These two, salt and light, provide the great purposes of our lives as believers. God will bring you into certain ministries or callings or activities that will give structure to this, but remembering constantly that we have been made to be distinct in the world and illuminating is enough to give you that reason for living you desperately need. 

I queried an older man who has become a dear friend with a pointedly stark question: what is your purpose in life? He is advanced in years. He ought to know by now. The question struck home, and he teared up trying to answer it.
He failed. He had nothing much to say. And he felt the pain of the emptiness that lingered in the air as he tried. He seemed not to like what fumbled out and admitted he was unable to answer satisfactorily. I appreciated his honesty.
Imagine what it means for anyone, young or old, to exist for a precious few years on planet earth, staring at eternity during his or her only trip through, without any noble purpose. Imagine coasting in neutral to hell. I once read the final statement of a person of notoriety in journalism who had taken his life. He wrote, “I might as well have played ping pong all my life.”
At the time I had this revealing discussion, I had been meditating and discussing concepts from the Sermon on the Mount with a friend every week who lived many States away. We had recently discussed that section containing the often misused and unfortunately worn words, “salt and light.” You remember it, don’t you?
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled under foot by men.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Mt 5:16-18, LSB)
We noted in our reflections that there is purpose here. You recall, I’m sure, that Jesus began his sermon with what is called “the beatitudes,” which is a kind of portrait of the blessed follower of Christ. This was the formula Christ used: “Blessed are the ________, for they will ___________.” The word “blessed” is followed by a descriptive name for those blessed (for instance, “the pure in heart,” meaning those focused singularly on God) and a statement concerning the specific way the blessing will be realized (“for they shall see God”). The specific blessings are those promised throughout Scripture for every believer and the descriptive name of such people is characteristic of each of those believers as well.
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The Bible tells us about the beginning of history by giving an account of the creation of the world (Gen. 1–2). It tells us about the goal of history by telling us about the new heaven and the new earth to come (Rev. 21:1–22:5). We ourselves, and all the things and events around us, dwell in the time in between. The events in the in-between times have significance. That significance comes from God. Events unfold from an origin shaped by God. And they all have purposes, because they lead forward to a goal shaped by God. Each event happens in accord with God’s plan (Isa. 46:9–10; Lam. 3:37–38; Eph. 1:11). Each event is known by God from all eternity, because it is planned by him.

Is there a distinctively Christian approach to history? And if so, what does it look like in practice? How should we think about history? How should we write about history? How should we read critically the historical accounts of the past? How should each of us think about his own personal history and the history of relatives and friends?
Everyone participates in a single large historical stream of events, traveling from past to future. So does it make any difference what one believes about the events? As we read the Bible, we find that there are several ways in which God guides us to think in a distinct way about history.
Meaning
Our beliefs about history make a difference because everyone wants to find meaning in history. If there is no God, if each of us is just atoms in motion, there is no overall meaning. All of it is “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”1[1] Out of his own mind, each person can still try to invent his own personal meaning for himself and for his surroundings. But deep down he is aware that it is his invention. It signifies nothing, ultimately, because in the end we are all dead. Such a picture is bleak.
By contrast, the Bible indicates that events have meaning, given by God. We ourselves are human beings created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27). We have significance as persons. God is personal, and he has created us as persons. We are to live in fellowship with him.
The Bible tells us about the beginning of history by giving an account of the creation of the world (Gen. 1–2). It tells us about the goal of history by telling us about the new heaven and the new earth to come (Rev. 21:1–22:5). We ourselves, and all the things and events around us, dwell in the time in between. The events in the in-between times have significance. That significance comes from God. Events unfold from an origin shaped by God. And they all have purposes, because they lead forward to a goal shaped by God. Each event happens in accord with God’s plan (Isa. 46:9–10; Lam. 3:37–38; Eph. 1:11). Each event is known by God from all eternity, because it is planned by him.
In sum, we can have meaning in our lives because God gives meaning. Christians, unlike many other people with different views, believe in a God of meaning. This is important even when we cannot presently discern the meaning.
God’s Control
One primary principle is that God is in charge of events, both big and small.
[God] removes kings and sets up kings.—Dan. 2:21
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.—Matt. 10:29–30
His rule is comprehensive:
Who has spoken and it came to pass,unless the Lord has commanded it?Is it not from the mouth of the Most Highthat good and bad come?—Lam. 3:37–38
As a result, Christians have a source of security. The universe is under the control of our loving Father. His control is thorough and meticulous. We need to acknowledge his sovereignty and to give him thanks: “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18).
History involves events, persons, and the meanings that belong to them. All three—the events, the persons, and the meaning—come from God. All fit together into a coherent whole, because there is only one God who rules over all (Ps. 103:19).
God’s Purposes
If God is involved in everyone’s life, in all circumstances, what are the implications? The first implication is to acknowledge his presence and to be aware of his presence. But how? There are two extremes to avoid.
Overconfidence about Purposes
One extreme is to be overconfident that we can know and discern God’s purposes in the details of events. The Bible tells us about God’s overall goal and his overall purpose, to “unite all things in him [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:10). It also indicates that a prime means for moving toward that goal is the spread of the gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. . . . ”(Matt. 28:19). But what about the particulars? People sometimes make confident pronouncements. For example, Job’s friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—thought that they knew the reason for the disasters that befell Job. They said that the disasters showed that God was punishing Job for some particular sins for which he needed to repent. But the book of Job as a whole shows that they were wrong in their supposition. Likewise, when the disciples inquired in John 9:2 about the man born blind, they supposed that either he or his parents had sinned and that the calamity was the result of the sin. But Jesus answered that it was “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (Job 9:3).
God’s purposes are deep. We are not God. We need to recognize that, although God always has his purposes, many of those purposes in their details are hidden from us.
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I don’t write this in anger or seeking my “pound of flesh” as I was accused of at a presbytery council meeting when seeking to expose this behavior at the presbytery level. We must all pursue the path of forgiveness just as we have been forgiven. So, I must pursue it as well. Yet we cannot let such behavior and character lead the way. What is my hope in writing all this down? I hope more will speak the truth in whatever difficult circumstances they face. I hope more will seek righteousness over institutional success. I hope we will stop platforming toxic leadership.

“… it was one of the most amazing experiences that I have had in church planting, and I think the one I’m most proud of….”[1]EPC Church Planting Coordinator, Tom Ricks, speaking at this year’s General Assembly (2024) about a multi-ethnic and urban church plant he helped coordinator.
I was watching the stream of the 2024 EPC General Assembly[2] to see how the denomination might handle a controversial matter before the body. Quite accidentally, I caught the panel discussion on Church Health and heard Tom Ricks say the words above. When Tom said he was “most proud” of this project, I felt an obligation to speak out about the toxic management of this project behind the scenes. Further, while I have spoken and written about my concerns over platforming leaders who have organizational success but who are a corrosive force to the long term health of those same institutions, I decided it was time to move beyond talking about it abstractly. It was time to be specific and explicit.
A couple of months ago, I wrote about my own journey through spiritual abuse and how I have recovered (mostly) from that experience. At the time, I did not include names (like Tom Ricks and Greentree Church) because that piece of writing wasn’t about finding justice but healing for me and to help others find it as well. I knew many would be able to identify the individuals and institutions in the piece, but I nonetheless chose not to be explicit. Again, I refrained from naming names because it wasn’t about putting right things that were wrong, but helping people hurt in church settings find a way back to love the Bride of Christ. For that moment, that seemed like the extent of my responsibility as it related to Greentree and Tom Ricks.
After watching the panel on Church Health, I realized that perhaps I owed the people of God more. I owed them transparency. I owed them the truth. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in a 1913 Harper’s article “[S]unlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” My hope is *not* that “people get what’s coming to them.” That would be folly indeed as we all deserve judgment. My hope is that by being explicit, people and institutions would do the hard work to become more healthy. My hope is that other institutions will stop platforming this kind of toxicity.
I worked with Tom at Greentree Community Church, first as Assistant Pastor for Care, then as Associate Pastor of Adult Ministries and at times I was unofficially given executive pastor responsibilities. It was in this expanded role that Tom spearheaded the effort to start an urban church plant in North St. Louis County. While it was not in my stated responsibilities, I was drawn into the organization of this project. I had a front seat in watching Tom Ricks promise things to a church planter he had no authority to promise, manipulate and intimidate his staff and session to support this project, and throw others “under the bus” to protect himself. Perhaps there is a bit of snark in this question but it is still an honest one: I wonder which of these behaviors made him so proud of this church planting project?[3]
When I first began working at Greentree, I felt I had found a good and stable place to work. The church was in process of building its first facility and we were on the cusp of some explosive growth. It was fun. Even still, I began to bump into Tom’s problem with truth telling from the start. I just didn’t recognize it as such. I dismissed it as miscommunication or misinterpretation or use of imprecise language. It wasn’t until the urban church plant planning started that I began to question things in earnest.
Tom had organized a group of local pastors that he dubbed the “St. Louis Urban Church Planting Network.” Greentree considered this a separate entity and as such did not fall under the governance of the session. Tom recruited a church planter (hereafter referred to as CP), an apprenticeship was established, and the “Network” hired the CP on a part-time basis (or so I thought).  Tom asked Greentree to support the effort at $15,000 a year and the session agreed. Other churches agreed to support the church plant, some by paying the seminary tuition of the CP as he attended Covenant Seminary.
Church Planting Internship
It all seemed very tidy, until September of 2018. That’s when a pastor of one of the “Network” churches mentioned to me that the CP would be an intern at Greentree. I tried to clarify that he would *not* be an employee of Greentree but of the “Network.” The pastor gently pushed back and claimed Tom had told the “Network” that the CP would be employed at Greentree. I asked if he had a written record of this and he did in the form of an email. At this point in my working relationship with Tom, I had experienced enough of his “loose relationship with the truth”[4] to ask for documentation of important communication. The pastor sent me a copy. My very next supervisory meeting with Tom, I asked if the CP would be employed at Greentree.
“No, he will work for the network.”
I countered: “______ said you told him CP would work for Greentree.”
“He is mistaken.”
“I have an email from you saying as much. Would you like me to show you?”
“Uh… no… no… yes, CP is an employee of Greentree.”
It turns out, the “Network” was not a legal entity. It was simply a group of pastors agreeing to have their churches give money to Greentree to support a new church plant. It had no more institutional standing than a book club. I strongly encouraged Tom to inform session about CP being an employee of our church and he said he would. He failed to do so and in fact never voluntarily informed session that Greentree was functioning as the financial agent for the CP’s internship.
My sense of obligation to Tom was still quite strong at this point. I wanted to see him succeed. But there was a growing tension within me. I wanted to believe Tom was sincere in his relationship with me but my gut was telling me I was being played. A wooden interpretation of 1 Cor. 13: 7 (“[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres….”) led me to endure and hope my gut was wrong.
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[1] Church Health Panel Discussion | Wednesday, June 19, 2024, around the 10:50 mark, https://youtu.be/Q3_uBS7n374?si=GknBpTKP8noQTRJ3
[2] You can find the recordings of the 2024 EPC General Assembly here: https://epc.org/ga/ga2023recordings/
[3] I want to make this absolutely clear; I have always been supportive of this urban church plant and its church planter. In fact, I was often seeking to fix problems created by Tom Ricks overreaching or flat out lying to involved parties so the project would succeed.
[4] This is how one lay minister at Greentree described Tom very early in my tenure there. At the time, I dismissed as friendly ribbing about how Tom could be imprecise in his language.

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