Joshua Harris

Bashing the Bride

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

This video cracks me up… and it also makes me a little sad.  It is sad because this critic is all too familiar – not just to me, but probably to most church leaders. In our consumer culture, where some people have little more allegiance to their covenant community than they do to Wal Mart, K-Mart, or Target, it is all too easy to complain and then cut-and-run.

Jesus calls the Church his “Bride”. Joshua Harris calls such nit-pickers “Church Daters”.

What are the Marks of  Church Dater?  In his excellent little book, Stop Dating the Church, Harris identifies three:

  • Me-centered
  • Independent
  • Critical

Harris goes on to write:

Church-daters don’t realize that what they assume is working for personal gain is actually resulting in serious loss – for themselves and for others.

The plain fact is, when we resist passion and commitment in our relationship with the church, everyone gets cheated out of God’s Best:

  • You cheat yourself.
  • You cheat a church community.
  • You cheat your world.

And Harris suggests something about a lack of commitment to the local church:

Wouldn’t that be like telling your new bride that while your love is true, you have other priorities? Your heart of course is all hers, but as for the rest of you … well, you’ll be in and out.

But Harris also offers this encouragement:

When a person stops “dating” the church they’re not just adding another item to their “to do” list.  …Instead they’re finally getting started on experiencing all the other blessings Jesus promised.

Harris is right, on all accounts.

I have no doubt that criticisms often leveled against the Church – the churches I have served, and all others – are probably aimed toward at least a kornal of truth.  Churches have problems. Churches are filled with people, all of whom have problems. There is an old saying:

This church would be a wonderful place… IF it wasn’t filled with all these people!

So finding things to bash is not difficult.  No question the local church has warts and scars that make her at times less than attractive.   But she is the Bride of Christ.  So it might be helpful for us all to remember how precious the Bride is to Our Lord. He is aware of the present realities – the ugliness. But he has also promised to make her beautiful.  As John Stott reminded us about the Bride of Christ:

On earth she is often in rags and tatters, stained and ugly, despised and persecuted. But one day she will be seen for what she is, nothing less than the bride of Christ, ‘free from spots, wrinkles, or any other disfigurement’, holy and without blemish, beautiful and glorious. It is this constructive end that Christ has been working and is continuing to work. The bride does not make herself presentable; it is the bridgegroom who labours to beautify her in order to present her to himself.

Does Doctrine REALLY Matter?

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

In the first chapter of his excellent book, Dug Down Deep, Joshua Harris writes:

I know the idea of “studying” God often rubs people the wrong way. It sounds cold and theoretical, as if God were a frog carcass to dissect in a lab or a set of ideas that we memorize like math proofs.

I know  many professing Christians who personify what Josh describes, including some within our church. There are a number of reasons they find theology – study of God – distasteful.  One reason is that it is difficult. Another reason is that doctrine has been a point of contention between Christians for ages, and no one with any sanity enjoys being at odds with others. And for many, previous exposure to theology has been just plain boring.

Harris goes on in his observation, and addresses the concern about doctrine being boring:

But studying God doesn’t have to be like that. You can study him the way you study a sunset that leaves you speechless. You can study him the way a man studies the wife he passionately loves. Does anyone fault him for noting her every like and dislike? Is it clinical for him to desire to know the thoughts and longings of her heart? Or to want to hear her speak?

Knowledge doesn’t have to be dry and lifeless. And when you think about it, exactly what is our alternative? Ignorance? Falsehood?

We’re either building our lives on the reality of what God is truly like and what he’s about, or we’re basing our lives on our own imagination and misconceptions.

We’re all theologians. The question is whether what we know about God true.

I think Josh is correct: The study of theology does not have to be boring.

My own motive for studying and teaching theology is not to put myself above anyone else, nor to find grounds to debate and prove others wrong.  My motive is that I have found what Josh describes to be true – I have found beauty in the nature of God.  I have found joy through the discovery of his amazing grace.  I have experienced – and I am experiencing – the transforming power of his promises and principles in the gospel. And while I have found points where I disagree with others, those disagreements do not diminish my friendships with anyone.  So I engage in the study of theology to enhance my own life. And I endeavor to teach theology to offer those same benefits to others who are willing to enjoy them.

As for the study of theology being difficult, well that might be true. Especially when dealing with some important complex issues, such as our Union with Christ.  However, in his book, Josh describes an epiphany he had while vacationing in Florida.  One morning, while at the beach, it dawned on him that in order to “build a house on rock not sand” requires that we dig until we find the rock.  (Matthew 7.24-27) And digging takes work.  But in the end the benefits are worth the work.

Secret Mystery of Francis Chan

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

OK, the title of this post is purely to solicit interest. It is a play on the Charlie Chan Mystery series of the 1930’s.  So far as I know Francis Chan is not hiding any secrets.

That said, many are still mystified why Chan would walk away from a successful ministry, and the newfound celebrity he was enjoying as a result of his books, in order to explore other unknown opportunities.  So, at least in that sense, Francis Chan is a man of mystery.

In this video two of Chans peers, Joshua Harris & Mark Driscoll, sit down and try to get Chan to explain his somewhat unusual departure, among other issues.  It is a good discussion.