Our Understanding of Earth and Our Assumptions of Heaven
I think we are all guilty at times of importing our understanding of earth into our assumptions of heaven. We are all guilty of importing our understanding of how things work here to how they will work there. We look at the world we know and extrapolate to the one we don’t. I sometimes fear, though, that our thoughts of heaven are actually marred by our experiences of earth.
I have often heard people speak of those who are in heaven and use language such as “the people closest to the throne” or maybe those who “have the biggest mansions” or those who are given “the greatest reward.” And certainly there seems to be some variety to the degree of the rewards God will dispense to his people—though variety that will neither swell the hearts of those who receive more nor provoke the hearts of those who receive less (if that is, indeed, the way things work).
When I hear people use language like “those closest to the throne,” they almost invariably speak of people who are known and famous, who are acknowledged by other believers to have accomplished a lot for the Lord and for his purposes. Surely that one who preached so faithfully to such great crowds and that one who wrote books that sold so well and that one who served so committedly and so publicly—surely they are the ones who are counted great in the kingdom. Surely they are the ones who receive the greatest honor in heaven. After all, they are the ones who received the greatest honor on earth. If God’s people held them in such high esteem here, why wouldn’t God hold them in similarly high esteem there?
Yet I can’t help but wonder if this betrays a pattern of thinking that doesn’t understand the mind and heart of God—that assumes that the most public gifts are the most important and that God gives the most important gifts to his most favored people. Or that there is a necessary connection between the visibility of a gift and its value in his eyes.
Are we certain that the gifts we count as most important are the ones that God counts as most important? Do we know that a gift for preaching is more important than a gift of encouragement? Are we certain that the man who preaches before tens of thousands of strangers in a conference venue ranks higher than the woman who intercedes for mere tens or hundreds from the privacy of her home? Are we certain that the one who leads the church in worship is really far ahead of the one who prepares the church by shoveling its sidewalks and setting up its chairs? That the one who labors in the pulpit is doing more important work than the one who labors in her prayer closet?
Jesus told us to be like little children, not like great celebrities. He didn’t tell us to be famous, but to be faithful, not to revel in the applause of men but to long for the affirmation of God. Our responsibility is to exercise the gifts and embrace the duties God has given us, no matter what they are, no matter how public, no matter how visible. We have no business wishing away the gifts God has given to us and no business envying the gifts he has given to someone else. We are to labor with diligence and entrust it all to God.
I am convinced that if there are some who receive a particularly great reward, it will be those who were most faithful with what they were given, whether it was much or little, visible or invisible, acknowledged by others or completely overlooked. The man who lived a life of quiet faithfulness in the humblest of jobs will surely receive God’s commendation ahead of many of those who wore fine vestments and who stood in ornate pulpits. The woman who served with excellence in an invisible ministry will surely be acknowledged ahead of the one who brought mediocrity to the most visible.
The fact is, there is no reason at all to think that the foremost preachers or most famous theologians will be received most joyfully in heaven, for God measures these things so differently from the way we do. In his eyes it’s not the visibility of the gift that matters, but the diligence with which it is embraced and exercised. And this puts the onus on each of us to ask how and where God has called us to serve his purposes, then to serve then and there in his strength and for his glory, joyfully entrusting it all to him.
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A La Carte (July 25)
Grace and peace to you today.
Today’s Kindle deals include books by John Piper, Kevin DeYoung, and Wayne Grudem.
(Yesterday on the blog: I Shall Be Satisfied Then)
Let’s Talk About Bodies
This article speaks to an issue that confuses many people. “It can feel confusing to know how God wants us to think about our bodies. What is too much? What is too little? Are bodies spiritual or are bodies unspiritual?”
How “Above Reproach” Lay Elders Saved My Ministry
“A special elders’ meeting was called. This time, I, as the senior pastor, was the subject of concern.” Gary Kirst tells how godly elders may have saved his ministry.
Evading The Comparison Trap Among Servants
“As we serve the Lord within our local communities, we’ve experienced a time or two when we’d rather be someone else and possess their giftings or abilities: We’ve felt frustrated, discouraged, and envious. While we know and believe God has created each of us with our own set of talents, strengths, and passions, as an integral part of His body, why do we so easily linger on the service of others?”
My Hundred Homes
What does it mean when Jesus says “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time…?”
Unction and Preaching
“Unction is a topic not often discussed in books on preaching and even less often in Reformed books.” I’m not sure that I agree with Wes Bredenhof’s take on unction, but I was glad to read it nonetheless.
FAQ: Is it Okay to Question the Bible?
Is it okay to question the Bible? It all depends on what you mean by the question.
Flashback: A Practical Guide to Culture
We speak of culture’s dangerous encroachment on the church, of our need to avoid it, engage it, or redeem it. But what is this culture thing anyway?You’ve been tasked with sounding the call, not raising the dead. That’s God’s job. —Will Dobbie
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The New Grace and Truth Study Bible: A Q&A with Dr. Mohler
Few resources are more helpful to Christians than a good study Bible. We have just seen the release of the new Grace and Truth Study Bible which is edited by Dr. Albert Mohler and now available in both English and Spanish. In this sponsored interview, I asked him a few questions about it.
We have a good number of study Bibles available to us. What was the benefit in creating a new one?
I have been dependent upon study Bibles from the time I was a teenager. Those Bibles and their notes helped to open the scriptures to me as I became more and more serious about studying the Word of God. There are many really wonderful study Bibles available to Christians, but I saw the need for a study Bible that was theologically and convictionally clear while being accessible to people who might be intimidated by a study Bible that was thousands of pages long. I also saw a need for a study Bible that people will be able to take with them. I hope Christians find the Grace and Truth Study Bible a faithful and trustworthy companion—a study Bible that can be used as a devotional Bible and a Bible to be brought to worship to be opened for the preaching of God’s Word. My great hope is that the Grace and Truth Study Bible will help coming generations to love and to understand God’s Word.
What are some of the unique features of the Grace and Truth Study Bible?
The most important feature of the Grace and Truth Study Bible is represented by the table of contributors. I was able to work with a team to pull together the most remarkable biblical scholars who combined unquestioned conviction with excellence in biblical scholarship. This is not a study Bible that will be of interest only to the world of scholarship. It represents scholarship turned into a passionate devotion for the Word of God. Every single book of the Bible received careful attention from a skilled interpreter of God’s Word whose passion is to see God’s people exalt in the glory of God as revealed in every book of scripture.
Another feature is that the accessibility of the notes has driven this entire project. It was one of my great joys was to work with that team of scholars to craft introductions and helpful notes so that Christians utilizing the study Bible could clearly understand God’s Word.
Last, I was determined that a study Bible that would serve Christ’s church would need to be available only in the highest quality of presentation in both form and format. Every part of the Bible—down to the design, the print and typeface, the quality of paper, the density of ink, the translucence of reflection—was carefully chosen. God’s Word deserves the very best. I have to thank Zondervan Bibles for their outstanding support in this respect because we were able to bring to the excellence of that attention to detail to this project.
Who’s the target audience or reader for in the study Bible?
Every Christian will benefit from the Grace and Truth Study Bible. One of the interesting issues in publishing is knowing your target audience. In that respect, one could envision a study Bible that would be many volumes in length that would serve the scholarly community. On the other hand, one could imagine a study Bible that would be so minimal that it would basically offer just a bare introduction to each book, and then a few necessary notes along the way. Finding the right balance between those two polarities is the great challenge. I believe we were able to strike a unique balance in the Grace and Truth Study Bible that I hope will really serve the church.
We aimed this study Bible at Christians who are committed to Christ, who love God’s Word, and who want to know how to understand it even better. This Bible is for getting deeper into God’s Word. It is accessible enough that the newest believer can immediately benefit from it. It is also deep enough and thoughtful enough that the faithful, mature believer of many decades will find ever new riches in the text.
I do hope there will be many unbelievers who will read the Word of God as found in this study Bible, receive new birth in Christ, and come to saving faith. It will be the Holy Spirit through the Word of God does that, not the study Bible. However, our main audience for this Bible is Protestant, evangelical Christians who are looking for a serious study Bible because they want to be devoted to the serious study of God’s Word.
What was the importance of launching the Spanish addition alongside English?
Given our own hemispheric reality, the incredible opportunities in the Spanish-speaking world, and the interchange between the English and Spanish-speaking worlds, we really saw the opportunity to make history. This is the first major study Bible released simultaneously in English and in Spanish. Many people in the Spanish-speaking world told us of the need and hope for a study Bible like the Grace and Truth Study Bible. We intended to reach the untold millions of people included in both the English and the Spanish speaking audiences in order to meet that need. I am very thankful to Zondervan and Vida Bibles and to our team for finishing this project on time without any sacrifice of quality in either translation.
Creating a project as big as a study Bible must represent quite a logistical challenge. I wonder if you could talk us through a bit of what that process looks like.
It all began with the concept that led to a consensus that this study Bible meets a need for the church. A leader from the Bible Group at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, which comprises both Zondervan and Thomas Nelson Bible teams, approached me, and I agreed to be general editor. Then it fell to me to put together a team. I started with managing editor and then editors for both the Old and New Testaments. Then we had to get down to the hard work of putting together the roster of writers who would each take responsibility for one of the books of the Bible.
I was able to choose the very first ranked team because the Lord opened many doors. I am so thankful that the best team of biblical scholars bought into the project. They affirmed its theological convictions. They agreed to its approach. They were eager on the basis of their own convictions about holy scripture to help Christ’s church in understanding the Word of God.
The writers received the assignment and guidelines—including a word length—and then most of them gave a sample of their work so that we could understand how they were doing. When those contributions were forwarded to the editors, the editors went through every single line, weighing them in terms of conviction and helpfulness to the project as a whole. Those editors put enormous work into this, including keeping the entire project on time, which is seldom found in something of this magnitude. Finally, I went through the whole project to ensure we accomplished what we set out to do. It was a great joy to work with our team, and I am extremely thankful to all who worked to see this project come together. -
God’s Goodness in a Cruel World
There is much to love and appreciate about our God, much for which we ought to give him praise and thanks. One of the attributes we may consider too seldom is his goodness, and as an aspect or component of his goodness, his kindness. And that is the subject of Nate Pickowicz’s new book The Kindness of God: Beholding His Goodness in a Cruel World.
The Kindness of God
The fact is that we live in an unkind world. We live in a broken world in which we sin and grieve and suffer. We live in a world in which evil comes to each of us and in which evil comes from each of us. We are accustomed to being unkind and being treated unkindly. And in such a world it may be hard to believe that there is a God who is kind. Yet this is exactly how God reveals himself to us.
“God is good; we are sinful,” says Pickowicz in the early pages. “Because of this, we are undeserving of his goodness. But because of God’s mercy, he demonstrates lovingkindness to us. Therefore, every kindness we experience is pure grace and ought to be received with gladness and thankfulness.” This “Grand Premise” stands behind the book and serves as a kind of backdrop to an exploration of the topic.
The bulk of the book explores God’s kindness as he displays it to us in various ways: In the salvation of the lost, in granting the gifts of repentance and faith, and in the blessing of sanctification. Then it turns to God’s kindness in relationships like marriage, children, friendship, and even with God himself. It turns to God’s kindness in giving us blessings like gifts and talents and provision for our needs. Of course, the book would be incomplete if it did not account for God’s kindness to us in our suffering. One particularly encouraging chapter shows how God’s kindness meets us in our trials and tribulations. While we may never understand why bad things happen to us in this world, we can most certainly be assured that God’s lovingkindness to us never ceases and never permits anything that is ultimately to our harm.
The book wraps up with a pair of chapters that show how God’s kindness is also reflected in Christians (since those who have been recipients of God’s kindness must display it to others) and in his grace to the nations (since without his kindness the world would be uninhabitably awful).
I have often been drawn to God’s kindness and pondered what a blessing it is. The Kindness of God has provoked me to do so once again and to praise and thank him for this most wonderful of attributes. And for that, I’m grateful.
