Steven Hassan and Brian Karcher discuss various topics from Steven’s book “Combating Cult Mind Control” and Brian’s book “Identity Snatchers”.

freedomofmind.com//Media/CCMC25.php

Steven A. Hassan, M.Ed., LMHC, NCC is a former cult member who has been educating the public about mind control and destructive cults since 1976. As a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Hassan is the author three books that have received extensive praise from former cult members, families of former members, clergy, cult experts, and psychologists. Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults(1988, 1990, 2015), Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves(2000), and Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults & Beliefs, (2012, 2013). He also co-developed “Ending the Game”, a non-coercive curriculum designed to educate and empower commercial sex trafficking victims.

He has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, NPR, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Larry King Live, Oprah, Dr. Drew, Dr. Phil, and many other programs, and has been featured in People Magazine, USA Today, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and dozens of other major publications and websites. Learn more about him and the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, Inc. at FreedomOfMind.com

Hassan – Karcher 2015 – Interview University Bible Fellowship (UBF) from Brian John Karcher on Vimeo.

Books

	Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults
	Identity Snatchers: Exposing a Korean Campus Bible Cult

]]> http://www.ubfriends.org/2015/10/14/steven-hassan-interview/feed/ 20 http://www.ubfriends.org/2015/10/08/book-review-combating-cult-mind-control/ http://www.ubfriends.org/2015/10/08/book-review-combating-cult-mind-control/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2015 16:29:06 +0000 http://www.ubfriends.org/?p=9661 In 1990, Steven Hassan courageously published the book, Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best Selling Guide To Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults. Now, 25 years later, Hassan has published an updated edition. Here is my book review, and brief introduction to Steven Hassan.

Who is Steven Hassan?

For anyone unfamiliar with Hassan or his work, here are some highlights.

Mr. Hassan was deceptively recruited into Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church at the age of 19, while a student at Queens College. He spent the next 27 months recruiting and indoctrinating new members, fundraising, and doing political campaigning. He personally met with Sun Myung Moon on many occasions in leadership sessions. Mr. Hassan ultimately rose to the rank of Assistant Director of the Unification Church at National Headquarters.

He is an accomplished author, counselor and respected expert in the field of undue influence and religious control. Here are his major accomplishments:

• BITE model – determining and identifying cult control
• Strategic Interactive Approach – addressing cult control
• Ending the Game – program for educating sex trafficking victims
• Lectures – given at Harvard University, U.C.L.A., Yale University, Stanford University, John Hopkins University, M.I.T, Hong Kong University, American Psychological Association Convention (2001), American Psychological Association Eastern Regional Convention (2001), The American Counseling Association National Convention, The American Bar Association’s Conference on Tort and Religion
• Media coverage – With almost 40 years of cult awareness activism, Hassan’s insightful perspective and expert commentary have made him the definitive source for hundreds of national and international media outlets including: 60 Minutes, CNN, Fox News, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Newsweek, Night Line, NPR, Oprah Winfrey Show, The O’Reilly Factor, The Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Washington Post.
• Freedom of Mind Resource Center Inc. – founded by Hassan, it is a consulting and publishing organization dedicated to helping people to become psychologically empowered, upholding human rights, promoting consumer awareness and exposing abuses of destructive cult groups.

Rooted in the Best

The praise for Hassan’s work is lengthy. Here is what the late Dr. Singer had to say about his book Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best Selling Guide To Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults. 

“…A major contribution…For the first time, a skilled and ethical exit counselor has spelled out the details of the complicated yet understandable process of helping free a human being from the bondage of mental manipulation…..Steven Hassan has written a ‘how to do something about it’ book.”

–Margaret Singer, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Telling his own story

The book begins with a look into Hassan’s life as a college student being recruited into the Moonie organization. For me this was both difficult and fascinating to read. It was as if I was stepping back in time, back to 1987 in my own life and my own recruitment into a different Korean Bible organization. It was uncanny how much of what Hassan told of his own story mirrored my experience.

Affirming the current problem

Hassan does a really good job in this 25th anniversary edition of explaining how and why his work is so much needed. The number of cults in America has not dwindled, but in fact has exploded. The sad aspect, as Hassan recounts it, is that many do not know the Moonies or think they are no longer active. Most of the public does not remember Jonestown. This book was eye-opening.

Telling other’s stories

Hassan moves on to tell a few survivor stories. These also brought back memories for me, but not as much as Hassan’s own story. This is because there are many types of cults, and the Korean Bible groups like the Unification Church and UBF are unique in their undue influence. Hassan places a lot of weight on former member stories, especially those of longtime insiders.

Solutions, help and hope

Hassan spends at least half the book telling about how to find help, how to approach loved ones and giving solutions both practical and spiritual in nature. Hassan himself is Jewish, and regained his faith after leaving the Moon group. This was important to me, as I determined not to lose my Christian faith after leaving UBF.

In short, all UBF people really should read Combating Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best Selling Guide To Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults. 

As Hassan suggests, please read his book as if he is talking about a group you know is a cult, like ISIS. Then re-read it a second time, questioning whether you are in a cult or not. This second reading often tells people they are not in a cult.

Other ubfriends articles on Hassan’s work:

Book Review: Freedom of Mind

The BITE Model

Born in 1928 as the son of a high-ranking official in the Canadian government, Vanier traveled the world and served in the Royal Navy. Sensing that there must be something more to life, he resigned from his naval commission in 1950 to study theology and philosophy, eventually completing a Ph.D. at the Catholic University of Paris. Through his friendship with a Catholic priest, he renewed his faith in God and became deeply concerned about the plight of people with intellectual disabilities. In 1964, Vanier invited two disabled men to leave their institutions and move into his home. This led to the establishment of L’Arche (“The Ark”), a worldwide federation of residential communities where people with intellectual disabilities live, pray and worship together with caregivers in an atmosphere of friendship, mutuality and inclusion. Although L’Arche was founded as a Christian organization, the communities are open and welcoming to people of all religious beliefs. Vanier has studied, taught, and written extensively on topics related to faith, disability and community. He became a close friend and mentor to the late Christian author Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), who resided at a L’Arche community in Ontario, Canada for the last ten years of his life. In recognition of Vanier’s influence and achievements, he was awarded the Templeton Prize in 2015. (Previous winners of the Templeton Prize include Billy Graham and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.)

For decades, Vanier studied the inner workings of communities (especially religious ones) throughout the world. He learned what makes communities thrive and what causes them to fail. In his international bestseller Becoming Human (1998), he describes the enormous role that community plays in human development. Community is not the same thing as society. Society is where we earn a living, but community is where we experience belonging. Community is where we grow into full fledged human beings.

Belonging is important for our growth to independence; even further, it is important for our growth to inner freedom and maturity. It is only through belonging that we can break out of the shell of individualism and self-centeredness that both protects and isolates us…

(Becoming Human, Kindle edition, p. 35). If a community is healthy, it provides the structure and security that foster personal growth. But communities can also be unhealthy. They can appeal to the dark, egotistic parts of human nature and sow conflict and discord throughout the world. Vanier continues:

However, the human drive for belonging also has its pitfalls. There is an innate need in our hearts to identify with a group, both for protection and for security, to discover and affirm our identity, and to use the group to prove our worthiness and goodness, indeed, even to prove that we are better than others. It is my belief that it is not religion or culture at the root of human conflict but the way in which groups use religion or culture to dominate one another. Let me hasten to add that if it were not religion or culture that people used as a stick with which to beat others, they would just use something else (p. 36).

In Vanier’s understanding, the key difference between healthy and unhealthy community is this: An unhealthy community turns inward and develops a superiority complex. A healthy community recognizes that it is only a small part of the human race and fosters a sense of interdependence with the rest of humanity.

A group is the manifestation of this need to belong. A group can, however, close in on itself, believing that it is superior to others. But my vision is that belonging should be at the heart of a fundamental discovery: that we all belong to a common humanity, the human race. We may be rooted in a specific family and culture but we come to this earth to open up to others, to serve them and receive the gifts they bring to us, as well as to all of humanity (p. 36).

Vanier writes from an international perspective. He knows that Western people tend to be individualistic, and Easterners tend toward collectivism. Having seen the strengths and weaknesses of groups operating in diverse cultures, he is constantly aware of the delicate balance that must be struck between limiting personal freedom for the good of the community and preserving the dignity and uniqueness of the individual. He is also keenly attuned to the inequalities that exist in our fallen world, where the strong usually dominate the weak. In healthy community, each person knows he is both strong and weak; understanding and accepting their individual limitations is a key part of what gives community members a sense of belonging.

In Chapter II (“Belonging”) Vanier lists four signs of communities that are healthy. The first sign of a healthy community is that it treats all of its members, including the weakest and most vulnerable, with respect, seeing them all as equally important, and deliberately includes everyone in decisionmaking.

In healthy belonging, we have respect for one another. We work together, cooperate in a healthy way, listen to each other. We learn how to resolve the conflicts that arise when one person seeks to dominate another. In a true state of belonging, those who have less conventional knowledge, who are seemingly powerless, who have different capacities, are respected and listened to. In such a place of belonging, if it is a good place, power is not imposed from on high, but all members seek to work together as a body. The implication is that we see each other as persons and not just as cogs in a machine. We open up and interact with each other so that all can participate in the making of decisions (p. 58).

In Old Testament times, most of the Jewish people had a deep sense of belonging. But through the prophets, God rebuked them for ignoring the poor, weak and disadvantaged in their midst, for treating them as less-than-full members of God’s family (Isaiah 58:6-7).

The second sign of healthy community is that it values differences of opinion and promotes dialogue. Vanier has sharp words for communities that enforce and manipulate.

The second sign of healthy belonging is the way a group humbly lives its mission of service to others. It does not use or manipulate others for its own aggrandizement. It does not impose its vision on others but instead prefers to listen to what they are saying and living, to see in them all that is positive. It helps others to make their own decisions; it empowers them. When a community is closed and fearful of true dialogue where each person is respected, it is a sign of death not of life (p. 60).

A third sign of healthy community is acknowledgment that the group’s distinctive views and values are not always right, and that in the final analysis, maintaining these distinctives is less important than learning how to love.

As we begin to see others’ gifts, we move out from behind the walls of certitude that have closed us up… A few centuries ago, different Christian churches were fighting each other. Their theologies were calculated to prove that one was right and the other wrong. Today, instead of seeing what might separate us, whether as churches or cultures, we are instead seeing what unites us. We are beginning to see each other’s gifts and to appreciate them and to realize that the important thing for each one of us is to grow in love and give of ourselves (pp. 60-61).

Finally, the fourth sign of healthy community is openly admitting its mistakes and reforming itself with advice from the outside.

Fourth, it is a healthy sign when a group seeks to evolve and to recognize the errors of the past, to recognize its own flaws, and to seek the help of experienced people from outside the group in order to be more true and loving, more respectful of difference, more listening and open to the way authority is exercised. The group that refuses to admit its own errors or seek the wisdom of others risks closing itself up behind walls of “superiority” (p. 61).

In conclusion, healthy communities are where people experience God’s goodness and become well formed human beings.

Groups that develop with these four signs are, to my mind, healthy groups; they are helping their members to break free of the egotism inherent in us all and to grow towards greater maturity and inner freedom. They are discovering our common humanity, allowing us to be ourselves, intertwined with each other, receiving and giving life from one another. Do we not all share the same earth and sky? Are they not for us as we are for them? We all belong to each other, we are all for each other. God, too, is for us as we are for God. We are called to grow in order to become fully ourselves and fully alive, to receive from others, and to give to others, not being held back by fears, prejudices, or feelings of superiority or inferiority (p. 61).

So in August ubfriends started a book club. The book was A Fellowship of Differents by Scot Mcknight. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, good choice Joe! There is so much to write about from it, but I would like to share only my favorite part of the whole book here. On page 139 it says, “If some said, you must be kosher to eat with us, Jesus said, eat with me and I will make you kosher.” There, that’s it. This is my favorite line in the whole book.

The Third Way

In this chapter McKnight is talking about loving  members of the LGBTQA community in the church. Traditionally, there are two approaches towards the LGBTQA community: affirming or non-affirming but here McKnight offers a third way. He asks the reader,

“What can we learn of the cruciform life in fellowship with those who experience and suffer from same-sex attraction? Our posture cannot be one of pity; it must be one of mutual fellowship in the cross and resurrection of Christ, the kind of fellowship where we minister to one another (pg. 139).”

This is an approach of mutual fellowship, communion. Communion is about coming together around the same table and doing life together no matter what your sexual orientation is. Christ brings us together. Christ breaks down all barriers.

Two Principles of the Third Way

The author continues to describe the third way. He states its main pillars.  First it is the progressive nature of our own growth in redemption. And second, it is the importance of the local church as the context for that growth.

Life is a journey and so are our lives of faith. It never stops. We are always growing and so we must be committed to each other’s growth in redemption. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Sometimes people don’t want you to carry their burdens. Sometimes people never say thank you or appreciate you for carrying their burdens. My point is carrying a burden is never easy. Burdens are heavy, but this is what we are called to do. According to Galatians it is the law of Christ.

And secondly, the local church is vital. This point is not exclusive from the first because it is in the local church we see the progressive nature of our growth. The church is meant to be a fellowship of differents. McKnight calls the church, “God’s grand social experiment.” This safe environment of acceptance and love is where growth can happen. Growth comes from fellowship.

Christ’s Example

If you haven’t read the book this is the thesis right here. The author’s point is that the church is a fellowship of differents (hence the title). This means we look different, talk different, vote different, work different, smell different, etc., but we are still in communion with each other. Christ makes us one. Christ never imposes the stipulation that we must act, think, speak, like him before he accepts us. Christ accepts us as we are. He invites the non-kosher Gentiles to the table and through fellowship with him, the Gentiles become transformed. This is the only way towards growth/healing/transformation- communion with Christ and each other. It’s so beautiful; this is grace. May the church be a room of grace.

Do you agree or disagree? How has your experience in the church been? Have you seen the room of grace lived out in a community? Do you see fellowships of differents around you? Did you read the book? What was your reaction?

Additional Resources:

Brene Brown on Empathy

This clip depicts fellowship that brings about healing.

Over a year ago, I wrote a provocative article here on ubfriends, entitled Shepherd Brian is Dead. It is an unfortunate reality that in order to have any kind of conversation with UBF members, I need to use such rhetoric. Dropping the C-bomb (as Joe likes to call it) is the only way I have found that leads to some honest, real answers about the UBF ministry. In my article last year, I wrote this:

“Why do I claim University Bible Fellowship is a cult? The answer is because ubf shepherds and missionaries are identity snatchers. They spiritually abused me and thousands others by stealing our identity and persuading us to adopt their identity. That identity was called “Shepherd Brian”. But that is not who I am. That was never who I was. That is not my authentic self.”

That comment about identity snatching stuck with me. It has now lead to my new book.

Giving credit

I am eternally thankful for the input from numerous current and former UBF members, especially Ben, Joe, Zoe, Charles, David, Maria and Chris (well ok not eternally… just thankful!). They were a good sounding board and helped shape this book well beyond my original ideas. Without their input, this would have been a really dark, scary book! But because of their criticism and honest feedback, the book is much brighter and hopeful.

The stories in my book are not only about deconstructing UBFism, but also about redemption. The stories are another major step in my own journey of recovering my identity.

Feedback

Dr. Steve Hassan and Dr. Ronald Enroth both appreciated my book, but are busy until later this year. I hope to add their endorsements later on. Here is some of the feedback I did receive on this project so far:

“This book is part of a critical examination of University Bible Fellowship. It gives insight into the structures and methods of this controversial group that’s work is focused on students.”
—Dr. Reinhard Hempelmann, Director of the Protestant Centre of Religious and Ideological Issues, Berlin Germany

“I am really glad to know of your book project! It is greatly needed. I don’t know of any books that cover University Bible Fellowship in depth.”
–Larry Pile, Counselor at Wellspring Retreat and Counseling Center, Athens Ohio, USA

“How can we support you? I want this book to be written.”
–Former member

“Amen. This book is needed. I pray God uses it to bring liberation to those still trapped in UBF and healing to families and the body of Christ.”
–Former member

“I think the book is so important to show that processing UBF is not about criticizing them mainly but about becoming happy, healthy, and whole again.”
–Former member

“Wow, awesome so far! I am going to share this book with everyone.”
–Former member

Links to my new book

As always, my books are free on Kindle with Amazon Prime and have the Amazon lending feature enabled, as well as the Amazon MatchBook enabled. I also tend to give free paperback copies to anyone willing to help promote the book via blog reviews. Content on the free online companion will be added in the coming months.

Identity Snatchers – Paperback Edition

Identity Snatchers – Kindle Edition

Free online companion – restunleashed.org

First, to celebrate the new semester, all three of my books that detail my journey of recovery from UBFism are FREE on Kindle this week, from 9/1 to 9/5.

Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives – FREE
Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives – FREE
Unexpected Christianity: The Penguin Narratives – FREE

Second, my new book, Identity Snatchers, is being published this weekend! I want to express my gratitude for numerous former and current members who helped shape this book. The book is my attempt to deconstruct UBFism and to redeem my personal identity.

Third, here is an incredibly accurate song that I like to listen to when school starts. This song says what I want to say to all ubf shepherds as the new semester begins:

You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
You swear you know best

But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

I’m not the one who’s lost
With no direction oh
But you’ll never see

You’re so busy makin’ maps
With my name on them in all caps
You’ve got the talkin’ down
Just not the listening

All my life
I’ve tried
To make everybody happy while I
Just hurt
And hide
Waitin’ for someone to tell me it’s my turn
To decide.

Who made you king of anything?

Thoughts on Rob Moll’s Book Review

Here is the book review if you have not seen it: Korean Evangelicals on Steroids

Moll correctly points out the hidden nature of the group. He had no idea the Chicago headquarters even existed.

“A couple times a week, a Korean man would approach me with a broad smile and invite me to study the Bible. I had no idea that he was among hundreds of Korean missionaries spanned across college campuses trying to win the country for Christ. I didn’t know that the headquarters for University Bible Fellowship (UBF)—Korea’s second largest missionary sending agency—was just a few miles away.”

Moll, like most of the public, did however know that the group has been seen as a cult.

“I did know that UBF was seen as intense and cult-like.”

Moll is first learning about the group from Rebecca Kim’s book. So he will have a rather good impression of the group because Kim’s book does not mention the reform movements or the abuse that has been covered up. Her book is more of an apologetic work.

” In her new study, The Spirit Moves West: Korean Missionaries in America, Kim, a Pepperdine University sociologist, describes the initial wave of UBF missionaries. Because that wave included her parents, Kim had both unique access to the group and a deeper understanding of the challenges of doing missions in America.”

Moll and Kim correctly point out the surface viewpoint of what is going on at the group. From a superficial view, UBF is merely a high demand group.

“UBF maintains high demands for its missionaries. They hold full-time jobs rather than receive support, and missionaries use their off hours, holidays, and vacations to evangelize on college campuses. Their training is military-like, requiring a “soldier spirit.” Missionaries described training as “boot camp,” complete with jogging and pushups, but also intensive Bible study and evangelism. Early missionaries had to report in public meetings the number of students they invited to study the Bible, how many accepted, and how many students were currently studying the Bible with them. Missionaries who had the most “sheep” were raised to leadership positions.”

Moll also correctly points out the primary shortcoming of Kim’s book.

“Despite my high level of engagement with the subject matter of The Spirit Moves West, I found its repetitiveness taxing. Instead of stating and restating her theories, Kim could have answered some obvious questions: How does UBF operate and structure itself when its missionaries are all lay volunteers working full-time jobs? Are UBF campus chapters and Sunday congregations the same thing? What happens in a Bible study? Exactly how ineffective is its method of “cold calling” college students? Despite her years spent investigating, Kim merely hints that this method doesn’t work well. She quotes missionaries and UBF leaders, but without any longer profiles, the reader lacks a clear sense of who these Korean missionaries are.”

These kinds of questions are where my 7th book comes in. I fill in the gaps of what Rebecca Kim leaves out.

Table of Contents for My 7th Book

My new book is entitled: “The Identity Snatchers: Exposing a Bible Cult”. What thoughts do these things stir up? Please contact me if you would like to contribute to this book. I already have a group of former UBF members who will help me create this book. I am looking for chapter art, poems, stories, endorsements and other feedback you may have.

Introduction

Excessive Manipulation: A New You

            Controlling with Marriage

            Orienting with Ideology

            Confusing with Falsehood

            Isolating with Family

            Breaking with Pressure

            Rebuilding with Staging

Abusive Influence: A New Lifestyle

            Redefining your Mindset

            Rerouting your Finances

            Rebranding your Spirituality

            Repurposing your Body

            Redirecting your Emotions

Toxic Leadership: A New Parent

            Disregarding Society

            Making up New Rules

            Serving a Different Mission

            Promoting Corrupt Character

            Writing Their Own History

Healthy Recovery: A New Life

            How to Break Free

            How to Rebuild

            How to Stay Free

Narrative 1: Unexpected Faith

“Bullshit! It’s all bullshit!” The frustration on my friend’s face was as real, like the smell of the dark roast coffee I was sipping. How could this be? What would cause my Christian friend to be so exasperated? We met a few more times and as we did, my interest grew. I had to find out what was causing such grief to my friend and his wife. They had, along with other friends from the same faith community in Toledo, expressed similar frustration to me privately in prior years. Why were they sharing such things with me? As my friend shared his struggles, my mind wandered.

My blog, priestlynation.com, became my way of venting my frustration. Some kept asking me, “Are you in UBF or not?” and “What is your problem?” One problem was that my conscience was bothering me on a daily basis. I wanted answers about what we did to James and Rebekah back in 1990. But almost no one wanted to discuss this issue. Most UBF leaders just wanted me to be quiet and let them get back to their ministry. Some who were present with me back in 1990 suddenly had amnesia, and couldn’t recall what happened. Why stir up trouble over an issue that has been dead for nearly 20 years? I was told “The past is the past. You did not do anything wrong.” But my conscience said otherwise. I had to expose this event publicly if no one in my faith community would talk about it. I had no intention of leaving UBF ministry, but I knew that my days were numbered. I decided to make the most of them.

Narrative 2: Unexpected Hope

The sun set. The train left the station. And I abandoned my ambitious attempt to define an ultimate objective reality.

My search for an ultimate, universal, objective truth that would define the world and all people in it, both living and dead, encompassed more than twenty years. I called myself a bible teacher. My identity was that of a chosen servant of God. But the more I sought an outward, objective reality, the more I withdrew into my self and disconnected my life from the reality immediately near me. I had made a grand, ambitious attempt to be a savior-figure, a source of blessing for the world. But in the end, my ambition fell apart faster than a train wreck. And that was a good thing, it turns out. It was the stench of my own decomposing ambition that woke me up from my self-aggrandized fantasy. Something smelled horribly wrong with the mission-from-God life I had been living in. And I was now willing to do whatever it took to find out why.

Narrative 3: Unexpected Love

Like water crashing over a waterfall, time marches forward. Change happens. As the water of change crashed into our faith community, some very unexpected things happened. Navigating such collapse of community often felt like walking on water. Both prudence and risk-taking are needed when your faith community collapses.

Although I use the term “faith community”, our community looked more like an army brigade. And that brigade fell apart in remarkable fashion soon after my resignation.

Many leaders in our faith community blamed me for creating division. What I found though was just the opposite. I connected with amazing people in amazing ways, and listened to their stories. We all found out that we shared much in common. We wondered why we had not talked so openly, honestly or transparently before. Most of these friends ended up leaving UBF ministry as well, over the course of two years. But we found such unity among us—we had similar concerns about the ministry, similar questions about the gospel and similar ideas about how to build a Christian community.

In total, from our faith community, 7 families made up of 38 people and representing 282 years of commitment resigned from Toledo UBF ministry. This represents about half of the ministry lost in a matter of months. After that exodus, other families left. Among these families were leaders—leading everything from children’s ministry to Sunday service to offering administration. These were Sunday messengers, Treasurers and Fellowship Leaders. They had done everything they could to “make it work” for several years. Several of them had been there when Toledo UBF was first pioneered.

Belief systems and mission and community are good things. But if we have not love, what do we have? Following Him who loves is primary.

We often begin our journey with an epic attempt to obey God’s law. We want to please God and so we strive for obedience. Yet even if we get really good at keeping God’s Law, we quickly find that we may in fact be far from God and find ourselves still in need of repentance, radical faith, and a deeper communion with God, who not only loves us, but also is love.

We then are need of an epic surrender. At some point, we throw our hands up and surrender to grace. Love wins. God is love. Love is the ultimate standard. And it is love that leads. An epic life journey is a life surrendered to the purpose of love—love for self, for friends, for family, for enemies, for neighbors, for the marginalized of society and for all humanity. Such love shows that we love God.

As we rest in the grace of God, we find that humanity is both good and bad, and that there is much badness in us and around us. So we embark on an epic search for goodness. We begin to long for what is good. No longer are we satisfied by the appearance of goodness. We want genuine friendships. We seek to discover our authentic self.

Still our life may seem empty or void of purpose. We begin to long for something more, something meaningful to commit our lives to, something lasting. We want to see the effervescent joy of life! We want to build something. So we embark on a journey filled with an epic vision of glory.

And in the end, we realize the epic life is an epic pursuit of unity. Our own ambition to build something is not lasting. What lasts are the relationships that have been united.

The epic life of love then is an epic striving to obey, an epic surrender to grace, an epic search for goodness, an epic vision of glory and an epic pursuit of unity.

[Excerpts from “Unexpected Christianity: The Penguin Narratives”, by Brian John Karcher]

I am enjoying reading Richard Rohr’s book Everything Belongs. His point is as the title says: Everything—both sin and righteousness, bad and good, wrong and right—belongs. But this is generally not how we think.

We think the former (sin, bad, wrong) does not belong in the scheme of God. So we thrash those bad aspects in ourselves–usually by not talking about it, or being blind to it, or by pretending that we are not that bad. We also thrash those bad aspects in others often by denouncing them for being bad, as though there is no bad in ourselves.

Here’s a “bad is wrong” mindset from a recent UBF report that says, “Asia is like a spiritual wasteland and is full of idol worshipers…” Doesn’t the one who wrote the report not realize that the church can also easily become a spiritual wasteland of Pharisees and be full of those who worship their own church rather than be loving and embracing toward idol worshipers, as Jesus was? Interestingly, Jesus’ most piercing and stinging rebuke was not to the prostitute (who did “wrong”) but to the Bible experts and Bible teachers (who did “right”)!

 
This story illustrates Rohr’s point and the theme of Everything Belongs:

Alcoholics tell me, “It was the worst possible thing. I ruined my marriage and lost my job and hurt my kids. It doesn’t make a bit of sense, but it is the greatest thing that ever happened to me — that I was a drunk.” An old drunk says alcoholism was the greatest gift God ever gave him… Logically that doesn’t make any sense, but theo-logically it does. What a shame that he lost his marriage and hurt his kids. He wishes he could undo it. But because of that experience, his heart was finally broken open. Now he can go back to his wife and children with compassion and freedom. Isn’t that better than so-called “doing it right” and becoming more rigid, self-righteous, and ignorant with each passing year? I admit it is a great mystery and a profound paradox.

 

A lot of people have done it “all right.” But when you look at them you say to yourself, “If that’s salvation, I don’t know that I want to be saved.” If those are the people in heaven, I don’t want to go there! Is that what heaven is going to be like? A bunch of superior people who tell you when you’re wrong all the time? Is that the life Jesus promised? That can’t be it.

 

On the other side, you meet these little souls who have been eaten up and spit out by life. Yet their eyes shine.

Finally no longer constipated. A personal story that comes to mind is when I clearly did “wrong” by losing $1,000,000 to a con-man in 2005. I badly traumatized my entire family, especially my wife. But strangely it was also one of the greatest things that happened to me. I became “unconstipated.” I discovered in a new, fresh and real way what I already knew: God has always loved me and continues to love me (Jer 31:3)! Since then our marriage has never been better and my wife and I have never been happier, I think…

Does it make sense that “right is bad and wrong is good”? Do you have a “right is bad and wrong is good” story?

Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives

“I then embarked on an amazing journey of recovery from the controlling, guilt-ridden, shame-soaked life we had lived in UBF. I was done with the holy soldier façade. This journey was not so different from the journey of Pi in the movie “Life of Pi” or Truman in the movie “The Truman Show” or the blind girl in the M. Night Shyamalan movie “The Village”. In fact I began watching many movies, especially children’s movies, because I found so many connections with the characters in the movies, such as Tangled. I felt I was Repunzel being set free from her castle tower! Finally I was at peace.

It would take a whole other narrative to tell this journey. So I will just point out some highlights. The journey actually began when I watched Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion” in 2010. Through this, the gospel of Jesus was re-ignited in my soul. I realized that I had believed and preached an upside down, flawed gospel in UBF. I officially resigned from UBF in protest on July 4th, 2011. I chose that day specifically. It was my independence day. I began blogging profusely about my journey, on priestlynation.com, declaring my freedom from UBF and exposing the problems I saw. I tried not to fall into the trap of treating UBF people poorly, but at times I just needed to vent. I had kept silent so many times, and so my critical voice exploded on my blogs.” pg. 83

Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives

“Recalling the multitude of UBF entanglements (and there are many hundreds more) has been a difficult task because I just want to forget it all. It is embarrassing to realize how much I put up with. But it is also good and liberating to realize how free I am now! No longer do I need to put up with any UBF entanglements or authority.

So what was good about all those years in UBF? My wife and I had to first come to terms with our arranged marriage. Was this good? Is our marriage valid? We both agreed—yes our marriage is before God and is good and valid. The goodness I see in my 24 years of UBFism is that I weaved a cocoon around my life. And that cocoon became the housing for my transformational new life. But what was this cocoon exactly?

As I wrote this chapter I discovered something unexpected. Why did I stay 24 years at UBF if the spiritual abuse was rampant? The best answer may be that I was seeking glory and fame. The cocoon I wove around myself (with the help of UBF shepherds weaving it for me at times) could be called a cocoon of self-glorification. I wanted to be famous. I wanted attention. I wanted to be noticed. I believed the promises that convinced me to join UBF in the first place: your name will be great! You will be a world-class leader! My vision is large and my appetite for self-glory is huge. Yes there was no perceived way out of UBF, but as my grandmother pointed out, I did not want a way out. I wanted glory.

Ironically, I would eventually meet the fate of all self-glory seekers: infamy. I am now the infamous detractor and vocal critic of UBF ministry. Realizing all these things has brought much goodness and peace to my mind. At least I am starting to understand what happened.” pg 73

Unexpected Christianity: The Penguin Narratives

“I return now to that coffee shop meeting in Ann Arbor, with my friend from Toledo UBF. He was one of the leaders there. I hadn’t seen him or other members of Toledo UBF for many years, since we had moved from Toledo to Detroit. My friend was normally the one who would lighten up any situation with his dry sense of humor or intriguing perspectives. But now, the frustration on my friend’s face was real. How could this be? What would cause my Christian friend to be so exasperated? The truth was that I felt just as exasperated. I was still struggling with the growing disconnect between my supposed biblical worldview and the reality happening around me. I was still pondering that Christmas letter from Sarah, wondering how I could display integrity. My friend and I shared our various struggles. We both were wavering about whether we would attend the upcoming UBF conference. My friend’s wife had already declared she would not attend, due to the issues she saw in the ministry.

This decision was problematic. No one in the UBF ministry decided not to attend a UBF conference. Attendance was not explicitly mandatory, but always the expectation was “You want to please Jesus, don’t you?” As if the guilt wasn’t motivation enough to enforce attendance, the consequences of deciding not to attend a conference were painfully inconvenient: you would be labeled as rebellious; you might be removed from some of your duties; you might be given more duties as training to obey; and you likely would be mentioned in the next Sunday message as an example of losing faith. I had seen it many times. The UBF community would turn against its own; shaming and shunning the one perceived to be weak in faith for not participating actively in the UBF mission. My friend now wondered what would happen to his family if he attended the conference and his wife did not. Our UBF worldview was cracking. In the end, we both decided the best course of action would be that we would attend the 2011 Easter conference, hosted by Toledo UBF, and face the consequences.

I went to this conference with a mission of my own. I wanted to find out why several friends at Toledo UBF, like my friend at the Ann Arbor coffee shop, had been reaching out to me and sharing their struggles with me. I began to wonder, is there no Christian pastor in Toledo UBF? Is there no one there who could be trusted to speak openly with? So I went to this UBF conference with my family. And I decided test the waters, to ask questions and find out what was going on.” pg. 18

#1 – Benjamin L. Corey

Ben is a self-titled “formerly fundie“. More than anyone, his thoughts “nail it”, repeatedly. If we are indeed in an ephoch-change that only comes every 500 years, Ben should be recorded as one of the leading voices of that change. The church is far better off for his thoughts. Check out his incredible book (which I am in the process of reading)… Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus

#2 – Timothy Michael Kurek

Timothy did something courageous that sparked conversations that will likely last for decades if not longer. He disguised himself as a gay man and came out without telling his family about his experiment. He found out how gays are treated and documented his findings. His incredible book showed me how the cross of Jesus can be found in the closet. Timothy’s Facebook posts (usually lighthearted!) and discussions have edified me wonderfully throughout the year. Here is his groundbreaking book, endorsed by Desmond Tutu: The Cross in the Closet

#3 – Matthew Vines

Matthew’s passion for the bible and evangelical Christianity spawned the Reformation Project, and it was an incredible success. As gay man, he believes the bible does not condemn same sex marriage and that love is the driving force of Christianity.  It has been amazing to see Matthew work tenaciously to refine his theology and work to advance the kingdom where few have dared to go. His book is a great starting point to get an overview of issues gay Christians face: God and the Gay Christian.

Who has influenced you throughout this year? What did you learn? What Christ-like voices do you hear? Who do you think is helping the church to advance the gospel? 

Book 1 – Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives

In my first book, I was inspired by a simple word Jesus spoke. “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” Luke 12:24 ESV. I found that ravens are fascinating birds. They are scavengers though, and have typically been depicted as symbols of evil in many books. Jesus said to consider the ravens, so I did.

In this book I shared my exploration of midrash, telling the story of Jacob and Esau from what I think might have been Esau’s perspective. I shared what I was learning about the gospel of Jesus, based on numerous books and my new bible study classes I was taking. In the final chapter, I shared a long version of my life story, from my perspective and without spinning tales of glory. This whole process was a baseline to reset my personal life narrative. The book is dedicated to my late father who died of ALS in 1989. And as with all three books, I asked for artwork from my parents (and later from my daughter).

Book 2 – Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives

In my second book, I shared all the things I wanted to put in my first book, but didn’t have the thoughts or the courage. I explore three burning questions: Why did I join UBF? Why did I stay at UBF over two decades? And why did I leave UBF? I found that my search for goodness, my father’s death, and my own self-absorbed thinking contributed to all three questions.

This book was frustrating to write, and ends rather abruptly. I was not happy with this book at the time because it stirred up so many emotions. As I analyzed the UBF theology called KOPHAN, “kingdom of priests and holy nation” I became more and more furious at having been duped out of believing the Christian gospel that Jesus preached. Still I was able to document, for the first time as far as I am aware, the main components of KOPAHN. I explain in detail and with personal experience the recruiting principles of UBF missionaries (such as low commitment/high reward promises), the six-stage training system, the three layers of burden placed on new recruits, the four elements of control woven throughout the UBF culture, and the twelve heritage slogans that all UBF people will instantly recognize. All this is the UBF-style shepherding theology called KOPAHN. All this stroked my own narcissistic desires for fame and glory. After writing all this, I found that the process, though messy, was very good for my soul.

Book 3 – Unexpected Christianity: The Penguin Narratives

In my third book, I attempt to connect with Christianity. I do so by weaving in the story of my family’s move to Detroit from Toledo, stories from 2003 to 2012. I tell what happened when we were sent out by Toledo UBF, how people in Toledo UBF would share various struggles with me, and in painful detail, I share what happened as my family slipped away from UBF in “blaze of glory” fashion. One of the sparks for our departure that I describe is ironically Sarah Barry’s 2011 new year’s card, where she prayed for all UBF missionaries to be men and women of integrity. My third book tells my journey to be just that—a man of integrity.

I am most pleased with my third book. I get a lot off my chest in this book. And it was the most painful to write. But it shows in vivid detail how I was able to find faith, hope and love again—the faith, hope and love that Christianity is supposed to be all about. I dedicated this book to myself, because Jesus said to love your enemy.

Who am I?

These three books tell the story of my search for who I am. If you want to know me, or understand why I did what I did, please read my books. If there is any “one way” forward for UBF ministry, I suggest for your consideration that the one way begins with reading my books. You might just find Jesus all over again. Thanks for listening. My story is complete. My journey now takes an entirely new turn. And I am happy.

Book #1 – Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives

I blogged major sections of this book here on ubfriends.

Rest Unleashed excerpts on our ubfriends blog

Book #2 – Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives

I blogged major sections of this second book on my personal theology blog:

Goodness Found excerpts on my Lambhearted lion blog

Tell us your story?

If you are looking for a healthy way to comprehend and recover from a controlling ministry or other traumatic experience, please consider contacting us and submitting an article to tell us your story. Until the lions tell their stories, history belongs to the hunters (African proverb)

Breaking the yoke of undue religious influence

Undue influence. What does that mean? Why does it become a yoke that is harmful to the human soul? How can someone break free from such a yoke? Such questions deserve much deeper thought, and will become the subject of my future books. In today’s narrative, I aim only to introduce the concept and then tell part of my life story.

Undue influence is influence by which a person is induced to act otherwise than by their own free will or without adequate attention to the consequences. The word “undue” is important in this definition. When some force is undue, that force is unwarranted or inappropriate because it is excessive or disproportionate to the object of that force. Sometimes that force is actually a weak force, like the tether on an adult elephant that had existed since the elephant was young. The power of undue religious influence may not be in its coercion but in its perception. Such influence may be carried out not by actual force, but by perceived force or imagined consequences.

Some undue influence might be easily identifiable because the influence is so over-the-top that no person would accept such influence under normal circumstances. An example of obvious undue influence would be a kidnapping of someone and taking them to a concentration camp. We can rather universally recognize this kind of undue influence as being harmful and wrong. Most undue influence in the religious realm however is more difficult to identify. The influence that one person can handle safely may in fact be undue influence on a different person who cannot handle that kind of influence at that time. Such confusion and subtlety often allows the perpetrators of undue influence to justify their abusive tactics because they can point to some examples of successful transformation due to their influence. In some cases, the influence falls into the blind spot of the perpetrators, so that they don’t even realize they are causing undue influence on someone.

My Unholy Devotion To Religion

After my father’s death, I threw myself into the UBF lifestyle. I adopted Ed and the Korean man as my spiritual fathers. The UBF community became my family. The leaders became my spiritual parents. This meant that I would submit my entire life to being trained by my UBF shepherds. That is the UBF way—every member must have a shepherd. The shepherds are self-appointed and choose the sheep they want. A chance meeting on campus meant that it was God’s divine will that you become the sheep of that person. This shepherd sheep relationship was meant to be lifelong, and would even persist into heaven we thought. So I would be eternally submissive to my UBF shepherd out of a desire to be a preacher for God. This provided me with the safety and security and protection I was looking for. I used the UBF community to replace what I lost in my father and to escape the dark reality of life around me. I hid myself in the UBF ideologies, escaping every minute I could to read the bible and avoid the real world. And so my desire to be a preacher for God was born.
Soon I wrote and shared my UBF life testimony, boldly declaring praise to God for my father who had found salvation in Jesus. And around this time I discovered the deep faith of my grandparents, especially my grandmother. She loved my life testimony. She made several paper copies and mailed them the friends and family all over the country. She also made copies of the video of my sharing and played it for all her friends at church. She told me I should be a preacher someday.

My grandparents became a foundation of Christian faith for me. I have always been encouraged by their faithful, devoted and explicit belief in Jesus and their unconditional love for people. They had opinions about politics, religions and the like, but for them, goodness reigned supreme. My grandma was therefore very concerned about UBF right from the start. She always told me that bible study is good, but too much bible study is like too much salt when you cook. God’s messages are about love. We can’t forget God’s love and we can never forget our family. Looking back I wonder how she and the rest of my family endured my 24 years of UBF life. But their goodness and their love was the buoy that always righted my ship.

New Friends, Bold Decisions, Restored Relationships

The big event of our lives happened in 2011. To make a long story short: We left UBF. This means nothing to most people. Leaving a church? Not a big deal. But leaving UBF is different. It equates to losing your salvation because UBF requires each person to be loyally submitted to a UBF shepherd, usually a Korean. But finally I had enough. I began to fear the bitterness, depression and anger in my soul more than any retribution from God or from UBF shepherds. So I resigned.

We sent shockwaves throughout the 6,000 member organization worldwide. I had not intended to leave UBF. I actually just wanted to find out some answers the problems a dozen or so of my friends in UBF had been confiding in me since moving to Detroit. But I finally had enough of pretending to be a holy soldier. So I sent a report into my shepherd telling him my honest feelings. That didn’t go over so well. Within two hours of receiving my report via email, he called me. I could tell he was angry. He told me any problems in UBF were none of my business. He further said that any spiritual deadness I had been observing was because I was the one who was spiritually dead. As soon as I hung up the phone, I experienced the Holy Spirit come alive in me like never before. I suddenly knew God had a purpose for me: expose the problematic dark side of UBF. I saw clearly that UBF suffered from the same authority-based problems that the Shepherding Movement did in the 1970’s in America. In an instant my mind was released from the bondage of guilt and all the abuses in UBF I had ignored or dismissed came to mind.

I then embarked on an amazing journey of recovery from the controlling, guilt-ridden, shame-soaked life we had lived in UBF. I was done with the holy soldier façade. This journey was not so different from the journey of Pi in the movie “Life of Pi” or Truman in the movie “The Truman Show” or the blind girl in the M. Night Shyamalan movie “The Village”. In fact I began watching many movies, especially children’s movies, because I found so many connections with the characters in the movies, such as Tangled. I felt I was Repunzel being set free from her castle tower! Finally I was at peace.

The most exciting part of this journey for me has been connecting with people at Grace Community Church in Detroit. That first lunch with pastor Bryan was an important reality check for me, one that helped me realize there are many Christians outside UBF (imagine that!). Attending the 6:00 am bible study led by pastor Wayne was eye-opening. It was his “Be Armed” series that corrected a lot of false teaching I had picked up. I realized then that for all my thousands of hours of bible study, I had never learned the basic doctrines of Christianity. Even as I continue go through a transformational paradigm-shift in my faith, those basic doctrines hold true and provide an anchor for my faith.

Pastor Wayne baptized me on April 29, 2012. I had decided to be baptized as a way to confirm that I had left UBF had given my life to be a Christ-follower. I’ll never forget pastor Wayne’s words to me just before going under: “You are now free form the teachings of one man.” Now I’m glad to be part of pastor Wayne’s intercessory prayer team, praying for Renewal Church and his new role there. Grace Community Church became a safe house for me and our family. Pastor Bryan was a God-send to my wife and I. His sermons were so full of love, goodness and humor—and so deeply drawn from the well of grace and love—that each Sunday my soul mended a little more.

My wife and I joined a bible study group with Pastor Bryan. And we were utterly shocked to discover what genuine Christian teaching was all about. We found that we had been taught a Christianized form of Eastern philosophy, which continues to be one of our biggest problems. Through Pastor Bryan’s help and the help of our newfound Christian community, our family is being healed day by day. Now my wife and I are renewing our relationship, going on dates, finding out each other’s character and making up for nearly 20 years of lost time.

Breaking the yoke of guilt

“We never taught that!”… words I’ve heard often after leaving my former religious organization. One of my most impactful and life-changing discoveries I made after resigning from my leadership position in a fundamentalist, fringe Korean religious group was that my theology was deeply flawed because we were holding onto implied gospel messages that were filled with holes and superficial, un-Christ-like ideologies. Of course the group leaders could claim they never taught the things I was renouncing and criticizing them for on my blog. Our flawed gospel messages were not normally taught explicitly. Most of the time, our shallow gospel was taught implicitly, taught underhandedly through a praise/shame system. We knew exactly what we were teaching, what kind of behavior we expected in ourselves and in new recruits, but we rarely documented such things explicitly. That way all those “R-Group people” (our term for former members) would not be able to prove anything.

I found that I had the facts of the gospel correct—the gospel is about Jesus, his birth, life, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension and future reign—but I had come to accept some very non-gospel messages. I accepted, for example, that I must remain loyal to my personal spiritual supervisor the rest of my life, checking with him for major life decisions to see if my decisions were “God’s will”. We called this “spiritual order”. I also accepted that it was not possible to leave the group I was in, or at least not if I wanted to be in Heaven one day. In fact we created an entire heritage system of implied beliefs—beliefs that are not taught by the bible text directly but that seem to be implied from the text. It was a grand biblical proof-texted ideology. Sometimes this heritage was then explicitly taught. Looking back, I see that I didn’t actually believe such teachings, but I accepted them. I overlooked the built-in contradictions and did my best to apologize for and to perpetuate the flawed theology.

Five Explicit Gospel Messages

In “The Explicit Gospel”, Matt Chandler eloquently articulates the content of the gospel, brilliantly describing the gospel as what he rightly calls “the gospel on the ground and the gospel in the air”. In “Your Church is too Small”, John H. Armstrong earnestly and magnificently expresses the result of the gospel, as an exhortation to see the Church holistically, comprehensively, historically and missionally, and yet in a fresh, new light based on Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17. In “Eyes That See, Ears That Hear”, James Danaher repaints the theological framework of Christianity, expressing the fabric of the gospel so that we can perceive the gospel as we continue the epic transition from modernity to post-modernity and beyond. In “Fundamorphosis”, Robb Ryerse brings to life his amazing journey of transformation, renewal and regeneration that reveals the power of the gospel to change and transform in a personal and approachable way. And in “What We Believe and Why”, George Koch presents a masterpiece of theological constructs that connect ancient thoughts on faith with current discoveries in a grand panorama of the faith of the gospel, meticulously documenting the essentials and the basics, the origins and the foundational truths of what Christians believe in an accessible manner few have accomplished. These five books have profoundly shaped my narrative about the gospel, and ought to be collected in some sort of “modern to post-modern transition library” as five classic books that capture the Christian faith in our generation.

I have found these gospel messages to be immensely helpful in guiding my conversations on religious or philosophical discussions. And then suddenly the gospel began to come alive, unleashed from the yoke of my shallow, misguided, guilt-laden, proof-texted notions.

• The gospel is about the kingdom. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

• The gospel is about God’s grace. “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).

• The gospel is about the glory of Christ. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

• The gospel is about salvation. “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…” (Ephesians 1:13).

• The gospel is about peace. “…and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15).

Communal Salvation

It’s a small world after all. Our world today is smaller in that we are more inter-connected and inter-dependent than at any time in world history. Instant, global communication and rapid world-wide travel is commonplace. The worldwide Christian church is starting to realize that there is only one faith, one hope, one Lord and one body. Our theologies and gospel messages must now pass the test of global criticism. Perhaps we are on the verge of a new kind of uniting by the Holy Spirit that does not define boundaries? Clearly church communities have been ripped to shreds in recent years. Could the Spirit now be uniting entirely new communities, reforming the shattered body of Christ into a vastly more healthy and loving world-wide community?

Personal Liberation

Jesus did not come to bind believers to an upgraded law or to yoke us with a heavy mask to hide our real identities. Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Jesus came to give rest for the soul of the believer. Do you believe that? For most of my life I tried to believe that, but in my mind I always concluded: “Easy and light? Yea right! You gotta be kiddin’ me! Christian life is anything but easy or light…” I believed the gospel Jesus taught, but I lived my life as if I were a donkey tethered to a millstone. My only claim was “Yes I’m tied to a millstone, but it is a better millstone than what Moses gave!” I thought, “My millstone came from Jesus, and I’m going to pull it by golly!” So I became weary in all I did. Everything became meaningless.

If we see the Sermon on the Mount and walk away sad or burdened with guilt or heavy laden with anxiety, we’re hearing implied messages that are not of the explicit gospel messages Jesus taught. Jesus’ yoke is not a new way to be tethered to the law. Jesus’ yoke is grace. Jesus’ invitation to find rest for your soul still stands open today.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My parents have supported me far more than necessary. My mother and step-father, Linda and Joseph A. Yenser, along with my grandparents, Louie and Simone, and my wife’s parents, Tibor and Sandra, and all my family especially my two brothers Darrin and Donny have been a bedrock of goodness and an ocean of love for me. I was both grateful and excited to receive the raven artwork from my stepfather, Joseph A. Yenser.

My friend John H. Armstrong, who spoke the six words that inspired this book, “I will not bind your conscience.”, has been a model of love and unity to me. My friend Ben Toh, a pastor in the Chicago West Loop area, has been a great sounding board, and a friend who is not afraid to disagree with me. Ben is truly a raven among ravens.

My friends in University Bible Fellowship (UBF), the community who exerted undue religious influence on my life and thus ironically shaped the narratives in this book, have hope to be redeemed into a healthy community when the stories of former members are narrated, processed and acted upon with love, grace and truth.

My friend Chris Z, who I once considered my enemy, has become my friend and has been a continual reality check for my thinking, as have all my encounters with former members of UBF.

My friend and author Andrew Martin was instrumental in shaping this book because of his book, “The Year the World Ended”. His journey parallels mine and he has become a good friend in the midst of much turmoil.

Our four children, Ruth, Anna, Noah and John have made my life rich, exciting and far more happy than I could ever have experienced myself. My life is filled with joy because of them.

My wife of 20 years, Mary, deserves much credit for this book, for it is she who is a writer, who has an English Literature PhD and who understands what I intend to say. Her endless love for me has made anything I do possible. Thank you and I love you.

Father, Forgive Them

The story of Jacob and Esau is a grand narrative of blessing, deception, hatred and division. And a narrative that occupies a large part of biblical text, not only in quantity of chapters but in importance of teaching. Apostle Paul’s symphonic text called Romans weaves the story of Jacob and Esau into a masterpiece. In my studies of Genesis, always the perspective of Jacob was presented. The thought occurred to me, however, to take a look at the perspective of Esau. Why would I do that? Esau is the patriarch of God’s enemies. Esau is an ungodly man. God hates Esau. All this is true, I admit. But Jesus said, “consider the ravens” in Luke 12:24. Look at the ravens. Who is more of a raven than Esau, the patriarch of God’s enemies and the Edomites, the community of God’s enemies? Is there something to be learned from Esau beyond “hate your enemy”?

What if God forgives his enemies?

Will God do this? Will God answer Jesus’ cross-originated prayer to forgive his enemies, God’s enemies? Could there be forgiveness beyond the judgment of God? How might the enemies of God find the forgiveness of God? As I searched the bible feverishly and prayed for answers to such questions, I didn’t find all the answers. But I did find someone who wrestled with these kinds of questions. And he wrestled with these questions in light of the Jacob and Esau narrative. His name was Paul the Apostle. In Romans chapter 9, he wrestles with such questions: What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath–prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory– even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:22-24)

Who is this coming from Edom?

If the way for human beings to see Christ-likeness is forgiveness of enemies, how would we see any Christ-likeness in the God of Abraham if we don’t observe God forgiving the enemies of God? Could it be that the angry, sadistic-like God of the Old Testament “repented” on the cross? Might it be possible that people of faith are not to follow the God who kills enemies but the God who loves enemies?

I believe Isaiah saw just such a vision recorded in Isaiah 63:1-6.

Could we not see Isaiah’s vision with eyes of the cross? Now that we have the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we surely can see a glimpse of the world through Jesus’ eyes. Might we now see the love of God and the cosmic redemption story in Isaiah’s vision? In light of the cross, I see “their blood” as becoming the “blood of the lamb” and “anger” being transformed into “love and forgiveness”. Just as swords will be one day beaten into plowshares (Micah 4:3), might the wrath of God be changed into the love of God? Might we be changed from identifying and killing our enemies into forgiving and loving our enemies without condition on the basis of the cross of Jesus alone? Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? It is Jesus.

One of the most important take-aways from Robb’s book for me is the need for each generation of Christians to seek out and embrace ourselves, our God and our theology in the sea of change. Fundamorphosis challenges us to go beyond a “receive and believe” approach.

A new journey, connected to the past

Throughout history, Christianity has been represented by various symbols. Each generation has struggled to understand the words of Jesus and the Bible authors. We have much to learn from them. The cross was the first symbol, and remains the most important. The fish was used early on, no doubt due to the fishermen Jesus called.

Robb does not dismiss the early tradition and rich history of Christianity. In fact, he points us toward such things, with the hope of instilling a new desire for satisfaction from our Christian faith. At the same time, Fundamorphosis is an invitation to find a new identity. The identity of the butterfly, and the related metamorphosis process, captures the essence of what God through the Holy Spirit is doing around the world today. I say this with confidence based on my own transformation out of my own cocoon of evangelicalism and based on thousands of online and in-person conversations with Christians from around America and around the world.

The power of Fundamorphosis lies not in introducing some “new theology” or a “better system of answers”, but in capturing one man’s transformation out of a static, burned-out, joyless Phariseeism and into a vibrant, ever-changing Christ-followership.

Love and hope, not apostasy

Immediately I could sense Robb’s love for those who “believe with certitude” the tenants of fundamentalist Christianity. Unlike others in our generation, Robb does not condemn fundamentalist Christians. Instead, Robb tells the story of his own journey. At one point he declares: “I still love the church”.

Robb is on an amazing journey, but he has not given up on church. With grace and careful thought, Robb invites all of us to a deeper faith, a more flexible commitment and a broader inclusion of people. Fundamorphosis is filled with words of hope and life and joy from beginning to end. It may be that many will read his book secretly (Kindle is a good way for that :) Those who do will surely find love, not judgement or dismissiveness.

Sharing the pain and struggle

“We wrestled with what to do. We contemplated what it would take for us to be agents of change within our church.” (Fundamorphosis, location 367, Kindle Edition)

Just as a caterpillar might wonder what is happening as the cocoon spins around it, Robb is candid with his and his family’s struggle. His transformation was not without a “dark night of soul”. With vivid memories interwoven into his narrative, Robb gives us a real look into his struggles. Such vulnerability is much needed today.

A journey of self discovery

“Doubt actually frees me to admit that I don’t have all the answers and that I can’t figure it all out. And when I am willing to admit this truth about myself, I experience a true hope.” (location 949, Kindle Edition)

One of the threads throughout Fundamorphosis is Robb’s personal self discovery journey, a journey that includes both doubt and faith. St. Augustine’s prayer regarding “self” and “God” is certainly true.

Conclusion

Fundamorphosis is a snapshot of what God is doing in our generation. These are not times of doom and gloom, but one of the most exciting and hopeful times in all history. Thank you Robb for articulating the essence of what the Spirit has been teaching me and for expressing what is on the minds of many! And perhaps what we all need is a fundamorphosis. Isn’t that a big part of the discipleship Jesus invites us to? We may study the bible for thousands of hours every year. But has all that study lead us into a deep, personal, relational, missional, ecumenical, communal transformation because of the amazing, effervescent, joyful, all-surpassing glory and hope of the new wine Jesus is offering?

There is much that the author is thankful for in University Bible Fellowship, such as going to Bible Conferences in other countries, the love bombing in her early days, and the Bible studies. These things I am very thankful to God for as well. She mentioned that when she finally became free she never lost her faith in God but learned to serve God in different way free from all the pressure and control and undue influence.

I noticed a few common things that she shared in her book that really drives home the real issues in University Bible Fellowship that must be addressed and be changed if University Bible Fellowship is to become healthy and be a healthy ministry. These same points are addressed in Brian’s books and the one we wrote together as well.

First, She saw family life in University Bible Fellowship.

She mentioned as she took a closer look at the families in UBF she noticed that they were abusive and unhealthy. I saw the same thing in our ministry in Cincinnati UBF as well as in my own family. She noticed that kids were pressured to live in the University Bible Fellowship community and parents did not spend time with them but left them to others to take care of so that they could raise disciples of Jesus. This changed her perspective completely and contributed to her leaving UBF after being a member for 3 years in the Canadian chapter. She did not want to raise an unhealthy and unbalanced family.

I strongly urge UBF members to love and take care of their families and if can’t do so and do ministry then leave UBF immediately. Please do not abuse your children under the banner of love and ministry.

Second, She saw pressure to marry in UBF.

This is a sure sign of an unhealthy ministry. Throughout her book you can see how she had to suppress her feelings and live under the direct influence of her Bible teacher. This caused emotional anxiety and trauma to her life that is abusive in nature. UBF makes marriage out to be some kind of fantasy world where you will be eternally happy with the partner they choose for you because they are God’s servants and they know what is best for you. I lived in this illusion and dream until I got married in UBF and realized I married someone who did not like the ministry as I thought and only stayed with me because of our children. I realized that the marriages in UBF can be very abusive in the sense that you marry under pressure and someone who does not understand that they will often be expected to sacrifice their family to feed into the UBF propaganda machine. It is not real.

Yes, there are some good marriages but much is cover up. One young man in Cincinnati UBF left his wife and children, he was one of my shepherds, to spend his life with a same sex partner. These stories are covered up and never talked about.

Third, She saw that she was not her real self.

She describes it as an out of body experience in her book. It was nice to read a book from a woman’s perspective for a change. She saw that the longer she stayed in UBF the more and more activities were thrown on her life to seize unhealthy control of her life until she ended up in depression and even fainted a few times at work and in a library a few times where she worked.

Finally, she got the courage to leave. I strongly encourage anyone who is in University Bible Fellowship to read her book to just explore these issues in a loving way. I can see that she did not write this book to bash UBF but with a sincere and loving desire to come to terms with her life and to find healing for herself. In the same way, Brian and I wrote our stories with the same purpose. There is no money to be made in writing books but much time and effort in writing. These love letters must be read, I promise you that you will learn more here than staying up all night half asleep listening to repetitive and boring testimonies. Isabelle Renaud is our sister in Christ and she deserves to heard in the University Bible Fellowship community.

Today our new Friend submitted a thoughtful, heartfelt and well-articulated article entitled “What next?” I want to share my response as an article instead of a comment because I have far too many emotions and thoughts racing through my veins. I am both excited and encouraged to read Friend’s thoughts. But I don’t want to go backward in my journey. I have asked myself that question thousands of times the past three years since resigning from UBF on July 4th, 2011. What do I do now? UBF shepherds promised to make my name great like Abraham, to train me to be a world-class leader, to learn how to be a Christian missionary and how to deeply study the bible. Those promises turned out to be a mirage for me. I have no idea and no authority to determine what is next for UBF ministry or people. What I can do is concern about what is next for me and my family. Here are my thoughts.

Cultural and Emotional Healing

I am far from a world-class leader. After leaving UBF I found that I could barely speak my own language fluently. I had lost the ability to speak and think at “American-speed”. In order to survive my UBF tenure of 24 years, my emotions had been bound up and stored away in a dark corner of my heart. My conscience had been cut out in order to sustain the massive amount of cognitive dissonance it required to enable and propagate the KOPHN fantasy. So I will continue my quest to restore my American identity, connect with my Roman Catholic roots, rejuvenate my emotions and restore my conscience.

Writing Books!

One of the reasons I stayed in  UBF that I discovered through writing my second book is that I have a massive desire for self-glory and fame. UBF fed this desire well. So well in fact that after leaving UBF I became the infamous detractor, and most vocal critic. That is the lot of all of us who seek fame– infamy awaits. I decided however to turn this into something good. I discovered the joy of writing books. Today Amazon published my second. Here are the links to my books:

•  Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives (paperback | Kindle)
  Publication date: May 12, 2014

• Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives (paperback | Kindle)
  Publication date: March 26, 2014

More Books about UBF

What is next for UBF ministry is uncertain. UBF is at a crossroads. What is certain is that more and more publicity is headed UBF’s way. There have been many internet testimonies and some TV interviews at places like Chicago UBF and Toledo UBF. Now there will be more and more books published about people’s experiences at UBF.

• I Choose: Subtlety in Cults, Isabelle Renaud (Kindle)
  Publication Date: November 30, 2013
  

“I wrote this book to explain how easily someone can get trapped in a controlling group or relationship. This book is not about religion, it is about the organizational structure and emotional manipulation. It is about finding yourself after losing yourself.

Isabelle was in university when she entered a Christian group called University Bible Fellowship. During the following years, she acquired her experience on cults while spending three years in UBF and working for various community organizations.”

But this is supposed to be a book review of Rest Unleashed: The Raven Narratives. The first half of his book is a retelling of the story of Esau and his rediscovery of the gospel that had been presented in the light of mission. I was a little surprised to find a Catholic dismiss St. Thomas Aquinas division of old testament law, but besides that nothing truly surprised me about Brian’s discovery. It is the same gospel I have always known. I guess I was more surprised that this had to be a revelation. I know I have been given a lot in the way of correct teaching, but this passage of his book made me realize how blessed I have been with a correct view of the gospel. I thought it was amazing that someone could read the whole bible and miss fundamental beliefs of our Lord’s message such as grace, glory, salvation, and peace.

The second part of the book was the author’s life testimony. When I first read claims from the author about UBF I spoke with John Lee, the pastor from Springfield. John Lee said the Brian had a bad experience pioneering Detroit. I could feel that John lee truly felt sorry for the situation. He said “He was trying to pioneer Detroit, Michael. He felt like he wasn’t receiving any support. I cannot imagine trying to pioneer Detroit.” Brian’s life testimony seemed to confirm this. I realized that Brian had always felt something was off or wrong, but he dismissed it. Eventually God shocked him to this truth. The thing he was missing was a loving, graceful Christ- free from legalism. Sometimes the only way God can reach someone is through pain. But it is for the better.

The part I enjoyed most about the book was how God led him to his wife though a very intricate plot. I won’t spoil the story but it deserves to be told (and dare I say- replicated) again and again. I know Brian felt like what happened was unfair to his wife, and he would know better than I would. But I found the story amusing and I took pleasure in seeing how he got around the system.

I encourage everyone to buy and read Brian’s book. It contains much more than I have mentioned. I recently spoke to a UBF missionary from Chicago who said that Brian was good for UBF because he “keeps us honest”. I doubt this is the official UBF position. As a concluding remark, both books I have read by former UBF members tell a similar story. They speak of a person who had UBF coming to them at a low point in their life- just when they needed purpose. In both cases UBF provided them with a purpose, but there is a season for everything and eventually the UBF season ended. Just like this review now ends.

Are you free from legalism?

How to make the apostle Paul very angry. All Christians say that faith in Jesus and the gospel is all we need for life and salvation. But practically some Christians and churches communicate–explicitly or implicitly–that faith in Christ is not quite enough. In Paul’s day, Jewish Christians (the Judaizers) taught the Gentile Christians that in addition to believing in Christ they must keep Jewish traditions–circumcision, dietary laws, special days–in order to become “fully Christian.” This so outraged Paul that he did not express any pleasantries or thanksgiving after his introduction (Gal 1:1-5), as he did in his other 12 epistles. Instead he immediately launched into them (Gal 1:6ff) by directly confronting and accusing them of deserting Christ and distorting, changing and perverting the gospel (Gal 1:6b-7). To those who taught that additions to the gospel were needed (which is no gospel at all), Paul cursed them with God’s curse…twice in two verses (Gal 1:8-9). Boy was he mad!

A junior rebuking a senior publicly. Compared to Peter, Paul was a “junior” apostle. Yet, in that orderly structured hierarchical Jewish culture, Paul rebuked Peter publicly (not privately). Then he openly shared and circulated this embarrassing and shameful account in a letter to be read in all the churches (Gal 2:11-14). Today it is like sending out a mass email to everyone in the church! Imagine Peter, the rock of the church (Mt 16:18), committing such a basic sin and getting publicly rebuked by a junior! Peter’s sin was “deviating from the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:14) when he withdrew from eating together with Gentile Christians. By his behavior he was saying that Jewish Christians were better than Gentile Christians because they kept the tradition of Jewish dietary laws. By making this distinction Peter communicated that the gospel of God’s grace was insufficient for salvation and good standing as a Christian. He was stating by his action that justification was not just by faith, but also by the works of the law (Gal 2:16).

For over 25 years, without realizing it, I added to the gospel whenever I taught the Bible. Basically, I added (strictly enforced!) all the activities of the church to the gospel: marrying by faith, no dating without permission, writing out answers to Bible study questions, preparing Bible study binders, writing testimonies, going fishing, feeding sheep 1:1, never ever missing any church meetings (don’t you dare!), always wearing a tie in church, addressing other Christians with titles, etc. None of these “additions” were necessarily bad or wrong. In fact, I thought I was a “cut-above” Christian, not a nominal Christian. But I inadvertently communicated that Christ alone or the gospel alone was insufficient and inadequate to be regarded as a good Christian. So today, I’m done writing testimonies along with being done with…

• fishing,
• going on campus,
• preparing Bible study binders,
• having 1:1 Bible studies,
• restricting dating among singles,
• teaching “marriage by faith,”
• giving “message training”,
• “training” people,
• attending “mandatory” church meetings,
• attending all Bible conferences,
• addressing fellow Christians with titles,
• “copying” messages and manuscripts, etc.

I’m not opposed to any of the above and would encourage some people to seriously consider them, if they are so inclined. But I am convinced that putting any undue emphasis or pressure to conform to any church practices and traditions would invariably teach what Paul calls “a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all” (Gal 1:6-7). To Paul, such “Bible teachers” should castrate or emasculate themselves (Gal 5:12). Worse yet, it invites an eternal curse from God (Gal 1:8-9).

Are you free from legalism? Or do you feel that something else is required from you in addition to your faith in the gospel?

There are countless good commentaries on Galatians. The books I have read and do not hesitate recommending are:

1. John R.W. Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1968).
2. Timothy Keller, Galatians For You, God’s Word For You (Epsom, Surrey, England: The Good Book Company, 2013).
3. Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing Company, 2005).

This picture shows the disciples vehemently arguing among themselves as to which of them was considered to be the greatest (Lk 22:24), followed by Jesus’ emphatic assertion and imperative command that his disciples should not lord over others like the rulers of the Gentiles (Lk 22:25-26). Notice Jesus illustrating this important point–often ignored by the church hierarchy–with his index finger.

This dramatic picture shows Peter impulsively and spontaneously reacting to Jesus being arrested by swiftly slicing off the right ear of the servant of the high priest (Lk 22:50). Then Jesus touched and healed the man’s ear (Lk 22:51), followed by his surrender to the mob, saying, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns” (Lk 22:52-53).

This picture shows an angry high priest exclaiming in their kangaroo court, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips” (Lk 22:71), as Jesus stood helplessly and bound by ropes.

Finally, this last illustration is of Jesus on the road to Emmaus walking with the two men who were kept from recognizing Jesus (Lk 24:19-29).

Each drawing on each page drew out the drama and emotion of the biblical text (HCSB), especially the facial expressions of each character. Jesus looks haggard and rugged, even ugly without beauty or majesty (Isa 53:2), unlike typical Hollywood portrayals, such as the recent Son of God. Those who love looking at pictures would love the book. It would encourage children (or adults) who are not inclined to read the Bible to be captivated by the drawings and be drawn into the story.

This unique interesting book is written by Alex Webb-Peploe (pencils, inks, colors) and Andre Parker (art direction, design, colors). I received this book from The Good Book Company via Cross Focused Reviews for my review. The opinions expressed are mine. This is disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The sin beneath the sin

My identity was as a UBF man for 27 years (1980-2007). I am a Christian. I tasted the love of God through the marvelous grace of Jesus. But my identity was in my faithfulness to never miss a UBF Sun worship service, never miss any meetings, never miss writing a testimony every week, never missing any UBF conferences, having 10 1:1 Bible studies a week, etc. I did well as a UBF man. Yet, though I love Jesus, my identity was not in Christ but in what others in UBF expected of me. I was an “exemplary UBF shepherd” and supposedly the “best American UBF shepherd,” which is quite embarrassing, if not funny. (Thank God that it is not so any more!)

A Christian identity that is not in Christ. I am again reading James Danaher’s excellent book Eyes That See, Ears That Hear, that Brian reviewed. Chapter 4 alone–The Sermon on the Mount and the Concept of Sin–is worth the price of the book. Danaher explains how many Christians (and Pharisees) view sin as doing something bad, such as breaking the Ten Commandments. But their sin is ultimately in finding their identity in something else other than Christ.

Anger. We know murder is a sin. But Jesus says “that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister…will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Mt 5:22). It means that anger becomes our source of energy and strength, rather than finding our energy and strength in Christ alone. It is sad when Christians, in anger, slander other Christians because of disagreements about doctrine, tradition or methodology.

Lust. We know adultery is a sin. But Jesus says “that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28). It suggests that off limits romantic and sexual thoughts gives us energy, excitement and direction in a way that should be reserved for God alone.

Oaths (my “prayer topics”). Jesus says to make no oath (Mt 5:33-36). Why? We think we are good and noble when we keep our word: “I promise to go fishing once a week and feed three sheep each week.” We like to think that we are people of our word and that our word is enough to motivate us to do what we promised. So we derive our strength and motivation by keeping our word, which can serve as a source of strength and identity apart from God.

Punishing others. We love an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” but Jesus says, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Mt 5:38-39). Yeah, right! We easily focus on the sins of others and find energy and motivation through scheming ways of how to punish and shame them. But with God alone as our source of energy and strength, we can turn the other cheek, because we want to love others as Christ loved us, instead of giving them what we think their sins deserve.

Loving enemies (Mt 5:43-45). Jesus loved Judas to the end (Jn 13:1). But when we speculate or imagine that someone in church might be a Judas, we marginalize and exclude them rather than love them. The only way to love an enemy is if we are connected to an incredibly loving and forgiving God as the source of our being and identity. Such love is behind everything Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.

Desire for honor and recognition. When you suffer and sacrifice for Bible students, do you share in your mission report to make sure that others know just how much you suffered and sacrificed (cf. Mt 6:2)? Jesus said that doing so means that we are seeking an identity founded on prestige, reputation, honor and the recognition of others, rather than on our relationship with God.

Is your identity in Christ alone and driven by love? Or might your identity be driven by anger, the desire to punish others for their sins (real or imagined!), or the desire to be honored and recognized?

My name is Michael Lanier. I am a 23 year old math teacher in inner city St. Louis. I graduated from SIUE last may. I was introduced to UBF through my brother’s doctor John Lee. I was born and raised in Springfield, adopted out of a broken home with my brother when I was 10. My father had passed away when I was 4. My brother would frequently get into street fights and break his hand. The second (third?) time this happened his doctor John Lee invited him to church. I have never been to a bible conference. I have never presided. I have never delivered a Sunday message. I have never married by faith. In fact I purchased this book to know more about married life in UBF. The marriage question has been at the forefront of discussions with nearly everyone I know about UBF. Yes, UBF marriages tend to last, but are they fulfilling? The answer seemed unattainable from missionaries and leaders. This is who I am. This is why I bought his book.

As for the book- it is the story of the consequences of putting ministry over family. This was of genuine importance to me. Mr. Martin states “Family must come first over ministry.” (his emphasis, not mine). 1 Timothy chapter 3 agrees “If anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife…He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect” 1 Tim 3:1-4 Later in the book he mentions a pastor who actually stepped down from a larger church because he saw that the eventuality would be the destruction of his marriage. The consequence of this are family problems and eventually divorce.

Another major point Mr. Martin makes repeatedly is that his divorce was for the better. I agree, but I got the keen impression that he was really really trying to convince people of this. Perhaps it is that divorce is so common in my generation that I hardly blinked at the notion. Paul gives abandonment as a valid reason for divorce (1 Corinthians 7:15), and Mr. Martin mentions at least a half dozen attempts he tried to reconcile. His (now ex) wife refused.

The second half of the book recounts the events after his divorce– his reconciliation with his children, and God leading him to an amazing woman named Cora. They met through Genesis study thousands of miles apart! The book concluded with his return to UBF and his complete and utter rejection. The book comes full circle at this point.

One last point I ought to make is this. Mr. Martin makes his intentions clear up front. He does not mean his book to be an attack on UBF. He does this by changing names. The only name he mentions is Sarah Barry. He speaks well of her at this point. My last remark is one I feel he would agree with; that his story cannot be generalized to everyone. The answer to my question on marriage that I gained from this book was such: if God has granted you a beautiful family, perhaps you are called to be a “shepherd” to them first. Perhaps you are not called to be a bible teacher to others before your own family. Paul says in first Corinthians chapter 12 that we are not all called to be teachers. Perhaps this is what he meant by that.

As a personal note to conclude, I have always wanted to write something for this website. I love writing! Recently I was accused of “cult like thinking”. I decided I would rather not write after that. The reason I wrote this is because Mr. Martin himself asked me. I believe that God called me to read this; I am unsure what he thinks of my writing. I know I have not done it proper justice. The story of Cora is too beautiful for me to adequately describe. I am a mathematician at heart– not a poet. It was truly God’s work.

My hope is that his story will move you as it moved me, it will teach you as it taught me, it will reveal to you that nothing can be resurrected unless it first dies. When our world ends, then and only then do we see as Christ saw, feel as Christ felt, die as Christ died on Calvary all those years ago.

“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Look!

1. Is There No Other Way?
2. Why Have You Forsaken Me?
3. Where, O Death, Is Your Victory?
4. Why Do You Seek the Living among the Dead?
5. Do You Not Know These Things?

These probing questions drive to consider the mystery of Easter.

1. In anguish of soul and with sweat like drops of blood (Lk 22:44), Jesus asks that the cup of God’s wrath pass from him (Mt 26:42). Why does the Father remain silent?
2. How do we understand Jesus’ mysterious cry of dereliction from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46)
3. What does Paul mean by asking rhetorically, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55)
4. What do the angels mean when they ask the women at the tomb “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”? (Lk 24:5)
5. What might we know about epistemology (knowing), when the two travelers to Emmaus asked the risen Christ, “Do you not know these things?” (Lk 24:18)

Why did the Father say No to Jesus? Chap. 1 explains. It was not because of neglect or indifference or that God was a “divine deadbeat dad,” but so that he could say yes to us on legitimate grounds–no legal fiction, no injustice to threaten or question the exchange of our sin for Jesus’ righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). The Father had to say no to present Jesus as a “propitiation” or sacrifice of atonement (Rom 3:25). This saves sinners. But it also proves his justice–to demonstrate his righteousness for sins committed beforehand. Because the Father said no, we will forever–through faith in the Son–enjoy and share the glory of the Father and Son in the unending, timeless age to come.

How can the Father turn his face away from Jesus? Chap. 2 begins with the sacred creed of soldiers–Leave no man behind–in order to express the horror of God abandoning his Son to die on the cross (Mt 27:46). A theologian calls Jesus’ cry “one of the most impenetrable mysteries of the entire Gospel narratives.” Yet God records this mystery for us to consider. There are at least three ways Jesus experienced suffering from being abandoned: Social abandonment, emotional desertion, and spiritual separation. To be face-to-face with God the Father is the Bible’s idea of the highest possible blessing and happiness. Conversely, to have God turn his face away would be the worst condemnation. Jesus experienced the latter from the depth of his being. On the cross Jesus was cursed (Gal 3:13), made sin for us (2 Cor 5:21) and “bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24). In the unspeakable terror and agony of being abandoned by the Father, Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34) Calvin said that in his soul, Jesus endured the punishments due to us. But because Jesus was abandoned socially, we become children in the household of God. Because he was deserted emotionally, we become whole again–renewed in the image of God. Because he suffered spiritual separation, we are now spiritually united to him through faith, never to be separated from God’s love. Because he was forsaken, we are forgiven.

How can we truly know what we know? Chap. 5 explains epistemology–a fancy word for any theory of how we know things. Everyone has their own theory of what they know. We say, “I just know it’s true” (subjective feeling), “It’s a proven scientific fact” (confidence in observable facts), “Let’s be reasonable” (insisting on rules of logic), or “I know because someone told me,” which is an epistemological claim based on knowing things by someone else’s testimony. But is there a way of knowing that is more reliable than feeling, facts, emotion, perception, science and testimony.

One way to know what we know. Luke 24 shows three insufficient ways and one infallible way of knowing the truth about Jesus and the resurrection. The three insufficient ways are physical senses alone, facts alone (even if they are firsthand eyewitness testimonies) and Bible study alone (surprise!). In contrast, the one infallible way of knowing the truth about who Jesus is and the power of his resurrection is that we must have our eyes opened by God (Lk 24:31, 16; Mt 11:25-27; 13:10-11; 16:17).

I recommend this book for being fresh, experiential and practical. Please do share other views of the atonement.

Overview of the book’s content

This book reads quickly and does not go into depth in regard to analyzing various conditions or behaviors. Instead, the book is more of a how-to manual for people not in a controlling group. The book gives much advice on how to interact, communicate and intervene with someone who is committed to a controlling group. The book contains many invaluable lists and references to the work of Lifton and Singer, as ways to discern whether someone is in a harmful controlling group.

Steve shares from his own experience of joining the Moon Unification organization as a 19 year old and then later exiting from that group. Steve also shares stories from his wealth of exit counseling, giving readers a glimpse into real situations. Steve doesn’t pull any punches in this book and gets right in to teaching you how to get someone to leave a cult group. Steve improves on his prior methods and revamps his approach, noting the epic failures of the deprogramming methods of the 1970’s and 1980’s in America.

Steve dispells any notion that cults target weakminded people, and shares much advice using this premise:

“Many people have a hard time believing that bright, talented people–often educated, and from good homes–could fall under the control of a cult. They fail to realize that cults intentionally recruit smart people who will work tirelessly for the cause. Many of the former cult members I have met are exceptionally bright and well educated. They have active imaginations and creative minds. They have a capacity to focus their attention and concentrate. Most are idealistic and socially conscious. They want to make a positive contribution to the world.”- Highlight on Page 74 | Loc. 1906-10

Basic beliefs

Steve shares some basic beliefs that should resonate with anyone, and form the basis of his strategic approach to cults and controlling groups.

1. The human spirit cannot be changed or destroyed fully.

“Relationships in cults tend to be conditional, based on obedience and subservience. However, once the member passes the honeymoon phase and their servitude becomes evident even to themselves, friends and family have the potential for an ever-increasing positive influence. Time is on their side because destructive influence is never 100 percent.” – Highlight on Page 3 | Loc. 458-59

2. Noble promises and claims cannot be delivered.

“The human spirit needs to be free, and ultimately, cults do not deliver what they promise.” – Highlight on Page 3 | Loc. 458-59

“They claimed to be a community of young people struggling to overcome cultural barriers. This type of recruiting is insidious because members often speak and act with the greatest sincerity, having been subjected to the same techniques they use to recruit others.” – Highlight on Page 13 | Loc. 701-5

3. Real, unconditional love is stronger than conditional love.

“Real love is stronger than conditional love The fact that you are willing to help and are seeking professional advice means there is reason to hope The member will realize that your love is unconditional, while the cult’s ‘love’ depends on their meeting expectations and goals.” – Highlight on Page 13 | Loc. 706-8

4. Mind control is a real, discernable phenomena and not magical

“Social psychologist Robert Cialdini, in his groundbreaking book, Influence [15] , extracted six universal principles of influence—those that are so powerful that they generate desirable change in the widest range of circumstances.” – Highlight on Page 20 | Loc. 831-32

Origination of the term “brainwashing”

I was fascinated to read about Steve’s discovery that the Moonies used the same tactics Korean war generals used on prisoners of war.

“The term brainwashing was coined in 1951 by journalist Edward Hunter from the Chinese hsi nao (wash brain), to describe the process by which Americans captured in the Korean War could reverse their allegiance and confess to fictional war crimes. In the 1950s, military psychologists and psychiatrists Margaret Singer, Robert Jay Lifton, Louis West and Edgar Schein began to research a phenomenon they called thought reform, in order to devise ways to protect soldiers in the future.” – Highlight on Page 22 | Loc. 858-63

Methods of control

Steve describes in some detail what methods cults use to control. The book shares many details about Steve’s B.I.T.E. model, and how he developed the model.

“A group that changes names, insists on a dress code, lives on an isolated compound, and cuts off all contact with outsiders is likely to be very dangerous.” – Highlight on Page 33 | Loc. 1059-62

“Cults manipulate the elements that form an individual’s identity including beliefs, values, and relationships. From a mental-health perspective, the cult diverts elements of an individual’s psyche into another personality. The cult member comes to exhibit symptoms of dissociative disorder as defined in the DSMIV, the diagnostic manual for the American Psychiatric Association.”- Highlight on Page 34 | Loc. 1070-72

“A common method for shaping a cult identity is to pair a new member with an older member. The spiritual child is instructed to imitate the spiritual parent in every way.” – Highlight on Page 34 | Loc. 1075-85

Rebirthing your identity

One of the striking thoughts that hit home with me was Steve’s descriptions of breaking and re-freezing your self identity. He describes the common cult process of birthing a new identity, different from your authenctic self.

“After I left the Moonies, I found Edgar Schein’s book, Coercive Persuasion, where he described the process using Kurt Lewin’s model of thought reform: [28] · Unfreezing: breaking a person down · Changing: indoctrination · Refreezing: reinforcing the new identity.” – Highlight on Page 36 | Loc. 1111-12

Yeakley study on identity change

An amazing study that I want to read more about is a social experiment by Dr. Flavil Yeakley, regarding how people’s identities can be temporarily modified through indoctrination.

“This aspect of indoctrination was demonstrated by Dr. Flavil Yeakley, a respected psychologist and member of the mainline Church of Christ, who administered the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Inventory Test to 800 members of The Boston Church of Christ, a cult group led by Kip McKean.”

“When Yeakley correlated the data, he found that members varied widely in their personality types before they joined the group. (In statistical terms, they exhibited a normal distribution of personality types.) In the second test, members were moving towards one personality type, which matched the projected personality of the cult leader.”

“The third test showed an almost universal move toward the projected leader’s personality type.”

“As a comparison, Yeakley administered the test to members of Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian churches and mainline Churches of Christ. There was no personality change before, during, or after they joined their churches. Yeakley published the results of this study in his book, The Discipling Dilemma.”

“Although a healthy individual will grow and mature over time, his basic personality doesn’t change. Changes in personality type may indicate unhealthy social pressure. The results of Yeakley’s study shows that cults create this kind of pressure. It also verified for me the existence of a cult identity that binds the authentic self like a straitjacket.” – Highlight on Page 37 | Loc. 1137-39

Phobia triggers

Steve goes into significant detail explaining how phobias are used by cults to keep members “in” the group. Cult leaders will spin tales of tragedy and woe for people who leave or even think of leaving. He describes a common theme among the cults groups he has encountered– the groups use fear to “re-age” a person back to a child, before they developed critical thinking abilities. He describes how all kinds of fears, especially a person’s natural fears from his/her pre-cult life, are used as bonding agents.

Steve claims that it is these phobia triggers and not any kind of doctrine, that keep members enslaved. Steve notes that many cult members disagree with their group’s doctrine, having discovered early on after the “honeymoon”, that the cult group’s teachings are flawed. Yet they don’t leave due to fears, most or all of which are unfounded.

“A phobia is a persistent, irrational fear. All phobias are triggered by a cue that initiates a closed cycle of fearful images, thoughts, and feelings. The cue can be an internal or external stimulus, such as a thought, image, word, smell, taste, feeling, or behavior. This stimulus causes the phobic individual to generate negative images, often subconsciously, and sometimes to imagine impending doom. During a phobic reaction, the body’s automatic physiological ( fight-or-flight) survival response is activated. This panic response causes a number of physiological symptoms, including a racing heart, shortness of breath, dry mouth, cold hands and sometimes nausea. The most common coping mechanism is to avoid the provoking stimulus.” – Highlight on Page 151 | Loc. 3715-18

“In the Moonies, we would often be robbed of precious sleep so that we could drive to the Moon estate early in the morning. We would sing holy songs and pray for hours–individually, then in unison–before listening to a speech by Moon. That way, our minds were more spiritually open (cult lingo for receptive). In reality, we were in a trance, and certainly not thinking analytically or critically.” – Highlight on Page 156 | Loc. 3913-15

Re-discovering your “self”

The most relevant part of the book to me was Steve’s thoughts on re-discovering and connecting with my prior authentic self, the core self of my identity that remains my entire life. He describes how cult members adopt numerous “sub identities”.

“Though my idealism may have made me vulnerable to recruitment, it was that same idealism that motivated me to eventually leave the group when I realized that Moon and the leaders lied, cheated, stole, and enslaved the members.” – Highlight on Page 116 | Loc. 2905-7

“After I left the group, the sub-personalities that formed the core of my Moonie identity needed to be recognized, liberated, and integrated into my post-cult identity. I needed to find healthy alternatives for my religious/spiritual being. My warrior/soldier became engaged in combat with cult destructive influence.” – Highlight on Page 116 | Loc. 2921-23

Value of former members

Steve repeatedly mentions the value of talking about a group with former members, who have little to gain and much to be lost by speaking out.

“Talking with former cult members is one of the best ways to understand cult beliefs and destructive influence. Ex-members will often be the most reliable source of information, and may be willing to help you plan and carry out the Strategic Interaction. I suggest that you meet and interview at least a dozen former members: some from your loved one’s cult, and some from other groups. Pay special attention to those who have received counseling and have digested and integrated their cult experience. Ask them hypothetical questions: “What would happen if we took this approach?” They are a valuable resource.”- Highlight on Page 105 | Loc. 2645-48

Yet Steve is not naive and describes how cult defenders try to devalue the roles of former members.

“Cult leaders may use stories about defectors to reinforce phobias: (Do you remember Alice M? She left the group last month and we just got word that she hung herself. See what happens when you leave the protection of the Almighty?)” – Highlight on Page 156 | Loc. 3931-36

Will you read this book?

My question to our readers here is simple. Will you read this book? Perhaps your friends or family members are already reading such books?

Articulating the Post-modern Journey

This book was written in 2006, and much has come to pass in 8 short years. It is commonly said that postmodernism is over. And so if we find we are reacting to post-modernism, we are probably behind the times, even if there is no clear name for post-postmodernism. Still I found it very helpful for me understand the post-modern viewpoints, especially since I lived through it and didn’t even realize it! The value for me of Danaher’s book is that he gives me the articulation I’ve been looking for to understand what was happening (and may still be happeneing) to me in the past decade.

This quote sums up this articulation well:

“Contrary to what some have led us to believe, a postmodern world is not one in which all order, meaning, and truth is lost. Rather, all that is lost is the kind of order, meaning, and truth that modernity had insisted upon. The good news of the postmodern gospel is that, with the end of modernity, we now have an ever-greater opportunity to order our lives, not based on an understanding of some universal, objective truth, but rather on an intimate understanding of a truth that is personal—indeed, a truth that is a person (see John 14:6).”  – Highlight Loc. 141-44

Gaining Perspectives

Danaher’s book drives home what I’ve been learning in other parts of my life, that is, the necessity of gaining multiple perspectives. Danaher challenges me to see Jesus’ perspective as well as to seek out the perspectives of others I encounter in my life. For example, Jesus’ perspective was often different from that of the Jews, and so merely understanding the “original audience” may not be enough to help me understand Jesus’ perspective.

Many of Jesus’ key concepts, however, seem to have been radically different from the concepts that were common to his world. In fact, much of the conflict Jesus had with the religious leaders of his day, and what ultimately led to his death, resulted from the fact that his concepts were so radically different from those of his day.
– Highlight Loc. 160-62

Civil Reactions

Danaher gives me  many civil ways to  react to various accusations, such as the accusation that I’ve given up on truth and obedience.

“Many consider such a limited understanding of the truth as less than ideal. Indeed, many reject such a perspectival view of the truth. They claim that since there is no way to measure which perspective is correct and which wrong, all views of the truth become equally viable and a wild relativism is the result. Jesus, on the other hand, tells us that there is a criterion for truth, but it is much more subjective than many want to accept. That is, he says that we can judge a thing by its fruit.” – Highlight Loc. 501-4

“Although true for Christians of all ages, one of the great insights of postmodernism is that reality is perspectival. Ultimate reality for the Christian should never have been the kind of objective reality that the sciences of modernity sought.” – Bookmark Loc. 554

Death and Resurrection

Danaher brilliantly explains the need for a Christ-follower to understand the principles of death and resurrection. This helps me to endure many things, knowing that my ideas go through a death and resurrection process as I learn how to find my own theological stance and personal voice to express the gospel.

“Ultimately, in our faith journey, we are brought to a place of death in our soul—a place where we feel abandoned by God. It is a place where we are able to muster very little in the form of faith and all seems lost. When we come out of that death experience alive, we have a new faith and a new understanding of God. We realize that it was not the greatness of our faith that brought us through, but the greatness of God.” – Highlight Loc. 683-85

“It is only through death and resurrection that we come to know that it was not by our faith that we had come into eternal life but by the sovereign hand of God. It is only through death and resurrection that we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God—not even our own lack of faith (see Romans 8:35–39).” – Highlight Loc. 713-14

A point of Contradiction

There was only one section where I felt alienated by Danaher’s thoughts, the part toward the end where he discusses repentance. I find these thoughts to be contradictory to Danaher’s excellent thoughts earlier. This is what I mean: Danaher talks about a “constant state of repentance”. I find this to be contradictory to Danaher’s “constant state of goodness” expressed earlier.

In this paragraph (emphasis mine) Danaher rightly articulates the thought that God’s goodness is the basis of our relationship and that our relationship with God is not destroyed by the sins we commit.

“As in any relationship, it is impossible for the sinner—the one responsible for the destruction of the relationship—to force forgiveness. The sinner is helpless without the victim’s willingness to forgive. God’s desire is always for restoration, and since we are the ones who have broken the relationship through our choice of lesser gods, restoration can only come through God’s forgiveness. But as we have seen, our relationship with God is not based on the good that we do, nor is it destroyed by the sins we commit. It is based on God’s goodness and the fact that he is willing and able to forgive us for having rejected him and the life that he has for us.”
– Highlight Loc. 1252-58

But then soon after this, Danaher tells us we must remain in a “continual state of repentance.” I find that I must employ a heavy dose of cognitive dissonance in order to hold these two thoughts together.

“For God to continue his creation within us, we can never lose sight of how short we fall of the ultimate good God has for us and our continual need to stay in the process of transformation. As we have seen, to stay in that process of transformation, we need to live in an almost constant state of repentance in order to be open to God’s grace and the creation he wishes to continue in our lives. Consequently, our ultimate sin is that we separate ourselves from God and his purpose for our lives. God’s purpose is that his creation would continue in our lives and we would be made into the likeness of his Son. Our separation from that purpose is what keeps us from the abundant good God has for us, and it is this separation from which all manner of evil follows. Our real sin is our resistance to the great transformation God wants to bring about within us.”
– Bookmark Loc. 1380

Conclusion

I highly recommend Danaher’s book. It was a joy to discuss his book via phone conference during the cohort class. I simply love the philosophical musings Danaher presents. He has restored my joy of exploring Christianity from the philosophical lens. I think only time will tell just how significant this book and Danaher’s thoughts truly are. Danaher’s gift to me and to an entire generation is the gift of understanding our faith in Jesus in the midst of massive rejection and accusation.

My Jonah moment

Translating the Hebrew. An interesting aspect of the book is that the author used his own translation of the Hebrew to more clearly convey its sense of poetry, imagery and flow. Though he “sacrificed the English to serve the Hebrew,” he made it a fresh reading of a familiar book. Also, the summary bullet points at the end of each chapter are very helpful and useful.

Highlights and insights. The exegesis often addresses our heart’s deepest motives. They are also foundational for a proper preaching of the gospel and teaching of the Bible.

All humans will be judged by the Law. “Their evil has come up before me” (Jon 1:2). God takes our sin seriously and so should we. God holds people accountable for their actions. Yes, God is the God of mercy and grace–toward Jonah and all people. But God’s grace does not remove his hatred for sin, nor erase his determination to punish those who persist in sin (Rom 2:6-8)–including Jonah. The right way to preach the gospel is to begin with this foundational truth. Only when people understand God’s holiness and see their sin in light of that holiness will they also understand their need of a savior.

The servant of God, Jonah, became stupid (Jon 1:3). None of God’s people are without sin. We will never be completely free of sin until Christ returns. When he fell into sin, Jonah became really stupid thinking that he could “flee from the presence of the Lord” (Jon 1:3). Though he knew the Bible and knew better, he acted in violation of everything he knew and believed. This is what sin does to our intelligence.

It is impossible to escape from God because God rules over all, including the forces of nature. When Jonah fled from God, God actively “hurled a great wind onto the sea” and “the ship considered breaking up” (Jon 1:4). The language is evocative. Nature does not act on its own. The power of nature and even the ship itself submit to God in putting an end to Jonah’s vain effort to escape from God. There is no situation over which God does not have control.

Our sins have consequences and we cannot escape the consequences of our actions. Jonah’s sin brought disaster to non-believers (Jon 1:5). His sin made him escape reality, become indifferent to the troubles he brought on others, and made him unable to pray (Jon 1:6).

The servant of God, Jonah, was acting irresponsibly and was severely rebuked by non-believers, yet he did not care (Jon 1:6-8). Christians should be a blessing to others. But when we fall into sin, as Jonah did, then even non-Christians seem far wiser and even “more spiritual” than us. This should greatly humble us.

The servant of God, Jonah, was evading responsibility and remaining silent for as long as he could (Jon 1:6-8).

Through non-believers, God helped Jonah to confess who he is, what sin he committed, and what should be done to him (Jon 1:9-12). Without any choice left, Jonah accepted responsibility and submitted to the punishment he knew his sin deserved (Jon 1:12). This is a fundamental gospel principle–recognition of sin and of the fact that our guilt renders us liable to punishment. Though this is an incomplete view of the gospel, it is often a necessary one at the beginning of our journey toward Christ. Before we understand the magnitude of God’s grace we need to understand the greatness of his anger and the weight of our own sins. Learning to recognize our sins is how God works in all of our hearts to lead us to know the depth of his love and grace for us.

Jonah repented when he realized that God did not destroy him by treating him as his sins deserve (Jon 2:1-10). In his distress, he remembered the Bible verses in Psalms that he knew by heart as a prophet of God. He realized that though he brought this trouble upon himself, God was merciful to him. He knew that though he should have died for his sin, yet God saved him. His prayer shows his understanding of salvation that is not due to man’s merit or effort but entirely due to the grace of God (Jon 2:9). Because of God’s saving grace, he also vowed to make good (Jon 2:9). Repentance is not simply a verbal acknowledgment of sin, but an actual change of one’s heart and actions.

When Jonah simply spoke the message that God gave him (Jon 3:1), a national repentance and turning to the Lord happened (Jon 3:1-9). Jonah’s message was a message of judgment: “Forty more days and Ninevah is destroyed!” (Jon 3:4) It is rather simplistic, unimpressive, rudimentary, crude and judgmental. But when he did just as God said (Jon 3:1), a national repentance and revival broke out (Jon 3:5).

Exemplary leadership from a pagan king: Repentance happened “from the greatest to the least” (Jon 3:5b). It is interesting that Nineveh’s king, a pagan ruler, exemplified godly leadership, by humbling himself before God and his people (Jon 3:6-9). The king did not think of himself, his dignity or his privileges. He approached God with a deep sense of sinfulness, in shame and sorrow for sin. “This is how things should be. Leaders are supposed to lead in spiritual and moral matters, although it is precisely those who lead that often find it most difficult to accept responsibility. It is hard to stand at the peak of the pyramid and admit your weaknesses. It is tough, when everyone’s eyes are on you, not to hide your sins. But in Nineveh, repentance began ‘from the greatest’ and proceeded ‘to the least of them'” (Jon 3:5b). “This should be the process in every context. Leaders and all who are looked up to need to set an example by leading others in the ways of God. They should be the first to accept criticism, the first to examine their ways, the first to admit their own faults and to correct them. A people, a church or a family will seldom be better than its leaders. Good leaders will strive for spiritual and moral perfection, and will seek purity of motive and action.” This quote about leadership is my favorite quote of the book, though it is not the main theme of Jonah.

The servant of God, Jonah, was so angry that God blessed “others” (Jon 4:1-11). Chapter 4 is the heart of the book of Jonah. It reveals the punch line, the book’s central lesson. We should learn what God taught Jonah and draw important conclusions for ourselves. Mainly, Jonah’s response to the grace of God on “others” (the world) was one of anger, resentment and bitterness (Jon 4:1-3). Is he any different from the the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son? From the Pharisees? From US?? With Ninevah’s repentance, “God repented of the evil he had determined to do to them, and did not do it” (Jon 3:10). But Ninevah’s repentance “was to Jonah a very great evil, and he was angry” (Jon 4:1). Jonah was furious. He was saddened. He refused to accept the grace shown to Nineveh and charged God as being wrong, though he knew exactly who God was. He prayed, “Please Lord, was this not what I thought when I was still on my land? This is why I at first tried to escape to Tarshish, because, I knew you were a merciful and gracious God, patient and full of grace, and that you repent from evil” (Jon 4:2). Despite Jonah’s horrible attitude, God is stubborn in his love and did not leave Jonah in his sin but continued to extend grace to him (Jon 4:5-11).

Some closing questions:

• Are we not often like Jonah?
• When God blesses those (like Ninevah) who have hurt you and others, are you angry? Do you have a right to be angry (Jon 4:4)?
• Is there anything that God does that you consider inappropriate or unjust?

In my

For reference, again, the Allen Clare review is available here:

Allen Clare review of Bevere’s book and the Shepherding Movement (pdf)

(Please see my previous article for the first two sections.)

III. Delegated Authority

Shepherding Movement teaching, along with Bevere’s presentation in his book “Under Cover”, is deeply connected to the concept of delegated authority. Romans 13 is used to establish their doctrine of delegated authority.

In the first chapter of Bevere’s book he recounts a time in his life when he was a youth pastor. Long story short, Bevere’s ministry was doing well, but without warning or conversation the lead pastor decided to stop the youth ministry’s practices. Bevere was upset about this and had a hard time coping with the lead pastor’s seemingly unwise decision. The lead pastor deflected John Bevere’s question about the decision by repeating 4 times, “John, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me the direction of this church…” (pp 14-15)

Bevere then continues to share his thoughts, and then shares about a conversation he had with the Holy Spirit. This is the conversation:

The Holy Spirit  says, “John whose ministry are you building? Mine or yours?”

John blurts out, “Yours, Lord!”

The Holy Spirit responds, “No, you’re not! You’re building your own.”

John says, “Lord, we can’t get most unsaved students to our church but we can get them to parties…” (use of parties was the strategy the lead pastor was discontinuing).

After he says the Lord allowed him to vent, Bevere claims the Holy Spirit told him the following:

“John, when I brought you to this church to serve this man, I made you an extension of the ministry I entrusted to him. I called you to be his arms and legs; I put only one man in charge of a ministry… John, when you stand before Me in judgment for the time period that I have had you serve this pastor, you will not first give an account of how many youth you led to salvation in Orlando, Florida. You will first be judged on how faithful you were to the pastor I’ve put you under.”

What are we to make of these conversations Bevere supposedly had with the Holy Spirit? I have a couple of issues to point out. First, it should be a red flag when the foundations for a new doctrine come from a conversation someone had with the Holy Spirit. Second, since when are we called to serve the pastor at a church and be his arms and legs? Can anyone say, “idolatry?” Third, the New Testament clearly teaches a multiplicity of elders is the apostolic model for the New Testament church.

Bevere uses this conversation to move into his understanding of Romans 13:1-2: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist bring judgment on themselves.”

Then Bevere comments: “Some may say, ‘I submit to God, but not to man, unless I agree with him.’ This is where our upbringing and incorrect church thinking can hinder us. We cannot separate out submission to God’s inherent authority from our submission to His delegated authority [i.e. civil, church, family leaders] … When we oppose God’s delegated authority, we oppose God Himself!”

In this Bevere is teaching the infamous Shepherding Movement doctrine of delegated authority, as Derek Prince (one of the four founders of the Shepherding Movement) says: “…the New Testament requires submission to the following specific relationships… all Christians to secular governments on all levels… all Christians to those who rule over them in church… we do not obey those in authority because they are right; we obey them because they are in authority, and all authority ultimately stems from God himself (See Rom 13:1-5).”

Key Question

Does Romans 13 really teach Bevere’s view of delegated authority?

My claim: The passage is very clearly referring to state officials, and civil government and cannot be used to refer to God’s delegated authorities in the church.

Proof: Look at the context and how Paul describes the authorities that are his subject.

• Romans 13:4, “For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.”

Observe that “bearing the sword” for punishment is not a role for authorities in the church.

• Rom 13:4-5: “He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.”

Observe that executing wrath upon wrongdoers is not a function of the New Testament church.

• Rom 13:6-7: “This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time governing…”

Observe that paying taxes is not a function of the New Testament church.

Conclusion: The governing authorities in Romans 13 are not church leaders because none of the named services carried out by these authorities are functions of the New Testament church. Bevere is wrong to apply Romans 13 in the way he does.

What is your perspecive on this delegated authority teaching?

What do you think about the Shepherding Movement’s and John Bevere’s teaching on delegated authority? Do you see any resemblance to UBF’s authority structure? Have you ever heard Romans 13 used in UBF in the way that Bevere and others use it?  What do you think about this?

There is a book making rounds among many churches by John Bevere called “Under Cover: The Promise of Protection Under His Authority.” It’s been some time since I left UBF, but I certainly do have heart for the many individuals that remain in this ministry, not to mention the many new believers whose first Bible study takes place in UBF. In this series I am simply going to present several short articles going through Allan Clare’s review of the “Shepherding Movement” from the 1970’s and its connection with John Bevere’s 2001 book “Under Cover.”

I hope this will help those who see this series understand some of the structural flaws that lead to spiritual abuse, and other issues in UBF.

In this first installment I will just highlight main points from Allan Clare’s review of the book, in particular the first two chapters. The full review John Bevere called “Under Cover: The Promise of Protection Under His Authority.” is relatively short:  Allan Clare Review (pdf)

I. A Little History: The Shepherding Movement

Anyone who has been in UBF for any time at all should feel there ears tingle when they hear something like “The Shepherding Movement.” It is a movement very similar to what is found in UBF. So similar that I’m amazed I haven’t seen UBF mentioned as a group that continues its practices. Hopefully we can learn from their mistakes. Here is some of the history that Clare provides:

The Shepherding Movement emerged as a nondenominational movement in 1974. Four Charismatic Bible teachers formed the movement, which spread and was taught by thousands all over the country.

The teachings of the Shepherding Movement emphasized: authority, submission, discipleship, commitment to covenant relationships, loyalty, pastoral care, and spiritual covering. One David Moore puts it, “…the need for discipleship through personal care or, as they termed it, ‘shepherding’ care… a believer was to submit to a ‘personal pastor’ [i.e. a shepherd] who would help the individual develop Christian maturity.”

The rise of the Shepherding Movement alarmed many, particularly because it produced stories of abusive authority, hyper-submission, and controlled lives.

The founders realized that their teaching produced problems and cases of spiritual abuse, and they openly repented and asked forgiveness from those harmed. Bob Mumford, one of the founders publically repented saying, “some families were split up and lives turned upside down. Some of these families are still not back together.” They admitted that the movement causes, “an unhealthy submission resulting in perverse and unbiblical obedience to human leaders.”

Moore again says the Shepherding Movement, “…created a propensity toward an abuse of spiritual authority, especially among young immature leaders, or leaders who lacked character and integrity… the emphasis on hierarchically oriented submission to God’s delegated authorities led to many cases of improper control and abusive authority throughout the movement.”

II. From Shepherding to “Under Cover”

[Still from Clare’s review]

Bob Mumford, one of the four Shepherding Movement founders, distributed his teachings through issues of New Wine magazine, which focused on the need for practical obedience to God and submission to his delegated authority in all spheres of life.

Despite the near history of the Shepherding Movement and all the issues it caused, in 2001 Thomas Nelson published John Bevere’s “Under Cover” a book which promotes Bevere’s own teaching on authority, submission, discipleship, commitment in covenant relationships, loyalty, pastoral care, and spiritual covering.

The book has spread through Charismatic churches and other church accustomed to top-down, hierarchical models of church leadership [i.e. UBF].

Mary Alice Chrnalogar writes: “…since many leaders in the Shepherding Movement admitted doing wrong, various people who continue to use the same methods have begun to give different labels for the same actions… The errors are covered in many different terms like delegated authority, covering, unquestioned submission, covenant, commitment to a fellowship, etc. Terms change from time to time. Submission may be called ‘commitment,’ ‘covenant relationship’ or ‘divine order’ [or ‘spiritual order’] in church government. Many times terms aren’t used at all; it is the actions that tell you what is going on.”

Although Bevere doesn’t use the term “Shepherding” in the book “Under Cover,” the main focus is obedience to delegated authority [i.e. church leadership].

These are the main points in the first two chapters of Clare’s short essay. Hopefully some interest was sparked about the Shepherding Movement and this book “Under Cover,” and how it relates to the methods practiced in UBF. We can learn much from other people’s mistakes. Sometimes our own errors are most obvious when someone else, like Bevere, promotes near identical teachings in a more direct way. This way we can see them as they are instead of in the hidden / subliminal forms they most often take. What do you think? Does the Shepherding Movement sound similar to church UBF style? Are you already familiar with Bevere’s book? If so, what can you share?

I do not know how God will use this book but I was inspired by God to write it beginning in 2012 until it’s completion. The book will be helpful to any sincere Christian who is seeking the truth. It is a must read for those in UBF or out of UBF if anything to learn how a fellow laborer in the gospel came to know the freedom and love in Christ. As a UBF person, you will understand that what I wrote is from a once insider and a writer of 4 previous books where I have promoted UBF and all it’s practices. This book will shed light on what happens after you take a turn for the worse, where do you go from there, if you lose all the support from the ministry you loved with your life. One thing is for sure, God is the end. God is Love.

After writing my 2014 key verse testimony, I realize that I hardly wrote any stories of what I personally did or experienced. So here are some ways I had fun in 2013.

Reading. My favorite book of the year is Falling Upward by Richard Rohr. It explains how every person should transition from a first half of life (foundation/identity–Rohr calls it a container) to the second half of life (discovery/freedom–content of the container). Though necessary, the first half of life enslaves you, while the second half of life liberates. Sadly most people, churches and countries remain stuck in the first half of life. My own Christian life was deeply entrenched in the first half (it felt like enslavement), until God “pushed” me (through life’s events) into freedom. Experientially, I “fell upward” into the hands of the Living God. I am now slowly reading John Frame’s Systematic Theology. Paul Tripp’s Dangerous Calling exposed the hidden idols of Pharisee-like Christian leaders (ME!). Larry Osborne’s Innovation’s Dirty Little Secret explains why churches and institutions decline. In preparation for preaching, I read several commentaries on Revelation, John’s Gospel, and now Deuteronomy. I also love the new ESV Gospel Transformation Bible, which explains how each of the 66 books of the Bible uniquely point to the gospel, such as The Gospel in Genesis.

Blogging. I wrote 60 articles for UBFriends in 2013 (62 in 2012). Blogging is an exciting and integral part of my life because I write and express myself freely, and receive feedback from others, both online and in person–sometimes passionately. My concerns about the 2013 International Conference (May) received 355 comments. I just shared my opinion. But it resulted in many UBFers being upset with me, and many exUBFers commending me. If not for UBF I would not be married (Jan), received 259 comments. I simply shared my happiest story. But many shared their painful marriage by faith stories, which I was very sorry to hear. My worst infuriation (188 comments) and Is UBF scared of grace (159 comments) made the top 10 most commented list.

Preaching. I preached 32 sermons in 2013 (38 in 2012), 16 from Revelation and 10 from John’s Gospel. This takes up most of my time each week as I read books, blogs, and sermons in my preparation to preach extemporaneously.

Enjoying life. In 2013 I have been married for 32 of the happiest years of my life. 11 West Loop couples renewed wedding vows. I enjoyed reviewing Gravity and The Hunger Games. My four children–my pride and joy–are steadfast and maturing as Christians. My three grandchildren are happy and rambunctious. Each year over the past decade, I spend time in the Philippines by preaching and teaching our leaders and college students who are thirsty for Jesus and Scripture. Gratitude, joy and thanksgiving overwhelms me almost daily as I live with awe, fear and trembling for his immeasurable and undeserved grace.

How did you have fun in 2013?

The book, which I recommend reading, addresses reasons why churches and organizations stop growing and what can be done about it.

Stuck in the past. In brief, innovation’s dirty little secret is that most innovations fail. They fail because many leaders are not competent to help their church or organization grow. Osborne writes, “Some churches insist on maintaining the same programing, ambiance, and worship style that helped them grow thirty years ago. While this protects the past and keeps their aging members happy, it also guarantees that their nursery will remain empty.” What is the solution? “The only way a leader and a leadership team can overcome this natural tendency to protect the past at the cost of the future is to find ways to identify and release gifted innovators in their midst.” For growth to happen, the change leaders need a special insight to predict what will work, a unique courage to take carefully calculated risks, and extraordinary flexibility to change QUICKLY. Sadly, most leadership teams lack these traits. Instead, they do the same familiar predictable thing that no longer works, they are deathly afraid of change and taking risks, and they are rigid and inflexible.

Groupthink, herd mentality, unanimous decisions. Our natural inclination is to look to others when deciding what to do or how to think. A herd mentality is a powerful force in most group settings. It allows the more powerful people to frame the discussion and set the agenda. They try to please certain “important people.” They are politically motivated. They gravitate toward keeping the status quo. They tend to reject anything that doesn’t fit their standard paradigm or hasn’t been done before. Genuinely unique rebels and innovators are hard to find, and if found they are rejected and ridiculed.

Past success leads to arrogance and elitism. The leadership looks down on others. They think their success is due to them. They forget fortuitous timing and divine coincidences. Their arrogance discounts anything it doesn’t understand or hasn’t seen yet. It is particularly dismissive of anything proposed by those younger than them. They refuse to listen to fresh thinking, or to outside advisors. They are restricted by their traditional structures that no longer work. They overtrust the old recipe. They reject young eagles. Rather than nurturing them, they clip their wings, force them to pay their dues and wait their turn, while the old tired leaders continue to keep their reins of power and control.

The book concludes excellently by proposing several things that will support future change, growth and innovation.

Don’t ask what a previous great leader would do. New leaders need to ask the right questions. What are our unique strengths and weaknesses? What is the current reality? What do we need to do to better fulfill our mission? An important question NOT to ask is “What would the previous leader do?” This is a waste of time. It is impossible to know. We only know what they did in a previous era under different circumstances. Even if the situations are exactly the same today, the circumstances and culture are not. Interestingly, Steve Jobs famously told Tim Cook right before his death to make sure no one at Apple asked, “What would Steve do?”

Enforcement without room for leadership. Poor leaders live in fear that future leaders will betray the mission. The worst thing they do is to assume that younger future leaders cannot be trusted. It is a toxic combination of arrogance and distrust. It sabotages innovative leadership. Sadly, most churches and organizations have too many rules and regulations. They dictate and promote control. They think they are protecting the mission. In effect they sabotage the mission. When these rigid rules are all spelled out, there is no room for leadership. There is room only for enforcement.

The freedom to disagree. Every leader has a short list of non-negotiables that are not based on Scripture, morality or integrity. They simply reflect a leader’s personal values and priorities. Tomorrow’s leaders need the freedom to disagree with some deeply held convictions, and the freedom to act on it. (These are not about moral issues because right and wrong do not change over time.) One of the best things a good leader can do is to leave behind a legacy of continual change and innovation. He makes sure that those who follow has the freedom to do things he would never do. He paves the way for them to lead in ways that are counter to our deeply held convictions about how things ought to be done.

The humility and honesty to highlight past failures. Good future leaders need a humble and honest view of the past. The problem is that our idealized memories of the past often look better than the harsh realities of the present. With time gory days become glory days, and uncreative leaders look like superstars! Good successful organizations and church leaders need to be humble and honest enough to highlight and even memorialize their dark days as well as their victories. A leader or leadership team who highlights the successes and buries the failures is romanticizing and idolizing the past. They refuse to sincerely examine and learn from pains and failures. They present an unrealistic dishonest view of the past that will soon be discovered.

What has your experience been with your church or company?

1. The top seven symptoms of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality

# Ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness and fear

Like most Christians, I was taught that almost all feelings are unreliable and not to be trusted. They go up and down and are the last thing we should be attending to in our spiritual lives.

I concur with the author. I accepted the word from 2 Timothy 1:7 “self-control” deeply in my young age and even despised “emotional” people. I became very stoic, unemotional person.

# Denying the past’s impact on the present

Our marriage bore a striking resemblance to that of our parents: Gender roles; the handling of anger and conflict and shame; how we defined success; our view of family, children, recreation, pleasure, sexuality, grieving; and our relationships with friends had all been shaped by our families of origin and our cultures.

Even though we had been committed Christians for almost 20 years, our ways of relating mirrored more our family of origin than the way God intended for his new family in Christ.

To understand one person is not easy, including our spouses because our ways of relating mirrored more our family of origin than the way of God.

# Dividing our lives into “secular” and “sacred” compartments

It is so easy to compartmentalize God to “Christian activities” around church and our spiritual disciplines without thinking of him in our marriages, the disciplining of our children, the spending of our money, our recreation or even our studying for exams.

There is no dichotomy between “sacred” and “secular” in God. God is the Lord of all aspects of our lives. Our church, family, study and work are ALL equally important and they are all our ministry.

# Doing for God instead of being with God

Work for God that is not nourished by a deep interior life with God will eventually be contaminated by other things such as ego, power, needing approval of and from others and buying into the wrong ideas of success and the mistaken belief that we cannot fail.

We become “human doings” not “human beings”. Our experiential sense of worth and validation gradually shifts from God’s unconditional love for us in Christ to our works and performance. The joy of Christ gradually disappears.

We should overcome our works and performance oriented ministry and the competitive comparison among us.

# Spiritualizing away conflict

Blame/ attack/ silence treatment/ become sarcastic/ tell half the truth.

Quoting bible verses to silence others without compassion and deep understanding is unhealthy. I practiced this to my wife many times in the past.

# Covering our brokenness, weakness and failure

The pressure to present an image of ourselves as strong and spiritually “together” hovers over most of us.

The bible does not spin the flaws and weaknesses of its heroes.

King David: Psalm 51:17

Paul: 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 thorn in my flesh that keep me from becoming conceited. My grace is sufficient.

We are all deeply flawed and broken. There are no exceptions.

It is OK to acknowledge our shortcomings and weaknesses and failures freely before God (Ps 51:4) and receive the grace of forgiveness. In this way Jesus alone can be honored and glorified among us.

#  Living without limits

I was taught that good Christians constantly give and tend to others. I wasn’t supposed to say no to opportunities to or requests for help because that would be selfish.

Jesus did not heal every sick person in Palestine. He did not feed all the hungry beggars.

Living without limits can bring burn-outs and exhaustion. Acts 20:35 was the first bible verse I learned in UBF. This verse was a blessing to me and many others. But I also learned from Gittins that giving and receiving are both important.

2. Radical Antidote: Emotional Health and Contemplative Spirituality

The author gave the radical antidote to the emotionally unhealthy spirituality in two ways: emotional health and contemplative spirituality. Regarding the contemplative spirituality, this is journey inward; silence, solitude and a life of unceasing prayer. Constantly live in the presence of God. This is a lifelong journey and a character building that will take life time. Unfortunately, there seems to be no other way or short cuts for the solutions for the emotionally unhealthy spirituality.

# Emotional health is concerned with:

Respecting and loving others without having to change them.

Accurately self-assessing our strengths, limits and weaknesses and freely sharing them with others.

Learning the capacity to resolve conflict maturely and negotiate solutions that consider the prospective of others.

# Contemplative spirituality focuses on classic practices and concerns:

Practicing silence, solitude and a life of unceasing prayer

Resting attentively in the presence of God.

Understanding our earthly life as a journey of transformation toward ever-increasing union with God.

Loving others out of a life of love for God

Living in committed community that passionately love Jesus above all else.

Officially, this is the late Dr. Margaret Singer’s list of six pre-conditions for thought reform. Bolded titles were added by me. And yes, this list describes my life as a puppet on a string in the ubf system. The list helped me understand how someone like me could commit over two decades to ubf ministry.

• [1. Constantly re-orient them] Keep the person unaware of what is going on and how attempts to psychologically condition him or her are directed in a step-by-step manner.
  • Potential new members are led, step by step, through a behavioral-change program without being aware of the final agenda or full content of the group. The goal may be to make them deployable agents for the leadership, to get them to buy more courses, or get them to make a deeper commitment, depending on the leader’s aim and desires.

• [2. Keep them busy] Control the person’s social and/or physical environment; especially control the person’s time.
  • Through various methods, newer members are kept busy and led to think about the group and its content during as much of their waking time as possible.

• [3. Remind them of their weaknesses] Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the person.
  • This is accomplished by getting members away from their normal social support group for a period of time and into an environment where the majority of people are already group members.
  • The members serve as models of the attitudes and behaviors of the group and speak an in-group language.
  • Strip members of their main occupation (quit jobs, drop out of school) or source of income or have them turn over their income (or the majority of) to the group.
  • Once the target is stripped of their usual support network, their confidence in their own perception erodes.
  • As the target’s sense of powerlessness increases, their good judgment and understanding of the world are diminished. (ordinary view of reality is destabilized)
  • As the group attacks the target’s previous worldview, it causes the target distress and inner confusion; yet they are not allowed to speak about this confusion or object to it – leadership suppresses questions and counters resistance.
  • This process is sped up if the targeted individual or individuals are kept tired – the cult will take deliberate actions to keep the target constantly busy.

• [4. Make sure they see their old life as bad] Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in such a way as to inhibit behavior that reflects the person’s former social identity.
  • Manipulation of experiences can be accomplished through various methods of trance induction, including leaders using such techniques as paced speaking patterns, guided imagery, chanting, long prayer sessions or lectures, and lengthy meditation sessions.
  • the target’s old beliefs and patterns of behavior are defined as irrelevant or evil. Leadership wants these old patterns eliminated, so the member must suppress them.
  • Members get positive feedback for conforming to the group’s beliefs and behaviors and negative feedback for old beliefs and behavior.

• [5. Make sure they see their new life as good] The group manipulates a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences in order to promote learning the group’s ideology or belief system and group-approved behaviors.
  • Good behavior, demonstrating an understanding and acceptance of the group’s beliefs, and compliance are rewarded while questioning, expressing doubts or criticizing are met with disapproval, redress and possible rejection. Anyone who asks a question is made to feel there is something inherently disordered about them to be questioning.
  • The only feedback members get is from the group; they become totally dependent upon the rewards given by those who control the environment.
  • Members must learn varying amounts of new information about the beliefs of the group and the behaviors expected by the group.
  • The more complicated and filled with contradictions the new system is and the more difficult it is to learn, the more effective the conversion process will be.
  • Esteem and affection from peers is very important to new recruits. Approval comes from having the new member’s behaviors and thought patterns conform to the models (members). Members’ relationship with peers is threatened whenever they fail to learn or display new behaviors. Over time, the easy solution to the insecurity generated by the difficulties of learning the new system is to inhibit any display of doubts—new recruits simply acquiesce, affirm and act as if they do understand and accept the new ideology.

• [6. Ignore criticism] Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by leadership approval or executive order.
  • The group has a top-down, pyramid structure. The leaders must have verbal ways of never losing.
  • Members are not allowed to question, criticize or complain. If they do, the leaders allege the member is defective, not the organization or the beliefs.
  • The targeted individual is treated as always intellectually incorrect or unjust, while conversely the system, its leaders and its beliefs are always automatically, and by default, considered as absolutely just.
  • Conversion or remolding of the individual member happens in a closed system. As members learn to modify their behavior in order to be accepted in this closed system, they change—begin to speak the language—which serves to further isolate them from their prior beliefs and behaviors.

Source: Cults In Our Midst,

In this book, “The Only Necessary Thing” Nouwen mentioned his own experience of hurt and pain. He confessed like this, “I am struck by how I cling to my own wounded self. Why do I think so much about the people who have offended or hurt me? Why do I allow to have so much power over my feelings and emotions?”

Most of these quotes are from the section of “Forgiveness” in this book.

We are all wounded people. Who wounds us? Often those whom we love and those who love us. When we feel rejected, abandoned, manipulated or violated, it is mostly by people very close to us: –Those who love us wound us too. That’s the tragedy of our lives. That is what forgiveness from the heart so difficult.—Forgiveness often seems impossible, but nothing is impossible for God. The God who lives within us will give us the grace to go beyond our wounded selves and say, “In the Name of God you are forgiven.”

In our context, those whom we love can be trusted shepherds and bible teachers.

Forgiveness means that I continually am willing to forgive the other person for not being God—for not fulfilling all my needs. I, too, must ask forgiveness for not being able to fulfill other people’s needs.

Our heart—the center of our being—is a part of God. Thus, our heart longs for satisfaction for total communion. But human beings, whether it is your husband, or your wife, or your father or your mother, your brother, sister or child, they all so limited in giving that which we crave. But since we want so much and we get only part of what we want, we have to keep on forgiving people for not giving us all we want.

We have certain expectations from others and when these things are not met we feel betrayed and hurt. But even that we can accept positively from God’s point of view. There is reason to celebrate.

The interesting thing is that when you can forgive people for not being God then you can celebrate that they are a reflection of God. You can say, “Since you are not God, I love you because you have such beautiful gifts of God’s love.” You don’t have everything of God, but what you have to offer is worth celebrating. By celebrate I mean to lift up, affirm, confirm, to rejoice in another person’s gifts.

One of the solutions to overcome our hurt feeling is to detach a person and sin in him or her. Bible teaches us to love a person but hate the sin in one’s heart. This is the way to true freedom in God. We have to make decision not to allow the hurt feeling to overpower on us. Then we can make the first movement in our dance with God.

Healing begins not where our pain is taken away, but where it can be shared and seen as part of a larger pain. The first task of healing, therefore, is to take out many problems and pains out of their isolation and place them at the center of great battle against the Evil One.

As we create the space to mourn, we free ourselves little by little from the grip of the Evil One and come to discover in the midst of our grief that the same Spirit who calls us to mourn stirs us to make the first movement in our dance with God.

–We have to forgive our church and civil leaders for their ambitions and manipulations. Beyond all that, we have to forgive all those who torture, kill, rape, destroy—who make this world such a dark place. And we, ourselves, also have to beg forgiveness. The older we become, the more clearly we see that we too, have wounded others deeply, and are part of a society of violence and destruction. It is very difficult to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. But without this, we remain fettered to our past—unable to dance—

Forgiveness is the great spiritual weapon against the Evil One. As long as we remain victim of anger and resentment, the power of darkness can continue to divide us and tempt us with endless power game. But when we forgive those who threaten our lives, they lose their power over us—Forgiveness enables us to take the first step of the dance.

Forgiveness is made possible by the knowledge that human being cannot offer us what only God can give. Once we have heard the voice calling us the Beloved, accepted the gift of full communion and claimed the first unconditional love, we can see easily—with the eyes of a repentant heart—how we have demanded of people a love that only God can give. It is the knowledge of that first love that allows us to forgive those who have only a “second” love to offer.

All our human love is “second” love comparing the great first love of God.

Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all of us love poorly. We do not know what we are doing when we hurt others. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour unceasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family. The voice that calls us the Beloved is the voice of freedom because it sets us free to love without wanting anything in return.

But each time you pray really pray for your enemies, you’ll notice that your heart is being made new. Within your prayer, you quickly discover that your enemies are in fact your fellow human beings loved by God just as much as yourself. The result is that the walls you’ve thrown up between “him and me” “us and them” “ours and theirs” disappear.

I find it difficult to conceive of a more concrete way to love than by praying for one’s enemies. It makes you conscious of the hard fact that, in God’s eyes, you’re no more and no less worthy of being loved than any other person, and it creates an awareness of profound solidarity with all other human beings.

Another aspect of emotional health is to respect and love others without having to change them. We have to assess our strengths, limits and weaknesses and freely share them with others.

The author said the importance of balancing of our healthy spirituality between Contemplation and Activity.

“Mary is “being” with Jesus, enjoying intimacy with him, loving him, attentive, open, quiet, taking pleasure in his presence.  We became “human doing” not “human being”.

“The reason we need to stop and be with God is so we might create a continual and easy familiarity with God’s presence at all times—while working , playing, cooking, taking out the garbage, driving, visiting friends, as well as during worship, prayer and Bible study.” There is no dichotomy in God.

“God speaks to each one of us every day—through Scriptures, creation, dreams, silence, traffic jams, boring workdays, interruptions, conflicts, job losses, relationship breakdowns, successes, failures and betrayals.”

Another good example is Joseph in the OT.  He said in Genesis 45:8, “It is not you who sent me here, but God”. Joseph overcame his personal tragedy by accepting it from God’s divine providence. Joseph put God in between him and his brothers. He accepted his misfortune as God’s mysterious leading with good purpose.

The author said, “Every mistake, sin and detour we take in the journey of life is taken by God and becomes his GIFT for a future of blessing. Joseph rewrote his life script according to Scripture. He was not bitter or revengeful. He opened the door to God’s future by rewriting it with God.”

It is inevitable for us to face some kinds of walls and crisis during our journey of life.

It can be through divorce, a job loss, the death of a close friend or family members, a cancer diagnosis, a disillusioning church experience, a betrayal, a shattered dream, a wayward child, a car accident, an inability to get pregnant etc.

Christians can be notoriously judgmental in the name of standing up for the truth. I am not an exception. I judged other people’s journeys with Christ that were different from mine.

Scazzero said, “Pride and our tendency to judge others I found in every corner of the world, in all cultures, workplaces, playgrounds, families, neighborhoods, sports teams, classrooms, marriages, homeless shelters, corporate boardrooms and ten year olds birthday parties.

Contrast that image with a broken person who is so secure in the love of God that she is unable to be insulted. When criticized, judged or insulted, she thinks to herself, “It is far worse than you think!”

The author contrasted some characteristics between emotional children and grown up adults.

“(Emotional Children) Interpret disagreements as personal offenses.// Are easily hurt.// Complain, withdraw, manipulate, take revenge, become sarcastic when they don’t get their way.// Have great difficulty calmly discussing their needs and wants in a mature, loving way.”

“(Emotional Adults) Can, when under stress, state their own beliefs and values without becoming adversarial.// Respect others without having to change them.// Give people room to make mistakes and not be perfect.// Appreciate people for who they are—the good, bad, and ugly.// Have the capacity to resolve conflict maturely and negotiate solutions that consider the perspectives of others.”

Martin Buber, a great Jewish theologian wrote a book called “ I and Thou”.

“Buber described the most healthy or mature relationship possible between two human beings as an “I-Thou” relationship. In such a relationship I recognize that I am made in the image of God and so is EVERY OTHER person on the face of the earth. Because of that reality, every person deserves respect—that is, I treat them with dignity and worth. I do not dehumanized or objectify them. I affirm them as having a unique and separate existence apart from me. Though you are different from me—a “You” or “Thou”—I still respect, love and value you.

The result of I-It relationships is that I get frustrated when people don’t fit into my plans. The way I see things is “right”. And if you don’t see it as I do, you are not seeing things the “right” way. You are wrong.

True relationship can only exist between two people willing to connect across their differences. God fills that in-between space of  I-Thou relationship.

Practicing the “I-Thou” in our relationship leads to another aspect of emotional maturity. It informs our capacity to resolve conflicts maturely and negotiate solutions as we consider other people’s perspective.”

First, those who react violently emotionally toward other’s different opinion do not have true freedom of self-forgetfulness. I confess that I am one of them in this regard. I suffered from heartburn and insomnia when I reacted violently emotionally toward other’s different opinions. Listen to what Keller said,

“The self-forgetful person would never be hurt particularly badly by criticism. It would not keep them up late, it would not bother them. Why? Because a person who is devastated by criticism is putting too much value on what other people think, on other people’s opinions.”

Second, those who are nursing their hurts and wounds too much do not have true freedom of self-forgetfulness. Again Keller said,

“It is always making us think about how we look and how we are treated. People sometimes say their feelings are hurt. But our feelings cannot be hurt! It is ego that hurts—my sense of self, my identity. Our feelings are fine. It is my ego that hurts.” 

Especially in the western culture, individual human right is very very important. Nobody wants to be violated his or her human rights/ freedom even one inch. We all have our own various human standards and expectations from others; from parents, teachers, pastors and shepherds. When we are disappointed by them based our various human standards and expectations, we are deeply hurt and wounded.

Why does this happen? Bible tells us that God loves sinners but hates sin. The two entity “sinner” and “sin” should be detached. Many times we glue two entity “sinner” and “sin” together. In the worldly court they put them together. When we glue them together, naturally our reaction will be, “I hate him (her) because of his (her) terrible unforgivable sins” and react violently emotionally. Rather we should say I love him (her), but I hate the sin of pride in him (her). Then we can manage our hurt feeling better even though in reality it is not easy. I love S Lee, but I hate the sin of pride in him. Then am I better than him? I don’t think so. We have to bring Jesus in our equation for healing and restoration. If we glue the two entity together nobody, not even one can stand before the righteous Jesus. It is only by grace we can stand before him.

Henri Nouwen said we are disappointed with other people easily. But he also said their imperfect love is only signposts on the way to God. I believe Henri Nouwen experienced true freedom.

“How do we know about God’s love, God’s generosity, God’s kindness, God’s forgiveness? Through our parents, our friends, our teachers, our pastors, our spouses, our children … they all reveal God to us. But as we come to know them, we realize that each of them can reveal only a little bit of God. God’s love is greater than theirs; God’s goodness is greater than theirs; God’s beauty is greater than theirs.

At first we may be disappointed in these people in our lives. For a while we thought that they would be able to give us all the love, goodness, and beauty we needed. But gradually we discover that they were all signposts on the way to God.”

I do not mean we should neglect those who are hurt and wounded. Jesus took care of the hurt and the wounded most. I think we need proper understanding of what is the root problem and what is the real solution.

Third, self-righteousness does not lead us to true freedom of self-forgetfulness. Self-righteousness is the opposite of Self-Forgetfulness. With self-righteous thinking and judgment, the other party will feel oppressed, restrained. It is based on legalistic thinking, human requirements and performance, not based on the grace of Jesus. The secret is that the more we get to understand the gospel of grace, God himself would work in and among us and transform us gradually. This is what Keller said,

‘Paul is saying that in Christianity the “verdict” leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict. In Christianity, the moment we believe, God says, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Or “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”’

Then what are the signs of true freedom?

First, True freedom of self-forgetfulness comes from knowing who I am. I am saved by God’s grace and His unconditional love for me. He set me free from all condemnations of the devil. Keller said,

“Paul is saying to the Christians that he does not care what they think about him. He does not care what anybody thinks about him. In fact, his identity owes nothing to what people say. It is as if he is saying, “I don’t care what you think. I don’t care what anybody thinks.” Paul’s self-worth, his self-regard, his identity is not tied in any way to their verdict and their evaluation of him.”

Keller did not say this in condescending way or trying to justify his wrongdoing or ignoring everybody’s opinion. He is saying that he only cares about what the Lord thinks. He lived before the eyes of God always.

King David who was an adulterer and murderer should have apologized to Bethsheba first more than anybody else. But he went to God and confessed his sins, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” His sin was against God. His realization of his grave sin against God made him, “a man after God’s own heart”.

Second, true freedom of self-forgetfulness comes from knowing who God is. Jesus accepted sinners unconditionally and poured out his grace when we do not deserve it at all. This great grace was not only to me, but also to all his children. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the reason why I have an obligation to love and respect others. We are not finished products. We are “work in progress”. We need to grow and mature together in the grace of Jesus.

Abraham Lincoln said a famous speech after the Civil War which devastated the whole nation with tens of thousands of casualties. He said “Malice toward none. With Charity for all.” America paid huge price on the way to true freedom. His speech healed the deep wounds of millions of people in this great nation America. As I said before, true freedom is not cheap. It can be obtained only through deep understanding of the grace of Jesus. True freedom defies human logic.

First about human ego. We all have strong ego, many different kinds of egos based on human conditions and education and background. Keller said ego always draws attention to itself. Our ego easily hurts and wounded in various situations in our everyday life. Here are some of his quotes.

“The ego hurts. That is because it has something incredibly wrong with it. –It is always drawing attention to itself.—It is always making us think about how we look and how we are treated. People sometimes say their feelings are hurt. But our feelings cannot be hurt! It is ego that hurts—my sense of self, my identity. Our feelings are fine. It is my ego that hurts.”

“It is very hard to get through a whole day without feeling snubbed or ignored or feeling stupid or getting down on ourselves. That is because there is something wrong with my ego. There is something wrong with my identity. There is something wrong with my sense of self. It is never happy. It is always drawing attention to itself.”

 “C. S. Lewis points out (in Mere Christianity) that pride is by nature competitive. It is competitiveness that is at the very heart of pride”

Keller talked about how to find the transformed view of self. Paul was a good example from 1 Corinthians 4:3.

“Paul is saying to the Christians that he does not care what they think about him. He does not care what anybody thinks about him. In fact, his identity owes nothing to what people say. It is as if he is saying, “I don’t care what you think. I don’t care what anybody thinks.” Paul’s self-worth, his self-regard, his identity is not tied in any way to their verdict and their evaluation of him.”

Many times we cannot live up to our own standards or other people’s (and parents’) standards. That makes us feel terrible. Lowering our own standards is not a solution because that also makes us feel terrible. Trying to boost our self-esteem by trying to live up to our own standards or someone else’s is a trap. It is not an answer.

Apostle Paul said in a Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst”. Keller said Paul did not connect his sin to himself or his identity even though he said he was the worst sinner. We often judge ourselves of our sins and do not feel good about ourselves. Keller said,

“But Paul would not do that when he says that he does not let the Corinthians judge him nor will he judge himself, he is saying that he knows about his sins but he does not connect them to himself and his identity. His sins and his identity are not connected. He refuses to play that game. He does not see a sin and let it destroy his sense of identity. He will not make a connection. Neither does he see an accomplishment and congratulate himself. He sees all kinds of sins in himself—and all kinds of accomplishments too—but he refuses to connect them with himself or his identity. So, although he knows himself to be the chief of sinner, that fact is not going to stop him from doing the things he is called to do.”

And Keller explains what it means the freedom of self-forgetfulness, which is the topic of his book. Self-forgetfulness is to stop thinking about yourself. Ego is there, but a very small functioning part of our body, like toes. Self-forgetfulness does not draw attention to himself or herself.

“True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings.”

“The truly gospel humble person is a self-forgetful person whose ego is just like his or her toes. It just works. It does not draw attention to itself. The toes just work; the ego just works. Neither draws attention to itself.”

“The self-forgetful person would never be hurt particularly badly by criticism. It would not keep them up late, it would not bother them. Why? Because a person who is devastated by criticism is putting too much value on what other people think, on other people’s opinions.”

Keller said the more we get to understand the gospel, the more we want to change. Here is the key. The more we get to understand the gospel, God himself would work in and among us and transform us gradually. Correcting or changing our outward action/behavior is not solution. If we are performance oriented, we are not Christians.

Then how can we get that transformed view of self? Keller gives an illustration of a courtroom scene.

‘Do you realize that it is only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that you get the verdict before the performance?—If you are a Muslim, performance leads to the verdict. All this means that every day, you are in the courtroom, every day you are on trial. That is the problem. But Paul is saying that in Christianity the verdict leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict. In Christianity, the moment we believe, God says, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Or “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”’

Keller emphasized we get the verdict before the performance, not the other way around. This is pure grace of Jesus to undeserved sinners.

“In Christianity, the verdict can give you the performance. Yes, the verdict can give you performance. How can that be? Here is Paul’s answer: he is out of the courtroom, he is out of the trial. How? Because Jesus Christ went on trial instead. Jesus went into the courtroom. He was on trial. It was an unjust trial in kangaroo court—but He did not complain—Like the Lamb before the shearers, He was silent. He was struck, beaten, put to death. Why? As our substitute. He took the condemnation we deserve. He faced the trial that should be our so that we do not have to face any more trials. So I simply need to ask God to accept me because of what the Lord Jesus has done. Then the only person whose opinion counts looks at me and He finds me more valuable than all the jewels in the earth.”

Like Paul, we can say, “I don’t care what you think. I don’t even care what I think. I only care about what the Lord thinks.” And he said, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” and “You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased” Live out of that.

As a leader and in all your learning about how to be a good leader, did you ever stop to consider what your followers want? It seems to me that this should be our very first question, and an ongoing question. Some leaders may dismiss this question, thinking it would lead to weak leadership. And there is some truth in that line of thinking. If a leader continually does what his or her followers want, doesn’t that mean he or she is no longer leading? Perhaps so. But I am discovering that leaders who ignore their followers, continually doing only what the leadership wants, are at risk of extinction.

Recently my wife and I took part in a program called “Strength Finders”. It is a program developed by Gallop, Inc. The program we participated in consisted of a strength test, a book about the test called “Strengths Based Leadership“, and an all-day session in which one of our pastors led our team of about 24 people through interactive group activities designed to help us discover and understand our own strengths as well as the strengths of the other participants.

Here is a summary of the book and some key findings, which I find remarkably fascinating and relevant!

The Data

A team of experts at Gallop spent decades gathering data about leadership. Here is what they did:

• 20,000 in-depth interviews with senior leaders
• 1 million+ studies of work teams
• 50 years of Gallup Polls about the world’s most admired leaders
• 10,000 Gallup studies of followers around the world, in multiple cultures

All this research was geared toward answering one question: Why do people follow their most influential leader?

The Findings About Leaders

1. The most effective leaders are always investing in their strengths.

The odds of an employee being engaged are 1 in 11 (9%) when the leadership fails to focus on individual strengths of each employee. The odds increase to almost 3 in 4 (73%) when the leadership invests in each employee’s strengths.

2. The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team.

While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best teams are. Top-performing leaders do not try to be balanced or strong in all areas. The most effective leaders build effective, balanced teams of individuals.

3. The most effective leaders understand their followers’ needs.

The best leaders were found to be in-touch with the needs of their followers. And instead of presuming to know what their followers need, the most influential and effective leaders did something remarkable to understand their followers needs: they asked them. They talked to them. They listened.

Why do people follow?

The Gallop studies presented people with two questions: What leader has had the most positive influence in your daily life? Now, please list three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life?

The top four words from the studies resulted in a good summary of what followers need. People generally won’t follow a leader without these four traits.

TRUST

COMPASSION

STABILITY

HOPE

Who am I?

I’ve had to ask this many times the past 2 years. Do I know my strengths? I am finding that I didn’t really know myself very well. And I didn’t know my wife either! But these days we are joyfully following Jesus on an amazing journey of self-discovery and learning how to invest in the lives of other people in a healthy way. My wife and I have found the Strength Finders program to be highly insightful and astoundingly accurate! We each know our own top 5 strengths. We are now able to learn how to invest in these strengths, as well as how to begin to recognize the downside of each strength as we “bump into” other people. The traits I find in others that annoy me may actually be a reflection of that person’s strengths expressed in a negative way. I’m learning that a strength is only a strength if positively applied.

Find out More

I urge our readers here to find out more about Strength Finders. Might we look inward for a moment and ask ourselves “what do my followers want?” How are you building trust? Are you demonstrating compassion regularly? Do you give stability to your followers? How often do you instill hope in the people around you?

The answers to these questions may in fact determine the future of your organization.

A fish in a fishbowl. During my struggle, I began to read many books and to explore what other churches and ministries are doing. I was blown away. I thought my Bible knowledge was superior, since I have read the Bible cover to cover once a year for many years, wrote testimonies every week, and taught many the Bible. But I began to read books by contemporary and dead Christian authors. Now I am ashamed of my Bible knowledge, or rather lack of it. I thought UBF Christians really worked harder than other Christians. But when I read about others’ devotion to Christ and the church, I found countless other Christians of many stripes who were perhaps more sacrificial, and who worked even harder than UBF Christians, not just intellectually, but also in physical labor. I was ashamed and humbled. I came up with a phrase: “A fish living in a fishbowl does not know that there is an ocean out there.” I freely acknowledge today that I have lived in my own Christian bubble of UBF for decades. Perhaps, I was like the poor inept polar bear who did not know how to be a polar bear. I was like a Christian who only knew how to be a Christian in UBF, and not with other Christians, or in other churches, communities or circles. Why? I thought I was doing just fine.

Teaching the God of your church culture is idolatry: it taught me to worship UBF. Over the last few years, I had to learn how to be a polar bear in the Arctic, and not just remain a polar bear in a London zoo. There is a helpful quote from the book by Leonardo Boff: “Not a single missionary was aware that the God the church proclaimed was a cultural image. The essence of idolatry is the identification of the reality of God identified with the image of God produced by a culture.” Without a doubt I was taught many priceless things in UBF: love God, love Jesus, love the Bible, love people, love discipling, love mission, hate sin. But I was also taught cultural elements in UBF, mostly implicitly, that were placed on the same importance and  emotional level as the essentials of God and the Bible. As a result, for decades, I was greatly offended when anyone said anything critical or negative about UBF, as though UBF is the closest thing next to God. I had worshipped God and UBF on the same importance and emotional level. UBF had become my idol, and my functional savior. I felt I needed UBF and that UBF needed me to defend her. I did not know how to practically and emotionally function in any other way.

I could go on about the sad polar bear drowning. But how does this story resonate with you?

“Tass Saada is a former Muslim and the founder of Hope for Ishmael, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reconcile Arabs and Jews. Born in 1951 in the Gaza Strip, Saada grew up in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He worked under Yasser Arafat as a Fatah fighter and sniper. Years after immigrating to America, he became a Christian.”

“A story of redemption. Once an Arafat Man’s sub-title couldn’t be a better synopsis of the book in general, “The true story of how a PLO sniper found a new life.” The opening sequence of the book reads like some of the best action oriented fiction out there, but you have to keep in mind that not only are the related events actual parts of our world history, but they are also a first-hand account of the man writing the book.”

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Arafat-Man-Story-Sniper/dp/1414334443

Tass has devoted his life to perhaps the biggest, ugliest and deadliest conflict of our time: the Arab-Jew conflict. Tass writes: “I believe that if there were a political answer for this awful deadlock, some bright statesman or scholar would have thought of it by now.” (chapter 18)

Here is the “peace plan like no other” that Tass proposes. I find it based solidly on the gospel of Jesus Christ and deeply moving. I see his Arab-Jew struggle for peace as a model for anyone dealing with division between two groups.

A Peace Plan Like No Other

1. We must understand that the house of Ishmael has a divine purpose too.

In this section, Tass uses sound Bible text reading to present the plain truth taught by the Bible: God wants Isaac and Ismael to stop killing each other and live in peace. Genesis 17:20, Genesis 21:13, Genesis 47:27 (chapters 17, 21 and 47)  make it clear that God wants to bless both Isaac and Ishmael. The prophet Isaiah testifies to this also (Isaiah 42:11, Isaiah 60:7).

The lesson for us? Peace can begin when both sides accept that there is one Lord who has a divine purpose for both sides. God has a divine purpose and blessing for UBF and ex-UBF.

2. We must understand that the real bone of contention is not land; it is rejection.

In this section, Tass contrasts the approaches most politicians and leaders use to the middle east: real estate. Most try to figure out how to divide up the land, using some clever ideas. But none of them work. The conflict continues. Tass stresses that rejection is the key factor that has not been dealt with, and must be dealt with openly, if peace is to be found. Not even 100 million acres of land would bring peace, he claims, if the issue of rejection is not addressed.

The rejection of Arabs, Tass rightly points out, started with Abraham’s rejection of Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 21:14). But God did not reject her. To the Arabs, Abraham was a cheapskate! Ishmael, as the older son, should have received a double-portion. Instead he was outcast, and left to die with his mother Hagar. To this day, the Jewish message to Arabs has been rejection. Tass describes the Jewish mindset toward Arabs like this: “You don’t belong. I don’t want you around. Just get out of here, will you? I don’t take you seriously. If you starve to death or die of thirst, I don’t really care. Get lost.”

Tass also points out that even Christians join in this rejection. Burning Korans and hatred toward Muslims and Arabs in general is rampant among Christians, especially in America. Tass stresses that we cannot leave out God’s intent to bless Ishmael and his Arab descendants. And the violence in the middle east is a cry by Arab’s: “What about us? Don’t we count?”. Again Tass points out the Bible’s answer: “Yes you matter.” by pointing us to Genesis:

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.  18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.  20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.  21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.  –Genesis 21:17-21

The lesson for us? Ex-UBF people are like the Arabs. We just want to be taken seriously. Our main issue is that we have been rejected, cast out as if we don’t belong to God.

3. We need to stop pigeonholing Yasooa (Yeshua, Jesus) as merely the “Christian” voice in the debate. He is the Living Word for all sides.

This point really needs to be understood after reading the book. But Tass’ point here is that Jesus cannot be put in a box. Jesus is the hope for Jews and Muslims, both of whom share a common history with Christians. Tass calls for civil discussions based on John 7:46 and Mark 1:22, instead of the all-too-common “my God is better than your God” mentality among all 3 groups.

Tass claims, rightly in my mind, that reconciliation is possible in the Arab-Jew conflict. The solution is Jesus Himself. The present day conflict is not so different from the same conflict when Jesus walked the earth. If reconciliation was possible then, Tass claims, reconciliation is possible today, because Jesus is still alive (Ephesians 2:14-20).

Tass speaks of reconciliation simply:

“Jesus is not so interested in building a religion as he is in building relationships that honor his plan for the world. These relationships are both vertical, with him, and horizontal, with our fellow human beings. When my heart is clean and I have a relationship with Jesus, it is easier to have a peaceful relationship with my neighbor.”

Tass admits that the middle east may never be a “melting pot”, but still he believes the peoples can live in peace. (Some say America is a “melting pot” but it is often more like a “tossed salad” but at least we also live in relative peace with each other.)

The lesson for us? I would contend that we need to stop trying to fit Jesus into our UBF or ex-UBF box.

4. Finally, we need to begin feeling each other’s pain.

Based on Matthew 5:4-9, Tass claims we should be peacemakers and “see the Jewish Jesus stopping to care for a Gentile centurion with a critically ill servant.” (Matthew 8:7).

The lesson for us? Both UBF and ex-UBF need to feel each other’s pain and see each other as human beings for whom Jesus died and people who Jesus loves.

He makes a heart-wrenching appeal to close his book. And he points us to Genesis 25:7-9 to see the beautiful picture of Isaac and Ishmael working together to bury their father, Abraham.

Questions

Do you think this could work in the Arab-Jew conflict? Does the peace plan Tass suggests have any merit or bearing on conflicts you are facing?

I am reading “Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer,” by J. Oswald Sanders, a book John Armstrong has used to teach a seminary class on leadership at Wheaton College. Chuck Colson says, “This is the best book on Christian leadership I’ve read.” There are countless excellent quotes on leadership in the book. But this is not a book review. It is a series of 22 + 5 excellent questions to honestly assess your own leadership potential, as well as the leadership potential of others. In other words, “What kind of a leader are you?” Be ready to be humbled!

1. How do you identify and deal with bad habits? To lead others, you must master your appetites.

2. How well do you maintain self-control when things go wrong? The leader who loses control under adversity forfeits respect and influence. A leader must be calm in crisis and resilient in disappointment.

3. To what degree do you think independently? A leader must use the best ideas of others to make decisions. A leader cannot wait for others to make up his or her mind.

4. How well can you handle criticism? When have you profited from it? The humble person can learn from petty criticism, even malicious criticism.

5. Can you turn disappointment into creative new opportunity? What three actions could you take facing any disappointment?

6. Do you readily gain the cooperation of others and win their respect and confidence? Genuine leadership doesn’t have to manipulate or pressure others.

7. Can you exert discipline without making a power play? Are your corrections or rebukes clear without being destructive? True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and needs no show of external force.

8. In what situations have you been a peacemaker? A leader must be able to reconcile with opponents and make peace where arguments have created hostility.

9. Do people trust you with difficult and delicate matters? Your answer should include examples.

10. Can you induce people to do happily some legitimate thing that they would not normally wish to do? Leaders know how to make others feel valued.

11. Can you accept opposition to your viewpoint or decision without taking offense? Leaders always face opposition.

12. Can you make and keep friends? Your circle of loyal friends is an index of your leadership potential.

13. Do you depend on the praise of others to keep you going? Can you hold steady in the face of disapproval and even temporary loss of confidence?

14. Are you at ease in the presence of strangers? Do you get nervous in the office of your superior? A leader knows how to exercise and accept authority.

15. Are people who report to you generally at ease? A leader should be sympathetic and friendly.

16. Are you interested in people? All types? All races? No prejudice?

17. Are you tactful? Can you anticipate how your words will affect a person? Genuine leaders think before speaking.

18. Is your will strong and steady? Leaders cannot vacillate, cannot drift with the wind. Leaders know there’s a difference between conviction and stubbornness.

19. Can you forgive? Or do you nurse resentments and harbor ill-feelings toward those who have injured you?

20. Are you reasonably optimistic? Pessimism and leadership do not mix. Leaders are positively visionary.

21. Have you identified a master passion such as that of Paul, who said, “This one thing I do!” Such singleness of motive will focus your energies and powers on the desired objective. Leaders need a strong focus.

22. How do you respond to new responsibility?

How we handle relationships tells a lot about our potential for leadership. These tests are suggested:

• Do other people’s failures annoy or challenge you?
• Do you “use” people, or cultivate people?
• Do you direct people, or develop people?
• Do you criticize or encourage?
• Do you shun or seek the person with a special need or problem?

These questions are quite humbling and challenging. I particularly like 7, 6, 11, 4, 12, 21, 13, 8, 19, 18, 15. God bless you to be a leader after God’s own heart.

• Chap 1 on Community states that even a noble sincere Christian (perhaps myself?) can destroy authentic Christian fellowship by trying to impose his biblical idealistic “wish dream” on his Christian community.
• Chap 4 on Christian Ministry stresses silence and listening before talking/teaching. (My wife loves to remind me that this is the most important chapter for me!)
• Chap 5 on Confession encourages all Christians to confess their sins to one another without which we will become an elite Pharisees club, a collegium pietatis, an assembly of the pious and super apostles, where real sinners are not allowed to join.

My 4th and final blog on Chap 3 is silence and solitude. (Someday I may reflect on Chap 2–The Day with Others–about how Christians spend each day from morning to night.) Silence is crucial for Christians to hear the Word: “There are 3 purposes for which the Christian needs a definite time when he can be alone during the day: Scripture meditation, prayer, and intercession.” “Silence is nothing else but waiting for God’s Word. (Silence) is something that needs to be practiced and learned, in these days when talkativeness prevails.” “Let none expect from silence anything but a direct encounter with the Word of God.”

If you cannot be alone, beware of community. Why? “You cannot escape from yourself.” “Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone. Because they cannot stand loneliness, they are driven to seek the company of other people. There are Christians, too, who cannot endure being alone…(hoping to) gain some help in association with others. They (become) disappointed. Then they blame the fellowship for what is really their own fault.”

If you are not in community, beware of being alone. “If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Christ, and your solitude can only be hurtful to you.”

Only within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can live in the fellowship. “Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in fellowship. Both begin at the same time, namely, with the call of Christ.”

Alone and Community: Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. “One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.” “Along with … fellowship together there goes the lonely day of the individual. The day together will be unfruitful without the day alone.”

Silence and Speech. “The mark of solitude is silence, as speech is the mark of community. One does not exist without the other. Right speech comes out of silence, and right silence comes out of speech.” “Silence does not mean dumbness, as speech does not mean chatter. Dumbness does not create solitude and chatter does not create fellowship.”

“Silence before the Word leads to right hearing and thus also to right speaking of the Word of God at the right time. Much that is unnecessary remains unsaid. But the essential and the helpful thing can be said in a few words.”

Meditation. “Read God’s Word as God’s Word for us. Do not ask what this text has to say to other people. For the preacher this means that he will not ask how he is going to preach or teach on this text, but what it is saying quite directly to him. Often we are so burdened and overwhelmed with other thoughts, images, and concerns that it may take a long time before God’s Word has swept all else aside and come through. God’s Word…strives to stir us, to work and operate in us, so that we shall not get away from it the whole day long. Then it will do its work in us, often without our being conscious of it. Spiritual dryness and apathy, an aversion, even an inability to meditate…must not keep us from adhering to our meditation period with great patience and fidelity. ‘Seek God, not happiness’–this is the fundamental rule of all meditation. If you seek God alone, you will gain happiness: that is its promise.”

Prayer. “The most promising method of prayer is to allow oneself to be guided by the word of the Scriptures, to pray on the basis of a word of Scripture. Prayer means nothing else but the readiness and willingness to receive and appropriate the Word, to accept it in one’s personal situation, particular tasks, decisions, (clarification of our day), (preservation from) sins, and temptations….for growth in sanctification, for faithfulness and strength in our work.”

Intercession. “A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. How does this happen? Intercession means no more than to bring our brother into the presence of God, to see him under the Cross of Jesus as a poor human being and sinner in need of grace. Then everything in him that repels us falls away; we see him in all his destitution and need. Intercession is a daily service we owe to God and our brother. He who denies his neighbor the service of praying for him denies him the service of a Christian. The ministry of intercession requires time of every Christian, but most of all of the pastor who has the responsibility of a whole congregation. We should train ourselves to set apart a regular hour for it. This is not ‘legalism’; it is orderliness and fidelity. For the pastor it is an indispensable duty and his whole ministry will depend on it.”

Time alone with God enhances community together with others.

1. The Ministry of Holding One’s Tongue (Ps 50:19-21; Jas 1:26, 3:2, 4:11-12; Eph 4:29)
2. The Ministry of Meekness (Rom 12:3,16)
3. The Ministry of Listening (Jas 1:19)
4. The Ministry of Helpfulness (Phil 2:4)
5. The Ministry of Bearing (Gal 6:2; Col 3:13; Eph 4:12)
6. The Ministry of Proclaiming (2 Tim 4:2)
7. The Ministry of Authority (Mk 10:43)

Who is Greater? Every Christian community begins with a seed of discord, which is “an argument … among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest” (Lk 9:46). “Hence it is vitally necessary that every Christian community from the very outset face this dangerous enemy…for from the first moment when a man meets another person he is looking for a strategic position he can assume and hold against that person. It is the struggle of the natural man for self-justification. He finds it only in comparing himself with others, in condemning and judging others. Self-justification and judging others go together, as justification by grace and serving others go together.”

Hold Your Tongue. “To speak about a brother covertly is forbidden, even under the cloak of help and good will; for it is precisely in this guise that the spirit of hatred among brothers always creeps in…” (Ps 50:19-21; Jas 4:11-12; Eph 4:29) This should help us “to cease from constantly scrutinizing the other person, judging him, condemning him. Strong and weak, wise and foolish, gifted or ungifted, pious or impious, the diverse individuals in the community, are no longer incentives for talking, judging, condemning, and thus excuses for self-justification. They are rather cause for rejoicing in one another and serving one another. Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship. Not self-justification, which means the use of domination and force, but justification  by grace, and therefore service, should govern the Christian community. Once a man has experienced the mercy of God in his life he will henceforth aspire only to serve.”

Meekness. “He who would learn to serve must first learn to think little of himself.” (Rom 12:3,16) “This is the highest and most profitable lesson, truly to know and to despise ourselves. To have no opinion of ourselves, and to think always well and highly of others, is great wisdom and perfection” (Thomas Kempis). “Because the Christian can no longer fancy that he is wise he will also have no high opinion of his own schemes and plans. He will be ready to consider his neighbor’s will more important and urgent than his own. The desire for one’s own honor hinders faith. One who seeks his own honor is no longer seeking God and his neighbor. (Jn 5:44) What does it matter if I suffer injustice? Would I not have deserved even worse punishment from God? One who lives by justification by grace is willing and ready to accept even insults and injuries without protest. If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. My sin is of necessity the worst, the most grievous, the most reprehensible. Brotherly love will find any number of extenuations for the sins of others; only for my sin is there no apology whatsoever. ‘Never think that thou hast made any progress till thou look upon thyself as inferior to all’ (Thomas Kempis).”

Listening. “The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them.” Do not “forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking. He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God either. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life, and in the end there is nothing left but clerical condescension arrayed in pious words. There is a kind of listening with half an ear that presumes already to know what the other person has to say. It is an impatient, inattentive listening, that despises the brother and is only waiting for a chance to speak and thus get rid of the other person. We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the Word of God.”

Helpfulness. “The second service that one should perform for another in a Christian community is that of active helpfulness. We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them.They think they are doing God a service, but actually they are disdaining God.”

Bearing (Gal 6:2; Col 3:13; Eph 4:12). “Bearing means forbearing and sustaining. The brother is a burden to the Christian, precisely because he is a Christian. For the pagan the other person never becomes a burden. He simply sidesteps every burden that others may impose upon him. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated.” Jesus did likewise (Isa 53:4-5). “To cherish no contempt for the sinner but rather to prize the privilege of bearing him means not to have to give him up as lost, to be able to accept him, to preserve fellowship with him through forgiveness.”

The key sentence in regards to Ministry: “Where the ministry of listening, active helpfulness, and bearing with others is faithfully performed, the ultimate and highest service can also be rendered, namely, the ministry of the Word of God.”

Proclaiming. “…in which one person bears witness in human words to another person, speaking the whole consolation of God, the admonition, the kindness, and the severity of God. (But if the speaking of the Word) is not accompanied by worthy listening, (active helpfulness, from a spirit of bearing and forbearing rather than impatience and the desire to force its acceptance) how can it really be the right word for the other person?” “We warn one another against the disobedience that is our common destruction. We are gentle and we are severe with one another, for we know both God’s kindness and God’s severity. Why should we be afraid of one another, since both of us have only God to fear?” “The more we learn to allow others to speak the Word to us, to accept humbly and gratefully even severe reproaches and admonitions, the more free and objective will we be in speaking ourselves.” “(The) renunciation of our own ability is precisely the prerequisite and the sanction for the redeeming help that only the Word of God can give to the brother. (Ps 49:7-8; Jas 5:20)”

Authority (Mk 10:43). “Genuine spiritual authority is to be found only where the ministry of hearing, helping, bearing, and proclaiming is carried out. Genuine authority realizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority. (Mt 23:8) Pastoral authority can be attained only by the servant of Jesus who seeks no power of his own, who himself is a brother among brothers submitted to the authority of the Word.”

How’s your ministry of being heard/listening? Being helped/helping others? Borne with/bearing with others? Taught/teaching others with spiritual authority?

A Christian’s “wish dream” destroys Christian community

Confess Your Sins to Each Other

The Gospel Expects Sinners to Come Forth. God came to save sinners. No one can hide anything from God. “The mask you wear before men will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are. He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner.” All sham must end in the presence of Christ. The misery of the sinner and the mercy of God must be clearly manifested in community and fellowship with one another.

In Confession Break-Through to Community Takes Place. “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation. Sin wants to remain unknown. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. Sin must be brought into the light. The unexpressed must be openly spoken and acknowledged. All that is secret and hidden is made manifest. It is a hard struggle until the sin is openly admitted. The expressed acknowledged sin (loses) all its power. It can no longer tear the fellowship asunder. The sin concealed separated him from the fellowship, made all his apparent fellowship a sham; the sin confessed has helped him to find true fellowship with the brethren in Jesus Christ”

In Confession Break-Through to the Cross Occurs. “The root of all sin is pride. The mind and flesh of man are set on fire by pride. Confession in the presence of a brother is the profoundest kind of humiliation. It hurts, it cuts a man down, it is a dreadful blow to pride. To stand there before a brother as a sinner is an ignominy that is almost unbearable. In the confession of concrete sins the old man dies a painful, shameful death before the eyes of a brother. Because the humiliations is so hard we continually scheme to evade confessing to a brother. In the deep mental and physical pain of humiliation before a brother–which means, before God–we experience the Cross of Jesus as our rescue and salvation.”

In Confession Break-Through to New Life Occurs. “Where sin is hated, admitted, and forgiven, there the break with the past is made. Where there is a break with sin, there is conversion. Confession is conversion. Confession is discipleship. Life with Jesus and his community has begun. In confession the Christian begins to forsake his sins. Their dominion is broken. From now on the Christian wins victory after victory.” Prov 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

In Confession a Man Breaks Through to Certainty. Why is it often easier to confess our sins to God than to a brother who is sinful as we are? If we find this so, might we just be deceiving ourselves and confessing our sins to ourselves and absolving ourselves? Might this be why we relapse to our besetting sins so easily and disobey God so easily? “Self-forgiveness can never lead to a breach with sin.” How can we be certain that when we confess our sins our sins are forgiven? “God gives us this certainty through our brother. Our brother breaks the circle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark, but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light. It is a mercy that we can confess our sins to a brother. As the open confession of my sins to a brother insures me against self-deception, so, too, the assurance of forgiveness becomes fully certain to me only when it is spoken by a brother in the name of God.”

Confession Should Deal with Concrete Sins. Otherwise, one might still remain in the dark if they simply make a general confession. “Jesus dealt with people whose sins were obvious. They knew why they needed forgiveness, and they received it as forgiveness of their specific sins.” To Luther, the Christian life was unthinkable without mutual, brotherly confession.

Confess To Whom? Only the brother under the cross. “The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus.” Why? Because “the greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of men. It does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this. In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner.”

The Danger of the One Who Hears Confession. “This will give rise to the disastrous misuse of the confessional for the exercise of spiritual domination of souls.” What can he do? To not succumb to this sinister danger “every person should refrain from listening to confession who does not himself practice it. Only the person who has so humbled himself can hear a brother’s confession without harm.”

The Danger of the Confessant. He must “guard against ever making a pious work of his confession. If he does so, it will become the final, most abominable, vicious, and impure prostitution of the heart; the act becomes an idle, lustful babbling. Confession as a pious work is an invention of the devil. It is only God’s offer of grace, help, and forgiveness that could make us dare to enter the abyss of confession. We can confess solely for the sake of the promise of absolution. Confession as a routine duty is spiritual death; confession in reliance upon the promise is life.”

Confession of sins could become a Christian show of piety. Has confession of sin become routine, habitual, expected, guilt-driven? Has “too pious” of a fellowship not encouraged true confession of sin? Does your Christian community confess concrete sins to each other, resulting in an authentic community?

“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years…” (21). “Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate” (30). “…the human element always insinuates itself and robs the fellowship of its spiritual power and effectiveness for the Church” (37).

What is a Christian? “The Christian seeks his salvation, deliverance, justification in Christ alone. He knows that God’s Word in Christ pronounces him guilty, even when he does not feel his guilt, and God’s Word in Christ pronounces him not guilty and righteous, even when he does not feel that he is righteous at all. If somebody asks him, Where is your salvation, your righteousness? he can never point to himself. He points to the Word of God in Christ, which assures him salvation and righteousness. In himself he is destitute and dead. Help must come … daily and anew in the Word of Christ, bringing redemption, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness” (22). This is what a Christian is–what it means to be in Christ.

Christians need community. “When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure” (23). True Christian community happens in Christ.

Strive, discord and ego. “Among men there is strife. Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man. Without Christ we would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our own ego. Only in Jesus Christ are we one (Eph 2:14), only through him are we bound together.”

We can truly give only when we have truly received. When Jesus took on flesh in the incarnation, he truly took on, out of pure grace, our nature. This is how God relates to us, how He won our hearts by His love. “When God was merciful to us, we learned to be merciful with our brethren. When we received forgiveness instead of judgment, we, too, were made ready to forgive our brethren. What God did to us, we then owed to others. The more we received, the more we were able to give; and the more meager our brotherly love, the less were we living by God’s mercy and love (Rom 15:7; 1 Th 4:9-10). Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us” (25).

However, 2 things threaten true Christian community: Christian brotherhood is not an ideal, but a divine reality; Christian brotherhood is a spiritual and not a human reality.

Not an Ideal, but a Divine Reality

What Bonhoeffer writes here perfectly describes all failed Christian community exactly and precisely. It’s hard to improve on what he wrote.

Idealism does not work. Because of our own ideals and ideas about Christian life together, great disillusionment soon sets in “with others, with Christians in general, and if we are fortunate, with ourselves. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight… The sooner this shock or disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren… He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren…and finally the despairing accuser of himself” (27).

Disillusionment is good. “Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom I, too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Christ? The very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only that one Word and Deed which really binds us together. When the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship” (29).

To pastors: Don’t accuse your people. “This applies in a special way to the complaints often heard from pastors and zealous members about their congregations. A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men. …he had better examine himself first to see whether the trouble is not due to his wish dream that should be shattered by God; and if this be the case, let him thank God for leading him into this predicament” (29,30).

A Spiritual not a Human Reality

Even devout men cannot cultivate a spiritual community. “The community of the Spirit is the fellowship of those who are called by Christ; human community is the fellowship of devout souls. In the community of the Spirit the Word of God alone rules; in human community there rules, along with the Word, the man who is furnished with exceptional powers, experience, and magical, suggestive capacities. There God’s Word alone is binding; here, besides the Word, men bind others to themselves. There all power, honor, and dominion are surrendered to the Holy Spirit; here spheres of power and influence of a personal nature are sought and cultivated. …devout men…do this with the intention of serving the highest and the best, but in actuality the result is to dethrone the Holy Spirit, to relegate Him to remote unreality. In actuality, it is only the human that is operative here” (32).

Where a superior power rules, spirituality fails. “Here is where the humanly strong person is in his element, securing for himself the admiration, the love, or the fear of the weak. Here human ties, suggestions, and bonds are everything. …human absorption appears wherever the superior power of one person is consciously or unconsciously misused to influence profoundly and draw into his spell another individual or a whole community. Here one soul operates directly upon another soul. The weak have been overcome by the strong, the resistance of the weak has broken down under the influence of another person. He has been overpowered, but not won over…his conversion was effected, not by the Holy Spirit, but by a man, and therefore has no stability” (33).

The idolatry of human love. “Human love…makes the truth relative, since nothing, not even the truth, must come between it and the beloved person. Human love desires…it continues to desire even when it seems to be serving. Human love cannot tolerate the dissolution of a fellowship that has become false…and human love cannot love an enemy. Human love is by its very nature desire–desire for human community. Where it can no longer expect its desire to be fulfilled…it turns into hatred, contempt, and calumny. Human love creates of itself an end, an idol which it worships, to which it must subject everything. It nurses and cultivates an ideal. Spiritual love, however, comes from Jesus, it serves him alone; it knows that it has no immediate access to other persons” (35).

Spiritual love releases to Christ. “Spiritual love will not seek to move others by all too personal, direct influence, by impure interference in the life of another. It will not take pleasure in pious, human fervor and excitement. It will meet the other person with the clear Word of God and be ready to leave him alone with this Word for a long time, willing to release him again in order that Christ may deal with him. It will respect the line that has been drawn between him and us…it will find full fellowship with him in the Christ who alone binds us together. Spiritual love will speak to Christ about a brother more than to a brother about Christ. It knows that the most direct way to others is always through prayer to Christ (3 John 4)” (36,37).

The greatest danger to Christian community. “Life together under the Word will remain sound and healthy only where it does not form itself into a movement, an order, a society, a collegium pietatis, but rather where it understands itself as being a part of the one, holy, catholic, Christian Church, where it shares actively and passively in the sufferings and struggles and promise of the whole Church. Every principle of selection and every separation connected with it…is of the greatest danger to a Christian community. …the human element always insinuates itself and robs the fellowship of its spiritual power and effectiveness for the Church, drives it into sectarianism” (37)

I wanted to write an exhaustive reflection, but Bonhoeffer’s words seem “far too perfect” to add to or to subtract from.

It feels like there is an imposter claiming to be the bride of Christ. She wears a similar veil so that it is often difficult to tell the difference until you come close and begin to lift it and rather than finding safety, compassion, and embrace you find protocol, judgment and exclusivity. I feel like our decision to move on is a desire to experience the true bride where vulnerable intimacy, unconditional embrace, and true rest exist and where protocol is not in charge except for the protocol to love. What is additionally discouraging is knowing that I have been seduced by this imposter and tried to entice others into her arms, explaining away her institutional nastiness while redirecting attention to her surface-level ‘pretty gown’.

This is a quote by a young pastor who decided to leave the institutional church. He didn’t give up his vocation as a pastor. In fact, he maintains that he can do more with Jesus outside the church than within it. He began to reengage in his community and found ample opportunity to serve Christ there.

Many today are leaving their churches not because of a lack of faith but because of disillusionment. Some find another church; others don’t. Leaving one’s church is a difficult decision that should not be made lightly. However, I do believe that there are healthy aspects to disillusionment. Disillusionment with church may lead some astray, but in many cases it leads to new and deeper expressions of faith.

In the highly acclaimed book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) characterizes disillusionment as a healthy and necessary step in the formation of Christian community. In fact, a church that refuses to become disillusioned with itself is in danger of collapse. In Chapter 1 he issues a dire warning:

Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse.

Bonhoeffer draws a stark contrast between two types of Christian community: the “spiritual” community, which leads to love and freedom in the fruits of the Spirit, versus the “human” community, which leads to “subjection, dependence, and constraint.” He argues that a community must acknowledge the errors that arise from its human desire. “The life or death of a community is determined by whether it achieves sober wisdom on this point as soon as possible.”

Here’s a brief summary of what Bonheoffer says about the spiritual community.

• The spiritual community puts nothing before the Word and Supremacy of Christ. Christ is the real center of the community and the community strives to acknowledge Him in everything.
• In the spiritual community, there is no room for idealism. The community is realistic, not idealistic.
• The spiritual community loves for Christ’s sake only. All power and dominion are surrendered to Him. Within the community, one person will not seek direct influence over another person, but rather, serve the other while respecting his freedom in the love of Christ. The love within such a community is spiritual love, which releases the other “from every attempt to regulate, coerce, and dominate.”
• The spiritual community has no overall method, no grand strategy, but merely serves people with simplicity and humility.
• The spiritual community is ruled by the Holy Spirit, and relationships among the members are mediated by Jesus Christ. Instead of speaking to a person about God, they are more likely to speak to God about that person. And instead of speaking about one another covertly, they again bring their concerns about one another to God.
• The spiritual community doesn’t try to be other-worldy. The “physical, family, and ordinary associations of life” are fully integrated into daily activities. They ground the community in what is real, in “the sound, sober brotherly fellowship of everyday life.”

And this is how Bonhoeffer describes the human community.
• The human community is driven by noble and devout impulses and human fervor. It often puts human authority and loyalty to people before Christ.
• In the human community, the Holy Spirit is relegated to a position of “remote unreality.”
• Human community will seek to make people conform to its well-intentioned principles. Thus the community is highly idealistic. It may regard itself as “purely spiritual” but ends up following its own idealistic delusions.
• Members of the human community may exhibit high levels of devotion. They are capable of “prodigious sacrifices that often far surpass genuine Christian love in fervent devotion and visible results.”
• The love shown in a human community seeks to directly influence persons to fashion them into an ideal. “Human love constructs its own image of the other person, of what he is and what he should become.”
• The human community is methodical. It continually employs a searching, “calculating analysis” of its members.
• The human community won’t tolerate resistance when the community is threatened. The one who “seriously and stubbornly resists” the community’s agenda will be treated as an enemy, with “hatred, contempt, and calumny,” even if that person speaks the truth.

When I first read Life Together as a young Christian, I missed much of its meaning because I had the categories of spiritual and human all mixed up. In my mind, “human” was anything related to the life I had lived before my conversion: my old attachments, my former habits, and my natural likes and dislikes. And my notion of “spiritual” was too strongly identified with my church. Anything outside the realm of church activity was worldly and unspiritual. Doubts and concerns about the practices of my church were unspiritual, especially when expressed with strong emotion. I thought that the spiritual life consisted of absolute submission to the teachings of Scripture and the life of discipleship as they were presented to me by my teachers.

For years I struggled to put those teachings into practice. I never missed church meetings. I tried to put my mission of disciple-making first, even before taking care of my children. And I interpreted my eager desire to bring others into this life of obedience as my spiritual love for them. I worked hard to introduce people to Jesus through Bible study. I intentionally tried to increase their commitment to my community through participation in meetings and church activities. When they responded to my efforts, I was overjoyed. When they didn’t respond, I was troubled, crushed, even angry. I thought I needed to challenge them. When they failed to respond to my challenges, our relationships broke. At those painful moments, I convinced myself to just climb back into the saddle and ride on. Pressing forward with this same idealistic strategy is what I thought it meant to live by faith. Despite the setbacks, I always assumed that someday God would reward me for my faithfulness and obedience.

That notion of what was spiritual came from many sources. It came from my own need for safety, the desire for certainty and boundaries. It came from my own “visionary dreaming” (which Bonhoeffer says God hates!), from the Western missionary and Protestant theology and practice of the last two centuries, and from the cultural understanding of Korean Christians who taught me the gospel. And the hand of God was in it as well. God used these things to help my faith grow. But my ill-conceived notions of human versus spiritual needed to be challenged.

Fortunately, I had two very good friends with exceptional radar for falsehood. For years, I was gently warned by them. Sometimes in their anger I was harshly rebuked. Often — almost always, actually — they resisted me during Bible studies and other conversations. I reacted badly, accusing them of being unspiritual, unkind, unthankful and overly critical. I thought they lacked mission. I prayed that God would change them. Our relationship strained and nearly broke. But it was just this difficult relationship, and others like it, which revealed that my understanding of the spiritual life was skewed. My love for them was quite unspiritual. I reacted toward them just as Bonhoeffer predicted when he claimed that the telltale mark of human community is how it reacts to opposition. When the other cannot be controlled, or will not submit to our idealism, we react badly.

During those difficult years, I couldn’t learn much from anyone who didn’t get my view of the spiritual life. But finally I surrendered and began to listen to what my friends were saying. I began hear the ring of truth in their opposition. I allowed my own idealistic version of Christianity to be shattered and broken. For this I can only thank God. When this happened, my relationship with these friends and others was renewed and set on a dramatically different path, a path of mutual encouragement, vulnerability and healing under the supremacy of Christ.

In my case, disillusionment was just what I needed. It exposed my shaky foundations and led to deeper experience of Christian fellowship. My relationships with my friends could have been broken, but they weren’t. God led me to share in their disillusionment, to learn and grow from it.

This doesn’t always happen. It is sad when fellowship is broken because disillusioned and truth-telling brothers and sisters are pushed aside and feel that they must move on. But disillusionment isn’t a bad thing. In fact, Bonhoeffer claims that it is the point where real spiritual love begins to grow. It is where the community “begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it.” Now I only wish that I hadn’t resisted it for so long.

This installment focuses on Chapter 1, where Schaeffer discusses rules of Christian behavior. When the implications of the gospel are reduced to outward behaviors, our relationship with God becomes superficial and trite. True spirituality is not found in any set of rules. Nor is it found in setting aside rules.

The starting point of the Christian life is regeneration. When we put our faith in Jesus and accept his atoning sacrifice for our sins, we are born again. In one sense, new birth is the most important fact of spiritual life. Unless a person is born, that person does not live. But in another sense, it is the least important fact, because once a person is born, that birth recedes into the past and he must get on with the actual business of living. Although we always remember our new birth and thank God for it, we should not keep returning to the new birth to make it the focus of our spirituality, because birth is just the beginning of what God intends for us.

After new birth, the believer will ask, “What now? What am I supposed to do?” At that point, the church will typically present him with a list of spiritual disciplines to be followed and sinful behaviors to be avoided. The intentions behind these lists may be good, and the rules may help the young believers to begin his walk of faith on solid footing. But sooner or later, he begins to question the rules. Did Christ redeem us just to make us rule-followers? Of course not.

In his discussions with young Christians at the L’Abri community, Schaeffer noticed a great deal of complaining about legalisms imposed by the church and Christian culture. They wanted to set aside rules in order to experience a deeper, more authentic spirituality. At first, he sympathized with them. But as Schaeffer listened to these young people, he began to sense that many of them wanted to set aside the rules simply because they wanted to do the things that were prohibited. Rules cannot be set aside and replaced by nothing. If we put aside the moralisms of any particular community and ask what God himself requires of us, we are faced with the Ten Commandments.

At first glance, the Ten Commandments may look like another list of prohibitions. Yet behind them lies the positive requirement to love God and to love one’s neighbor. The principle of love is not an invention of the New Testament era, but is found in the Commandments themselves, especially the final one, “Do not covet.” Coveting is a directing of internal desire toward things that others have. All the other commandments can be kept through outward behavior, but “Do not covet” cannot. It is no accident that the Apostle Paul, a highly disciplined external keeper of the law, found himself to be a sinner when he honestly faced this last commandment (Ro 7:7). The only way to avoid coveting is to possess a heart of thankfulness. Not coveting means loving God so much that I am genuinely satisfied with the life and circumstances he has given me. It means loving my neighbor so much that, when I see the good things that he has and I do not, I am truly happy for him and rejoice in his good fortune. It means that, when my neighbor suffers failure or loss, I do not derive any hint of pleasure whatsoever.

Love is an internal matter. It does produce external expressions in behavior, but those expressions (kind words, serving) are not the essence of love, because they can be motivated by something else. Real love is always internal, a matter of the heart, which cannot be faked or forced.

The essence of the Christian life is not found in adhering to any list of external behaviors, but in truly loving God and loving other people. Sinful people are not naturally filled with love. The kind of love needed to live the Christian life requires nothing short of a supernatural, miraculous transformation of the inner person. Anything short of that is not authentic Christian spirituality; it is playing games and trifling with God.

As I was reviewing chapter 1 and writing this summary, I was reminded once again of how difficult it is for Christians to grasp the relationship between grace and law. Many of us still don’t understand it even after decades of Bible study. The gospel that is presented in the New Testament is a gospel of pure grace, rooted in God’s unconditional acceptance of us apart from anything that we do. Yet we are hesitant to declare unconditional grace, because we fear it will lead to lawlessness. So when we talk about the gospel, we try to “strike a balance” between grace and law. We say, “Yes, God forgives us unconditionally and frees us from the law, but we must still obey the law.” Indeed, I find it very rare for any Christian in UBF or elsewhere to talk about grace without immediately inserting one or more of those “but” statements that include rules and regulations, because we fear that if we don’t, those who receive the message might get the wrong idea and become lawless. This notion that the truth is found somewhere in the middle, striking a careful balance between legalism and lawlessness, is a deeply flawed idea that misrepresents the gospel. Christian spirituality is not about finding a middle ground between legalism and lawlessness. It is about drinking deeply from the well of grace until we are transformed from the inside out. Yesterday, I happened to run across a great article on this by Tullian Tchividjian.

The Seder, the traditional meal eaten by Jews at sundown on the first day of Passover, recalls the events that brought God’s people out from slavery in Egypt. The Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples on the night before his death was a Seder. Jesus kept many of the traditions associated with this sacred meal. But he also made significant changes, introducing new elements to show his disciples that God was about to do something astounding. The disciples were on the verge of witnessing a new and greater exodus that would change them and their world forever.

If you have ever participated in a traditional Seder, you may have noticed that many details of this ceremonial meal are suggestive of the death of Christ. Indeed, Jews for Jesus and other communities of messianic Jews continue to celebrate the Seder, and they augment the ceremony to show how the Passover achieves its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. If you ever have the chance to participate in a Seder, I would encourage you to do so; it can be a truly beautiful and meaningful addition to your celebration of Easter.

A new book that was just published this year, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre, explores the myriad connections between the Lord’s Supper, the Passover, and other events and teachings from the Old Testament. Even if you already know something about these connections, you will learn a great deal more from this book. The book is easy to read and brimming with details that will fascinate you and bring you to a deeper understanding of Communion and the gospel itself.

Pitre points out one very significant difference between the way Passover is observed in modern times and the way it was observed in the time of Jesus. The foods served in a modern Seder include unleavened bread (matzo) and bitter herbs (maror), but the roasted lamb is missing. Jews today do not follow the command given in Exodus 12:8 to eat the meat of a lamb because, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., there has been no temple and no priesthood.

The Seder as described in the Old Testament was not just a meal; it was a sacrifice. Because the Passover meal was a sacrifice, it had to be eaten in Jerusalem in the vicinity of the temple, where the animal could be killed by an authorized priest in the prescribed manner (Dt 16:5-7). Every year at Passover, the population of Jerusalem swelled by hundreds of thousands of Jews who poured in from the surrounding area and from every part of the Empire. The sacrifice took place in the temple on the Day of Preparation just before Passover began, at about 3 pm (note the hour of Jesus’ death). Pitre describes the scene of mass killing by quoting from The Mishnah (pp. 71-72):

The Passover-offering was slaughtered in three groups… When the first group entered in and the Temple Court was filled, the gates of the temple were closed… The priests stood in rows and in their hands were basins of silver and basins of gold… An Israelite slaughtered his offering and the priest caught the blood. The priest passed the basin to his fellow, and he to his fellow, each receiving a full basin and giving back an empty one. The priest nearest to the altar tossed the blood in one action to the base… When the first group went out, the second group came in; and when the second group went out the third group came in… [In the meantime] the Levites sang the Hallel.

(Hallel consists of Psalms 113-118, which played an important role in the Passover.)

This slaughter of tens of thousands of lambs must have been an unforgettable sight. Rivers of blood literally flowed through the temple. Perhaps this scene of pouring blood was in the mind of Jesus and his disciples when Jesus said at the Last Supper: “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:27-28).

Pitre comments (p. 72):

When we compare Jesus’ actions to these ancient Jewish traditions, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out his point. By means of his words over bread and wine at the Last Supper, Jesus is saying in no uncertain terms, “I am the new Passover lamb of the new exodus. This is the Passover of the Messiah, and I am the new sacrifice.”

Pitre presents another little known but interesting fact: At the time of Jesus, the Passover lambs were not only sacrificed; they were also crucified.

After the slitting of the animal’s throat, a thin stave of wood was driven horizontally through the shoulders so that the animal could be hung and skinned. After skinning, another stave was driven vertically into the mouth, through the belly and through its buttocks. This incredible detail, which is found in the rabbinical literature, was confirmed in the writings of Justin Martyr in the second century (pp. 63-64):

For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of a cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb.

If this description is accurate, then Jesus and his disciples would have witnessed the crucifixion of thousands of lambs each year at Passover. This detail is not mentioned in the modern Jewish Seder, but it confirms the powerful imagery found in the Passover that Jesus celebrated with his disciples on the night before his death.

“Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1Co 5:7).

Schaeffer studied under Reformed scholars Cornelius Van Til and J. Gresham Machen, and he developed strong convictions about biblical inerrancy and other doctrines upheld by conservative evangelicals. During the early 1950’s, however, Schaeffer experienced a personal spiritual crisis that led him to reexamine his faith. This crisis began when he honestly faced two problems he saw in Christian leaders who, like him, were strongly contending for biblical truth.

First, a lack of love in the midst of disagreement. The churches and church leaders he knew were racked by quarrels, divisions, petty ambition and politics. His wife Edith described it as follows: “How could people stand for God’s holiness and the purity of doctrine in the church, and in one’s personal life, and yet not have it turn out to be harsh and ugly?” Church leaders were very vocal about what they were “against,” but Schaeffer was often left wondering what they were “for.”

Second, a pervasive lack of reality. The New Testament is full of promises to those who accept its teachings: blessings of love, joy, peace, and fullness of life present in supernatural abundance. But when he examined his own faith and that of Christians he knew, he wondered: Where are these promised results? Why aren’t they more obvious?

This crisis led him to reevaluate all of the beliefs on which he had staked his career and his life. During that period, he paced back and forth for hours at a time, thinking and praying and thinking again. He returned to the most fundamental questions and asked whether the teachings of the Bible were actually true.

After several months, a breakthrough occurred. Schaeffer came to a new understanding of his faith. He found the answers he was seeking in the historical truths of the Bible. Joy and thankfulness toward God flooded his heart which he expressed through poetry and song.

Shortly after this spiritual reawakening, Schaeffer developed a series of lectures which became the foundation for the teaching and discipleship programs at L’Abri. This material was later gathered and published in 1971 under the title True Spirituality. That book, and the lecture series on which it is based, addressed the question that Schaeffer himself had wrestled with, the question that he heard over and over from young people who came to him looking for answers. That question was, “Why does my faith seem so unreal?”

As he spoke with these young people, many of whom were raised in Christian families and evangelical churches, he found a familiar pattern. In church, they were told, “Accept Christ as your Savior. Believe in his atoning death for your sins and receive his gift of forgiveness and eternal life.” So far, so good. That is solid biblical teaching. But then what? After accepting Jesus as their Savior, what were they supposed to do?

At that point, believers were typically presented with a list of things to do: Read the Bible. Pray daily. Worship God on Sunday. And avoid sins and behaviors that were sinful and ungodly. Those forbidden behaviors varied from place to place, but in general it included sexual immorality, drunkenness, lying, stealing, and swearing.

Sooner or later, these believers began to wonder, “Is that all there is to the Christian life? Am I just supposed to uphold some doctrines and try to be a good person?” The faith began to seem trite and unreal.

Schaeffer believed that their sense of unreality came from two sources. The first was the modern scientific worldview which limits the universe to a naturalistic system of cause and effect. The Bible presents our world as having two parallel realms: the natural, which we perceive with our bodily senses, and the supernatural, which is inhabited by God, angels and spiritual forces. The supernatural is not in a faraway place (e.g., heaven). It is present here and now and is just as real as everything we see, even more so. Yet, as a practical matter, many of us live as though the supernatural realm does not exist. “From the Christian viewpoint, no man has ever been so naïve, nor so ignorant of the universe, as twentieth-century man” (from True Spirituality, p. 57).

The second reason why faith becomes unreal is that many of us are trying to living the Christian life by our own effort and strength. To live the Christian life by your own effort is a contradiction. The Christian life is Jesus Christ coming alive in us and bringing forth God’s works in us through the Holy Spirit. Schaeffer taught that it is not enough for Christians to just do the right things. These things must be done in the right way, through the power of the Spirit, not through our own strength, otherwise they are worthless. Self-effort cannot bring our dead souls to life; God must do it. Similarly, self-effort cannot bear good fruit in our lives; God must do that as well. Just as we receive from God our justification from sin as a free gift of grace, we must also receive any good works that we do from God as a free gift of grace. This understanding of how to receive good works, rather than merely do good works, is notoriously difficult to describe. But it is not a minor issue. It is a fundamental principle of Christianity. Without it, the gospel isn’t really the gospel.

Until I read True Spirituality, I never really tried to distinguish between the work that I was doing and the work that God was doing through me. “What’s the difference?” I thought. “One way or another, the work’s gotta get done. Why should it matter if it happens this way or that way?” In my upbringing, personal initiative, hard work and effort were always praised as virtues. No one had ever told me that the work of faith had to be God’s work, not mine. And no one had ever clearly explained to me how this phenomenon of God working through a human being actually looks in practice. If this is such a fundamental part of Christianity, how could I have missed it? How could my Bible teachers and church leaders have failed to emphasize it?

But then I wondered, “Maybe that’s why my faith seems so abstract and unreal.”

Like Francis Schaeffer, I too had been experiencing a crisis of faith. For a long time, I had been growing increasingly aware of unreality in myself and in the Christians around me.

For example, once I attended a Bible conference where we were studying one of the familiar passages that are commonly found at UBF events. During the testimony-sharing time, one of the missionaries began to read his testimony, and I thought, “This sounds familiar.” As I listened, I recognized that it was the exact same testimony that he had shared on the same passage at an event a few years earlier. He was recycling his old written testimony and passing it off as something new.

Although this is a rather blatant example, that sort of thing was happening all the time. In every group Bible study, someone would say, “One thing I learned is…” and proceed to utter something that I had heard countless times before. If we had been speaking honestly, we would have admitted that we were not learning anything new; we were just reminding ourselves and one another of what had been taught long ago. When I first noticed this tendency, I was bemused by it. But as it continued unabated year after year, it became increasingly bothersome. “Everyone here is bored stiff,” I thought; “Why can’t we admit it?”

I have seen events that were tired and drab, yet church members spoke of them in unrealistically glowing terms, pawning them off as amazing and miraculous. Admit it. There is a fine line between (a) seeing God who is present and working in the ordinary affairs of life and (b) convincing ourselves that some very unremarkable work by human beings represents the genuine work of God. The former is authentic; the latter is counterfeit. But to the untrained eye, the two can look similar, especially to us who live in modern times and are chronically insensitive to the supernatural realm.

Does the Bible have anything to say about this sense of unreality?

I am reminded of a highly educated and well regarded religious leader who secretly approached Jesus. This man was wondering why there was so much miraculous work going on in the ministry of Jesus but not in his own life. Jesus responded by explaining to him that there are two fundamentally different kinds of work. Natural work arises from the flesh; supernatural work arises from the spirit. Human effort produces the former; only the Holy Spirit can create the latter. Supernatural work springs forth from the regeneration or new birth, which is the work of God alone.

To this man, the teaching of Jesus sounded like gibberish. “I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover,” he thought. “If this were true, why didn’t I see it before?”

Jesus concluded this meeting by challenging Nicodemus to intellectual honesty and integrity. Jesus urged him examine himself to see whether his achievements were natural or supernatural. The two are as different as night and day. “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (Jn 3:21).

Maybe this Schaeffer guy is on to something.

I open with these questions as I review King’s Cross (Feb 2011), which is Tim Keller’s new book. The book is adapted from sermons he preached from Mark’s Gospel. (Keller is the senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York.) I was quite impressed and moved by Keller’s presentation and emphasis in his study of Mark’s Gospel, especially in that what he taught as central was not what I had emphasized in my own Bible teaching of Mark’s Gospel. Very briefly, Keller’s emphasis of his Mark’s Gospel study is “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” while my emphasis was “You better be like Jesus and SERVE and GIVE YOUR LIFE, you lazy selfish sinner!” Of course, I never said that, but that was my point. Let me explain.

King’s Cross is neatly organized into two parts, corresponding to Mark’s two symmetrical halves or acts:

1. The King (Mark chap 1-8): The identity of Jesus (King over all things)
2. The Cross (Mark chap 9-16): The purpose of Jesus (dying on the cross)

Hence the catchy title from its two parts (“The King” and “The Cross”), each part consisting of 9 chapters, with each chapter focusing on a particular theme by exploring a selective key part of the story told in Mark’s Gospel, explaining the background, illustrating the main point, and applying it for readers. So the book retains the essential elements of good preaching. (But a handful of well-known passages aren’t addressed in detail in the book.) I will not review each chapter of the book, but only selectively address a few points:

The Dance of the Trinity (Mark 1:9-11)

Chap 1, The Dance, identifies the Trinity during the baptism of Jesus: the Father, who is the voice; the Son, who is the Word; and the Spirit, who is the dove (Mark 1:10,11). Keller makes an analogy to the Trinity being present at creation (Gen 1:1-3; John 1:1-3). He ties the story of redemption through Christ with the story of creation in the beginning to show God’s overarching orchestration of God’s plan and purpose in the Bible, as being both a project of the triune God.

Keller titles this chapter The Dance, which is the description of the Trinity used by C.S. Lewis who wrote in Mere Christianity: “In Christianity God is not a static thing…but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama…a kind of dance.” It is a continual never ending dance of perfect love, submission, deference, humility and service toward the other Persons of the Trinity. Being made in the image of the Trinity, we were created to “dance” around God/others. But our sin causes us to expect others to dance around us, thus breaking relationships. Even among holy Christians in the church (1 Cor 1:2), a leader may expect his members to dance around his directives, while the members may expect the leader to dance around their needs and expectations. Keller’s point is this: “If this world was made by a triune God, relationships of love are what life is really all about.”

Food for thought: Do we preach and teach the Bible by focusing on relationships, or on making sure that I and others carry out our “mission”? Do I “dance” around others in love, or do I expect others to dance to my tune and expectations?

The Gospel (Mark 1:14-15)

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ opening words of declaration to the world concerns “the gospel” (ESV) or “the good news” (NIV) (Mark 1:15). Keller’s repeated emphasis in his previous books, Counterfeit Gods and The Prodigal God, including King’s Cross, is this: “The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news.” Do we primarily see the Bible as what God has done for me in Christ (1 Cor 15:3,4) and communicate it to others as such (good news), or do I present the Bible as what I must do and how I should live and what I must believe (advice for right living)?

I acknowledge that it’s not easy, in fact it’s downright difficult, to teach the Bible simply as “good news.” Why? I think it is because when you ask, “What I must do?” in response to the gospel, the answer is basically, “Nothing! Absolutely nothing!” But we’re afraid to say, “Nothing,” thinking that we will be teaching “cheap grace.” But isn’t it true that I can really do nothing for God, for Jesus, and for the Holy Spirit? Yes, God loves me for sure, and yes, he does have stuff for me to do. But God doesn’t really need me to complete Himself (or His mission), as the cute romantic movie line goes, “You complete me.” So, if I succeed in teaching the Bible as good news, not good advice, and my “sheep” realizes by the work of the Holy Spirit that they don’t have to do anything at all, then I have succeeded in proclaiming the gospel as good news. If not, I would have taught them to save themselves through religion by doing good works as their righteousness before God and people. But when one truly realizes that they don’t have to do anything (because Jesus has already done it through the Cross), it is only then that they will WANT to do all things with all their heart (Deut 6:5), for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). In the gospel of grace, there is no “I have to,” but “I want to.”

The Call (Mark 1:16-20)

In Jesus’ time, students sought out rabbis whom they wanted to learn from. But Jesus sought out and took the initiative to call his disciples. When teaching Jesus’ calling of his disciples (Mark 1:16-20), I usually press others in some way to respond to God’s calling. But the truth of the matter is that no one can really respond to God’s call unless God himself calls that person (John 6:44, 65). My application is that I should teach the Bible not by pressing others for a response (or for repentance or obedience), but to depend on the Holy Spirit to work in that person’s heart (John 16:8). Then their decision to follow Jesus is not because of my human pressure and “push,” but because of God working in their hearts through his word, and by his Spirit. Then they will understand that God’s call is not primarily up to their response or repentance or obedience, but that it is nothing but sheer grace that God called them.

Authority (Mark 1:21-22)

Perhaps, we throw around phases like “spiritual authority,” as though the one who has it has some kind of advantage, or superiority, or an elevated elite status over others. I never thought of this before, but “authority” comes from the word “author,” where the authority does not come from the man, but from the Source. Thus, Jesus taught with original rather than derived authority.

Therefore, my authority as a Christian should not draw attention to myself as having authority that others in the church should acknowledge or submit to. This causes an unhealthy fear of man (Prov 29:25), rather than a healthy fear of God (Prov 1:7; 9:10). Also, if I do come across as the “head honcho” (God forbid!), it functionally becomes as though a man is the head of the church, and obscures the truth that Jesus is the Head of the church (Col 1:18; Eph 1:22). But my sin is to always default to myself and to expect others to submit to my “spiritual authority” in the church, thus clouding God’s glory. Ultimately, only the Holy Spirit can glorify God and enable man to glorify God (John 17:2).

The Ransom (Mark 10:45)

Whenever I taught Mark 10:45, my emphasis was on Jesus who came to serve, and on Jesus who gave his life. Therefore, you and I, if we are Christians, must likewise serve and give our lives, just as Jesus did. But Keller spent 15 pages of this chapter focusing almost entirely on Jesus as the ransom, the substitutionary sacrifice, the debt that had to be paid, either by us sinners, or by God himself. (David Lovi has written on this in 2 parts: The Necessity of Penal Substitution.)

Practically and functionally, we humans think that the route to gaining influence is to have power and control. We hold the power and control whenever we try to ensure that others work hard, serve, live for their mission, and give their lives for the church and for world mission. It then becomes as though our own power and control is the determining factor that makes the church prosper and grow. But keeping the power and controls is really self-centered leadership, and not trinitarian. Moreover, holding and communicating such power and control really doesn’t change sinner’s hearts. Only Jesus who died as a ransom changes hearts. When Jesus died on the cross, he gave up all power and control; he became the symbol of utter weakness, helplessness and vulnerability. But in this way, and only in this way, are we empowered (Rom 1:16), and our hearts transformed by the Spirit (2 Cor 3:18) with gratitude, love, joy and peace (Gal 5:22,23).

Keller closed King’s Cross with these words: “God made you to love him supremely, but he lost you. He returned to get you back, but it took the cross to do it. He absorbed your darkness so that one day you can finally and dazzlingly become your true self and take your seat at his eternal feast.”

By all means, read the book. If not, check out my summary of each chapter:

Chap 1: The Dance (Trinity) (Mark 1:9-11): Do you expect others to dance around you?
Chap 2: The Gospel, The Call (Mark 1:14-20): Is your gospel good news or good advice?
Chap 3: The Healing (Mark 2:1-5): Are your sins against God or people (Ps 51:4)?
Chap 4: The Rest (Mark 2:23-3:6): Are you desperately seeking significance?
Chap 5: The Power (Mark 4:35-41): Do you enjoy goodness and calm in a storm?
Chap 6: The Waiting (Mark 5:21-43): Do you have peace when God delays?
Chap 7: The Stain (Mark 7:1-23): Do you feel unclean, insignificant?
Chap 8: The Approach (Mark 7:24-37): Do you know you’re a dog, yet loved?
Chap 9: The Turn (Mark 8:27-9:1): Why is forgiveness so hard?
Chap 10: The Mountain (Mark 9:2-29): What if you are filled with doubt?
Chap 11: The Trap (Mark 10:17-27): Is money just money to you?
Chap 12: The Ransom (Mark 10:45): Is Jesus all you want and need?
Chap 13: The Temple (Mark 11:1-18): Are you both a lion and a lamb?
Chap 14: The Feast (Mark 14:12-26): Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Keller might be a contemporary champion of the church in regards to presuppositional apologetics (especially Reason For God), which perhaps we might be weak at as a church. King’s Cross is similarly presented presuppositionally and rationally and persuasively (while assuming nothing or very little). It has countless gems in every chapter, which I have not addressed. I’ve only quite randomly and selectively high lighted a very few points.

Perhaps, through reading this post, might you consider reassessing or tweaking how you have personally understood Mark’s Gospel and taught Mark’s Gospel to others?

Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.

Bacon adds that if a man writes little, he needs to be really smart, and if he reads little, he will need to “have much cunning to seem to know (that) which he does not.”

Does “knowledge puffs up” mean that we should not increase in knowledge?

Paul says, “Knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). As a result, some Christians think that we should focus on love rather than on knowledge. But in context, this verse does not mean, suggest, or imply that a Christian should not increase in knowledge. This verse should definitely not become an excuse for not increasing in knowledge. Knowledge is needed if we are to be good stewards of God’s world. On the contrary, increasing in knowledge should deeply humble us to realize at least these three things:

1. how little we know,
2. how limited we are, and
3. how much we need to dependon God.

Does increasing in knowledge help us to be better Bible teachers?

I thought I knew certain parts of the Bible quite well. Especially Genesis, because I have taught Genesis to hundreds of times since 1981. But as I began to read books by godly Christian scholars and pastors over the last few years, I have become “trembling and scared” to teach Genesis, realizing how limited and perhaps rudimentary or inadequate my limited knowledge is. If you care to be confused and confounded, see part 1 and part 2 of Henoch’s series “The Difficulty of Genesis 1.”

Recently I wrote about the account of Abraham offering Isaac to God (Gen 22:1-19). When I had taught this, I had always emphasized the need for a Christian to offer his Isaac (his heart’s desire) to God, just as Abraham did. But is this passage really about us and what we are supposed to do? Or does it point to Jesus, as Jesus himself said it should? (John 5:39; Luke 24:27,44) Who is the primary subject of this passage, us or God? Does our way of understanding and teaching this passage make it seem that salvation is our work (I should offer my Isaac) rather than to God’s saving grace to me? Aren’t there other ways to teach Genesis 22 that perhaps point to Jesus rather than to Abraham? See if you might consider teaching it this way.

Reading, Discussing, Writing

Now let’s get back to the quote by Francis Bacon:

1. Reading makes a full man.
2. Conference makes a ready man.
3. Writing makes an exact man.

READING

Sadly, many today, including Christians, spend countless and excessive hours reading comics, gossip magazines, sports, entertainment and celebrity news, romance novels, fiction, etc. Also, common daily activities are watching TV and movies, playing video games, cruising the internet, using social media, etc. What then happens to our minds? Paul said, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). Here “the flesh” is our fallen sinful human nature, or our natural selves. When our mind is set on ourselves, we easily become angry, upset, worried, fearful, anxious, bitter, resentful, jealous, envious, etc.

When we read and watch things that do not edify our minds, we likely will think and feel and talk no differently than non-Christians. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are what we think about all day long.”

The psalmist knew the crucial importance of what occupies our thoughts. He spoke of the righteous person “whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Ps 1:2). We need to read the Bible daily, and think about it through out the day. We also need to read books. The apostle Paul wrote a quarter of the New Testament. But when he was imprisoned and about to be executed, he asked Timothy to bring “my scrolls, especially the parchments” (2 Tim 4:13), which were his books.

My final quote is from a former seminary professor at Trinity: “You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.”

The more we read useful material, the more we are able to think upon God, which enables us to be full, not empty.

CONFERENCE (DISCUSSION)

To refine what we read and think about, we need to conference. This is to discuss freely with others in order to be challenged, so that our own thoughts and ideas may be clarified and solidified. The more we discuss and sharpen one another, the more God enables us to be ready to seize opportunities when they arise. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” The sheer brilliance of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien came not just from their extensive reading, but also from their frequent weekly discussions to push each other to a degree of excellence that was out of this world.

If we want to preach the gospel well, we must always be ready. We should always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet 3:15).

But if we do not make reading and frequent challenging discussions a part of our lives, our “readiness” would likely be inadequate or suboptimal, reductionistic or just too pushy.

WRITING

No one can write anything meaningful or beautiful if their thoughts are not clear and precise. Writing makes a man exact.

As a practical application, I suggest that you read, read, read (not comics) and love the Lord your God “with all your mind” (Matt 22:37, Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).

Is reading a regular part of your Christian life? Are your thoughts and ideas being challenged regularly? Are you precise and exact in what you write?

Counterfeit Gods has seven chapters. Each chapter deals with a particular counterfeit god, an idol, by retelling a familiar story from the Bible. The chapters and corresponding biblical passages are:

1. All You’re Ever Wanted (The story of Abraham offering Isaac – Gen 22:1-19)
2. Love Is Not All You Need (The love story of Jacob and Rachel – Gen 29:15-30)
3. Money Changes Everything (The story of Zacchaeus the chief tax collector – Luke 19:1-10)
4. The Seduction of Success (The story of Naaman the Syrian general – 2 Kings 5:1-19)
5. The Power and the Glory (The story of Nebuchadnezzer – Dan 2:1-4:37)
6. The Hidden Idols in Our Hearts (The story of Jonah – Jonah 1:1-4:21))
7. The End of Counterfeit Gods (The story of Jacob struggling with God – Gen 32:22-32)

The six idols that Keller identifies are our heart’s desire (Isaac), romantic love/sex (Rachel), money (Zacchaeus), success (Naaman), power (Nebuchadnezzer), and the deep hidden idols of religion, nationalism and culture (Jonah). The final chapter on Jacob struggling with God presents the solution to our perpetual, lifelong gravitation toward idolatry. (John Calvin says that our hearts are “idol factories.”) My favorite chapter is the one about Jonah’s hidden idols (Chapter 6), which is worth the price of the entire book.

Rather than addressing each counterfeit god and idol – which Keller does quite well – I will briefly share how this book challenged the way I had thought about and taught a particular passage to Bible students. And, in the process, it changed my whole approach to the Bible.

Consider the familiar story of Genesis chapter 22, in which Abraham offers Isaac to God. Whenever I studied this passage with someone, I would teach that each of us has our own personal Isaac: our romantic interest, our children, our ambition, our career, and so on. Isaac represents the utmost desire of the heart. It is an idol, and we should lay it down on an altar and offer it to God as Abraham did. This would be my emphasis, the main point that I wanted to get across. I would also teach that this was God’s test, that Abraham saw this as worship, and that the ram caught in the bush is a representation of Jesus. But my main point would always be, “Offer your Isaac to God, if you want to become free and become a blessing like Abraham.”

But is that really the point of this biblical story?

In my teaching, I made Abraham the main subject and the hero. This led me to teach that we are supposed to become like Abraham who offered Isaac. But is the Bible — the Old and New Testaments – a collection of stories about various heroes? Or is it fundamentally something else?

As for myself, this is how I have taught the Bible for decades: Build an ark of salvation like Noah. Be a father of faith like Abraham. Maintain God’s blessing like Isaac. Struggle with God like Jacob. Train your “wicked sheep” as Joseph trained his ungodly brothers. Be a man after God’s own heart like David. Be a man of mission like John the Baptist. Be a Bible scholar like Ezra, a missionary like the apostle Paul. And on and on. Of course, the stories about these characters do impart wisdom to instruct and guide us in our Christian lives. But is that the main point of these biblical accounts?

Jesus explicitly tells us what the Old Testament (OT) is about. In John 5:39, Jesus said, “These are the Scriptures that speak about me” (John 5:39). According to Luke 24:27, the risen Christ explained that the OT is concerned about him. When we approach an OT story about Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc. from this perspective, the story takes on a new flavor. Jesus is not merely being alluded to in a few minor details. The character, life and mission of Jesus are weaved into the fabric of each story.

For example, in regard to the story of Abraham, Keller asks, “Why had Isaac not been sacrificed? The sins of Abraham and his family were still there. How could a holy and just God overlook them? Well, a substitute was offered, a ram. But was it the ram’s blood that took away the debt of the firstborn?” As we ponder these questions, we understand that many years later another firstborn son was stretched out on the wood to die on that mountain called Calvary. As he died he cried out, “My God, my God — why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34) But there was no response from heaven. Although God spoke with a voice from heaven to stop Abraham from offering Isaac, God knew that one day he would have to remain silent and watch while his own Son was being butchered. God paid the price in unbearable agonizing silence. The true substitute for Abraham’s son was not a ram caught in the thicket, but God’s only Son, Jesus, who died to bear our punishment (1 Pet 3:18, 2:24; Isa 53:5). Paul understood this to be the true meaning of Isaac’s story when he deliberately applied its language to Jesus: “He (God) who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32).

When we look at Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac through the lens of Jesus, the emphasis can no longer be, “You have to repent, identify your Isaac and offer it to God, you idol worshipping sinner!” Rather, the emphasis becomes, “God gave you his Son Jesus Christ to pay the costly price and penalty for you when you were clinging to your Isaac.” This is the gospel, the message of first importance (1 Cor 15:3,4). The magnitude of what Jesus has done for us must dawn on us by the working of the Holy Spirit. When it does, we stop thinking, “Oh no! I don’t want to give up my dear, dear, lovely Isaac!” Instead, we are moved by Jesus and we respond in gratitude, “I want to give up my Isaac, because of all that Jesus has done for me on the cross.”

It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who enables us to make sense of the story of Abraham offering Isaac. Without Jesus in the picture, the story becomes all about Abraham and all about me. But when Jesus is in full view, the story becomes all about the love of God who gave his One and Only Son for us. Then, and only then, do our hardened, idol-laden hearts become softened and transformed by the grace of God.

I could go through the other five idols and explain how Jesus replaces each one, but that would take too long. You can read Keller’s book, which I highly recommend. Or you can check out the six sermons on Counterfeit Gods that we did at West Loop UBF when we loosely followed the book in 2010.

Is this how you approach the Scriptures? Do you make Jesus the focal point of every Bible study and sermon?

The tensions between these groups surfaced at the beginning of Acts chapter 6, when Hellenistic Jews pointed out that Hebraic widows were being taken care of by the church, but the Hellenistic widows were not. Acts 6:1 (NIV 2010) reads:

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Notice what this verse actually says. The matter raised by the Hellenistic Jews was not an idle or godless complaint. Their grievance was genuine, because their widows actually were being discriminated against. We don’t know how this happened, but it displays a lack of sensitivity and fairness on the part of the church leadership. Wagner believes that this issue, the inequitable distribution of food, was merely a symptom of a deeper and more serious problem. Hellenistic Jews comprised a very large part of the early church, and their donations of cash and property were keeping the church financially solvent. Yet their interests and views were not being represented among the church’s leaders, because all twelve of the apostles were Hebraic Jews. At the beginning, it had to be so, because these were the men handpicked by Jesus to be witnesses to the world. But as the demographic character of the church changed, the style and composition of its leadership needed to change.

Wagner makes a statement that is profoundly challenging and provocative: Even the twelve apostles were ethnocentric.

This statement should not be taken as criticism of the apostles. They were men of exemplary faith and character. Yet it is an undeniable fact that, because of their upbringing and historical situation, they lacked cross-cultural and missiological sensitivity. The apostles were born and raised as Hebraic Jews, and their identity was closely bound to keeping the details of Mosaic law. They had been taught, quite correctly, that the Jews were God’s chosen people, and that God’s revelation and salvation came through Israel (Ps 147:20). The notion that the doors of salvation had suddenly been thrown open to the whole world – that God was now ready to accept people of any tribe, tongue and nation without precondition through faith in Christ alone – was truly a radical departure from their Old Testament sensibilities. It was going to take them quite a few years to adjust to the new work of the Holy Spirit that was going on around them in the post-Pentecost era. Meanwhile, it was very natural and understandable for them to exhibit ethnocentric attitudes, believing that the Hebraic Jewish lifestyle to which they (and even Jesus) conformed represented the purest, best, and most biblically correct way of life on the planet.

But the Hellenistic Jews thought differently. As they grew in faith and maturity, they could not remain as sheep, sitting under the apostles’ authority forever. Indeed, the Holy Spirit would not allow them to remain comfortable there. They needed to share in the blessings and responsibilities of leadership as full partners in the gospel which they had inherited. God had prepared a special mission for them, to become a bridge between the Jewish and Gentile worlds.

To the apostles’ credit, they recognized that a real problem had arisen in the church, and they dealt with it in a reasonable manner. They convened a meeting of the disciples and appointed seven new leaders, giving them responsibility for handling the matter. It appears that all seven of them (traditionally called deacons, from the Greek diakonos, which means “servant”) were Hellenistic Jews, because all seven had Greek names.

The role that these seven men played in the leadership of the church is a matter of dispute. Some commentators believe that they remained subservient to the apostles, carrying out menial and practical tasks (“waiting on tables”, as mentioned in verse 2) so that the apostles could remain focused on prayer and ministry of the word. But Wagner believes that these seven were not merely assistants. Indeed, the account by Luke emphasizes their high degree of spiritual qualification. They were known to be full of wisdom, faith and the Holy Spirit. The next two and a half chapters of Acts are devoted to the influence of two of these men: Stephen, who because of his powerful preaching became the first Christian martyr, and Philip, who carried the gospel to Samaria and to the Ethiopian eunuch.

Wagner believes that these seven newly appointed leaders stood alongside the apostles, sharing apostolic authority by ministering to the Hellenistic Jews as the original apostles continued to minister to the Hebraic Jews. He characterizes this event as a division in governance, an amicable split that eased the ethnic tensions in the church, helping the Christian message to break out from the shackles of Hebraic culture so that the gospel could spread beyond Jerusalem and Judea.

After the appointing of seven Hellenistic leaders, the church entered a period of rapid growth. Luke remarks in Acts 6:7:

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

If the leadership of the early church had not been diversified, would this dramatic growth have still happened? Not likely, says Wagner. As a specialist in the study of church growth, Wagner pays close attention to Acts 6:7 and similar verses which are scattered throughout the book of Acts. One lesson that he draws from this passage, and from his study of worldwide missions, is that the cultural backgrounds and attitudes of church leaders really do matter. In a more perfect world, Christians of different cultures should be able to serve the Lord side by side without any disagreements or conflicts, fully understanding and accepting one another without any discrimination or judgment whatsoever. Multicultural ministry is an ideal to which we ought to aspire, and when it happens it is indeed a beautiful thing. But two thousand years of history have shown that this tends to be the exception rather than the rule. Cultural differences and misunderstandings between people-groups abound, even within the church. Realistically, it not always possible or desirable for groups that are culturally divergent to remain under the same ecclesiastical authority, especially if the composition of church leadership does not reflect the diversity of its members or the society that the church is seeking to evangelize. No group of believers can sit comfortably under the leadership of foreign missionaries indefinitely, and missionaries who ignore this fact will inadvertently prevent their own ministries from growing. Wagner writes:

One of the most difficult lessons for cross-cultural missionaries to learn is that when they plant a church in a culture different from their own, the leadership of the new church must come from those rooted in the second culture or else the church will not grow and develop as it should. Missionaries may understandably assume that because they have been Christians longer and know the Bible better and pray more and adhere more rigidly to norms of Christian behavior than do their new converts, they therefore can, and should, assume leadership of the new church. They do so, however, to their own detriment and they inadvertently hinder the spread of the gospel over the long haul (pp 142-143).

The Apostle Paul seems to have understood this principle. Whenever Paul planted the gospel in a new place, he made it a high priority to raise native leaders and turn decision-making over to them as soon as possible. When Paul did so, the churches that he planted experienced difficulties and growing pains, as his letters to these churches attest. But Paul’s quick handing over of leadership freed him to continue to use his unique missionary gift to carry the gospel to new places, while allowing the new churches to develop organically into faith communities that could dramatically impact the societies around them. Cross-cultural missionaries are gifted at carrying the gospel from one people-group to another. But natives will instinctively know better than the missionaries how to contextualize that gospel in their own culture.

Wagner’s book is a chapter-by-chapter commentary on the book of Acts with two special twists. First, he places strong emphasis on the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, discussing the extent to which these gifts are present in the Church today. Second, he deals extensively with issues of contextualization – the challenges faced by missionaries as they bring the good news of Jesus Christ into human cultures radically different from their own.

With respect to the Holy Spirit, Wagner began his academic career as a cessationist. That is, he believed that miraculous gifts of tongues, prophesy and healing ceased to be part of normal Christian experience after the age of the apostles. During his tenure at Fuller, however, he revised his views and became a continuationist, believing that many modern-day displays of miraculous gifts are authentic.

The tension between cessationism and continuationism is a fascinating and important subject, but we will leave that to another day. Here I will summarize some of Wagner’s comments on evangelism and culture.

Wagner describes three different kinds of evangelism, which he designates E-1, E-2, and E-3.

• E-1 evangelism is monocultural. An E-1 evangelist shares his faith with other people within his own people group. No significant barriers of language or culture are crossed.
• E-2 evangelism crosses mild cultural barriers. An example of E-2 evangelism would be an Anglo-American preaching the gospel in Australia.
• E-3 evangelism means carrying the gospel to radically different culture. For example, a Canadian missionary serving in China. Or a British pastor reaching out to Hindus and Muslims in London.

This classification as E-1, E-2 and E-3 is a fairly standard terminology not invented by the author. But he does make two major points which I found interesting and compelling.

His first point is that most converts to Christianity have been made through E-1 evangelism; this has always been the case, and it always will. E-2 and E-3 evangelism are necessary to sow the seeds of the gospel in a new place, but dramatic church growth will rarely take place until the message of Christ takes root among native leaders who begin to evangelize their own.

Examples of this are easy to find. For example, Protestant missionaries successfully brought the gospel to Korea in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, but mass conversion of large numbers of South Koreans did not take place until indigenous Korean Christian movements (including UBF) sprang up in the 1960’s.

Another example is the rapid spread of Christianity in modern-day China. Missionaries to China are playing only a minor role in this; most of the growth is taking place through the multiplication of indigenous house churches.

Wagner argues that the gospel spreads more effectively and naturally through E-1 evangelism than through E-2 and E-3. When E-1 evangelism is happening, conversion to Christianity does not require newcomers to cross significant racial, linguistic or cultural barriers. They will not need to disavow their current ways of life to adopt radically new patterns of behavior presented by foreign missionaries. Most of their relationships with family members, friends and neighbors can remain intact. Wherever true E-1 evangelism is going on, as opposed to E-2 and E-3, the decision to accept Christ remains a religious decision to join the family of God, rather than a cultural or social decision to leave one people group and join another.

Wagner’s second point is that E-1 evangelism is a general mission given to everyone in the Church, but E-2 and E-3 evangelism is a special calling that only certain individuals have. There is little excuse for Christians not to engage in E-1 evangelism; in one way or another, every believer ought to be sharing his faith in Christ with the people around him. Therefore, a healthy church will usually be growing in numbers, because E-1 evangelism will be naturally taking place day in and day out.

But E-2 and E-3 evangelism are another matter. These are a specific ministry which require a specific gift. Wagner calls it the gift of missionary, and he defines it as follows: “The gift of missionary is a special ability that God gives to certain believers to use whatever other spiritual gifts they have in a different culture.”

Wagner estimates that only about 1% of Christians have this gift. He admits that this is just a rough guess, based on his own experiences and impressions. The figure of 1% is unimportant. His major point is that, while everyone in the church should be sharing his or her faith within the immediate community, E-2 and E-3 evangelism are a special mission to which only a few are called.

Interestingly, Jesus was an E-1 evangelist. He did not seem to have the gift of missionary. Or, if he had it, he chose not to use it during his three-year public ministry, because as he said in Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

And his twelve apostles were also E-1 evangelists. They ministered primarily to Hebraic Jews like themselves. On a few special occasions, God did use them to evangelize beyond their culture. For example, on the day of Pentecost, they received supernatural ability to communicate the gospel to Grecian Jews from many parts of the Roman Empire in their own native tongues. Another example occurs in Acts chapter 10, when God calls on Peter to evangelize the Roman centurion Cornelius, who was a Gentile. This was a special event, and Peter was prompted to do it by a special vision from heaven. Afterward, however, Peter seemed to return to his usual ministry to the Jews, and wholesale evangelization of Gentiles did not begin until the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas as missionaries in Acts chapter 13.

Although we would like to think that the message of Christ breaks down barriers and creates unity in the human race, Christian history has shown — and the book of Acts also testifies to this — that differences among people-groups are stark, and significant hurdles must be overcome whenever Christians from one group attempt to evangelize another.

This is the fundamental problem of missiology. When E-2 and E-3 missionaries carry the gospel to another place, how do they contextualize the message and implement it there? Which of their own beliefs and practices are non-negotiable and must be carried into the new context, and which must be sacrificed to give the native peoples freedom to develop their unique identity in Christ so that the spread of the gospel is not hindered? There are no easy answers to these questions. The Bride of Christ has always wrestled with these issues, and until Christ returns, she always will.

The most significant example of this in the early church occurred when some Jewish Christians from Judea began to teach that circumcision was necessary for salvation and church membership. In their minds, this was a non-negotiable practice that defined them as God’s people. “If a new Gentile believer accepts Christ, why shouldn’t he be willing to be circumcised?” they thought. The influence of these Judaizers was so strong that even the Apostle Peter began to waver, until Paul personally rebuked him on this matter (Gal 2:14). The battle over circumcision reached a climax in Acts chapter 15, when Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem to present their views to the Jewish believers. At this so-called Jerusalem Council, Peter played the pivotal role; he strongly urged the church to accept Gentiles as full members on the merits of their faith in Christ alone.

Most people are simply unaware of how deeply they have been shaped by their own cultural upbringing, by their own national and ethnic identity. This is why the missionary calling is a special gift. A missionary needs an unusual kind of discernment and willingness to sacrifice many values (even good ones) that he holds dear. Even the twelve apostles who were personally trained by Jesus had great difficulty with this. It was hard for them not to impose additional requirements on new believers from other cultures to make them resemble their own culturally influenced notions of spiritual maturity and piety. Therefore, it is perfectly understandable and natural to expect similar difficulties to be going on in our midst today.

We all know the importance of interpreting the Bible correctly. Our understanding of Scripture deeply influences our Christian lives, our families, our ministries, etc. To give you an example, I heard of a church in Germany where in which women are still required to cover their heads with scarves before coming to church, because Paul talks about a sign of authority on their heads (1 Co 11:10). In a similar vein, Paul forbade women to preach (1Tim 2:11-15). Some churches obey this command literally, forbidding women to preach or to teach men. We in UBF do not literally follow such verses; women are allowed to publicly speak in our congregations and teach and preach from time to time. This implies that we have understood these passages in a different way. If we adhere to a certain interpretation, we should have good and sound reasons why we understood a passage in one way and not another.

The basic hypothesis of How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth is that every reader is inevitably an interpreter of the Bible. We desire to try to unravel the mysteries of the Bible. We approach the Bible with a cultural mindset and a specific translation (which in itself represents an ‘interpretation’ of the original manuscripts). Knowingly or unknowingly, whenever we open our Bibles, we are already in the process of interpreting Scripture. We should, therefore, establish a set of basic ground rules for Scriptural interpretation.

And believe it or not, it can be as simple as this: Try to understand the Word of God as the original biblical authors meant it when they wrote it. This means that we can dismiss every scriptural interpretation that is foreign to the intentions of the original writers in an obvious way. Doesn’t this approach make a lot of sense? Isn’t it just common sense?

Stewart and Fee propose two steps in studying the Bible: First comes exegesis, and then comes hermeneutics. The authors define exegesis as trying to understand what the word of God meant to the original hearers Hermeneutics is defined as translating these findings into the Here and Now. The crucial point is that exegesis comes first. Only after understanding what the Word meant back then can we understand what the Word wants to tell us today. One of the very frequent mistakes that Christians commit in our days is that they either do no exegesis at all, or they do exegesis very poorly. Either way, they jump too quickly to application of the word, and soon begin proclaiming something that God had never intended to say.

Stewart and Fee apply this two-step approach to the entire Bible. In a very intelligent manner, they subdivide the Bible into literary genres. (Timothy Ha referred to a beautiful picture to illustrate this). The genres include narrative history, poetry, wisdom literature, letters, prophetic books, and so on. Sound exegesis must begin with a genuine appreciation of the literary format in which God chose to convey his message. There are many cases where we apply this correctly, even subconsciously. For example, when Job speaks about the arrows of the Almighty in him, we intuitively understand this to be a powerful literary device to express his horrendous pain and suffering. So we understand that the arrows in Job never intended to indicate that actual arrows entered Job’s body.

In contrast, when we read the beginning of Luke’s gospel, we understand that Luke is telling his audience that he is giving us a historical account of Jesus, which is meant to be taken literally.

These examples (Job and Luke) are somewhat obvious. But there are many passages where the genre is less obvious.

Stewart and Fee lead their readers from one biblical literary genre to the next, providing scores of helpful tips and advices for each category of biblical literature. From a scholarly perspective they supply many valuable guidelines dealing with how to approach the different literary genres and how to do good exegesis and sound hermeneutics. They provide lists of Do’s and Don’ts. (I readily admit that I have, at one time or another, committed each and every one of the don’ts.) At the end of the book, they recommend specific commentaries which provide solid exegesis.

One final remark: A common objection I have heard to this method of approaching the Bible goes like this: “This approach is so intellectually based! Aren’t you neglecting the role of the Holy Spirit? By promoting this kind of approach, aren’t you missing out on the power of the word of God?”

In response, here is a short story. A minister once announced that he would stop preparing his messages and skip all the tireless thinking and studying. Instead, he determined that he would just listen to the Holy Spirit and only preach what the Holy Spirit gave him to preach every Sunday. And that’s what he did. When the minister entered the pulpit he attentively listened to what the Holy Spirit told him. The Holy Spirit said, “You have been lazy. You have been really, really lazy…”

In an excellent little book titled Dare to Be True, Mark D. Roberts makes a convincing case that most people are not very honest in their thoughts, words, or actions. It is extremely difficult to be truthful in today’s world. Most of us routinely give in to the temptation to exaggerate, spin, obscure, or misrepresent. By this dishonesty we injure ourselves, damage our relationships with people around us, and keep a safe distance from God.

Research by psychologist Robert Feldman at the University of Massachusetts has shown that lying is surprisingly frequent. By videotaping ordinary conversations between people and playing them back, study participants were surprised at how often they said things that weren’t true. “We didn’t expect lying to be such a common part of daily life,” Feldman confessed.

If we begin to pay close attention to what we say, we may discover that our interactions with one another are filled with misrepresentation and deception. According to Roberts, of the most common lies that church members say to one another is, “I’ve been praying for you.” We lie to make others feel good. We lie to build ourselves up in their eyes, exaggerating our successes and minimizing our problems. We also hide the truth by what we do not say. When conflict arises, many of us keep quiet and fail to speak what is really on our minds. We become like false prophets who dress people’s wounds as if they are not serious, crying “Peace, peace” when there is no peace (Jer 6:14, 8:11)

People tell lies to cover up their shortcomings and to hide their true thoughts and feelings. When we arrive late to a meeting, we say, “The traffic was really bad today,” when the truth is that the traffic was no worse than usual. We say, “This food is delicious,” when it actually tastes bad. We say, “No problem, it’s okay” when we are actually angry or upset.

Many lies are told for self-protection and self-promotion. We don’t want to hurt other people or make them uncomfortable. We want to save face, maintain honor, avoid exposing weakness in order to “set a good example” or to “have a good influence.” In many cases, we have convinced ourselves that lies are acceptable because they are small and well intentioned. We believe that the ends justify the means.

But what does the Bible say? Our Heavenly Father is true; the Son is the embodiement of Truth; and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (Jn 3:33, 14:6, 16:13). True worshipers of God are those who worship him in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23). Jesus Christ, as depicted in the four gospels, was maddeningly honest; he always spoke the truth regardless of the cost. The Apostle Paul sought to always conduct himself with integrity and sincerity (2Co 1:12). Plain reading of Scripture leads us to the inescapable conclusion that what God desires for us is a life of complete honesty. (Roberts does concede that there may be situations of extreme danger where lying is necessary to preserve life. One example of this is found in Joshua chapter 2, where Rahab the prostitute hid Israelite spies on her roof and told the king of Jericho that the two men had left. But those situations are so rare that most Christians will never actually encounter them in their own experience.)

Dishonesty wreaks havoc in our relationships with one another. Once we detect that a person has not been forthcoming, it becomes difficult to believe anything he says. A culture of dishonesty makes us look at others with suspicion, searching for hidden meanings and motivations behind what they say and do, leading us to misunderstand and judge one another based on false impressions and incorrect assumptions.

How many of us have been hurt when we discover that someone has been talking about us to other people, saying things that he would never say to us directly? When he speaks to us, he smiles and acts as though nothing is wrong. Later we hear through the grapevine that he was upset and angry with us. This kind of deception undermines trust and destroys fellowship. When people no longer speak to one another directly and honestly, communication doesn’t cease; it goes underground, proceeding in unhealthy ways through murky back-channels of rumor and gossip.

As dishonesty accumulates in our lives, it becomes harder and harder to know what is true. As we continue to hide our true thoughts, feelings and actions, we tend to become disconnected from ourselves and from reality. This leads to problem minimization, denial, depression, and all kinds of unhealthy and destructive behaviors.

During the late 1990’s, Americans endured the spectacle of a President looking directly into a television camera, pounding his finger on a podium, and brazenly lying about his relationship with a young intern. Later, when the truth could no longer be hidden, the same President spoke to the nation to admit what he had done. One of the most tragic aspects of in this story is that the man appeared more confident and comfortable when he was lying than when he was telling the truth. He lied so effortlessly that it seemed that he actually believed his own falsehoods. It is easy to point a finger at President Clinton and judge him negatively. But what about us? How many of us are willing to be forthcoming and speak frankly about our worst sins and failures?

Telling the truth may cause some hurt. But being honest does not mean that we hurt people unnecessarily, trampling on their feelings by speaking to them without sensitivity and discretion. Truth must always be combined with grace and love. And all the Biblical injunctions against gossip still stand. Gossiping about others, even when the information being spread is true, is abhorrent (Ro 1:29).

As we become aware of how deceitful we really are, the decision to start living in honesty can be awkward, difficult and painful. But the rewards are immense. Dare To Be True is filled with inspiring anecdotes of how honesty, especially about one’s weaknesses and failures, produces abundant good fruit. It opens the door to forgiveness, reconciliation, and friendship. It allows us to experience true gospel love.

The truth will set you free (Jn 8:32).

Jeannine Brown’s book Scripture as Communication offers the reader a communicative model for biblical interpretation. God communicates with us, and he uses the variegated genres of the Bible to accomplish this purpose. According to Brown, this understanding allows for cognitive and noncognitive interpretations of a text. A biblical author may write a propositional statement, but he may also be doing something as he writes: praising, exhorting, etc. In short, “a communication model allows for such a holistic approach” (pg. 16).

Brown beckons us to approach the Bible with a hermeneutic of communication. Before adopting this the communicative model, we ought to ask whether or not the theory can account for interpreting all of the genres of the Bible, and how well this theory can be applied in practical theology — in the pulpit, in Bible study, in evangelism, and on the mission field.

Brown gives an overview of her model: “Scripture’s meaning can be understood as the communicative act of the author that has been inscribed in the text and addressed to the intended audience for purposes of engagement” (p. 14). What does this actually mean?

First, the communicative act of the author is synonymous with communicative intention. Brown deliberately uses the term “communicative act of the author” rather than “authorial intention.” An author may wish to communicate something, but may actually communicate something else. “Authorial intention” may fail to capture the impact that the text actually has on the reader. Brown, therefore, eschews the term “authorial intention” for the more precise “communicative act of the author,” which has been “inscribed in the text.”

Second, we — the present-day readers of the Bible — are the intended audience that the author proposes to engage.

Brown claims that Christians are a part of the intended audience because we identify with the original intended audience. Brown writes, “Even as we seek the author’s communicative act, we will need to be aware of the importance of our stance and responses as readers” (p. 14). We atend to the culture and context to which the author wrote, yet we do not neglect to include our culture and context when understanding the author’s communicative intent.

Brown’s point about intended audience underscores the importance of the term “communicative act.” The author of James may have intended to address Jewish Christians familiar with wisdom literature, yet his epistle engages cultures and contexts far beyond the group of people he may have had in mind. When Brown writes of engagement, she is referring to perlocution, which is a speech-act theory term denoting communicative result. In order for the author’s communicative act to be complete, it must result in perlocutionary intention. The intent of James 1:22 to not only be hearers of the word but also doers first needs to be understood, then needs to be acted upon. Once the audience responds properly to James’ communicative intention by acting upon the word, then his full communicative act will have been successful.

Brown develops her thesis well. In the first part of the book, she explains the communication model in light of various theoretical perspectives, and in the second part she applies the model to the interpretive categories of genre, language, the social world of the Bible, literary context, canon, and contextualization. While dealing with each subtopic, she keeps a strong focus on the communication model throughout; she always brings the reader back to the thesis of her book, that Scripture’s meaning is a communicative act by an author.

This book is helpful for readers of a college level or above. The writing is clear, and the author makes difficult topics understandable. Part of this clarity is to take a complex theory and guide the reader through an application. Brown also keeps the reader’s attention focused on Scripture. She offers practical application of a particular theory to a biblical text, even in the first part of the book where she deals more with theory than practice. She provides helpful appendices which enable the reader to understand the Bible through multiple categories.

Central to Brown’s thesis is meaning. She deals with meaning in chapter four. She defines meaning as “the complex pattern of what an author intends to communicate with his or her audience for purposes of engagement, which is inscribed in the text and conveyed through use of both shareable language parameters and background-contextual assumptions” (pg. 48). Discovering the Bible’s meaning does not come easily. The reader has to do some digging before he or she can discover what God is communicating through language and background-contextual assumptions. Biblical interpretation will invariably turn up different meanings, but this does not the Bible a relative book open to any and every interpretation. As Fee says, “Unique interpretations are usually wrong” (KJV class notes lecture 1 page 1). Meaning is determinate but complex. Brown explains determinacy in relation to the communication model. “Determinacy means that interpretations can be weighed on the basis of their alignment and coherence with an author’s communicative intention” (pg. 87). Brown offers a balanced definition of determinacy here. She puts equal weight on the author and the reader. It is the author (or Author) who communicates to us, yet readers interpret the communicative intention and not the authorial intention. The text will always have a determinate meaning, but our experience and application of the text will bring out the complexity of its meaning.

The communication model of hermeneutics is readily applicable to one’s growth as a faithful Christian. The model encourages us to become doers of the word by recognizing that the text is communicating. Through the communication model, the reader can seek to understand God’s illocution and render the proper response. When this perlocutionary intention is actualized, the communicative act is complete.

The main drawback I found in Brown’s book was the absence of description of the triune God. She does mention that he is the Author, but mentioning the attributes of God would have greatly bolstered her case for the communication model. In order for God’s communicative act to be complete, we need to understand his illocution to us at a particular time and place, and respond properly. But how can we understand fully if we do not appreciate who God is? On the other hand, if we do appreciate God’s eternal power and divine nature, we can respond properly and willingly, even to the point of giving our lives in obedience to his illocution.

Absent also is an explanation about the role of the Holy Spirit in understanding the text. Brown gives the reader the impression that if he or she has the right tools and methods, then correct interpretation will follow. Understanding the Bible through the implementation of the right means does not supersede human being’s dependance on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, as Barth wrote, is the Lord of the hearing. Only by his help can we hear, understand, and respond to what God wants to communicate to us.

Philip Jenkins, writing in his pre-9-11 book The Next Christendom, laments the fact that religion — in particular, the dawning of the movement of Christianity from a Western European and North American context to a Latin American, Asian and African one — “was barely mentioned in all the media hoopla surrounding the end of the second millennium.”[1] With the rise of Christianity in the Southern hemisphere, the most important issues in politics, demographics, land and culture in the majority world will have to do with how well Christians interact with each other and with other religions such as Islam. Jenkins writes, “I suggest that it is precisely religious changes that are the most significant, and even the most revolutionary, in the contemporary world. Before too long, the turn-of-the-millennium neglect of religious factors may come to be seen as comically myopic…”[2]

Given the projections that by 2050 only one Christian in five will be white, Jenkins endeavors to investigate the ecclesiastical and theological impact of the Southern hemispheric shift on the whole Church.

(Just to clarify: throughout this article, I will use “Church of the global South” to refer to Christianity below the equator, and “Church of the West” to refer to the Christianity of Western Europe.)

Jenkins believes that we should give pause before asserting “what Christians believe” or “how the church is changing.” [3] Such blanket statements usually refer to what Western Christians believe. Before presenting the “Christian” stance on an issue, we need to acknowledge that Christianity has undergone a global shift.

The Church in the global South defies stereotype. At present, the Southern hemisphere is home to the poorest people on the planet. With the advent of liberation theology, one might expect Christianity in South America, for example, to be politically-minded, leftist and revolutionary. However, that is not the case. Jenkins writes, “the denominations that are triumphing all across the global South are the stalwartly traditional or even reactionary by the standards of the economically advanced nations.”[4]

Many denominations are feeling the impact of the global shift. In the Roman Catholic church, for example, Catholics in the global South already outnumber their Western counterparts. It is the Vatican’s best interest to cater to the conservative views of the South rather than the liberalism of the West. Jenkins states, “In the traditionalist view, adapting to become relevant or sensitive to the needs of the Western elites would be suicidal for the long-term prospects of the Church. It is the so-called traditionalists, rather than the liberals, who are playing the political game of the new century.”[5]

How does Christianity in the global South differ from that in the West? To answer this question, I will focus here on issues of gender and sexuality. Sex and gender roles are divisive issues in the traditionalist-liberal debates in the West. Yet if we analyze these issues from a purely Western perspective, we can easily miss what is truly happening. For example, Jenkins cites an article by New York Times reporter Brent Staples, who was argued that Christianity “had failed and was collapsing, and would continue to do so unless and until the religion came to terms with liberal orthodoxies on matters of sex and gender.”[6] Although ordained women are a crucial part of leadership in Latin American Pentecostal churches and African Independent Churches, those churches are still comfortable preaching traditional roles for women in society. Abortion is prohibited in Africa, and homosexuality is seen as an alien practice.

Southern views on gender roles and sexuality are reinforced by their biblical interpretation. Southerners believe that Scripture speaks clearly and decisively and on these issues, whereas Westerners look for cultural context in the Bible and deem it necessary “for churches to change in accordance with secular progress.”[7] “Liberals judge Scripture by the standards of the world; conservatives claim to set an absolute value on Scripture and religious sources of authority.”[8] So at Lambeth 1998, the Southern Anglican bishops defeated Western liberal motions on gay rights. Conservatives in the West discovered that that they had large numbers of allies in Africa. Lambeth inspired conservative Anglican Americans to be ordained in the conservative Southern Anglican church, and henceforth become a part of the Anglican mission in America to “lead the Episcopal Church back to its biblical foundations.”[9]

Throughout this book, Jenkins proved his thesis well. Specifically, with respect to gender and sexuality, he argues that views of the global South have increasing ecclesiastical and theological salience.

Unfortunately, Jenkins says little about hermeneutics. Personally, I would have liked more discussion on how Christians in the global South and West differ in how they approach Scripture. Biblical interpretation lies at the core of many divisive issues.

I think that readers could also have benefited from a brief section about Southern views of the work of the Holy Spirit. This is related to hermeneutics. For example, if the African Anglican church believes that the Holy Spirit is working through them in a special way, they would naturally claim to have greater authority on biblical interpretation and downplay the presence of the Holy Spirit among Episcopals and Anglicans in America and England. As Western Christians struggle to understand Southern perspectives on gender and sexuality, they need to consider how their brothers and sisters in the South see them in light of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit.

[1] Pg. 3
[2] Pg. 1
[3] Pg. 3
[4] Pg. 7
[5] Pg. 197
[6] Pg. 9
[7] Pg. 201
[8] Pg. 202
[9] Pg. 203

Chesterton begins with our lives in the world. He talks about the businessman who rebukes the idealism of his office-boy, saying “Ah, yes, when one is young, one has these ideals in the abstract and these castles in the air; but in middle age they all break up like clouds, and one comes down to a belief in practical politics, to using the machinery one has and getting on with the world as it is.” With this statement, Chesterton sets one of the central themes of the chapter. When we are young, we are full of mystery, be it the young philanthropist who thinks he can save the world, or the child who looks for the elves who keep taking their binkies. To the young, the world is full of wonder, possibility, and ideals. There is nothing that cannot be fixed, nothing that cannot be overcome. Even death to my three year old is “going to see God.” What could be better than that?

Then we get on with our lives. We are forced to leave behind the youthful wonder of the world and accept “reality.” In this world, people are forced to move from the idealism of their youth to the “reality” of being a grown up. Such a difficult thing to bestow upon young people! Teaching young idealists that they will NOT change the world, telling our children that magic and elves and fairies don’t exist, are heart breaking affairs. The world squashes out of us any sense of hope outside of rationale, and any dreams beyond “the possible.” What a sad day it is when we damn ourselves to an understanding of life that includes only birth, work, what little we can achieve on earth, and then death – passing on what we have acquired to our children. Yet this is rational, this is being a grown up. Chesterton claims that “we have all forgotten what we really are. All that we call common sense and rationality and practicality and positivism only means that for certain dead levels of our life we forget that we have forgotten. All that we call spirit and art and ecstasy only means that for one awful instant we remember that we forget.”

Chesterton reminds us that this drudgery need not be our final understanding. We can come back to a youthful world of magic, wonder, and ideals, a place that Chesterton called “Elfland.” He claimed that he learned the spirit of its laws before he could speak, and he would retain them when he was too old to write. It was, to him, a certain way of looking at life, “which was created…by the fairy tales.” In Elfland, the impossible is possible, mystery still exists, wonder fills the world, and we can once again believe in magic.

Not the kind of magic, of course, practiced in dark rooms with a pentagram and candles and such. Rather the kind of magic that helps us understand our place in a big and scary world, one that gives us hope even in the darkest hour. It is this magic that makes us realize that everything is going to be okay. A magic that slowly but undeniably changes us into better men and women, helping us to learn to love and serve in defiance of our selfishness. A magic that takes care of our families — regardless of financial or political turbulence. A magic that allows us to reach heights of accomplishment far outside of the realm of ordinary possibility. It is magical to know I have Someone to talk to when I am lonely and scared, Someone to look to when I don’t know what course of action to take. And it is magic to know that at the end of all times, everything is going to be exactly as it should be, and everything that happens until then is just details.

I used to dream of being a white knight and fighting evil dragons to save those in need, a super hero who defends the weak against a super-villain. At some point I “grew up” and forgot that dream. Who was I to make a difference? But now, through knowledge gained by faith, I know that the ancient war against evil is reality, and I join the fight on the side of all that is good and pure to rescue those who truly need help .

When we recover this magic and mystery, we no longer have to live by rational thinking and our puny understanding of possibility. We can understand our lives in light of the Creator behind the creation, the Christ behind our existence. Chesterton says, “In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it involved a magician. And this pointed a profound emotion always present and sub-conscious; that this world of ours has some purpose; and if there is a purpose, there is a person. I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story there is a story-teller.” We are children who have been adopted and made Holy, or separated for a purpose in this world. We are a people who did everything wrong, who have been picked up, cleaned off, and have been made right. We can kneel and thank God, for we know that we are more than an organism on a rock, more than a person born of chance and human will. We can overflow with thankfulness for everything that has been given, for we see the world as it truly is: full of wonder and magic.

In this time of crisis and war, life pressures and church politics, it is hard to dig our heels in and remember who God is, who we are, and what we are supposed to be doing. It seems that the gateway to Elfland is blocked by a flaming sword, and we are stuck out in the cold of harsh reality of life. I, for one, need to remember the magic of my childhood – playing with elves and fighting dragons – for this is why I was called.

How are believers supposed to deal with remaining sin in their hearts? Those who align themselves with Reformed theology believe in the total or radical depravity of human beings’ hearts. So, even though a believer is free from the dominion of sin (Romans 6) he or she is still under the influence of sin. In order to deal with the influence of sin in the believer the Holy Spirit must put to death or mortify the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8:13).

This putting to death the misdeeds of the body by the Spirit is the subject of John Owen’s masterpiece,The Mortification of Sin. Owen, a Puritan pastor and theologian, lays down this thesis: “The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days, to mortify the indwelling power of sin. The principal cause of the performance of this duty is the Spirit: ‘if by the Spirit.'” Mortification of sin is putting sin to death at the root level. To “mortify” is “to take away the principle of all [its] strength, vigor, and power, so that [it] cannot act or exert, or put forth any proper actings of [its] own.”

How do we mortify sin? I highlight three points from Owen:

1. Owen makes it plain that only in believers does the Spirit mortify sin. “Mortification is not the present business of unregenerate men.” If a church first calls the unbeliever to mortification and not conversion, the unbeliever will surely be lost. The gospel is the foundation of repentance and mortification. Without the full acceptance of Christ’s atoning finished work on the cross one cannot accept his or her radical depravity. Therefore, anyone trying to mortify sin without first accepting the gospel is on the road to becoming a self-justifier. Owen asks this rhetorical question: “Can sin be killed without an interest in the death of Christ, or mortified without the Spirit?” Owen grieves for those who perform works of righteousness without knowing the righteousness of Christ and the guidance of the Spirit. “There is no death of sin, without the death of Christ.”

2. Get to the root motivation of sin. What is the root of the outward manifestation of sin in a believer? Is it an embedded secret atheism? Is it pride? Selfish ambition? As soon as sin rises, recognize the motivation behind it and put it to death by the Spirit. An unmortified sin is dangerous, even deadly. Sin always wants to go all the way. “Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery, if if could; every covetous desire would be oppression; every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head.” To allow sin to get a foothold in one’s heart is to allow sin to progress to the utmost. Sin is serious and costly.

3. “Set faith at work on Christ.” Once the seriousness and motivation of sin has been discerned one must hold to the promises of Scriptures. This is done by directing one’s faith to the gospel. In the last chapter of the book, Owen writes, “Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls. Live in this, and thou wilt die a conqueror. Yea, thou wilt, through the good providence of God, live to see thy lust dead at thy feet.”

If we have understood the motivation and seriousness of our own sin, and then we “set faith at work on Christ” the blood, righteousness, work and cross of Christ will appear to us so sweet, so glorious, so precious, so necessary. The Spirit shows us the love of God through the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. With God’s love so apparent, sinning is less attractive. Pleasing God becomes more pleasurable than committing sin.

The Mortification of Sin is written from a pastor’s heart with a pastor’s wisdom. This book emerged as a series of sermons Owen delivered, as most Puritan books did. There are no superficial fixes, no simple solutions. Mortifiying sin by the Spirit is necessary. We can’t simply break bad habits. Sin has to have the life taken out of it at the motivational level by the Spirit. We must examine our hearts realistically with the guidance of the Spirit through the mirror of Scripture. Then, the life-changing power of Almighty God works in our hearts.

A note on works: Owen says that “duties are excellent food for a healthy soul; they are no physic (medicine) for a sick soul.” If someone has fallen into grievous sin, works and duties will not help him or her. Owen, in chapter 3, describes a scenario he must have witnessed several times as a minister: “Men are galled with the guilt of a sin that hath prevailed over them; they instantly promise to themselves and God that they will do so no more; they watch over themselves and pray for a season, until this heat waxes cold and the sense of sin is worn off; and so mortification goes also, and sin returns to its former dominion.” Mortification of sin, then, is a work of the Holy Spirit alone. “He causes us to grow thrive, flourish, and abound in those graces which are contrary, opposite, and destructive to all the fruits of the flesh, and to the quiet or thriving of indwelling sin itself.”

I’ve used The Mortification of Sin in my Bible studies and personal counseling, including counseling myself. The book has opened my eyes to what Scripture has to say about the mortification of sin in a believer. The book also offers keen insight on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which Owen has written about extensively in his book, The Holy Spirit. I’d recommend Owen’s book without reservation to any believer–old or young. I especially commend it to those who counsel or who teach the Bible regularly. It’s a treasure of wisdom.

The Law of Undulation is explained as the peaks and troughs humanity experiences in every area of our lives, such as our work, friends and, most importantly, our relationship with God. Peak times are characterized by feelings of richness and liveliness, where everything is new and exciting. Troughs are full of numbness and poverty. Humans are by nature unstable and, according to Lewis, this roller coaster of feelings is the “nearest approach to constancy” that we will ever have.

Specifically, Lewis talks about the difference between our initial Christian experience vs. our ongoing spiritual lives. Uncle Screwtape states that God initially sets us “off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation.” Later, however, our spiritual life changes as we begin experience difficulties. Screwtape says that God “withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs—to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish.”

In short, we begin our Christian life in the “honeymoon phase.” Our first love for God is all-encompassing and seems that it will carry us through to eternity. Later, however, it seems that God is nowhere to be found and we must keep being Christian regardless of our feelings. It is during these emotional troughs that Satan frequently attacks. He attacks our body, usually with lust and sexual temptation, where we take the pleasures “which God has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.” And he attacks our mind, “making us doubt whether the first days of Christianity were not, perhaps, a little excessive.”

I think it is safe to say that every Christian experiences this undulation. In my early walk with Christ, I remember praying for God to prove his existence by getting me a Toyota hippie van (no comments please). A few weeks later, I found one for $100 (true story). I remember feeling God’s presence in every area of my life, as if completely surrounded by his love at all times. Many of my friends were using terms like “Ned Flanders” or “Bible thumper” to explain me, I was proud of it. I was even honored to be cleaning church toilets — for Jesus!

Now, it is fifteen years later. I have made many decisions of faith that have steered my life this way and that, and I have reaped the benefits of many of those good decisions. Yet no matter how much God has done for me, I still doubt Him on occasion. Sometimes, I can’t even remember why I am doing basic things like writing testimonies or doing daily devotionals. It is at these times when acts which used to bring me joy lose their fervor, and I am left wanting, sad, and alone.

My adventure through getting a doctorate has been especially trying at times. Last semester, I was studying for the last, and most difficult, exam of my last semester. For the first time since I became a Christian, I doubted God’s presence. Sure, I often feel as though God is gone, but I still know He is there. But this time I actually thought He was not with me anymore. I began to think my WHOLE grad school experience was me walking out on a limb without His holy presence protecting me. This was the most frightened I have been since I became a Christian.

So what are we supposed to do about this? How can we manage this fundamental tension? We are human, so we have extreme highs and lows. And we are Christian, so we must serve God regardless of how we are thinking or feeling at the time. In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis offers a few hints that I find helpful about how to endure the troughs.

First of all, we need to know WHY God is letting this happen to us. Screwtape tells his nephew, “Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” This means that God is training us to be more like Christ at these times. He allows us to understand something of what it felt like when He was alone on the cross, so that we can grow up in our spiritual lives. Our fear and feelings are not unvarnished reality. And God has a plan behind all of it. This reminds me of Joseph, who didn’t understand why he was a slave or prisoner. And Job, whose whole life was taken away. And the Apostle Paul, who was beaten, jailed, and shipwrecked. Each one of these men were trained through these hard times and made much greater than they would have been.

Second, we need to seek help from those who understand our condition. Screwtape recommends his nephew to keep his patient out of the way of experienced Christians who will offer up passages that will help him in his hour of need. Verses like Matthew 11:28-29 or Exodus 14:13-14 give us hope when we are most vulnerable. Christians who are not accustomed to troughs need to find someone they can talk to and seek help from.

Knowing that we will surely experience this Law of Undulation, we can use our peak times to prepare for the troughs. We all need to come together as the Body of Christ and reach out for help or offer help to those in need.

What about you? Have you experienced this Law? Is there a particular Bible verse or passage that has helped you in times of fear or doubt? Have you been helped out of a trough by a brother or sister in Christ?