Leaders Build Relationships Through Weakness
Knowledge puffs up. It lifts the noses and extends the chests of those who believe they are right in their own eyes. But when the head is lifted high, our eyes are often not looking forward and down to see the obstacle in our path. Suddenly we trip—over our own feet! The obstacle appears to be . . . us.
During my career as a leader in secular higher education, I’ve had the unique opportunity to work in the university setting within institutions that pride themselves on sharing and gaining knowledge in order to better people’s lives. Through the years I have learned, however, that if we want to be leaders who truly connect people to Jesus, humility, not pride, is the key. Vulnerability, rather than intellectual knowledge, is the pathway to building relationships.
Pride Blinds Us to Our Weaknesses
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves.
Philippians 2:3–4 NIV
As an academic administrator, it was part of my responsibilities, but also one of the great privileges, to attend graduation ceremonies. At one university, there was a wonderful tradition in which the dissertation advisor would come up on stage with the graduating doctoral student and place the doctoral hood over the student’s head as the degree was conferred. It was a high-water mark in the student’s life, and a moment accompanied by a sense of almost sacred solemnity.
It never failed to strike me, then, when a faculty advisor would be wearing shorts and sneakers under his academic regalia (rarely ever did the student dress so casually). You could easily see this because academic gowns are typically only mid-calf length. And I would find myself wondering, Don’t you realize that when you walk across that stage with hundreds or even thousands of people watching, your hairy legs and ratty old tennis shoes are right at everyone’s eye level?
We have all seen individuals who seem completely oblivious to their very visible foibles as they posture and position themselves in their organization or community. It is the classic illustration of the distinction between being self-focused versus being self-aware. Unfortunately, those who are the former generally lack the latter. When people put themselves on a pedestal, they proudly, but without awareness, also put their feet of clay on public display.
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Is Sunday Still the First Day of the Week?
We’re Christians. We follow King Jesus. We mark out one day a week—the first, not the last—to worship the risen Lord. We sing of his goodness and grace and trust his promise to return and blast away death forever. Sunday is his day. And he comes first.
Maybe you’ve noticed it too. On various apps and sites, the calendar has shifted to Monday as the first day of the week. If you want to keep Sunday as Day 1, you can sometimes tailor the calendar to your preference, but the default has changed.
This comes as no surprise. Most people look at Saturday and Sunday as a pair—two days at the end of the week. “What is a weekend?” asked the elderly Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey, delightfully clueless as to how the working class a century ago conceived of time. Since regular business hours are Monday to Friday, it makes sense when people assume Monday is the best candidate for Day 1. It’s the start of the workweek.
But that’s just it. Collapsing the week into the workweek is what troubles me.
Week and Workweek
The way we orient ourselves in time—how we think of our days—makes a difference in how we conceive of our life and purpose. Our choices in how we order time contain moral instruction.
Starting the week with Monday indicates we see our lives primarily in terms of work. Productivity matters most. Contrast a Monday-first mindset with a Sunday-first outlook. When the week begins with worship and rest, everything that follows gets cast in the light of grace and gratitude. Work becomes a subset of worship. We begin not with what we do but with who we are in Christ.
Are Sundays Special?
But Trevin, you say. Sundays aren’t that different anymore. So the calendar shift doesn’t matter that much. True, unfortunately. Even for many Christians, aside from an hour or so spent in church, the rest of the day slips into the same leisure activities as Saturday—or for some, becomes just another day of work at one of the countless places open all week long.
But the way we treat Sunday puts us out of step with our forefathers and mothers in the faith. The original consensus statement adopted by Southern Baptists nearly a century ago, The Baptist Faith and Message, not only devoted an entire article to the Lord’s Day but also specified what proper stewardship of Sunday looked like:The first day of the week is the Lord’s day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, works of necessity and mercy only excepted.
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An Exhaustive Exegetical Extravaganza
In the Beginning was a delight to read – personally it brought me back to many of the OT lectures I enjoyed from Dr. Van Dam in my seminary years. While I found it enjoyable, there may be others who will find it tough-going at times. It’s not highly technical, but in places Van Dam does go academic.
Dr. C. Van Dam begins his latest book by explicitly laying out his presuppositions. He’s upfront about his non-negotiable assumptions and biases. As I review his book, it’s appropriate that I share mine too. I share his presuppositions about Scripture as the trustworthy Word of God, but I also bring a personal bias to the table. Back in the day, Van Dam was my Old Testament professor at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary. I had an affectionate nickname for him in view of his ability to put the smack-down on unbelieving or shoddy scholarship: “Wham-Bam-Van-Dam.” This was always said with the greatest admiration for Dr. Van Dam. As a seminary professor he was nothing if not thorough and careful.
This new book exhibits that same kind of comprehensive and precise approach to the two opening chapters of Scripture. Van Dam leaves no stone unturned. In the Beginning is an exhaustive treatment not only of the meaning of these two chapters, but also the various challenges that have been raised in Old Testament scholarship regarding them. What you’re looking at here is not just a commentary on Genesis 1-2, but far more.
Over the last decade or so John Walton has become well-known for his views on the early chapters of Genesis. Walton argues that we often misunderstand Genesis 1-2 because we don’t take into account the ancient Near Eastern context of these chapters. Once we do that, says Walton, then we can see that Genesis 1-2 was never meant to be taken literally as history. The history can then be filled in with what science teaches us, including what science says about human origins. In chapter 2 of In the Beginning, Van Dam discusses Walton’s views at length and explains how and where they fail to do justice to the character of Scripture as the Word of God. In my view this is the most important chapter of the book.
To whet your appetite further, let me share a selection of questions that Dr. Van Dam answers elsewhere in the book:Can new scientific data be regarded as general revelation given by God?
What is the relationship of Scripture to science? Is Scripture a scientific textbook?Read More
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What Does It Mean That God Is Good?
God does what is right. He never does what is wrong. God always acts in a righteous manner because His nature is holy. Thus, we can distinguish between the internal righteousness of God (His holy nature) and the external righteousness of God (His actions).
Two virtues assigned to God, greatness and goodness, may be captured by one biblical word, holy. When we speak of God’s holiness, we are accustomed to associating it almost exclusively with the purity and righteousness of God. Surely the idea of holiness contains these virtues, but they are not the primary meaning of holiness.
The biblical word holy has two distinct meanings. The primary meaning is “apartness” or “otherness.” When we say that God is holy, we call attention to the profound difference between Him and all creatures. It refers to God’s transcendent majesty, His august superiority, by virtue of which He is worthy of our honor, reverence, adoration, and worship. He is “other” or different from us in His glory.
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