serves as Pastor of Teaching Ministries and Director of the Center for Christian Studies at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tenn. He is the editor of the series, Jonathan Edwards for Today’s Reader (P & R), the latest volume of which is Praying Together for True Revival. Audio messages and lectures by T. M. can be secured from WordMp.3.com. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in Concord, Tenn. T. M. can be reached at nacurragh@aol.com. All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (Crossway).

The Wise Shepherd, Part 3

Nothing is more imperative for today’s pastors than for them to devote themselves to acquiring the wisdom of God. For want of God’s wisdom, the Church has begun to drift from its moorings and is slipping out of the mainstream of American life into the backwaters of marginality. As Solomon, at a time of great national crisis and opportunity, knew to seek the wisdom of God, so the shepherds of God’s flock today must make it their highest priority to acquire this divine gift of “skill in living.” Only wisdom will allow us to serve as gloriously effective channels of the grace of God to His people; therefore, wisdom must be our highest and most persistent priority in life.

In our first installment we saw through Solomon’s example, that prayer is the place to begin seeking wisdom from God.  God is willing to grant us the wisdom we need to serve His people in the work of building the Church and advancing Christ’s Kingdom, but we must be diligent and persistent in seeking that wisdom in prayer. Prayer increases our trust and confidence in the Lord, and ensures that His wisdom will be available to us as we need it. Next, as we explored last time , we must seek the face of Jesus, and the wisdom of God He embodies, throughout the pages of Scripture. Only as we grow in our personal relationship with Jesus, will the wisdom of God begin to be ours.

In this article, I want to build on the foundation of seeking wisdom from the Lord Jesus as He is revealed in God’s Word and encourage consistent study of the Bible as a sure means of acquiring that wisdom. The Scriptures tell us that “the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7); that the Bible is able to make the man of God “competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17); and that the wise will show that they are wise by understanding the will of God as He reveals Himself in His Word (Ephesians 5:15-17). Thus, together with prayer and seeking the face of Jesus through Scripture, the expansive and consistent reading and study of God’s Word must be a primary activity of those who wish to gain the wisdom of God.

PREACHING TO THE CHOIR?
At first, it might seem that encouraging pastors to be thorough students of God’s Word is like preaching to the choir. After all, aren’t pastors already devoted to this calling?

Yes and no, or, at least, that’s what my experience tells me. In principle, yes, pastors know that they are called to the task of ministering God’s Word to His people. Therefore, week after week, they faithfully search the Scriptures for a message from God for their churches. To the extent that pastors are faithful in preaching and teaching the Word of God, they may expect to grow in wisdom. But, as I have observed, two problems arise.

First, there is the problem that, for many pastors, the time they spend reading, studying, and reflecting on the Scriptures is, for the most part, devoted to discerning God’s message for their congregations. Thus, their study of the Bible is given almost entirely to understanding the text in the light of the needs of others.  The driving question seems to be, “How can I make this message relevant to my people?” Whatever personal application may be intended for them is received as a kind of glancing blow, that is, only to the extent that they think of themselves as “one with my people” in receiving the instruction of the Lord.

The second is related to the first: many pastors allow their Bible reading and study to be determined by their schedule of preaching and teaching. Over the years I have asked dozens and dozens of pastors to talk to me about their approach to Bible reading. Some admit they have never read the Bible through, from cover to cover. Others confess they have no daily time for meditative reading of God’s Word, or that they can’t remember the last time they read the entire Bible. Still others have told me that they lump their personal time in the Word of God together with their sermon preparations, so that there’s no time devoted to their own interaction with God’s Word on a regular basis, according to a schedule that will take them through the entire Bible.

If a pastor’s time in the Word is focused primarily on the needs of his people, or if his reading and study of the Bible is determined exclusively by his preaching schedule, he is missing important aspects of a relationship with Scripture that can yield the fruit of wisdom. In what follows I’d like to outline an approach to seeking the wisdom of God in Scripture that will ensure that we are exposed to the whole counsel of God over time, helping us grow in this most needed attribute.

APPROACHING THE WORD OF GOD
I want to mention five aspects of an approach to the reading and study of the Bible that can help pastors tap into the wellsprings of wisdom running deeply therein. 

CULTIVATE SIMPLE-MINDEDNESS
Jesus said that God is willing to reveal the deep truths and precious wisdom of His Word to those who come to it as simple-minded in all things (Matthew 11:25,26). How easy it is, after so many years of reading and study, teaching and preaching, and poring over the text of the Bible, to assume that we already know as much as there is to learn from any given passage. But the Word of God is deeper, wider, and richer than you or I will ever fathom. There is always more to learn, more of God’s wisdom to be discovered. We need to approach each reading of the text of Scripture as though it were our first exposure, pleading with God to take us deeper, show us more clearly, reveal more personally the truths He has encoded there. Resist the temptation to skim over familiar passages, or to assume that, because you have preached that text lately, you know everything there is to know about it. Approach each text with the wonder of a child, and turn the words and sentences over and over in your mind, embracing them with your heart as though for the first time, allowing God to speak old things to you in fresh and convincing ways.

Begin your reading and study of Scripture with prayer, admitting your ignorance, and seeking God’s Spirit to guide you into all truth. Try praying one or more of the 22 sections of Psalm 119 as you come to your daily devotions. See there how the Lord instructs us to think about His Word, and make these prayers your own prayers for a simple heart and mind in coming to the reading and study of Scripture.

SUBMIT TO THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD
Paul justified himself to the elders at Ephesus by reminding them that he had not failed to teach them “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Presumably, he was able to do this because he himself regularly read and meditated on the Scriptures, always seeking the face of Jesus and the wisdom of God for himself and for those he was called to serve. Pastors simply must make the exhaustive and repeated reading of the entire Bible a part of their personal spiritual disciplines. We cannot teach or preach what we have not read, studied, and meditated on for our own lives. And if we would be justified as Paul was, then we must give ourselves to this most basic obligation of submitting in our reading and study to the whole counsel of God, the entire Bible.

Set up a schedule for reading through the Bible every couple of years. If you read two chapters of the Old Testament and one out of the New every day, you’ll make it easily. But set a standard – a rule – for your daily Bible reading and stick to it as closely as possible until you have read and meditated through the entire Bible. Then start all over again.

SEEK THE COUNSEL OF THE WISE
Don’t read the Bible alone. Read it with the wise, with those of our contemporaries and of the great tradition of the Church, who have plumbed the depths of Scripture far beyond where we will ever go. We’re confortable doing this in our preaching and teaching, when we consult commentaries for examples. But this practice can be equally fruitful during our times of reading and reflecting devotionally on the Word of God. 

Two extremely helpful resources for this are the Ancient Christian Commentary Series, edited by Tom Oden and published by InterVarsity Press, and The Church’s Bible, edited by Robert Wilken and published by Eerdmans. These masterful and beautiful volumes cull the best from the preaching and writing of the first thousand years of Church history and assemble them into commentaries on whole books of the Bible. The voice of the grand tradition of Christian teaching comes through in fresh and highly illuminating ways. I try to read through one volume of these series as part of my daily devotional time.

MAKE YOUR OWN LIFE THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDY
If we regard the words of Scripture as well-sunk nails, then we will want to put them to use in our daily lives as we build the house of our own faith on the foundation of God’s Word. In my own journaling, the last thing I do is reflect in writing on the topic of, “Of My Calling and Task.” Here I ask the Spirit of God to lead me personally into the meaning of my reading for my own life, and to show me specific ways I can put that truth into practice this day. I make some notes, write a few sentences, and then commit my thoughts to the Lord in prayer, in the light of my schedule for the day. If I believe the Bible to be a primary source of wisdom, then whatever God speaks to me from it is worth trying to cash in on as soon as possible.

STAY ALERT TO OPPORTUNITIES TO LIVE OUT THE WISDOM OF GOD
Pay attention to what’s going on in your life. Keep your eyes open, and stay in a prayerful mood throughout the day so that the Lord can show you specific ways to apply what you’ve been reading in the everyday circumstances of your life. It’s not enough just to know how the Word applies to my life; I need to be diligent to live it out if I want to see the wisdom of God come to fruition in me.

Have some friends, beginning with your spouse, who will agree to meet with you regularly and talk about what you have been reading, how it has affected you, and what changes you are seeing in your life. Let them hold you accountable by affirmation, prayer, and encouragement. Seek their counsel when you stumble or get stuck. And do the same for them as you labor together to gain the wisdom of God from His Word.

TAKE THE LONG VIEW
Mining the wisdom of God from Scripture is, a lifetime calling. We’ll never exhaust the rich veins of truth, never drain the deep wells of wisdom God has deposited for us there. Don’t take the attitude that you’ll “try it” for a year or so. Take this five-fold approach to Scripture, or something similar, as a personal commitment to the Lord and then, patiently, determinedly, and continuously seek His wisdom by these means. God will honor such resolution, coupled with prayer, and will enable us to gain this, the greatest and most urgently needed pastoral trait.

T. M. Moore is a Fellow of the Wilberforce Forum.  He serves as Pastor of Teaching Ministries and Director of the Center for Christian Studies at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tenn.  He is the editor of the series, Jonathan Edwards for Today’s Reader (P & R), the latest volume of which is Praying Together for True Revival.  Audio messages and lectures by T. M. can be secured from WordMp.3.com.  He and his wife, Susie, make their home in Concord, Tenn.  T. M. can be reached at nacurragh@aol.com.  All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (Crossway).