The Character of William Wilberforce

In reading "Hero for Humanity" there were many things about the beliefs and character of W. Wilberforce that impressed me. Here are a few of them:

1. His conversion to Christ was sincere and impacted every aspect of his life. He genuniely sought to bring every thought captive to Christ. He meditated on Scripture daily and memorized and recited long passages on a regular basis. He saw his entire life in the context of his faith in Christ.

2. He had a resolute confidence in the sovereignty and providence of God and applied this to his life by finding humility in his successes and encouragement in his setbacks and failures. He was "easily" encouraged. Late in his life, when his son lost nearly the whole family fortune (about $2,000,000 in our money) in a bad business dealing Wilberforce willingly sold his home to pay the bills and rejoiced in the opportunity to live more simply and to be able to live with his children and grandchildren.

3. He was deeply committed to an industrious and profitable life and to using his God-given gifts for the benefit of mankind and to the best of his abilities. He was diligent, ambitious for God and others, and persevering. He hated to waste time and yet knew the importance of quietness, reflection and communion with God. Early in his career he set out to accomplish two great objectives, (1) the abolition of the slave trade and slavery, (2) the improvement of public morality and manners. His steadfast determination endured his whole life and his accomplishments were spectacular.

4. He worked tirelessly for the sake of the oppressed when the majority of his generation (at first) thought it wrong or impossible. He was never satisfied that he had made significant progress in helping others, but it is difficult to know how he could have done more. Selflessness is frequently unaware of its own goodness and impact.

5. He was known as the best conversationalist and most personable figure of his generation. He focused his life on being interested in others and being interesting to them. He was genorous and sincere in his hospitality and entertained in his home regularly.

6. He focused and used his uncommon gift of public speaking as a powerful weapon of righteousness. His colleagues in parliament marveled at his felicity with words and speech, and that was in a day of many great orators.

7. He married only because he found a woman whose beliefs and character matched his own. He had no intention of marrying without such qualities. He genuinely loved his wife and never wavered in that devotion (although there is not nearly enough said about her in this biography).

8. He was known as a loving, playful father who cared deeply for his children. His children grew to speak of him in glowing terms. This was and is a contrast to a multitude of public figures.

9. He was an avid reader and dedicated himself to reading the best literature, philosophy and theology available - both ancient and recent. He even taught his family to read "demanding" books and constantly discussed books with his children.

10. He loved nature and studied the glory of God in nature in daily walks.

11. He loved great music, art and beauty and brought into into his home. He considered development in appreciation for fine arts was an essential part of forming good character and sensitivity.

12. He was exceedingly difficult to dislike and attack. Those who attacked him, and many did, found themselves in a difficult public situation since nearly everyone thought, even many of those who disagreed with him, that he was one of the kindest, fairest minded men of their time.

13. He consistently used his wealth to help promising young men rise to their potential, often paying their debts and school bills.

14. It was striking how many of his contemporaries commented on how much larger his mind and soul were than his body. People were struck by how such a small man could have had such a large impact.

His biography is well worth reading.

MacArthur & Piper on Manhood & Womanhood & the Gospel

2 of the 13 challenges I wrote about in my post (here) about crucial issues in our time concerned gender roles. This was the important topic of discussion on Albert Mohler's radio broadcast on Thursday featuring John Piper and John MacArthur and is well worth listening to, as was their previous broadcast on the upcoming conference "Together for the Gospel." These two pastors are noteworthy leaders who have greatly challenged our generation with the truth of Scripture. Both of these men have taken strong Biblical stands on gender issues and have been key leaders in the Biblical "complementarian" position. Below are links to the two programs.

Manhood and Womanhood Discussion with Piper & MacArthur

Together for the Gospel and Church Issues Discussion with Piper & MacArthur

Pastors Over-estimate the Spirituality of their People

I am frequently opposed to George Barna's proposals but not necessarily the facts he reports. I think Barna is right (barna.org) when he indicates that Pastors tend to over-estimate the spiritual commitment of their people. A recent Barna survey (here) showed that Pastors rate the commitments of their people dramatically (embarrassingly) higher than the people rate themselves.

The root of the misperception comes from the fact that Pastors tend to rate mere church attendance and casual interest as far more spiritually significant than they really are. Pastors as "church leaders" tend to be concerned too much about keeping the "programs of the church" running rather than their real business of shepherding souls. Therefore if people are making the programs look "heathy" they wrongly conclude that the people in them must be spiritually healthy.

This reminds me of issues that have been apparent to and stirring in me for quite some time. Issues that my mentor, the late Dr. Rembert Carter, continually sought to drive into me. Unfortunately it still has not totally sunk in. I hope to keep working on it.

First, pastors must get more deeply involved with people and ask spiritually penetrating questions about their lives and faith. It also should encourage pastors to get into the homes of the people. The ministry of Richard Baxter is a rebuke to us. Baxter visited and personally "catechized" every family in his church every year (and their were literally hundreds of them!). The question is how to make time for such an endeavor. For me this signifies the importance of Wednesday evening prayer meeting when I have the opportunity to pray one on one with individual men in our church. It is much easier to do this when people are willing to be open and when they come to more than one service. Of course this may also be when it is less needed!

Second, home life should be a regular focus of attention of pastors and churches. What people are in their families and family relationships is much more indicative of what they truly are then what they may seem to be on Sunday morning.

Third, pastors need to preach in such a way to not only stimulate interest and agreement, but to, more importantly, bring conviction. The problem is that conviction can be painful, both to the people and the pastor. Hurting people almost always strike back at the one they perceive is causing the hurt. Pastors need the love and the courage to absorb this pain in order to be true doctors of souls.

Prayer and God's Glory - John Piper's Cancer

John Piper reported to his church last week that he has been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. The plan is for surgery in February to remove the prostrate. As we might have expected his interpretation and response looks to be God-exalting and full of a sense of the victory of God in Christ.

Piper's ministry has been extremely valuable to me and to many others. His God-centered theology and excellent spirit has endeared him to us. His overarching theme "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" has opened many eyes to aspects of the glory of God we had not seen before, at least not as clearly and as powerfully presented. His theology and teaching resonate with confidence in God. He weds deep theological truth with rich piety and emotional response in ways few have been able to do. His obvious industriousness and creativity humble and challenge all of us in the pastorate to give all the strength we have into our ministries.

His book "Desiring God" is his seminal work and is very helpful, but his books "The Pleasures of God" and "Let the Nations Be Glad" should be put in consideration as Christian classics.

Improve Quality of Life: Cut Down on Sugar Intake

In my last post I mentioned rising health problems due to poor diets. Today a NY Times article features what NYC health officials are calling an 'epidemic' claiming that more than 1 in 8 people in New York have diabetes.

It is not far fetched to believe that spiritual and physical problems can be related to one another. It is entirely plausible that we eat so poorly because we have so little health in our souls that satisfies and sustains us. Having needs not met by soul nourishment we run to the 'frig for a quick fix rather than being nurished with the substance of God's Word and Truth.

NY Times Quote of the Day:
"I will go out on a limb and say 20 years from now people will look back and say: 'What were they thinking? They're in the middle of an epidemic and kids are watching 20,000 hours of commercials for junk food.'"DR. THOMAS R. FRIEDEN, New York City health commissioner, on diabetes.

Improve Your Quality of Life: Nourish Your Soul

Government and various health agencies are very concerned about the health of Americans. Many people are not nourishing their bodies with wholesome food but are consuming too much junk food. The result is not only numerous health problems, but also lack of activity that people should not only be able to do fairly easily, but even enjoy doing. Poor diets and lack of health no doubt springs from a desire to "be happy" but because it is mis-guided about the nature of reality (and the human body) this desire produces the opposite of its intended consequence.

This is true of souls also. Like our bodies, our souls need to be nourished to be healthy, strong, energetic and vibrant. When our souls are malnourished we feel sluggish and tired and don’t even try to engage in activities that should be normal for us and even give us pleasure.

Spiritual exercise and ministry are not only “commands” for a Christian but the natural outlet of energy given us in the nourishment of our soul on God’s Word.

Here are some tips for preparing to nourish your soul in 2006.

1· Help your appetite grow by refusing spiritual junk food.
It is striking how little hunger some people have for the Word of God. It is striking because humans need regular, heavy helpings of spiritual nourishment that God’s Word alone provides. If we are not hungry for God’s Word we should consider what is substituting for God’s Word. It could be overt sin, or “good things” like physical food, friends, work, or entertainment. Many Christians only think about their entertainment choices in regard to evil content and temptation.
We would do well to consider how entertainment can clog the soul and dampen spiritual desire with things that may not be overtly wrong but do damage by what they replace. These substitute for true spiritual food in two ways. They can rob us of time and they can rob us of appetite. Spiritual candy may not be “wrong,” but like chocolate it is addictive and often replaces good eating habits. One issue is that like “junk food” it is difficult to only eat “a little.” People that can only eat “a little” tend to not desire it at all.

2· Make a plan for a regular time and a routine for spiritual meals.
We are creatures of habit. The only question is whether our habits will be good or bad. The wise person faces this and makes plans for establishing good ones. Consistent time in God's Word does not happen by chance. It requires thoughtful preparation and discipline of mind and body. Determine a time that you will meet with God each day. The wisdom of the ages tells us that morning is the best time and few have disproved this wisdom.

3· Make a systematic plan of study.
A haphazard approach doesn't work at increasing virtue. Spontaneity is fruit of organized, systematic and disciplined study. Get a Bible reading schedule, select a Bible book, or get a devotional book to study. Don't wait for a "spur of the moment" idea. Uncertainty contributes to putting it off entirely.

4· Make a habit through immediate consistency.
The key to creating habits is strict faithfulness the first month or two. If you stick to a routine for 6 weeks it will become much easier afterward (although never "automatic"). You can not leave it to feelings and convenience since these only come after you have a habit and "a taste." It is important not to miss days in that initial period of "training" your mind and body to establish a habit.

Most people only do what they “feel like” doing or what they have to do. Time with God is rarely seen in one of these categories. So you will have to “force yourself” to keep going at first. Remember the promises are for great reward even if you can’t feel them yet!

You must deny the heresy that desires and feelings are sacred and that it is wrong to resist or to change them. You must also deny the false teaching that God’s grace does not require discipline. Discipline itself should be a product of God’s grace.

Recommended Resources
· Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney.
· When I Don't Desire God by John Piper.

Pattison's Insight on Music 20 Years Later

20 years ago 2 books were written (actual publishing dates were 1987) that took diametrically opposed points of view about music. The two books I am thinking of were Allan Bloom’s “The Closing of the American Mind” and Robert Pattison’s “The Triumph of Vulgarity.”

Bloom critically blamed the rise of rock music for the decline and fall of classical studies and the life of the mind during his tenure as university professor. The interesting thing about the two books was that they agree about nearly every point about Rock music except the conclusion. What Bloom lamented Pattison rejoiced in. Pattison considered all of Bloom’s “high minded” scholarship essentially worthless to the modern person. Yes, its true that disciplined, transcendent-based thinking has (largely) died, but Pattison says that we do not need to mourn the loss, but should celebrate it.

It doesn’t take much insight to see that, even though Bloom’s got the most attention back in the late 80’s, it was Pattison’s book that represented the majority and (then and subsequently) triumphant position. What Pattison described was not only about secular culture but was also a prophecy about the church. Here are two quotations from Pattison’s book about Rock’s influence on religion:

….Which is not to say that rock is not a threat to organized religion. It is, but not in the crude sense of demanding a choice between Baal and Jehovah. Rock knocks the props out from under religion, first, by shifting the locus of faith from God to self, and secondly, by depriving sects and churches of their claim to exclusive revelation. By forcing churches to compete on the basis of their ability to titillate the instincts of their worshippers, vulgar pantheism compels the champions of organized religions to abandon their pretension to superior truth and thus turns them into entrepreneurs of emotional stimulation. Once God becomes a commodity for self-gratification, his fortunes depend on the vagaries of the emotional marketplace, and his claim to command allegiance on the basis of omnipotence or omniscience vanishes in a blaze of solipsism as his priests and shamans pander to the feeling, not the faith, of their customers.” (Robert Pattison, Triumph of Vulgarity, p. 186)

…But rock is useless to teach any transcendent value. The instigators of these projects merely promote the pagan rites they hope to co-opt. Rock’s electricity as much as its pantheist heritage gives the lie to whatever enlightened propaganda may be foisted on it. The rocker is simultaneously alone with himself and at one with the universe. No intermediate state of transcendence such as Christianity or schoolbook morality preaches is likely to appeal to him. He takes his pantheism neat. (Robert Pattison, The Triumph of Vulgarity, p. 137)

The typical evangelical response to these quotations is first, “What do we care what a pagan like Pattison says about the church and religion?” and second, “We do not appeal to ‘self’ or ‘pander to the feeling, not the faith of… customers.’”

In response to the first objection, I believe Pattison shows a deeper understanding of how philosophy of life and music interact than many Christians in our time. We should care because we can learn from even pagans who have good understanding of certain matters. This is especially relevant since many Christians are unwittingly following the program Pattison outlines in his book, even though they may not have read his book.

The second objection is more difficult since there has been no small protest that churches are still preaching what the church has always preached in content, but has only exchanged neutral forms and styles. But this protest misses Pattison’s point and in fact seems to succumb to it.

Pattison recognized there are different “sects” within the religion of Rock – each with it own set of lyrics – some more thoughtful than others. His point was that the overarching religion of Rock holds sovereignty over and relativizes these sects and binds them together as only one religion – that Rock is the true universal religion that “brings us to God” and the “sects” are only personalized lanes on this universal path.

Again, I believe Pattison had more insight into us than we have about our selves. At least I sense this in my own ministry. I frequently feel the pull and tension of people who are relatively unmoved and bored by the doctrine they say they believe and their desire for emotional experiences generated through pop music. I have had few critics tell me they wish our church was clearer on doctrine and had more emphasis Biblical teaching, though we many regular members who do delight in and are content in sound Biblical teaching. I have encountered many who want more upbeat services and a more informal atmosphere to help people feel more like themselves. We are routinely told, from a variety of sources, that a church cannot grow by appealing to faith and that growth can only come from appealing to the sensibilities of modern people. I fear for a generation of church attenders that believes that pop music gives them access to God - or gives access to what gives access to God.