The Beauty of Salvation (7)
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
“For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 8.33-36
Christians sometimes fumble for a way to start a conversation about Jesus. We look for a way to connect with an unbelieving friend, some common interest or experience, or even something interesting in the world around us.
It’s good for us to think this way. The more we train ourselves to “be ready”, as Peter has it (1 Pet. 3.15) to share the Good News with others, the more likely we will be to do so when the opportunity arises.
Maybe we need to learn the discipline of attention, because, since Jesus is the very Word of God, Who upholds all things in creation, it shouldn’t be too difficult to help others see Him if we can first learn to see Him ourselves. David Bentley Hart reminds us, “as Word [Jesus] comes as a word among words, a discourse among discourses, a particular rhetoric that stands at odds with many of the rhetorics of the world; as the living infinite that passes by every boundary of form, Christ’s dramatic and formal completeness comprehends all the signs of creation by reordering them according to his own form, his own series, his own practice and history. Which is to say his kingdom is not of this world…” Not of the world, but throughout and over and directing the whole of it, so that the evidence of Jesus as the Word of God should be visible to us on every hand.
I would like to think that every believer would desire to know this ability to see Jesus as God’s Word in the world. But such an ability doesn’t come naturally to us. It is the gift of God and, as such, must be taught, nurtured, developed, and encouraged by pastors and teachers—by the shepherds of God’s flock.
But we can’t teach what we don’t practice ourselves. Learn to see Jesus and all things as of, through, and unto Him. Then lead your flock into the joy of knowing and sharing Him as the Word above all words and worlds.
Being disciples and making disciples
We cannot make disciples if we don’t know what we’re trying to achieve. How shall we think about disciples and discipleship, except as God presents these in His Word? This is Dr. Mike McQueen’s starting-point for disciple-making. Listen in to my conversations with Mike by clicking the tool bar or the link at the top of this issue of Pastor to Pastor.
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are examining the values that such an economy requires. Our Read Moore podcast is focusing on our calling as joy-bringers to our world from our book, Joy to Your World! In our Crosfigell teaching letter, we continue our study of Coemgen of Glendalough. And in our Scriptorium column we begin a thorough study of Christ and His Kingdom from the gospel of Matthew. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
The Ailbe Bookstore: Our latest free PDF is the book, The Disciplined Life. What does it mean to make the most of our time? How can we prepare and train ourselves in every area of life to live as witnesses for Jesus? The Disciplined Life can show you how to know more of the Presence of the Lord in your daily walk. Order your copy by clicking here; share it with friends and study together. You can also order my new book of poems, Never Too Late, issued by Wipf and Stock’s Resources imprint. Click here.
Resources for Shepherds: There is much of beauty and therefore of Jesus to be discovered in the work even of realist painters such as Peter Huntoon. His painting, “Spring Confluence”, invites us to consider the uniqueness of Jesus as fully God and fully Man. Ailbe Brother Stuart Kellogg reviews an important book about ten books that have been too important over the past two centuries.
Coming in November: Books and studies abound considering the question, “What’s wrong with the Church?” But these are not likely to do us much good until we take a good look at our own church. In our next installment I’ll send you a link to download an important resource to help you assess the state of your church and to think about new ways of recovering some of the old ways for building Christ’s Body.
From the Celtic Revival
Coemgen (498-618)
Coemgen makes erenaghs
Of the seed of the fair kings;
He did not forsake them, though it was lawful;
They were the true foundation of his church.
– The Monk Solomon, Life of Coemgen
The Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800) was so effective because its leaders understood the importance, not only of making disciples, but of making leaders. An erenagh was the chief shepherd of a monastery in ancient Ireland. From the time Coemgen accepted the call to start a monastic community, he aimed at training others to do the same. Hundreds of such communities made Ireland the leading source of missions, scholarship, and Christian culture for nearly four centuries. We need a vision for training such leaders today.
Resources from the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD)
Perhaps now is the time for you to learn more about this important period of Church history, a period that Thomas Cahill said “saved civilization”. Our bookstore includes a variety of free resources to help you understand and benefit from these great forgotten saints. Our book, The Celtic Revival: A Brief Introduction, provides an overview of the period, while Living to Rule gives us a look inside the disciplined life of Irish monks and missionaries. Theology of the Celtic Revival: Foundations, will ease your mind about any unorthodox views among the leaders of this movement. And our book, Lives of Irish Saints introduces you to some of the less well-known leaders of that period. All these are free at our bookstore, and you can share them with everyone you like.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this issue of Pastor to Pastor helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
