Eschatology Today

Inaugurated Eschatology: (n.) The wonderful already-but-not-yet tension and reality of redemption. Read the theological reflections of Pastor Jay and others around him below. This is a great place to dialog about the beauties of the Gospel!

First Day of School and the Divine Fatherly Love

Today is the first day of school for our two oldest. It is the very first day of school, ever, for our daughter, Ellie. There were lots of pictures, hugs, even a grandparent came by, and prayers. Verily, our two year old twins sensed the unique excitement of the morning and were chiming in as well.

Then off to school. Both Rebecca and I went to hand them off. Peter is a veteran, now in first grade. He knows the routine, he has his friends, and was already doing the worksheet placed on his desk as we said good bye. Already that "dad, you're not going to kiss me good-bye?" look in his eyes as I bent down to bless him and say bye (yes, I kissed him and will until my lips no longer work). Then there was Ellie. First day, ever. In her little plaid jumper uniform. We kept sneaking peaks in her class. We couldn't help it. She was just fine. So, off we went down the hall.

I heard my wife greet some other parents and took note of the 'weepy' in her voice. She was being herself - an intensley gifted mother, with a hugely jealous love, who gave deep thought to the moment. Though we live less than a mile from the school. Though I work in the same building, less than a few hundred yards away, the love of a parent is too strong for such things to rule out the emotion of that moment.

We are analogs of God, not the other way around, and partial and incomplete and fractured ones at that. But, we are nonetheless walking images of him. Whether you are a parent, or you will be one some day, it is always an amazing thing to have a poignant moment of parental love and affection and then to think about our God who loves us infinitely more. I don't think we ponder that enough. At least I don't. God loves me. He cares about each little part of my life. That can never be separated from anything else in my life and any other doctrinal and theological truth about God. God love us, his church. And, he loves us because of the work of Christ, through Christ, for the glory of Christ. So, it is much bigger than just us. That is pretty sweet.

So parents, if you just had your heart pricked at having to give off your little ones to the school year, maybe some of you off to college in a far away place, or some of you think fondly of the intense love you have for another, then make sure your thoughts turn quickly to the gospel love of our King, for it is in great part why you just experienced that 'love moment'.

For those of you who don't know me well, the previous post is just me being silly. Given the post before that, I am showing I can indulge in the inane

This is how I study culture. By watching stuff like this.

Edwin's Corner -- Sand Painting from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

Small Talk and the Glory of God

My heroes and mentors are what may be called the pastor-scholar type. This is the man who is a a high octane, intellectually big horse power, thoroughly educated, yet warmly pastoral lover of man - all linked to gospel purpose. I have been shaped, blessed, trained, and modeled to by these kinds of men. However, many of them have a flaw, and many of them have a total blind spot toward this flaw. This flaw is a total disregard and even rejection of the place of small talk.

By small talk I don't mean mere drivel or inappropriate and coarse talk. I mean subjects of discourse that may not be the most ultimate in meaning and life implication. For instance: weather, how the kids are doing, cars, music, sports, gardening, what's going on in the local government, etc. Put another way: anything other than theological, exegetical, other highly academic topics, or heavy 'spiritual concerns' (that things like gardening and weather are or aren't spiritual is a matter for another post). Many of the men I look up to (or over to with a slight upwardness) just don't have patience for this type of talk. They just don't do it. They have 5th gear...actually nowadays we need to talk 6th or 7th gear...and that's it. Oh, they are good in the heavy pastoral moments when great comfort and wisdom is to be expressed and relational, bridge building talk can be offered then, but catch them in the hall or after a service and try and just talk shop and you get a blink, a stare, and cocked head, but not much response. Just that 'I wish you would either ask me a deep question or let me go' look.

Why is this? My list reflects actual things I've heard.
1. They feel like any talk worth having must be totally ultimate and explicitly theological in nature.
2. If their full intellectual faculties are not in use, they feel under utilized and bored.
3. They are actually intimidated by talking about things they aren't familiar with, because almost all their studies and reading is in theology and exegesis.
4. They note that most conversations are only light, that humanity defaults to narrowness and superficiality, so they need to counterbalance this in their own commitment to solely heavy conversations.
5. Finally, they don't have a theology of non-theological and exegetical conversation.

Why do I think it is important to...well...simply be a good conversationalist, able to move in and out of several different topics with facility?
1. In order to get to the heavy stuff with a lot of people, especially men, you need to build a relationship. Part of building that relationship is showing said person that you care and know a bit about his or her world and want to talk about it.
2. All of life IS theological and pastors teach people to think theologically by talking about issues of broader life, subtly connecting life to ultimate meaning as you go.
3. Pastors who expect their people to know theology, doctrine, and Biblical knowledge should be expected to know some things about a range of other disciplines and hobbies (yes, that just might mean they need to pick up a business journal, Rolling Stone, read some blogs, check out currents in fashion and design, know some science, study art history, think about sports, have ideas on parenting, leisure, movies, Indie rock, classical music, what teens are thinking and being influenced by, etc). By the way, one great way to at least get a start is to ask people to bullet point you on ideas, trends, literature, music, etc within their demographic. This is especially effective with teens and college students.
4. Finally, and take this from a guy on the pastor's side, they need to have more of a life! The pastor is to be a top notch theologian and exegete (AMEN!) but also needs to have a life outside the blog skirmishes, commentaries, and latest monographs. He needs to think about how that stuff connects to the every day man and he likely needs his own interests and hobbies. My sense is most pastors do have little indulgences and hobbies and just needs to play that card more. Don't be ashamed, play them. Pastor, next time you get stopped in the hall, jabber away about your love of gardening or bird watching (sorry that just me chuckling that you like those things, but hey, it's all good). It will probably help you build a relationship of trust and respect, and may end up with you having entree into a redemptive situation where the kingdom is furthered and God is glorified...all because of a few moments of small talk.