Lord of the Rings and a Gospel Punch

I was getting my nerd on and watching Lord of the Rings a couple nights ago… In The Two Towers one of my favorite conversations in LOTR takes place between Sam and Frodo. I know this is not how it  goes down exactly in the book, but you purists will have to bear with me. In the conversation below there is a pretty powerful gospel punch. There are real implications here that speak to the incarnation of Jesus, the mission of the church, and the eschaton.

“Sam: It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it’s only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it’ll shine out the clearer.

Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.

Shepherding as a Contemplative Pastor

As I have said numerous times, “I simply feel made to be a pastor.” I love being a pastor. I love Jesus. I love people. I love what Jesus is dedicated to doing in his people and I am thrilled that he has called me to be an under-shepherd, a pastor, in that work.

When I was in High School and realized God had made me to be a pastor I had a lot of high dreams, high expectations. Little old ladies would tell me things like, “God is going to do such amazing things through you.” Tell that to a junior in High School and his heart isn’t going to receive that in a healthy way. I, like Eugune Peterson, have always been very competitive. Very few things feel better than winning. Selfish ambition, consumeristic church culture, and a competitive nature really is a dangerous combination.

In light of that, the quote below from The Pastor by Eugene Peterson resonates deeply with me:

Was it realistic to think I could develop from a competitive pastor to something maybe more like a contemplative pastor- a pastor who was able to be with people without having an agenda for them, a pastor who was able to accept people just as they were and guide them gently and patiently into a mature life in Christ but not get in the way, let the Holy Spirit do the guiding?

Out of all the roles of a pastor: shepherd, preacher and teacher, leader, visionary, prophet, administrator, etc. the role of “shepherd” seems to be the one resonates most deeply with me. While I am very good and not so good at some of those other roles “shepherd” is the one I love the most. It could be a simple reason like, “God made me that way.” but I think it comes from something deeper.

Before I became a Christian I always loved being around people. Now, thanks to the gospel, I just love people. I belief this is the “shepherd” coming out in me. I, with a gospel-induced instinct, love people earnestly. This is a primary reason why I love the quote above.

I believe the heart of my pastoral calling and identity is to be a pastor that patiently, gently shepherds the Father’s sheep into His presence as He transforms them through His Spirit from one degree of glory to another into the image of His Son.

That is what I have to keep in mind to not approach ministry with selfish ambition, fall into the trap of a consumeristic church culture, and allow my competitive nature to use people in the name of “ministry.”

Surely, it is good for my own heart and my church to be a contemplative pastor, not a competitive one.

Blogging Round Up :: Best of the Best

Eugene Peterson’s Double Focus by Matt Redmond 

“When I became a pastor, I resolved on a double focus for keeping my vocation on track: worship and community. At this point in my ‘long obedience,’ that resolve had been thoroughly tested and had developed an extensive root system. It had to if it were to survive. The religious culture of America that I was surrounded with dismayed me on both counts. Worship had been degraded into entertainment. And community had been depersonalized into programs.”

Why Is Disagreeing On Homosexuality Different From Baptism, Millennium, etc by Kevin DeYoung

I received an email yesterday afternoon to this effect: Could someone please give a short, simple explanation as to why the issue of homosexuality is not like Christians differing on baptism or the millennium? Many Christians are willing to say homosexuality is wrong, but they’d rather not argue about it. Why not broker an “agree to disagree” compromise? Why can’t we be “together for the gospel” despite our differing views on gay marriage? Why is this issue any different?

Christ the Dragon Slayer by Phillip Bethancourt 

The Cross as Cosmic Victory

Understanding the cross as cosmic victory means that, in the atonement, Jesus defeats the enemies of God by satisfying the wrath of God. Because the kingdom of God is a central theme in Scripture, our view of the atonement must account for how Jesus conquers his kingdom enemies: Satan, sin, and death.

Jesus defeats his enemies in the atonement and resurrection through vicarious victory. The atonement is vicarious victory because it is substitutionary and penal. It is vicarious victory because it is a conquest of all God’s enemies. Put simply, understanding the cross as cosmic victory means that the crucifixion brings conquest.

In Praise of Evangelical Identity by Andrew Walker 

In American evangelicalism, you can’t believe in anything you want and call yourself an evangelical. That what Mainline Protestantism is for. That’s the route that “professional dissidents ” like Rachel Held Evans want evangelicalism to become, but that only leads to eternal pottage.

A Fearful Thing by Erik Reed

There is a pervasive trend that has developed within American Christianity, or at least a segment of professing believers. The development is terrifying. What is it? The lessening of sin and dismissal of any such notion in the Bible that God deals with sinners. It seems the gospel message has become all about the love of God with the absence of any warnings and set standard which God upholds. The idea is that God just loves you as you are and you are free to continue living as you do.