Author: Warren Rachele

An Introduction to Gracism

book coverI’ve put this off for some time because discussions of the racialized Church that I have been involved in have devolved along the lines of Emerson’s conclusion in Divided by Faith: Caucasians can never understand any other race because of the blinders of their “dominant” position in the world. I don’t believe that to be correct and, for now, we’ll leave it to another day. I’m going to start a new series discussing the ideas in David Anderson’s new book Gracism: The Art of Inclusion. Anderson is the Pastor of Bridgeway Community and the author of two other highly recommended volumes, Letters Across the Divide and Multicultural Ministry. In his latest work, David offers an encouraging way of bridging ethnic and racial divides within the Church that works around the analogy of the body that Paul offers in 1 Corinthians 12. Anderson expands on the idea that every member of the body needs every other member and that none are to be minimized or excluded. Especially applicable to the overall theme are verses 22 and 23:

On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.

What separates David’s thinking about race is that he views racial problems as being equal opportunity. All people, regardless of skin color, can be racist because it is a sin, not just skin, problem and because of this endemic sin, everyone can also be a victim of this evil. He says “There must be an answer to dotism [racism & bigotry of all types] that doesn’t leave people feeling left out, judged and discriminated against. … There must be a theological response to racism in the culture and racial segregation in the church. Right? There is–its’s gracism.”

A Quick Word Study from John 6:44

This brother over at The Everyday Christian is working his way through the TULIP tenets and, in his discussion of Unconditional Election, he mentions that he is wrestling with John 6:44. This verse is often discussed in this context, specifically because of the (English) word draws. To draw someone or something in English implies either an attraction or a compulsion in the form of forcibly pulling the object toward a target location. To derive meaning from our Bible, especially where there can be multiple meanings, we must turn to the original Greek.

Here is the verse in English:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (NIV)

And now in Greek:

οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἐὰν μὴ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με ἑλκύσῃ αὐτόν, κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.

And here is the Greek with the English translation beneath it:

οὐδεὶς    δύναται      ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἐὰν μὴ ὁ     πατὴρ ὁ    πέμψας με                ἑλκύσῃ            αὐτόν, κἀγὼ

No one  can [to]      come    to me unless         Father       having sent me      should draw        him     and I

ἀναστήσω       αὐτὸν    ἐν τῇ     ἐσχάτῃ    ἡμέρᾳ.

Will raise up   him       in the     last         day

The word we are most interested in is helkō.  [Kittel – Theological Dictionary of the New Testament] The basic meaning is to draw, tug, or in the case of persons, compel. The Semitic world has the concept of an irresistible drawing to God ( ie: Hos 9:7)  Here it expresses the force of love. This is the point in the two important passages in John 6:44 and 12:32. There is no thought here of force. The term figuratively expresses the supernatural power of the love of God or Christ which goes out to all but without which no one can come. The apparent contradiction shows that both the election and the universality of grace must be taken seriously; the compulsion is not automatic.

[Bauer: Danker – A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature] Bauer lists three meanings:

  1. To move an object from one area to another in a pulling motion – draw with implication that the object being moved is incapable of propelling itself or in the case of persons is unwilling to do so voluntarily, in either case with implication of exertion on the part of the mover (cf: James 2:6, Acts 21:30)
  2. To draw a person in the direction of values for inner life. This is the usage in John 6:44 and 12:32 – Well testified outside of NT
  3. To appear to be pulled in a certain direction

[Louw-Nida – Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains] LN leans toward the use of force, but there is little testimony about alternative usage.

My purpose here is not to reinforce my chosen interpretation of this key word in the verse. Theologically, we must place this word into its immediate context, the context of the book of John, and then the New Testament as a whole in order to decide which of the possible translations is most appropriate. In this verse, the theologian is faced with this question: does God draw persons to himself by force or does He move them toward himself by His love?

Updated 08/21/07:

See this brother’s discussion of this important verse in the post “Does John 6:44 Teach Irresistible Grace?

Friday is for Rawk! Rick Derringer

This Rawk Friday will be a little different as I won’t be sharing one of my photographs. Instead I wanted to point you to a true story of transformation and redemption in Rick Derringer. Some of who are a little older remember Rick in the McCoys and then providing a part of the soundtrack to our high school years in the seventies with Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo! (still, one of the greatest songs ever). Derringer has seen a change in his life that many of us can relate to as his attention slowly turned from the excesses of the world to the life we were meant to live. I’ll let a part of his testimony take over here: (read the whole testimony here)

 I have come to realize that the Lord allowed me to survive drugs, alcohol and sins of the flesh so that I can stand here today as an example. A living, breathing example for all of you who think there’s no way out; for all of you who think you’re trapped in your addictions. The Lord can fix it all! He can bless you with the strength to beat any addiction. He died on the cross for your sins and gave you the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven.

Rick’s faith is not a passing-Paris Hilton phase in his life. Check out how he has rewritten one of his signature songs ‘Still Alive and Well’. Originally a paean for his friend’s recovery from addiction, Derringer is using his music and his stage to bless others now. 

Just in case you forgot or missed it back in the day, here’s an old video of Rick playing with Edgar Winter and doing Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo

Rick Derringer’s Web Site: www.rickderringer.com

By the way, he sells one of the greatest albums of all time there (Derringer Live) so stop by and buy two or three copies. 

Theological Balance

As I prepare a lesson on AVL trees (a form of balanced BST), I notice the similarity of the imbalanced tree and the least God-honoring thing that occurs in theological discussions within many blogs. For example, many adhere to a Calvinist theology and in support of that they have read much of the standard corpus on the topic and can quite handily post quotes from these works on their blogs. Many times, the posts are without comment, I suppose to confer some finitude to the quote that is posted as if to say, here is a statement by John T. Ulip which says that Calvinism is right, all other theological constructs are wrong and no analysis is necessary.

While the pursuit of truth is noble, the true pursuit of truth requires the engagement of opposing viewpoints to the same degree as you pursue those you agree with. In other words, the Calvinist (or Arminian) library should be nearly equally filled with works representing both theological schools. This is far different from presenting a quote by Mr. Ulip who says Arminianism is false and heretical; you honor God in your pursuit of the truth by reading deeply from both schools before presenting something as fact. In matters of theology, it is not acceptable to believe something is wrong simply because someone else told you it is wrong. God gave you a mind and the ability to use it to discern truth, and you honor his gifts in you by coming to a decision from the fruits of your own labors.

Because, after all, the Arminian is also going to say “the Arminian view is correct because the bible teaches it.” How will this argument go? Is, is not! Is, is not! 

How Desperate?

A familiar praise chorus that plays in my mind quite often is that soaring, multi-note verse which we sing “I……I’m desperate for you” in a cry from our heart to Jesus. We love to sing the song to our savior or even just hear it playing on the CD player but what would Jesus really desire from us? Is he pleased with our pitch-perfect rendition of the song or would he rather that you and I were truly desperate for him. I’ve had the quiet of a warm summer evening alone to meditate on how truly desperate I am and I come up wanting.

In Mark chapter two, the story is told of an event in which a great crowd has gathered to hear Jesus teach in Capernaum. So many people gathered, desperate to hear the word of truth taught that there was no room anywhere, even in the doorway or outside the door. Four men, also desiring to be near the Lord, brought their paralyzed friend in the hope that a brief touch from the Healer might free their brother from his bondage. They moved en masse from door to door, window to window trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus but there were so many others already there that hope began to fade. They were desperate.

The normal avenues of getting close to Jesus were closed but these five men were unwilling to be turned away. They climbed, muscling the unmoving body of their friend inch by inch up the outside stairway all the while fearing the Jesus might finish his talk before they could find even a small opening. Upward they went, bumping the paralyzed man occasionally against the wall but never stopping as they looked for another window, another door. Finally, they could go no further. Ahead of them lay the expanse of a thatched roof which to some might be the indicate the end of the line. Not to a desperate man though. These friends were willing to go to any length, take any risk, and experience any hardship in order to heal their friend. The hole started small, probably nothing more than a wind shifted opening in the thatch but with the application of eight hands, the opening became bigger. Large enough to spy the Lord at first, the men knew this wouldn’t be enough so they returned to work, scraping and moving the thatch until the hole was big enough for a man. Their hearts pounded from the exertion and excitement as they grabbed a corner of their friends mat and lowered it desperately into the sight of the Savior. All the Paralytic could do was look to Jesus with hope.

We need to ask ourselves how desperate we are. Are we comfortable, putting Jesus in a secondary or tertiary position in life? Are we turned away by the crowd around Jesus, telling ourselves that we could never push through the wall of people to get closer to him? Would we go to the windows or even up the stairs a couple of steps in order to catch a glimpse before turning away? None of these option reflect a heart that is truly desperate for Jesus. Only when we are willing to scratch a hole in the roof, to break down some walls because we are unwilling to be turned away from our Hope are we truly in need. Jesus is waiting. 

The Seduction of Compromise

Compromise is a winsome suitor. She will tempt you with promises of peaceful agreement on all sides if only you are willing to lower your standards to meet the needs of the other side. It is a seductive ploy, tempting you to soften your position with a siren song of calm and a self-image of one who is not stubborn but willing to consider the ideas of others. The trouble that compromise brings though is that it never ends. Once you have compromised what you believe to be right, it will be expected from you again and again until one day you are no longer able to compromise any further, then what? Will you stand on your principles then?

2 Timothy 4:3-4 says “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” For the pastoral leadership, compromise is death. The temptation comes to the pastor in the form of concerns about the size of one’s church or the retention of a congregation. Murmurs will begin about how other churches do things, or about how happy a family would be to stay if only the Sunday school did such and such, or worship will be limited to the same 15 songs because a musician that you ‘need’ will not learn any others… and so on and so on. The pastor will say, ‘I’m a servant of the people’ and he or she soon becomes a people pleaser.

The trouble is, people are rarely satisfied and will continue to demand that you compromise. One day, you’ll look up and decide that you are not going to compromise any longer, that you are going to stand on your principles and guide the church according to your original vision…often looking at suddenly empty seats where the family you changed ‘A’ for used to sit. And over there is a chair where so and so who you changed ‘B’ for used to sit and so it goes around the auditorium. You were afraid they wouldn’t stay if you stuck to your guns in the first place and it turns out they wouldn’t stay anyway because you were unwilling to make them more and more comfortable.

The work of God is not about making people comfortable, it is about making them uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with their sinful state, uncomfortable with their lack of concern for justice, uncomfortable with their lackadaisical relationship with the Father, uncomfortable period. God has given you, the shepherd a vision for where the sheep are to be led. There are no shortcuts on this path and the journey is hard. Don’t let one little wandering sheep pull the entire flock off of the path. Do what’s right from the beginning.

Friday is for Rawk (on Saturday) Glory Bound

Pro skater Mike Vallely fronts a new band, Revolution Mother. Vallely is very much in the Henry Rollins mold; intense on stage and extraordinarily personable in person. Behind him are guitarist Jason Hampton (the Electric Hillbilly) and drummer Brendan Murphy (no nickname). Best question of the set: “Are there any outlaws left out there??!!” to the trucker hatted teens that surrounded the stage.