Habits of a Gospel-Centered Household - Pt. 4

Written by Pete Schemm
[This concludes Pete Schemm’s piece from the previous three weeks]
Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3]

6. Table-talk 

Perhaps the most underrated means to forming one another in Christ is the daily meal. Sharing a meal together as a family has fallen on hard times. Everything from baseball practice to dance lessons, television to video games, has made missing a meal together a foregone conclusion for many families. We do not make time for it, and we are suffering the consequences. I suggest that we recover one of the most basic, most ancient ways of sharing life together—eating together daily—as a means of spiritual formation in the Christian household. 

Encouraged by Martin Luther’s example, I refer to meaningful conversation over a meal as “table-talk.” The value of table-talk to form the gospel in us builds on the idea that we enjoy talking about what matters to us at mealtime. God created us, as relational creatures, to eat together and to talk to one another; some of the most important conversations we ever have come at meal times. It is not coincidental that some of the most important conversations that Jesus had about the significance of his death were around a table—looking at one another, eye to eye, and eating together (Matt. 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-26: Luke 22:7-23; 24:13-35; see also Exod. 12; Deut. 16; Rev.19).

Our conversation in table-talk may vary from the mundane to the profound. It is appropriate to talk about the weather and the big game and other shared interests. It is also appropriate to talk about the gospel and repentance and God’s faithfulness to us as a family. It should not seem awkward or out of place when we talk about weighty and substantive things. If it does seem awkward, that probably reflects the absence of regular, meaningful conversations. These, and other questions like them, can prompt gospel-centered conversations that help us to reflect meaningfully on the daily evidences of God’s grace toward us. 

• What was your day like? 

• What were the highlights of the day? 

• How did God provide for us today? 

• Have we honored one another today? 

• How can I serve you tomorrow? 

The Goal of the Christian Household 

I want to conclude with a reminder of the ultimate goal of the Christian household. We practice these habits together because we long for gospel-centered relationships where the grace of God is rehearsed in our households. Home is the place where we are most often our true selves— whether in gladness or anger, honesty or deceit, love or ill will. It is by God’s design, then, that learning and living the gospel at home brings a depth to spiritual formation that is otherwise unlikely if not impossible. 

And yet a well-ordered Christian household is not our ultimate goal! The Christian household is arguably the most foundational of all Christian communities but it is not the most important or ultimate Christian community. As we seek to bring life and doctrine together, we must think rightly about both the family and the church. The family and the church each has a unique and distinct role in God’s economy.

The Christian household, while important, must never become more important to us than the church or the kingdom of Christ. Such a belief would undermine the primacy of the gospel of Christ and oppose the plain teaching of Jesus: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37).

The Christian household is where we live now, but it is not our ultimate home. Our ultimate home is with the family of God in the new heavens and the new earth. This is our ultimate hope and goal. This is why we take seriously our responsibilities in our families and in the church, in accordance with the gospel, because we long for Jesus. We long to go home, and we recognize that one day God himself will be our home (Rev. 21:3).

Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 5

Written by Michael Worrall

There is a right way to eat bacon. It has been handed down through generations by John Edwards who taught his sons who will teach their sons…It is the way of savoring - you close your eyes, chew slowly without swallowing, hum, and sway side-to-side. 

Not everyone knows the way of savoring. 
Some of us devour our food like Fantastic Mr. Fox - barely tasting it on our tongues. 
Some of us disinterestedly push our food around the plate until dinner is done.

How we consume matters as much as what and why.
We shouldn’t come to the table to thoughtlessly glut ourselves. 
We shouldn’t come to the table to numbly pass the time.
We should come to the table intending to attend - to savor, enjoy, and give thanks.
And when we taste something good we should close our eyes, hum, and sway side to side.

Here is week 5 of Quarantine Corner:

Listen: Jess Ray & Mission House

Jess Ray is a singer-songwriter and half of the band Mission House. She writes well-crafted, folksy, indie-pop songs about life and faith. If you want to dip your toes I’d recommend Runaway, Gallows (especially the Christ Church Cathedral version), and I Don’t Have Much.

Read: Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 
(Available on Hoopla)

I waited 5 weeks before recommending Bonhoeffer on the Bonhoeffer Haus Journal! Life Together is Bonhoeffer’s classic work on community and the Christian life. This short book is filled with exhortation and encouragement towards Christ-centered community and faith. “He who looks upon his brother should know that he will be eternally united with him in Jesus Christ.” I cannot recommend Life Together highly enough.

Watch: A Quiet Place (Amazon Prime)

A Quiet Place is not a horror movie (message me if you want my reasoning). It is a movie about holding onto life, hope, and family amidst real and present fear. It is a movie about guilt and shame overcome by a Father’s love. Last week I said that ‘Til We Have Faces left lasting images in my imagination and the same is true of A Quiet Place. You will not find many more compelling, well-crafted narratives.

*Disclaimer* This movie is suspenseful and scary. 

Bonus Read: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller 
(Available on Hoopla)

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness is a short (45 page) booklet on the life-giving effect of humility. Keller shows from 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 how peace and flourishing don’t come through self-focus or self-help but self-forgetfulness. This little book produced large and lasting changes in my own soul.

The Rock and the Ruach

Written by Reid Monaghan
[This article was originally published on Power of Change]

Would you rather have life be stable, static, and unchanging? Dependable and rock-solid? Or would you rather have life be wild, chaotic, dynamic, and untethered? Fully unpredictable? It is an interesting question particularly in times of rapid change, crisis, and chaos. In the diversity of human personality there are obviously many of us that would lean in one direction or another.

In the ancient world the ideas of constancy versus constant change were debated among the philosophers as to the nature of ultimate reality. In the constancy corner, you had the incomparable Plato arguing for his unchanging forms. The real things behind all the things. In the dynamic corner you had old Heraclitus and his classic quote about rivers: 

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. - Heraclitus

I recently began thinking about this interplay with the steady and the dynamic and what we really need out of life. If everything was unchanging, quite literally, there wouldn’t be much going on. No excitement, no dynamism, and certainly no fluidity in relationships. If everything was in constant flux and unpredictable life would evolve quite literally into some sort of insanity. The possibility for any planning or dependable science would cease to exist. There would be nothing you could depend upon day by day. 

Recently our family was reading in a devotional book on the book of Psalms by Timothy and Kathy Keller. I was struck by this line were Keller quotes Alec Motyer: 

They (the psalms) put their undeviating understanding of the greatness of the Lord alongside our situations, so that we may have a due sense of the correct proportion of things.

Quoted in Keller, The Songs of Jesus, viii (emphasis added) 

Here we see something, or more properly an understanding of someone, presented as undeviating. God is the one who is constant and unchanging in his character and nature. As such he is ultimately dependable and our Northstar for truth, beauty, and goodness. At the same time this truth is put alongside our situations. Human life and relationships have a wonderful dynamism to them, yet we do not engage them without a compass. The wild and chaotic fluctuations of life are seen and understood in their proper proportions related to that which is unchanging and true.

In the created world there are two entities which the Scriptures use to describe these realities: the Rock and the Ruach. The first is an English word with which we all are familiar. The second word is an ancient Hebrew word (רוּחַ) for spirit, breath, or wind. One is solid. One is mysterious and dynamic. I believe that God has created human life such that we need and desire both of these realities. 

The word of God, both written and living is the foundational truth by which we need to see all other things. As the hymn writer Edward Mote once penned, “on Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Furthermore the same Christ taught us about the mystery of the Spirit of God and the blowing of the wind in the gospel of John: 

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." - John 3:8 

The Bible is replete with these images of both rock and ruach. 

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.  - Psalm 18:2-3 

1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken...5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  - Psalm 62:1,2;5-7 

24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. - Matthew 7:24-25 

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:31-32  

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 

We all need a rock in our life and a foundation for all that we are, all that we do, and all that we endeavor to do in this world. We also need to be led by the spirit into the dynamic and uncertain realities of life and relationships under the sun. We need both. 

In times that we live in, there are many uncertainties, but the solid foundation remains true. God is the anchor to life that always holds. God in his kindness has given us both rock and ruach. We follow the unchanging one into our ever changing world again and again and again. 

In your world today do you need more rock or ruach? Do you need to find a firm foundation for your life? Or do you need to follow a be a bit more free and Spirit led?

Translations

Written by Ryan Lytton

Why are there so many Bible translations? How do we choose which one to use? Often the decision is made on the basis of subjective feelings about the rendering of a familiar text. However, without some training in Biblical languages, this feeling might be misguided. So…what are we left to do? 

Here’s an example of one of the difficulties in translation: currency. 

Genesis 24:22 - After the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold.

What is a shekel? How do we know the weight that is being discussed here, or the resulting value? Well, we could translate it to modern currency. But then we’d have to adjust our translation regularly as the value of our currency changes. This illustrates quite well the difficulty of translation. There are ancient concepts in scripture, conveyed in ancient languages. The closer we try to stick to the ancient concept or language, the harder it will be for us to understand. But as we attempt to move that needle towards understanding, we are potentially moving it away from accuracy. 

Let’s try a concrete example. No cheating. 

וְגַם־אֲנִי נָתַתִּי לָכֶם נִקְיוֹן שִׁנַּיִם בְּכָל־עָרֵיכֶם וְחֹסֶר לֶחֶם בְּכֹל מְקוֹמֹתֵיכֶם וְלֹא־שַׁבְתֶּם עָדַי נְאֻם־יְהוָה

If we were to translate this as literally as possible into English, we would end up with something like this: 

And also I I gave to you (bluntness, innocence, cleanness) of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places and you have not turned to me says the Lord.

I’ve given you one word to translate - נִקְיוֹן. This word can mean bluntness, innocence, or cleanness. Here are some examples of it in the rest of the Hebrew Bible.

• Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence (נִקְיוֹן) of my hands I have done this.”  (Genesis 20:5 NASB)

• I shall wash my hands in innocence (נִקְיוֹן), And I will go about Your altar, O Lord, (Psalms 26:6 NASB)

• Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, And washed my hands in innocence (נִקְיוֹן); (Psalms 73:13 NASB)

• He has rejected your calf, O Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence? (נִקְיוֹן) (Hosea 8:5 NASB)

What does it mean for someone to have innocence of teeth? This verse will help us explore the various approaches to translation. Let’s start with the so-called literal ones. 

NKJV – “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. 

The King James is not much help here. Also, most of the other literal translations tend to stick closely with the King James unless there’s a good reason to divert from it. So…we’re left with the equivalent of shekel. We may know what the text says, but we might struggle with what it means. 

NIV – “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.

The NIV tries to maintain the overall sentence structure as best it can. However, it does provide an interpretation of cleanness. According to the translation committee, the teeth in question are clean because they’ve had nothing to eat. 

CSB – I gave you absolutely nothing to eat* in all your cities, a shortage of food in all your communities, yet you did not return to Me.  This is the LORD’s declaration.

• The * leads to a marginal note that reads: Lit cleanness of teeth.

The CSB splits the difference between the two. It preserves the sentence structure, provides an interpretation where needed. But it also provides a marginal note with the literal reading. This way, you can read more or less what the text says, as well as how that has been interpreted for you. 

NLT – “I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town.  But still you would not return to me,” says the LORD.

The NLT moves the needle even further, abandoning the finer points of the sentence structure in favor of better English. The goal is to make it much easier for the reader to understand. 

The Message – “You know, don’t you, that I’m the One who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards, Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines?  But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me.” God’s Decree.

The Message is on the far end of the spectrum-- possibly as far from literal as you can get. Instead of literal, you get literary. The sole translator of the Message, Eugene Peterson, was striving for the heart of the passage. In my opinion, it often achieves precisely that. It makes the scriptures sound like a real person talking. However, just as the King James gave us what the text says but perhaps didn’t deliver what the text meant, the Message does exactly the opposite. It attempts to give you what the text means, but in doing so it may stray too far from what the text says. Peterson adds and removes entire words or even phrases. This may sometimes be helpful, but it may also be very harmful. 

Ultimately what is best depends to a large degree on the person. If you are a new believer, the NASB is probably going to be overwhelming. Likewise, the Message probably shouldn’t be your primary Bible for the rest of your spiritual life. In light of this, many people advocate a comparative approach, which is indeed helpful. Nevertheless, the best Bible translation is the one you will actually read. So, judge according to your needs, and in light of what you’ve hopefully learned from this post. 

Habits of a Gospel-Centered Household - Pt. 3

Written by Pete Schemm
[This continues Pete Schemm’s piece from the previous two weeks (part one and part two).]

4. Singing Together 

This habit is a bit different because not everyone is musically inclined. But almost everyone enjoys some type of music. Our purpose in this habit is to help one another see the value in “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19) and to see how such a habit can form our understanding of the gospel. 

Hymns and songs express the biblical and theological language of the church in artistic, poetic, and memorable ways. They make an appeal to the soul on the basis of the beauty of the gospel. The gospel is already a beautiful reality, but through the use of hymns we learn to hear and feel and thus sense more deeply the beauty of God. 

Perhaps an illustration will help us here. I have never heard someone say, after rehearsing a catechism answer, “Wow—that was moving and powerful!” I have, on the other hand, seen my own children nodding appreciation after a stirring rendition of “Be Thou My Vision.” The same theological idea has been conveyed in both: God is great and we ought to worship him because of his greatness. Yet a catechism does not convey a sense of delight and emotion like a soul stirring lyric accompanied by beautiful music. 

Look for hymns and spiritual songs that are theologically rich and memorable. Look for hymns and songs that have theological integrity — that is to say, the mood and style of the music ought to match the theological ideas. A song about the depth of sin should not have a bouncy and happy mood. Look for hymns that are soul-satisfying. Our souls are in need of this, and gospel-centered, theologically rich songs address our human needs according to Scripture. 

The practice of this habit, for those of us who are less musically inclined, is best related to the local church. It may be as simple as experiencing a hymn or song together at church, asking one another why that song was so enjoyable, and incorporating a particular phrase from the song into your prayer at lunch on Sunday. 

5. Morning and Evening Prayers Together 

Scripture includes many examples of those who prayed at the beginning and end of the day, including our Lord Jesus (e.g., Ps. 4:8; 5:3; 57:7-8; 88:13; Mark 1:35; 14:32-42). One particularly relevant text, Deuteronomy 6:1-9, suggests that it was the role of the fathers in Israel to “repeat” words of faith in God every morning and evening—“when you lie down and when you get up” (v. 7). 

Why Pray 

Morning and evening prayers train us in the lifelong habit of trusting in God. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God by deepening our trust in him. In the morning we ask God to help us to trust him and glorify him all day long. We rejoice that his mercies are “new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23)! In the evening we ask him to show us where we have and have not trusted him. We thank him for the times we did trust him; we repent where we have not. Then we close our eyes asking God to preserve us for yet another day. 

What to Pray 

The content of our prayers may be spontaneous, a reflection of the present concerns of our minds and hearts. But prayers may also be planned and scripted. One of my favorite prayers, “The Gospel Way,” contains this appeal: “Glorious Trinity, impress the Gospel on my soul, until its virtue diffuses every faculty.” I need that. I long for the day when the virtue of the gospel so permeates my every ability and facility that I am recognizably Christ’s. 

The best scripted prayers are those written by the inspired writers of Holy Scripture. Some of the commonly prayed texts of Scripture include psalms (e.g., Psalms 1, 4, 5, 19, 23, 90, 121), the Lord’s model prayer (Matt. 6:9-13), promises such as Paul’s words in Romans 8:26- 39, character-forming passages like 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5:16-24, or prayers for the community of faith (e.g., Eph. 1:15-23; Phil. 1:3-11; Col. 1:3-14). 

How to Pray 

In the morning, consider offering a prayer together as a statement of faith in God. You might recite the Apostles’ Creed or the Lord’s Prayer together. It is also fitting to set the concerns of the day before the Lord at this time. This may be done in just a few minutes at the breakfast table and it honors God by giving him the “first thoughts” and “first words” of the day. Other places to start the day in prayer together are the bedroom, the living room, or on the way to school. 

Evening time is appropriate for prayers that require reflection on the day. We might ask for insight as to how the day was or was not pleasing to God. Or we may explicitly repent of things that we know did not please God. Evening is also a fitting time for exercising faith in God throughout the night. The Lord is the one who “keeps us” and protects us while we sleep—“He who keeps [you] will neither sleep nor slumber” (Ps. 121:4). Praying each day, morning and evening, is an important way to train ourselves in the fear of God. It is something we may do alone but we should also consider doing it together. 

An ancient prayer for children and adults:
Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 
If I should die before I wake, 
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

[Continued next week.]