Gospel Incarnation Series [Part 3 of 3]: Click | View Series

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.
– John 1:14

I have drawn out Terra Nova’s system of living out the gospel from John 1:14. If the body of Christ is to live out the mission of Christ, it must be the things that John represents—present, full of truth, and full of grace. We have created three zones out of which that happens: Justice, Culture, and Mercy.

Mercy

Everyone needs help at some time, whether from self-inflicted wounds, societal ills, or family sins. To be present to give that aid is to administer mercy and grace. In this way, we try to reflect Jesus’ presence, being full of grace, and we try to reflect what the prophets commanded, that we are to do justice and to love mercy.

Be Particular

Again, we believe that being narrow and deep is important. In a world where, as Bob Dylan said, “There’s so much oppression can’t keep track of it no more,” we must choose something and commit time and resources to being Christ in its midst. People will undoubtedly try to suck you into their “cause du jour,” but being pulled in many directions will only leave you ineffective and frustrated. Being particular allows for laser-like focus on one or two issues, bringing intensity and depth that lead to real change.

Living Out Mercy

We chose homelessness as our focus for living out mercy. That has meant a holistic approach beginning with the issue of street homelessness. Working with other churches, we are developing an in-from-the-cold program utilizing inner city churches equipped with cots to house the homeless in the wintertime. We also work with the only shelter in our county, a non-Christian agency called Joseph’s House ministering consistently to the people who come through their doors. Here we can make a difference, demonstrating the love of Christ through providing food and companionship. But this is an itinerant community. Perhaps more importantly, we have developed deep relationships with the staff at Joseph’s House, revealing life in Christ to those with whom we can have an ongoing dialogue.

Joseph’s House partners with The Lansing, a sort of halfway house for some folks who are ready to move out of Joseph’s House. It differs from transitional housing in that some of its residents will always be in an assisted living situation due to mental illness or other issues. Terra Nova provides volunteer staff at the Lansing, individuals who have the gift of loving people society has thrown away, and treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve as those created in the image of God.

Lastly, Terra Nova partners with Habitat for Humanity, providing homes for those who need an extra hand extended to them. From immediate homelessness, to crisis shelter, to continuing shelter, assessment and care, to ultimately home ownership, we believe we are addressing the issue of homelessness in a deep and effective way, thereby living out the mercy of Christ.

Narrow and Deep

We as a church are trying to live out an imitation of Christ in being present, full of truth, and full of grace. I strongly encourage planters to pick issues that make sense to their congregational identity, their cultural DNA, their geographical footprint. I further encourage them to take the time to choose what they do and invest in it narrowly and deeply.

We are happy to share anything we have learned regarding city life, homelessness and human trafficking with any church pastors and planters who wish to dialogue more.

Note: For more info go to terranovachurch.org.

Pastor Dad

Every dad is a pastor. The important thing is that he cares for his flock well. Pastor Mark Driscoll's new eBook offers spiritual insights on fatherhood. Get it here.

Gospel Incarnation Series [Part 2 of 3]: Click | View Series

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.
– John 1:14

I have drawn out Terra Nova’s system of living out the gospel from John 1:14. If the body of Christ is to live out the mission of Christ, it must be the things that John represents—present, full of truth, and full of grace. We have created three zones out of which that happens: Justice, Culture, and Mercy.

Justice

Truth is the building block of all law. It is the building block of all “rightness.” The binary process of declaring right from wrong only comes from God, the Great Lawmaker. When we represent justice, we are acknowledging that we as human beings violate the truth and live in “unrightness” and that we want to shine the light of rightness into a dark world.

Light in Darkness

We have chosen the issue of human trafficking, a very dark place that desperately needs Christ’s glorious light. It has been our philosophy that in the incarnational presence of culture, justice, and mercy, narrow and deep is better than wide and shallow. Our call to intervene in human trafficking has led to a partnership with Love 146.

Practically, this means for the past two years we have put together and held a festival called Abolition Week. We shared films, Derek Webb came out and performed, and speakers who have dedicated their lives to abolition were featured, including Ben Skinner, author of A Crime So Monstrous, and Rob Morris, founder of Love 146. The local arts center, local bands, restaurants, businesses, and radio stations partnered with us to promote, host and sponsor these events. The larger city community was invited to share in these events to raise awareness and action to combat human trafficking.

To be continued.

Death By Love

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears tackle some of the most serious redemptive aspects of Jesus' work in these twelve letters of counsel to individuals. Find out more.

Gospel Incarnation Series [Part 1 of 3]: Click | View Series

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.
– John 1:14

Incarnation

In one sentence, John gives us a presentation of the incarnation embedded in this chapter that is largely poetic and very different from the rest of his narrative writings. John seems to be a simple man who writes out of that simplicity, but in this paragraph, he tries to say incredibly complex and large statements about creation and the incarnation in a more poetic and theological way.

I have drawn out Terra Nova’s system of living out the gospel from John 1:14. If the body of Christ is to live out the mission of Christ, it must be the things that John represents—present, full of truth, and full of grace. We have created three zones out of which that happens: Justice, Culture, and Mercy.

Culture

Culture is that place of presence where you stand with people and are part of them. It calls for you to be exactly who you are. In my case, being a guy who published a small press and independent recording label, who used to read poetry in clubs, whose friends were all sorts of oddball, semi-urban, hermit artists, being missionally present meant opening a gallery and reaching into a quickly changing downtown area of Troy that was becoming “artified.”

Culturally Present

The Terra Nova Gallery (www.terranovachurch.org) has become a popular destination for Troy Night Out, our city’s monthly attempt to draw people out and into its restaurant, music, and art scene. In fact, we’re one of the top two galleries in the city. When our church was averaging about 200 people, we were also averaging about 200 people at the monthly gallery event, only ten percent of whom were from Terra Nova. These twenty or so individuals were and continue to be given an opportunity to be missional culturally as they not only mingle with the many visitors to our gallery, but visit, support, and get to know the greater arts community at other galleries in the city.

We have encouraged everyone to identify a place where they need to be culturally present. Culture, most simply defined as a shared set of words, cues, and artifacts that are understood without translation, differs from person to person with plenty of overlap. I have challenged every person in our community to represent Christ within their culture, because it is on that singular level that the incarnation of the gospel happens.

To be continued.

Vintage Jesus

A theological journey chasing Jesus through Scripture and pop culture. Timeless answers to timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Find out more.

“I know people do a lot to help me, but I just want someone to be my friend.” So said a single mother in my congregation. At the root of much poverty is marginalization and exclusion. When we think of serving the poor our first thought is often of projects. We assume the thing to do is run a welfare program. But perhaps our first response to poverty as the church is to offer inclusion, to offer welcome, to offer community.

In our book Total Church we argue that two principles should shape church life: gospel and community. When it comes to the poor, too often conservatives do gospel without community, while liberals do community without gospel. We need to both love the poor and call them to repentance. They are often victims, but they are also always sinners in need of the atoning work of the cross.

Jerram Barrs Interviews Patricia Green on Forced Prostitution and Human Trafficking, A Worldwide Problem

For the past fourteen years, Patricia Green Director of Rahab Ministries, has worked in Bangkok, Thailand, with women and children who have been sold into sexual slavery. Ms. Green and the other Rahab Ministries workers seek to bring these oppressed people out of prostitution, by the grace of God. Ms. Green recently visited the campus of Covenant Seminary to help students become more aware of the need to seek justice on behalf of these women. The following is an interview with Ms. Green that Professor Jerram Barrs led during her visit.

Patricia, it is a wonderful privilege to have you here with us today. Before I ask some questions about Rahab Ministries we are anxious to hear how the Lord brought you to a point where you became involved in the lives of these women.

I am a social worker and community psychologist by training. For many years I worked with women who are social outcasts in New Zealand.* I came to a time in my life where I was feeling a bit restless and heard of an opportunity to go with a group to Thailand. On this trip, God opened my eyes to what was happening with prostitution in Thailand which in some ways is the hub of sex tourism and human trafficking. Our group was staying in a cheap guesthouse in a backpacking area of Bangkok, and the staff there were young Thai people brought down from the northeast by the hotel manager. One of our team spoke Thai well, so we talked with these people. Then the pimps came, and I saw money change hands over the desk, and I saw these people taken away with their little boxes of belongings. Even though I knew that they were going to be abused and used, maybe for years, there was absolutely nothing I could do. I could not even say anything, because I could not speak the language.

In the thinking of many Christians, the notion of racial reconciliation does not have a direct relationship to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We may agree that Christians of different ethnicities ought to get along, but many would also be hesitant to recognize a demand in the gospel along this line. After all, the thinking goes, the gospel is the message that all people need to "get saved." Each individual human is alienated from God because each of us is a sinner, and we need to ask Jesus into our hearts so that we'll go to heaven when we die. And, while we might agree that it would be nice if there were all sorts of races in heaven, and we probably should do our best to get along here on earth, if we don't, we can be thankful that this is no threat to the gospel.

I will argue in this article that this is not a proper understanding of the gospel message, and that rightly grasping the gospel entails a commitment to reconciliation of all types—including, perhaps most specifically, ethnic, or racial, reconciliation. Let me first offer a definition of what I mean by "racial reconciliation": Seeking to foster fruitful community life across racial and social boundary lines—lines of division that seem to be "normal" in some sense but have been perverted by Satan and human sinfulness, so that communities do not regard each other with respect and dignity, seeking mutually fruitful relationships, but with suspicion and fear, which lead to exploitation and manipulation of all types.

Revelation 5:8-14

The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." ¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." ¹³ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." ¹⁴ And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.

HEROES AT A DISTANCE

Greater distance in time between us and our heroes makes admiration easier. This is one reason why some Evangelical Christians stumble over Martin Luther King Day, but not over President's day. King is too close, and his warts can still be seen at the distance of 33 years. But George Washington stands 201 years away from us and through the haze of time we do not see so clearly that his Anglican faith was largely a social convention; that he seems never to have taken communion. John Adams, the second president was skeptical of traditional Christianity. Thomas Jefferson, the third president scoffed at the notion of the Trinity and the deity of Christ. And James Madison, the fourth president drifted toward the deism typical of men of his standing in Virginia in the early 1800's. (Mark Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992], pp. 133-135, 404). But from a distance we don't feel the same indignation about the flaws of our heroes that we feel when they are so close that their sins feel threatening.

A popular modern phrase, used most often in politics, is "flip-flopping." To be perceived as a "flip-flopper" is to be seen as weak and lacking in deep convictions. I am not sure who created this much-used phrase. but the Republicans used it very successfully against John Kerry in the last presidential election. Somehow the word conjures up a sense of opportunism, of outright compromise, or moral spinelessness.

In a recent issue of Martin Marty's, Sightings (Monday, January 8), the esteemed historian and religion writer refers to these changes we call "flip-flops" as "about faces" or "180-degree turns." When a politician changes a position, especially on an issue crucial to some people, it creates quite a stir. Steve Chapman, writing as a pro-life columnist for the Chicago Tribune in a December article, cited Governor Mitt Romney's change of view on abortion as a case in point. It is a fact that Mitt Romney was pro-choice for some years. Now he wants to assure his conservative political base that he is strongly pro-life. In Romney's words, "I'm in a different place than I was in 1994." Even his strongest critics admit that he has sincerely changed and that his actions have demonstrated this consistently. For the record, Ronald Reagan changed his view on abortion, as did George H. W. Bush, both having been pro-choice at one point before becoming pro-life. And Jesse Jackson and Al Gore also changed their views, from being pro-life at one point in the past, to their present pro-choice position.

JONATHAN EDWARDS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Social issues per se, or culture, are not prominent in Edwards' writings. Discussions of social issues and public policies and programs have about as much place in his writings as they do in the New Testament. Which does not mean that what he wrote was irrelevant to public life and culture, any more than that the New Testament is irrelevant. It was relevant - and is relevant - the way physics is relevant to space travel and bridge building. And the way microbiology is relevant to a ten-day round of tetracycline or the purification of drinking water.

It mattered to Jonathan Edwards, just as it should matter to us, whether a culture is diseased and scarred by fraud and bribery and wife-burning and witchcraft and foot-binding and marital unfaithfulness and teenage promiscuity and pervasive pornography and vigilante justice and rape and murder and theft and sloth and misogyny and pedophilia and dozens of forms of insolence and arrogance. Jonathan Edwards could not imagine a Christian being indifferent to the morals and manners of his own city or country. He said,

The spirit of charity, or Christian love . . . disposes a person to be public-spirited. A man of a right spirit is not a man of narrow and private views, but is greatly interested and concerned for the good of the community to which he belongs, and particularly of the city or village in which he resides. . . . And a man of truly Christian spirit will be earnest for the good of his country, and of the place of his residence, and will be disposed to lay himself out for its improvement.

1 Peter 1:1-2; 4:7-10

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.

Last week we saw that Christians are aliens in the world. Verse 1: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens . . ." Our first and primary citizenship is in heaven not the United States. Our first a primary constitution is the Bible not the U.S. Constitution; our first and primary King and Commander in Chief is Jesus Christ and not President Clinton, and the dominant cravings of our heart are not for the treasures and tributes of the world, but for the kingdom of God.

We are aliens. The language and values and customs and expectations of this world feel foreign to us. Something really radical has happened to us. Peter says in verse 3: God has caused us to be born again to a living hope—for another world, another, greater kind of existence. Paul put it this way: "You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:3-4). Jesus called us to live like aliens—to fix our minds on radically different priorities than the nations: