Pope Francis: Priests must go out among the people

Biblical equality or soft-core feminism?

I stated earlier that Vaun Swanson's argument for women's ordination was neither helpful nor persuasive for one glaringly obvious reason. Several readers have taken a stab at what that reason is and have made the general observation that it is an argument rooted in cultural, rather than biblical, considerations. That is good, because it confirms that I was not alone in noticing not only Swanson's lack of engagement with Scripture and Christian tradition, but also her eagerness to bow at the altar of cultural relativism.

Swanson represents an organization known as Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE). I first became aware of this organization while in seminary and never cared much for it. Even though I was rather agnostic on the issue of women's ordination at the time, I never appreciated the manner in which the CBE folks rammed their agenda down our throats at chapel services once per semester through the indignant preaching of a woman with a chip on her shoulder or a whiny-voiced man with a guilt complex. Much like the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, Christians for Biblical Equality seems to be pushing an agenda that is neither Christian nor biblical nor equal. Indeed, the term "biblical equality," when employed in the advancement of the organization's agenda, is little more than a euphemism for soft-core feminism.

True "biblical equality" is defined early on in Scripture:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1.27)

Biblical equality is rooted in the creation of human beings, male and female, in the image of God. It is an equality of being, not an equality of doing. That men and women have different roles to play in creation does not make one superior and the other inferior. It is all too common for advocates of "biblical equality" to engage in a subtle game of obfuscation, conflating the larger issue of women in ministry with the more narrow question of women's ordination. Their aim is to marginalize opponents of women's ordination by making it appear as if they oppose women in ministry altogether. There are, of course, plenty of biblical and historical examples of women engaging in various forms of ministry. But there are also plenty of biblical and historical reasons why the church reserves the particular ministry of elder/presbyter/priest to men. I will eventually get around to delineating those reasons as time permits, but suffice it for now to say that a nefarious desire to hold women back or prevent them from utilizing their spiritual gifts is not one of them.

Women's ordination: An unhelpful and unpersuasive argument

Scot McKnight is asking for input on the role of women in local churches. He includes this piece by Vaun Swanson which, my own beliefs about women's ordination aside, I find neither helpful nor persuasive for one glaringly obvious reason.

Why would the Christian community reject or fail to support well-trained female ministers when the apparent need for ministers is so great throughout the world? The Barna Research group has investigated gender differences in the American population. Among their findings women are more likely than men to read the Bible, attend church, pray, be born again, believe the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings, and describe themselves as “deeply spiritual.” Historically, women have been the backbone of churches. It is only logical that women would desire to attend seminary as a means of better equipping themselves for ministry. Because of the advances women have made in the non-church culture, however, women now expect the same level of respect, compensation, and leadership opportunities afforded men with similar training.

Unfortunately, the Christian culture in America is still struggling to accept women clergy. Even though women are more prevalent in seminaries, women clergy from every denomination continue to bump up against the “stained-glass ceiling” of longstanding limits, preferences, and prejudices. As part of a doctoral thesis project, I surveyed women who had graduated from a major evangelical seminary between 1996 and 2006. The percentage of female graduates finding appropriate ministry positions following graduation was shockingly low. In all, only thirteen percent of the women responding to the survey said they were working full-time in a ministry position, either within a church or a Christian organization in which they used their gifts and training and could unqualifiedly support themselves financially.

It is clear that American culture and the American church are following divergent paths regarding women. American culture is liberating women at the same time the church is systematically holding them back. Power struggles over what women can and cannot do are playing out in churches and denominations that are becoming more irrelevant to the culture-at-large every day. Seminary-trained women are caught in a vicious crossfire that very few anticipated when they responded to God’s call to become better equipped for ministry in the kingdom of God. Far too many good women are not finding ministry positions that will both utilize their training and abilities and support them financially. Rather than continuing to bang on the doors of these religious structures, women may need to work together to discover viable alternative ministry paths in which they can empower others and thrive in the use of their gifts and training. Trained female ministers are needed to address the serious spiritual, emotional, and physical issues women in America are facing in the twenty-first century. Women and men who believe this need to pull financial support from patriarchal and hierarchical Christian churches and organizations and invest it in those that affirm their equality. With God’s help, and the leadership of both female and male gifted ministers who have been set free, we can change our world for the better.

Now, before I reveal why I have problems with Swanson's argument, I would like to give other readers the opportunity to beat me to the punch. Laying aside your beliefs, one way or the other, concerning the topic of discussion, what do you think is the glaringly obvious reason for my saying this article is neither helpful nor persuasive?

Have at it!

Holy Communion: A bedside rite

From time to time, in my ministry to hospice patients, I am asked to administer the sacrament of Holy Communion. While both the 1928 and 1979 editions of The Book of Common Prayer provide resources for "Communion of the Sick," the prayers for physical healing are often inappropriate as hospice patients are looking not so much for deliverance from their ailments, but for comfort and peace as they prepare to pass from this life to the next. While the 1928 Prayer Book has an easily accessible rite, complete with collects and Scriptures, its archaic verbiage can be a hindrance to effective ministry even to older patients who may be familiar with such forms. Yet, the simpler rite in the 1979 Prayer Book comes at the expense of sound theology. All these considerations may make the issue more complicated than it should be, but I have had in mind for some time to pool the various resources at my disposal into an appropriate and accessible bedside rite which will fit, front and back, on a half sheet of paper and, thus, can easily be inserted into a standard-sized Bible. Here is the form I have developed at this point. Your comments and critiques are welcome.

The Collect 

O Lord, holy Father, by whose loving-kindness our souls and bodies are renewed, mercifully look on this your servant, lying in great weakness, and comfort him with the promise of life everlasting, given in the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle (1 John 5.13-15)

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

The Gospel (John 6.47-51)

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Prayer of Confession

Almighty Father, Lord of heaven and earth, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. Out of your great goodness, O God, have mercy upon us; according to the multitude of your mercies, do away with our offenses and cleanse us from our sins; for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Absolution

The Almighty and merciful Lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of his Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving

Lift up your hearts and give thanks to the Lord our God; for it is meet and right so to do.

All glory to you, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of your tender mercy, gave your only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again: For on the night in which he was betrayed, he took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat. This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Likewise, after supper, he took the cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Therefore, O Lord and heavenly Father, according to the institution of your dearly beloved Son our Savior Jesus Christ, we now celebrate this memorial of our redemption. Recalling Christ’s death and his descent among the dead, proclaiming his resurrection and ascension to your right hand, awaiting his coming in glory; and offering to you, from the gifts you have given us, this bread and this cup, we praise you and we bless you.

And we most humbly beseech you, O merciful Father, to hear us; and in your goodness and mercy, send your Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to your Son our Savior Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood. 

Grant that all who share this bread and this cup may become one body and one spirit, a living sacrifice in Christ, to the praise of your Name.

Through Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory are yours, Almighty Father, forever and ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer


The Communion

The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.
The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.

The Blessing

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always. Amen.

Do not neglect the external (Gregory the Great)

Some, on the contrary, undertake the charge of the flock, but wish to be so free for spiritual occupations, as not to give any time at all to external matters. Now, when such people wholly neglect to attend to what pertains to the body, they afford no help to their subjects. It is no wonder that their preaching is disregarded for the most part, for while chiding the deeds of sinners, and not giving them the necessities of the present life, their words certainly do not find sympathetic listeners. Doctrine taught does not penetrate the minds of the needy, if a compassionate heart does not commend it to the hearts of hearers; but the seed of the word does germinate promptly, when the kindness of a preacher waters it in the hearer's heart. Therefore, that the ruler may be able to plant within, he must also, with irreproachable intention, make provision for what is external. Let pastors, then, give their entire devotion to the inner life of their subjects, yet not neglect to provide for the exterior life also.

"These are my people"

Thoughts on the cure of souls, from W.E. Sangster:

To have the cure of souls . . . is the highest task to which any minister can be called. To stand in the pulpit on Sunday and see the eager and expectant faces of the people turned toward you, and know they have come for worship and for the bit of bread that you have been preparing for them in the week; to feel as you look at them: "These are my people"; to know that in all the great hours of their life, when they want to be wed, when a child is born into their home, when trouble comes, when the doctor is going in and out, when bereavement robs them of every scrap of joy -- to know that in that hour the door is open, and you not only may go but you must go; that the cry of their heart then is for their minister . . . to dwell upon that is to know a joy which, to my mind, not even the unquestioned delights of scholarly research can surpass. To receive the confidence of people, to know the secrets they have told to no other living soul; to blush with them over their sins and exult with them when the sin is flung under the table; to know their private affairs and to be the sharer of their highest ideals, is to have a joy which not one of us is really worthy.

Hansen: Valuing visitation

In the age of multi-site campuses and mega-churches, Colin Hansen still finds wisdom in the counsel of Richard Baxter.

When Christians find a pastor who preaches a powerful message, they are willing to compromise elsewhere. They aren’t so concerned if he never visits them, never talks to them, or never even learns their name. Those tasks become the responsibility of a campus pastor and a small group of fellow members. But I still worry for the primary preaching pastors in this situation. They know their churches have grown due to God’s anointing on their sermons. So they naturally expect that sharing the pulpit will hurt church attendance and giving. The numbers drop when they go on vacation. Such a heavy preaching burden precludes them from spending much time with members. And even if they had more time to visit and counsel, where would they start?

In this climate, I fear that a church is tempted to make two mistakes. It may overvalue the sermon while undervaluing the personal touch that informs those sermons . Gifted preachers understand human nature and the Bible, so they can craft messages that match the general concerns of a community. But unless they devote substantial time to caring personally for members, these pastors risk losing touch with the church’s specific needs. By contrast, the famed Puritan pastor Richard Baxter from the 1600s excelled in visiting his community. As a result, he saw dramatic change in Kidderminster, England.

“We must labor to be acquainted, not only with the persons, but with the state of all our people, with their inclinations and conversations; what are the sins of which they are most in danger, and what duties they are most apt to neglect, and what temptations they are most liable to; for if we know not their temperament or disease, we are not likely to prove successful physicians,” Baxter wrote in The Reformed Pastor.

Baxter didn’t have a lot of sympathy for pastors who have little time to get to know everyone. He recommended that overburdened pastors cut their salaries in half and hire someone else to help. We might remind Baxter that congregational care and outreach are not the sole responsibility of paid ministers. Nevertheless, Baxter wasn’t completely out of touch. He recognized in his day the same low expectation for interaction with pastors that we see in our own. He noted that many Christians just want the pastor to preach, administer the sacraments, and visit them when they’re sick. Many people don’t want to know their pastors because they don’t want their pastors to know them.

But Baxter knew that personal visitation is a powerful ministry. “I have found by experience, that some ignorant persons, who have been so long unprofitable hearers, have got more knowledge and remorse of conscience in half an hour’s close discourse, than they did from ten years’ public preaching,” Baxter wrote. “I know that preaching the gospel publicly is the most excellent means…But it is usually far more effectual to preach it privately to a particular sinner, as to himself.”

Clearly Baxter was concerned with effective ministry. But his measure was discernible growth in godliness and grace among the Christians he visited. What’s our standard for effectiveness?

The Preacher's Mistake

The parish priest
Of Austerity,
Climbed up in a high church steeple
To be nearer to God,
So that he might hand
His word down to His people.
When the sun was high,
When the sun was low,
The good man sat unheeding
Sublunary things.
From transcendency
Was he forever reading
And now and again
When he heard the creak
Of the weather vane a-turning,
He closed his eyes
And said, "Of a truth
From God I now am learning."
And in sermon script
He daily wrote
What he thought was sent from heaven,
And he dropped this down
On his people's heads
Two times one day in seven.
In his age God said,
"Come down and die!"
And he cried out from the steeple,
"Where art thou, Lord?"
And the Lord replied,
"Down here among my people."

--Brewer Mattocks

Incarnational Living and Ministry

Incarnational Living: Beginning in the Beginning

If spiritual formation is, to use the words of Robert Mulholland, "a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others,” it is no surprise that a significant portion of American Christianity is averse to cultivating incarnational living and implementing incarnational ministry. The contemporary culture is saturated with the mentality of instant gratification and the Church is often guilty of conforming to that culture by sanctifying its many vices, rather than transforming it through showing forth the presence of Christ in the world.

There is a shallowness about our lives if we are not in Christ. This is true, of course, for regular unbelievers. But it is also, and especially, true for "believers" who have become satisfied with a form of religion that stops short of union with Christ. This shallowness is far more dangerous than the shallow folly of "intellectual atheism," because it manifests itself in a form of outward godliness which lacks the inward power of the Spirit. It is a shallowness that contents itself with outward appearances but lacks inward holiness. Christ, having not been inwardly formed, cannot be outwardly manifest. Thus, what is manifested outwardly is "only a shadow of what is to come" (Colossians 2:17a, RSV). Such a faith lacks "the substance [which] belongs to Christ" (Colossians 2:17b, RSV).

This is the shortcoming of American evangelicalism. It is comfortable with having a form of godliness but denying its power. Its approach reflects the rigid legalism for which Christ rebuked the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). It lacks the substance necessary to encourage the deeper life in Christ, out of fear of violating some doctrinal norm. But union with Christ is supposed to be the norm, not the exception. Until we are one with Christ, our faith will lack substance. It will only be "a shadow of what is to come." Many who may have started strong in the faith will fall away because they will not be able to hold fast to "the Head," that is, Christ, who is the substance of our faith. Only in Christ does one's faith grow and mature for the ultimate benefit of the whole body (cf. Colossians 2:18-19).

The absence of mystery is a shortcoming of Western worship (particularly within the Reformed tradition), so much so that many Western Christians see worship as nothing but a routine or a form of religious entertainment to give them some vague reason to carry on with life for another week. If worship is truly worship, there must be a strong element of mystery. The Risen Christ is present in the midst of the worshipping community. That is a mystery, but it is nonetheless a profound and ultimate reality. It is the defining experience which draws the community together, shapes it by the Word and Holy Spirit, and empowers the Church, corporately and individually, for incarnational living and incarnational ministry.

Incarnational living involves something much deeper than merely "following Jesus' example." The question, "What would Jesus do?" is a good and basic starting point. But it only scratches the surface of the awesome reality that is incarnational living. Incarnational living joins both individual and community with Christ in the whole of his salvific work: his miraculous birth, his life and ministry, his suffering, his death on the cross, his resurrection, and his glorification. In Christ, believers experience all these things as a pneumapsychosomatic reality. The believer's spirit, soul, and body are one with Christ's spirit, soul, and body. This is no mere abstract concept. It is a part of the ultimate reality which is the deepest longing of every believer.

In order to enter into a mystery as profound as the Incarnation, one must cultivate a contemplative life. This is another obstacle to overcome in an instant gratification culture. But Christian tradition is very clear that the Incarnation is not only at the center of the Church's historic faith, but also ought to be at the center of the believer's life.

The clearest picture of the Incarnation, "the Word made flesh," is offered by John. In the prologue to his Gospel, he vividly describes this awesome mystery.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14, ESV)

Incarnational living must begin "in the beginning," Thus, John's prologue provides us with an excellent starting point for that which "begins" our life in Christ, namely, the New Birth. If life "in Christ" is, at its root, incarnational, that is, believers somehow partaking of the divine nature and participating with Christ in the whole of his salvific work, then such a life must encompass everything Christ accomplishes "in the flesh." The New Birth, then, is not something we must experience in order to come to Christ but, like everything else associated with our salvation, it is something we experience in Christ and with Christ. John's reference to "children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God" is, then, a reference to the New Birth which is experienced by "all who received [Christ]" and "believed in his name." While John may not mention Jesus' miraculous birth explicitly, there can be inferred a connection between Jesus' birth from a virgin via the agency of the Holy Spirit and the believer's New Birth via the agency of the same Holy Spirit. The inference is even stronger in Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:1-8, ESV)

"Born again" in the original Greek means literally, "born from above." After Nicodemus asks, "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born," Jesus elaborates on his original statement. "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." To be "born again" or "born from above" means to be "born" of the Spirit. Only then can one enter the kingdom of God. As Jesus later says to the woman at the well, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when all true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24, NIV).

This is what life "in Christ" in the kingdom of God, that is, incarnational living, is all about: God's "true worshipers" worshipping him "in spirit and in truth." But if our worship is to be in spirit and truth, we must heed the truth told to us by Jesus: we must be born of the Spirit. Jesus was literally "born from above," as has already been pointed out. He was born of a virgin via the agency of the Holy Spirit. What Jesus really means when he says, "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again," is, "To enter my kingdom you must share in my birth." But this is a physical impossibility, as Nicodemus pointed out. How are we to experience "birth from above" the way Jesus did? The answer is very simple, yet deeply profound.

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23, ESV)

Jesus' prayer for complete unity is fulfilled not in some interdenominational merger, but through believers becoming one with him. Through sharing in his Incarnation, we are incorporated into the deeper mystery of the Trinity whereby we begin to share in the very nature of the Divine.

Many believers, particularly in contemporary American evangelicalism, place such an emphasis on the New Birth that they miss out on the deeper experience of life in Christ. But life in Christ not only involves birth. Death to sin is also a crucial element in incarnational living. For there can be no resurrection to eternal life before that which is opposed to life is put to death. But what within a person is opposed to life? The sobering reality is the whole person is opposed to life, because sin has corrupted the whole person. Therefore, the whole person must be put to death. Paul testifies to this when he writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:19b-20, ESV).

The experience of being "crucified with Christ" must be understood from a whole person perspective. Death to sin is not "spiritual only." Paul does not say, "My spirit has been crucified with Christ's Spirit." That would negate the somatic dimension of death to sin and, by implication, the physical necessity of Christ's crucifixion. Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ." Paul understands his death "with Christ" to be a whole person experience. To be "crucified with Christ" is to participate in person with the actual death of the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Thus, when Christ was crucified, so was Paul and so were we. When Christ died, so did Paul and so did we. Yet, how is it that Paul still appears to be alive? The Apostle makes it clear who it is that gives life to his mortal body: "[The] life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God [literally, "in faith which is of the Son of God"], who loved me and gave himself for me."

There is no escaping the personal nature of Paul's experience. His whole person was transformed from being opposed to life to being life itself, through "faith which is of the Son of God." That which was opposed to life has been caught up, swallowed up, and raised up by him who is life itself. Paul's life "in the flesh" is a testimony to the power of the Risen Christ. Paul sees his life as a continuation of the life of Christ, a life which never ends. Paul's whole person is now wholly in Christ, that is, the Risen and Glorified Son of God, who submitted himself--spirit, soul, and body--to death on the cross for the redemption of our whole person--spirit, soul, and body.

Here the connection between incarnation and sanctification becomes clear. Paul and other New Testament writers often use such terms as "spirit," "soul," and "body" in vaguely interchangeable contexts with regard to redemption and salvation. However, only in speaking of sanctification does Paul use all three terms together.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ESV)

Here, Paul uses "spirit, soul and body" as an unmistakable unity of personhood which is saved, redeemed, sanctified, and, at last, delivered whole into the presence of God through Jesus Christ, whose suffering, death, and resurrection make it possible for all persons to have eternal life.

The end of incarnational living, that is, the hope of all who live in Christ, is the resurrection to eternal life. Scripture does not give us much latitude for speculation concerning this deeply profound mystery. Many have tried, however, and have inevitably fallen into error by attempting to be overly specific. Only through the lens of incarnational living is the necessary continuity between the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the dead to eternal life become clear.

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (Acts 4:1-2, ESV)

In the above cited passage, Luke makes a very important point. "The resurrection of the dead" is, according to the Apostolic proclamation, something which happens "in Jesus." The resurrection of Christ cannot be taken in isolation from the resurrection of the dead. Both are two parts of the same whole. In rising from the dead, Christ has abolished death's stranglehold on humanity. The resurrection of Christ is the kairos moment through which all of history can be understood. Christ is Alpha and Omega, First and Last, Beginning and End; who is and who was and who is to come. Hence, all who were dead, are dead, and will be dead in Christ were raised, are raised, and will be raised.

The hope of all believers--past, present, and future--is that in Christ and with Christ, we have been, are being, and will be raised to eternal life. In Christ, our whole person--spirit, soul, and body--is saved, redeemed, sanctified, and glorified; and with Christ we shall dwell forever in the presence of God.

Incarnational Ministry: From Contemplating the Mystery to Manifesting the Presence

Incarnational living must necessarily yield incarnational ministry. Contemplation of the mystery of life in Christ must become outwardly manifest as the Church shows forth the presence of Christ in the midst of the world as the visible agent of the kingdom of God. Each individual believer, having been uniquely gifted by God, must share in this incarnational task.

In the Gospel accounts of Jesus' baptism, there emerges a paradox which can only be understood within the context of the kingdom of God. John the Baptist, the fiery prophet who is nevertheless humble enough to recognize his own insignificance, boldly takes on the religious establishment, calling them a "brood of vipers." But then he proclaims that someone greater than he is coming, "whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:11-12, RSV).

Yet, right in the middle of John's stern warning about the One who is coming in judgment, Jesus himself steps through the crowd, into the waters of the Jordan River and says to John, "Baptize me!"

John has been preparing the way for Jesus to come in judgment against sinners, yet Jesus identifies with those very sinners. His is a judgment of separation. The wheat will be separated from the chaff. But the standard of judgment will not be how "religious" we are (as the example of the Pharisees makes clear) but, rather, how closely we identify with the Christ who identifies with us.

John's proclamation of fiery judgment is tempered by Jesus' humble act of identification. God's judgment is real and very much imminent. But if we are to proclaim it with integrity, we must identify with the sinners, acknowledging that we ourselves are chief among them. Those we invite into the kingdom may, in fact, enter ahead of us.

This is the actual (as opposed to the merely theoretical) tension in which we live as citizens of the kingdom of God. It is the tension between incarnation and identification. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to live as the ongoing incarnation of Christ in the world and for the world. But part and parcel to incarnational ministry is identification with those whom "respectable society" would call "sinners." With deepest humility, we must recognize that there is no one who stands in greater need of redemption than ourselves. But we do not look to ourselves for that redemption. We look to Christ and, when we look to Christ, we look to One who calls us to live by his example. He was without sin, yet became sin on our behalf. Thus, the tension between incarnation and identification actually defines the life and ministry of Christian disciples. As we incarnate the presence of Christ in the world and for the world, we proclaim the message of the kingdom of God. That proclamation includes the often stinging call to repentance. Yet, identification with sinners is also par and parcel to living out the incarnation. Even as we call sinners to repentance and invite them into the kingdom, we must identify with them in their brokenness. That is what Jesus did, even enduring the same temptations all "sinners" face, yet being without sin (cf. Hebrews 4:15).

Calling sinners to repentance, however, is not without its pitfalls. Suffering is an inevitable consequence of incarnational ministry. Just as we identify with sinners in their brokenness, so we also identify with Christ in his suffering and death. Absent such identification, we lose all sense of imminence regarding the kingdom of God and the hope of resurrection and final vindication. This is an area of incarnational ministry in which the Church in America is sadly lacking. The culture of instant gratification to which American Christianity has been conformed teaches that pain and suffering are to be avoided at all costs. This cultural accommodation is given theological cover through the novelty of dispensational eschatology, which corrupts the hope of Christ's return into an escapist fantasy, teaching that Christians will be "snatched away" to heaven before a period of untold suffering begins on earth. The prevalence of this error has been a devastating blow to genuine incarnational ministry within the American church. It may indeed be the case that a season of suffering is precisely what is needed to shake the church out of its complacency.

It is no coincidence that Jesus himself is most emphatic about the imminent nature of his return when addressing the comfortable, complacent, and compromised church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-20). It is an imminence not only of time, but also of space: "I stand at the door and knock!" These words ought to be a wake-up call to the church today which, like Laodicea, has become comfortable with the world.

Incarnational ministry keeps this sense of imminence at the forefront, for it is a reminder that ours is an urgent task. Neither we nor the persons to whom we minister are guaranteed the next moment. God's judgment--swift, sure, and decisive--will come when we least expect it. The most humbling truth about such judgment is that it begins "with the family of God" (1 Peter 4:17). When Jesus speaks of judgment in Matthew 24 (also Mark 13, Luke 21), his primary target is the Temple and the elite religious culture which had grown up around it. That culture was utterly destroyed some forty years after Jesus' prophetic declaration, "Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2, NIV). When judgment comes, it is the religious culture, not the secular culture, which bears the brunt of God's wrath. We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of comfortable complacency offered by the myriad of speculative eschatological schemes which either confine the significance of Jesus' words to a past generation (preterism, particularly hyper-preterism) or delay their fulfillment until a future generation (futurism, particularly the aforementioned dispensationalism). God's judgment is not only an imminent possibility, but also an imminent and sobering reality of which we must constantly be aware as we proclaim the kingdom of God through incarnating the presence of Christ in and for the world. If we are not sincere, God will see through our masquerade. It is not enough that we be merely religious. Incarnational ministry requires that we be Christ for the world and, in so being, we actively participate in the ongoing fulfillment of the eschatological kingdom toward which all of history is moving.