Time And Priorities

 If it's important to you, you will probably make time to do it. This is something that seems rather relevant in my life as at a time when I thought I was overwhelmed, and could add nothing more to my schedule, I actually did add something more to my schedule, and have still managed to stay on top of things (except this blog of course). 

So if I can add in a huge and amazing time spender because I really really want it, and still manage to keep up my grades, it is probably possible at any given time for us to add in time to spend time with God in both Bible study and prayer, as well as ministry and service to God. 

What then does it mean if we choose not to do so because we're too busy? Really, it only means that we value one thing we could spend our time on, over spending time with God. Or if we choose not to spend time helping the poor, we are saying that whatever we currently spend our time on is more important than the poor. 

When we fail to post blog posts in time, or to spend the accurate amount of time deciding what to write about and putting thoughts into the words, it means that I value my schoolwork and other social activities above my blog post. #sorrynotsorry

So, there is more time in the day than you give credit for, which means the way we use our time is probably an indicator of our priorities more than anything else. 

Fellowhelpers to the Truth

Today we're going to read about Gaius in a letter written to Gaius by you guessed it... the apostle John. The book of III John is where we will turn, but first a little bit of background.

We know from different texts of the New Testament that Gaius was baptized of Paul, that he travelled with Paul and was caught in the riot at Ephesus, and that he had since that time often shown great hospitality to Paul. So Gaius is a disciple of Paul through and through. But this epistle is not written by Paul, which I do find to be intriguing.

John wants to focus upon one element of this background as he writes to Gaius. He wants to commend him for his generosity and encourage him to continue to be a fellowhelper to the truth. Due to time, let's start with verses 5-8,

"Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth."

So here John makes it clear that Gaius has done faithfully with his giving, not to the church as an institution, but to Christians and unbelievers alike when they are in need. Gaius is helpful and an encouragement to several people.

But his attitude is not universal. John continues by saying in verses 9-11,

"I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."

Diotrephes is the counter-example to Gaius. He has influence and power over the church at Corinth. And instead of using that power to help people, like Gaius did, he uses that power to thwart the help that people give. He is not content with just not providing kindness to those around him, but he will threaten those who attempt to provide generosity.

It is in this context, that John encourages Gaius to continue to follow that which is good and not that which is evil. The easy way out for Gaius would be to succumb to the will of Diotrephes. But John asks that he does not.

John also makes the case that he that does good is of God while he that does evil has not seen God. This verse needs to be understood the way it was written in the Greek. In Greek, verb tense indicates the type of action that is being portrayed. And these verbs are in the present tense, which conveys an ongoing process. The idea is that if one habitually does good then they are of God, while he that habitually does evil has not seen God.

John adds in verse 12 these words,

"Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true."

This example of Demetrius I think is written so as to encourage Gaius. It may seem that all is lost and that he is the only one who is actually serving God by serving others, but he's not. There is still Demetrius.

It reminds me of the story of Elijah when hunted by Queen Jezebel, when he thought there wasn't a single person serving God alongside him. This is a topic we have looked at before.  Yet the Lord assures him,

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

So, Christian friend, continue like Gaius and Demetrius in being generous and meeting the needs of those around you.

[Video] Calling: What it Is

I cannot guarantee the quality of this video. I know that I was surprised by the quality when I uploaded it for my class assignment,which is the only reason I'm trying to see the quality here. If it's at all decent, you can expect more videos in the future... 

Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on the Differing Roles of the Academic and Pastor

Well-renowned scholar D.A. Carson has spent his life studying the Bible and teaching others how to navigate it in the forms of books, lectures, and conferences. Yet throughout that time, he has not completely walked away from the frontlines, as he expresses it, and continually preaches, witnesses, and invests in those around him. As such, he embodies what has been coined the Scholar-Pastor. Together with John Piper, Carson wrote the book, The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry. In his portion, Carson expresses how a scholar should engage in a similar way as a pastor does.

Before he really begins to unpack the Scholar-Pastor, he talks a little bit of how his life brought him to a focus upon scholarly work as opposed to pastoral ministry. You see, when Carson surrendered his life for vocational ministry, he intended that to be in the means of preaching, pastoring and planting churches. While he was doing just that in Vancouver, he was asked to teach a few classes here and there at a local Baptist college. It was nothing major; Carson was simply a fill-in when the regular professors were unable to teach.

When a full-time spot became available, Carson was offered the position. Although he declined, it made him consider advancing his education further. Since his church was to expand soon, he knew he either had to leave at that moment, or stay at his church for at least five years. Thus, he decided to travel to Cambridge to get his Ph.D.

While pursuing his Ph.D., Carson would preach an average of 2.6 times per week, indicating that Carson was still committed to the ministry side of Biblical studies. Eventually, Carson found himself in a teaching post at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Even now, Carson intended to leave his post and enter pastoral ministry. But two of his friends told him that he would be defying God’s plan for his life if he were to do such a thing. These two men believed that Carson’s published works were meeting some necessary needs of the church society, and entering into pastoral ministry would unnecessarily cripple these works. Thus, Carson ultimately stayed at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he still teaches today.

This decision highlights two important items about the pastor and scholar. First, the pastor is not necessarily a higher calling for every person in life. For Carson, his highest calling was that of scholar because that was where God wanted him. For people like John Piper, the opposite is true – the highest calling is that of pastor and not that of scholar. Ultimately, each individual who has been called into a disciplined study of the Bible will be further called to focus upon one of these two areas based on their gifts and ability, and neither is more important than the other.

Second, the rationale behind this decision indicates that the time of the pastor and the scholar is spent very differently. The scholar will spend most of his time writing books that reach a broad audience on a superficial level, while a pastor’s time is spent impacting a more focused group of people on a deeper level. Ultimately, both the pastor and the scholar can have an impact upon the life of the individual Christian (and the church as a whole), but the structure of the two positions means that these impacts will greatly vary in scope and magnitude.

After describing how he became focused on scholarly work, Carson explains how the focus is not exclusive in its terms. Just because Carson was focusing upon analytically dissecting the Bible while he was at Cambridge, he still preached 2.6 times per week. Carson argues that this is something that all scholars should continue to do.

The words he uses is that one should not be a “mere quartermaster.” A quartermaster supplies materials for the frontlines of defense, but a quartermaster usually does not actually fight on the frontlines. Much like quartermasters, scholars supply Christians on the frontlines with resources about what the Bible says, how to defend it, and how to reach the world through it and for it. However, Carson believes, that unlike quartermasters, scholars ought to fight on the frontlines, utilizing the mechanisms that they teach on a regular basis. In other words, they should practice what they preach.

Carson provides a couple of strong reasons why a scholar ought not to have a monkish separation from the outside world. First, one will never lose admiration and respect for the word of God if he consistently sees it in action. To illustrate this, Carson recounted a time while studying at Cambridge when he was going through a detailed study of John 3 with his mentor. Through the rigorous prospect, Carson just could not help but smile because the previous Tuesday, he watched as the Lord used his preaching on that passage to bring a man to repentance. Carson was unable to think about the verses without an appreciation for what the Lord had done through them.

Second, Carson’s experience indicates that by communicating with different people who may not agree with all of what you say, or especially those who agree with none of what you say, can help you refine your beliefs, find new ways to explain things, or grant a fresh perspective on a common topic. Essentially, your scholarship will be as relevant to the frontlines as you yourself are.

This particular aspect of the scholarly life indicates that one should be wary about drawing too strong a line between the scholar and pastor. While we just indicated above that the pastor tends to be more in contact with people than the scholar, this part of Carson's work argues that the scholar should still be connected with people as a whole.

In essence, the scholar is primarily concerned with mass exposure of problems within Christian society, but he is not exclusively concerned with such mass exposure; he must also be concerned with being and engaging on the frontlines. Similarly, the pastor is primarily concerned with the spiritual lives of his congregation, but he is not exclusively concerned with the spiritual lives of his congregation.