January Reading Report Blog

This will be the first of these monthly reading reports. You may not like it. I’m not entirely sure this is going to work in the blog format. 

I hope that this is a helpful way to be accountable to others for reading and learning in a regular fashion. I am going to try and refrain from mentioning too much of what is read for “work”. Of course, in ministry all reading is work. 

Book 1: 

Wolf, Christoph Johann Sebastian Bach the Learned Musician.

I have been reading this long book since mid summer. I decided to pretty much wipe it out over the New Years holiday. Bach is my boy and I always like to learn more about this quintessential Protestant musician. One of the strengths (as you might gather from the title) is that Wolf locates him in the broader intellectual stream of German Lutheran Humanism. The book is filled with charts and tables outlining the prodigious output of Bach as a composer. Sections also unpack his prowess at educating his wife and children to both aid him in his labors and for the boys to be composers themselves. The book also reminds the reader that, due to the kinds of professional positions he held that Bach’s work included not only composing and performing but also the teaching of Latin and Theology as well as expected tutoring in all areas of the musical curriculum. 

If you are not appreciative of classical music this book is still worthwhile because it gives a glimpse into the professional life of someone who, though a layman did everything He did to the glory of God. 

Book 2:

Nichols, Tom The Death of Expertise.

1. Premise

This is a book of what I call “popular” or “public” epistemology. It is an attempt to investigate how or why people believe what the believe and what processes they use to accumulate knowledge.

 This was a reread for me and I thought it important in 2021 because I want to focus on Theological depth in my preaching this year. How people think, what their approach to knowledge, information, the online information infrastructure, academic thinking, and expertise are all relevant to the public proclamation of the Gospel. 

The author is a public-policy expert so he is aware that he is goring his own Ox.

2.  Representative Quotations.

“This is more than a natural skepticism toward experts. I fear we are witnessing the death of the ideal of expertise itself, a Google-fueled, Wikipedia-based, blog-sodden collapse of any division between professionals and laypeople, students and teachers, knowers and wonderers—in other words, between those of any achievement in an area and those with none at all”

“The death of expertise, however, is a different problem than the historical fact of low levels of information among laypeople. The issue is not indifference to established knowledge; it’s the emergence of a positive hostility to such knowledge.”

Excerpt From

The Death of ExpertiseTom Nichols

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-death-of-expertise/id1199477086 This material may be protected by copyright.

“The Dunning-Kruger Effect, in sum, means that the dumber you are, the more confident you are that you’re not actually dumb”

Excerpt From The Death of Expertise Tom Nicholshttps://books.apple.com/us/book/the-death-of-expertise/id1199477086 This material may be protected by copyright.

“And so it is. When resentful laypeople demand that all marks of achievement, including expertise, be leveled and equalized in the name of “democracy” and “fairness,” there is no hope for either democracy or fairness. ”

Excerpt From: Tom Nichols. “The Death of Expertise.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-death-of-expertise/id1199477086

Why read it: This book helps  sort out some of the intellectual madness we see in all current media platforms. Not only does it help to remind us that to be objective is impossible, it also reminds us that the perspective and ideology we choose is just that: a choice. 

To be honest there was a lot of other reading in January. Lot’s of research on the Gospel of Matthew. Re-reading some Clancy and other stuff for relaxation. For this first month of 2021 I did nail a couple of helpful, insightful books that I would heartily recommend.  

Lordship, Leadership and Lessons about Fishing Luke 5.4-5

For this week's blog let's examine a bit of scripture shall we? Our ability as a leader will be largely determined by how well we listen, how, well we learn and how well we follow. To be a Christian leader means that we have invested in the Lordship of Christ. 

This investment is particularly crucial at this time. Many alternative voices are contending for our ear. Many contradictory challenges are gaining traction which are in competition with and opposed to the mission of the church. Some institutional figures have may even have forgotten the purpose of Christian leadership altogether. It is essential for us to do several things at once. First of all we must de-escalate and de-sanctify some of the issues confronting us. We have to stop carping and bickering over issues which are not the legitimate concern of the Church. Additionally we need to recover the the purpose of Christian leadership. Closely aligned with that purpose will be a process for constantly creating and challenging the next genration of Christian leaders. 

Read this text with me...

“Luke 5:1   On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, Luke 5:2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Luke 5:3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. Luke 5:4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”” _{(Luke 5:1–5 ESV)}

I want you to notice what it was the kept these men from initially doing what Jesus asked of them in this passage.

They had previous experience. They had fished before. Their experience (which was real) was irrelevant because Jesus was teaching them about a new kingdom with new purposes which-though fishing was analogous-was not the same. 

Another issue was that they were experts. There is nothing harder than trying to teach someone with real expertise something new and different.  Real expertise in fishing for fish did not prepare them for the kind of fishing Jesus had in mind. To understand what He was teaching first required trust beyond the realm of their expertise.

Finally, they had very conventional expectations. Because they had fished all their lives and were quite good at it they knew exactly what to expect at that time of day in those conditions.

The instructions Jesus had given were given with an object lesson by way of miracle

“Luke 5:6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. Luke 5:7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. Luke 5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Luke 5:9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, Luke 5:10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”” _{(Luke 5:6–10 ESV)}

In this text Jesus comes at Peter Lordship first. He challenges what Peter knows, not to make him feel inferior but to give him the information he needed to draw the right conclusion about Jesus and to obediently follow.  It was not really a lesson about fishing. It's not merely even a miracle story. It's a loyalty and lordship story. And what we need in difficult times. It’s what we need  when the Church seems to be a little confused about it’s purpose, the “pond” in which we are to be fishing. It’s what we need to remind us that we should pay closer attention to the Loyalty and Lordship stories in the Gospels. 

What it means to be A Christian...Everything is a Loyalty test.

This began as a blog post I was drafting last Saturday. I ended up preaching it on Sunday.   

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Recently we have heard a lot about loyalty tests. This should not be something new or surprising to disciples of Jesus Christ. The high calling of following Jesus has always created social and cultural dislocation for the Church. When it has not, when the church feels comfortable and at ease, when she has functioned as an extension of some aspect of culture, when it has the ear of Empire: that has been a sign of compromise and failure. 

The question we confront now is very simple. Is the Church even able to hear the call of the Master? How can we hear His call when the sheep-fold is filled with worldly chatter? How can we pass loyalty tests when some have left the fold and do not know they are wandering?  Can we even hear His voice? Particularly when He says things like: 

“Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26–27 ESV)

“Matthew 16:21   From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. Matthew 16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Matthew 16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:21–24 ESV)

I can clearly imagine the shock on Jesus’ face as He remembers another day in another deserted place. The adversary had come to Him offering the wealth, the power, the pomp and the pageantry of Empire. With no messy cross. No Gospel.

He stood opposed to such temptation and Satan fled but here Peter, one of His chosen, one of His students, a friend and confident offers the same compromise...fails the same loyalty test. What Jesus said to Peter then should shake us from the allure, the seduction-yes the temptation of a crossless gospel and a sacrifice-free discipleship. We must choose, the things of God over the things of man. We we must set our minds, we must commit ourselves, pledge our allegiance and forsake all else for His Kingdom for the majesty of the things of God.

In our hope to circumvent what is difficult and demanding we try and  lower the threshold of obedient discipleship. To negotiate the terms. To move the boundaries. To redefine the terms of Loyalty.

Let me be clear. To domesticate and decrease the demands of discipleship is to deny the Master. 

If you wear the name of Christ you have pledged your loyalty, your faithfulness, your very person to a jealous Master who has placed a deposit of Himself within you. The Holy Spirit is a mark of Jesus' loyalty to you. When you are confused about your loyaty to Jesus, that Holy Spirit-God's jealous deposit-is grieved.  When individual disciples are crippled, when  "their conduct was not in step with ^jthe truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2.14a ESV) the entire Body of Christ walks with a limp and the Kingdom of God cannot point a fallen world or a corrupt empire to the cross. 

What is to be done?  Paul, writing to a factionally divide Corinthinan Church wrote this. 

“1Corinthians 3:10   According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 1Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:10–11 ESV)

If you are building your life on any  party, political figure, policy, plan, personality or program other than Jesus Christ you are failing this loyalty test. 

Any  foundation, other than Jesus Christ-is un-biblical. Any foundation other than Jesus is  un-Christian. Any foundation other than Jesus is, ultimately, un-safe.   For far too long we have pointed to others when they fail this test, questioned their theology, their integrity-or both. It is past time for us to recognize and repent of this hypocrisy. Loyalty tests are as good for the goose as the gander. 

January 6 was a significant day. Half of the Christian world celebrated Christmas. If you ever visited my father between Christmas and January 6 his tree would still be up. If you would ask he would tell you “We always keep the tree up till Greek Christmas!!” Free-church protestants, Catholics, Orthodox of all theological stripes-all of us have just completed the celebration of incarnation. 

When Jesus was born Augustus Caesar was the most powerful man in the world. He arrogated to himself the Titles:

• Prince of peace

• Son of God 

• Lord of Lords

Jesus was, of course, born to those titles. When our martyr ancestors proclaimed Jesus is Lord! it was a loyalty test. When the Gospel writers rightly  called Him Prince of peace, Son of God Lord of Lords...It was a loyalty test. When Kingdom was set against Empire it was a loyalty test. Have we forgotten completely and forsaken entirely the sacrificial confession of those who went before us? When your life is at stake the choice is Crystal clear: 

• To choose Jesus is to stand opposed to Empire,

• To choose Jesus is to deny the power of politics to save,

• To choose Jesus is to choose eternal life...

• To choose Jesus is to choose eternal liberty...

• to choose Jesus is to choose, eternal joy...forsaking mere earthly happiness.

Loyalty Tests? Loyalty Tests? Every day. Jesus is Lord! He does not share His authority with anyone. There is no “Jesus...and” Christianity. There is no Hyphenated abberation of the Kingdom. There is no Christian Socialism, Christian Nationalism, Christian politics, Christian economics, Christian   this or that. This compromise which seems like high-minded principle is to fail the Loyalty test of the Lordship of Christ. 

In pursuing empire we have betrayed the gospel, compromised our witness, abandoned our calling, and forsaken our Master. We must repent and leave behind this Kingdom-betraying course. 

It was simplistic and childish, yet we used to often say that if “Jesus isn’t Lord of all, He isn’t Lord at all.” Simple words to remind us that for the Christian...everything is a loyalty test.

Preaching means telling stories.

My father passed away on Christmas Day. We buried him the next week. This could, of course create an awkward set of circumstances given that Christmas comes around every year which might mean a perennial revisiting of the pain his passing caused. For him and our family, this will not be the case. His passing on Christmas Day was actually the final chapter in a beautiful love story. None of his five children were surprised. He married Mom on Christmas Day 1960 and was reunited with her on Christmas Day 2020. For them and us it was a fitting conclusion to a story we have told and will continue to tell for many years to come. 

We humans are story telling animals. As children we begin to know, love and understand the Bible as we are told or have read to us the great stories of the Bible. When we go to Sunday School we begin to learn those stories in an order and after a fashion intended to make them memorable. To aid in character formation. To change our lives. 

There is a point in this process where for some reason we stop telling them as stories and "grow-up" so that we see the Bible as a series of propositions to be understood and behaviors to emulate. Which in many ways is tragic. Jesus Himself, when confronted with important questions or significant times in His ministry did not respond with propositions, principles or positions. He responded with stories. A sower went out to sow. A man fell in among thieves. People lose sheep, coins and sons. The world is full of kneeling camels and perplexed rich people. These stories were not illustrations of what Jesus was "really" teaching-they were the lessons!

And therein lies a lesson for those of us called to preach the Bible. How are you doing as a story-teller? Do you even try? 

Two of the most significant choices I have made as I become a...more mature...which is to say OLD preacher are these. 1)Do not preach first-drafts. I did that way too often when younger. I try and keep a steady working inventory of plans, plot-lines, and provisional outlines in hand to use when called upon to extemporaneously speak. Always be working on something. 2) Be better at telling the "Old, Old Story". Little kids never crawl up into a parent or grandparents lap and ask to hear an exegetical study of the Feline in the Fedora, or Resources Required for Refusing Improperly stored Pork and Poultry: An Inventory. Instead we hear "read me The Cat in the Hat! How about Green Eggs and Ham?"

Preachers compete with talking heads, social media platforms, entertainment apps and tabloid television. I am not saying that you should marginalize study or simplify the message. In fact engagingly proclaiming the gospel, drawing your audience into the story takes more work not less. More drafting, more thought, broader reading, deeper creative labor; blood, sweat and tears. Jesus models this behavior and in the end it is not only Biblical it is actually easier. 

It is liberating to ease into the sacred-desk each Sunday with the text prepared and an outline in hand-look people in the eye and say, "Man, do I have a story for you!"