Obey and Receive

Also: Ironic injustice at an evangelical university.

Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash

They Are Not Called “The Ten Suggestions”
By common consensus, the major Christian traditions use pretty much the same readings each Sunday in worship, which together constitute what’s called the lectionary. Not every passage of Scripture is included, but the major ones are and spread out over a three-year cycle.

It’s fair to say that, again by common consensus, these are considered the most vital parts of Scripture—those passages we are called to return to time and again, cycle after cycle, for our whole lives. Thus they deserve deep consideration, for they are theologically and literarily rich. I thought I’d use this space to offer some deeper consideration, at least for a few weeks, and see how it goes.

This week’s gospel reading is Luke 17:5-10:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you.

When “you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’ ”

In our age and time—sentimental and egalitarian—we are prone to cast divine commandments as suggestions. We take special care in talking about how such commands are really about what we were created to be, and to adhere to them will allow us to flourish as God intends us to flourish. I’ve said this sort of thing a number of times in my own teaching. The simplest example:  If all agree not to lie, steal, or commit adultery, then life for all will be allowed to flourish more fully.  Another example: The command to honor the Sabbath is really about getting some much deserved rest and recharging our batteries. And so on. In other words, we turn divine commands into suggestions for how to live our best life now.

This little parable essentially undermines that strategy. It says, by way of analogy, we are to do what God calls us to do simply because it is our duty to do so. It is a blunt reminder that commands are just that, and that God is not a gentle life coach as much as he is a dictator-a benevolent one, to be sure-but a dictator, nonetheless. And a dictator who commands our obedience. 

Also, our obedience is not something for which we should expect praise. We realize this more and more as the years grow on us. That’s because we increasingly grasp that even our most noble efforts at obeying God are littered with selfishness and pride. Aware of how far we fall short of what is commanded (in the deepest sense, in both actions and motivations), we recognize that we’ve failed to fulfill the full dimensions of the command, and usually don’t even come close. I may outwardly agree to make a sacrifice for my wife, and it looks good from the outside. But there’s often some resentment mixed in, along with some thoughts of “now she owes me one” thrown in! That’s why it’s not false humility to say that we are unprofitable servants.

And yet: This parable also points us to the mercy of our Dictator. He knows very well we are unprofitable, and yet he still calls us to and expects obedience, and so our obedience—as unprofitable as it is—is acceptable in his sight. 

To be sure, God’s commands are designed to enable us to flourish. This is how grace is hidden in the command. But it is my sense that we spend much more time on how obedience benefits us (at least I do) and relatively little time on the duty we owe God. When I do this, I’m tempting listeners to pursue a spirituality that is really nothing more than saintly self-interest.  I suspect I do this because my own spirituality is driven mostly by love of self. Lord, have mercy.

In the end, though, there is no great chasm between duty from flourishing; they are, in fact, woven tightly together. As with much of the spiritual life, when we give up self, it is returned to us, and returned ten- and one-hundred fold.

Canceling Righteousness at a Christian University
I’ve been waiting for a significant evangelical news outlet to report on this—the two major ones have known about the story for months—but I’ve seen nothing so far.  If I’ve missed their coverage of this story, let me know, and I’ll supply a link to it.

Fortunately, Carl Trueman at First Things did provide commentary. He summarizes the gross injustice being perpetrated by the North Park University against a tenured professor for reasons that are, at best, ironic for a Christian university. Trueman’s summary begins:

For anyone wondering how traditional Christianity is going to fare in the culture in [the] future, even within many Christian institutions, the disturbing tale of Dr. Bradley Nassif, formerly of North Park University, an institution formally connected to the theologically conservative Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), offers an interesting case in point.

Dr. Nassif is a well-known Orthodox theologian, a respected scholar, and a gracious contributor to ecumenical dialogues between Protestantism and Orthodoxy. Such is his standing that the Washington Post consulted him for commentary on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its implications for religious liberty. As a Lebanese American, he is a member of an ethnic minority. And until recently, he was also the only tenured Orthodox faculty member in the Bible department of an American evangelical institution. None of this protected him from dismissal, however.

In May 2021, North Park University (NPU) discontinued its Christian Studies Department (CSD) due to low enrollment, and consequently dismissed four tenured faculty, including Dr. Nassif. However, an investigation by a neutral outside organization demonstrated that the CSD was in fact in a strong financial position. Three of the four professors were rehired, but Dr. Nassif was left out in the cold. Now, adjunct faculty teach his courses.

The reason is no mystery. Nassif maintains that all this occurred because he expressed his reasoned, orthodox views on marriage and human sexuality.

Read Trueman’s account to get more details. And rattle the cages at North Park if you have a connection there. And pray for Dr. Nassif and his family as they weather this storm.

Grace and peace,

Mark