by Joel V Webb | Jul 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
This last weekend I went to Washington D.C with my wife to lead a bus for an organization called Passages Israel which provides trips to Israel for Chrisitan college students. these trips highlight the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, explore the history of Chrisitan-Jewish relations and provides an honest and in-depth look at the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The terrorist attack on Oct. 7th led to Passages launching a D.C trip to fill in the gap until tours in the country were open.
Part of the trip is visiting the Museum of the Bible (MOTB).If you have not visited this amazing museum yet, DO IT! It is worth the trip to DC alone.
In the entire museum one of my favorite rooms is the translation room. In it they have almost every language the Bible is translated on one shelf, with the rest of the room representing languages that have partial translations, portions translated, in process, or no translation in process at all (pictured above). The thing that struck me this time was the realization that with few exceptions, most languages in the world only have a single translation. That’s it! 1 translation of the Bible. While in English there is an insane plethora of translations spanning the spectrum of word-for-word and thought-for-thought. The thing in particular that struck me is the frank ridiculousness of the “translation wars” that is a constant back and forth within Western Christianity.
We have everything from the KJV as the only perfect translation for the English language, to some in the NAR hyper-Pentecostal camp producing the heretical translation known as the Passion Translation (TPT). With the exception of the latter mentioned Bible version (that is not a translation by any serious Biblical scholar) the best translation is the one you will read. I grew up reading the KJV, and now find myself often using the NLT and the NIV for personal devotion, study an preaching.
But in the big picture we have to realize that the majority of modern translations are excellent. And in comparison, those who speak English are amazingly blessed! In many nations and languages there is only one translation of the Scripture into their heart language, and in some cases that’s if they even can get a copy because the Bible is illegal as our brothers and sisters in Christ face persecution.
All of this to say, whichever English translation you utilize, consider it a blessing that you have it. Consider the ability you have to choose a specific translation a humble honor and that you are the part of a minuscule minority across the world and history that has the ability to bicker about what translation you get to use.
Ultimately the Bible is the means by which we come to know Christ. The Bible in and of itself is not God. Yes, it is His perfect revelation to mankind concerning who He is. It shows us, a broken humanity the way to the One who gives us new life and salvation in the perfect and loving God who created all things. Christ is the Word (the logos), but the words on the page before us is not God, and we need to be careful not to confuse to two.
Find a Bible that you will read. Read it often, read it deeply, read it for all its worth, study its challenging words and ask the Holy Spirit who lives in every believer to make you more like Jesus which it all points to. In this be humble, and pray for those who do the important work of translating the word of life for people who will ever only likely have one Bible to ever choose from…if they can get a copy.
by Joel V Webb | Jul 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
An image that is used in Scripture, and by extension preaching is the idea of being pruned. When a plant grows, sometimes the way that it is growing does not contribute, but actually takes away from the fruit production of the plant. Jesus talked a lot about the fruit we produce, and it’s importance for the Kingdom. We know for all of us that there may be things (even if they are good) that need to be pruned and removed so that we can actually be the most fruitful.
This principle is pretty accepted across the board as part of Christian growth, and can be applied not just to individuals, but to organizations like churches and denominations as well. The message of the Gospel never changes. And sometimes the structure, organization or method that we proclaim that message needs to be modified or adapted to be more effective. Cut off the excess to bear more fruit. This is normal and expected. As the world around us changes so do the methods and way things look.
But this is not always the case. We often ask the question (personally or corporately), “there’s not a lot of fruit, so there needs to be pruning”, or similarly ask, “things seem really small and cut back, maybe were preparing for fruit!” And these certainly could be legitimate. We could be in a season where things have been hacked back to prepare for new growth that will bear fruit. But sometimes things being small is not because of pruning…it can be because of rot.
Something my pastor has said before, “we often say if there is opposition that it must be the enemy. But we never ask the question, what if it is God?” WHAT? How could God be the one opposing us if we are His people? Very simply, He will if we are not bearing the message of the Gospel and representing His Kingdom.
If we (individually or corporately) acting as ambassadors of Christ’s Kingdom do so in a way that actually harms, abuses and hurts people, do we think that the Lord would support that? Yes, He is long suffering and great in His mercy. AND THANK HIM FOR THAT!! Because we all need His mercy. But even Israel was eventually judged for their injustice and evil committed.
There are sadly so many examples of churches that while bearing Christ’s name have used it to domineer, control and tell people what to do. These places are hiding holes for spiritual, emotional and sexual abuse. And while many of these organizations had their hayday (IBLP etc…) the abuse and fruit become evident very quickly. When people start leaving when they realize what is going on the response often inside these organizations is just like the false prophets of the Old Testament who opposed any message that was not positive.
I recently heard such a message from an organization I am very familiar with that has demonstrated many of these qualities. Their message will often be “God is pruning us so we can be ready to bear fruit!!!” The expectation of some kind of revival around the corner that will fill their seats because they are small.
Is this a possibility? It could be. But we also need to ask, could it be for the other reason that instead of being pruned we are actually rotting? Have we, or I for so long refused to look at the truth of what is going on around me and am sadly self-deceived into thinking whats actually happening is God preparing to move through us, rather than against us?
I ultimately believe that God is for us, and He loves us. Scripture makes that abundantly clear. And, He also opposes those who oppresses and hurt the helpless, and misrepresent His name. So it is a possibility that it could be God allowing the fruit of out tree to bloom to show other to steer clear. As Jesus said, “you shall know them by their fruit” (Matt. 7:15-20).
What can we or should we do? We should all pray and ask the Lord to open our eyes through His Holy Spirit to the blind spots in our lives. If pride or deception has blinded me it is impossible to see on my own. I need the help of the Holy Spirit, through my brothers and sisters in Christ to lovingly tell me where I have erred and where there is rot, so I can subject it to the loving work of Jesus to change and transform.
This can happen in a corporate setting as well. It is and will be painful if it ever happens at all, but it is worth the pain because of the gain in Jesus.
I humbly pray this for myself, and for all of us to know the one who took our place.
DV
by Joel V Webb | Jun 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
A major area of contention for the Church is answering the questions surrounding race tensions, and racial reconciliation. How are many in the Church to respond to the reality of histories where institutional organizations of denominations participated in the structural realities of racism that plagued much of western civilization until the last couple generations? How are we supposed to talk about these issues now, especially considering the political fervor on both sides seeking to cross the finish line, often just causing more problems due to caring more about rhetoric rather than results?
While we can, and at times need to look at these realities, if we are honest the solution is also found in Church history. Simply put; racism has a discipleship problem. Let’s see how.
At every point in the development of equality and human rights from the Roman Empire till now is spearheaded by followers of Jesus, who disciples into His way of seeing the world will not stand for any form of injustice against another image bearer of God. In the Early Church this took the form of Christians saving babies who were literally thrown out of the city gates, adopted and raise as their own. This being the ancient fore-bearers of Christians who advocate for the lives of the unborn, who continue on this tradition be fostering and adopting children at rates much higher than that of the general society.
Then we get to slavery and racism and it is the same. Most famously William Wilberforce led the charge to abolish slavery in the British Empire, being compelled by his Christian faith to abolish the most horrid trade of human beings. While this was the case, many in England (churchgoers at that) supported the continuation of slavery. This rung true for many in the United States as well.
How to we reconcile these two realities? At the same time of having outspoken Christians pushing for the freedom of other humans, there were those sitting in the same churches wanting to keep it. The answer simply was discipleship. Were the people in the pews growing in their relationship with God and those around Him? I would argue not. Especially considering the Church of England at the time of William Wilberforce for the most part had descended back into the philosophical moralism of the time of John Wesley which was the foundation and catalyst for the great awakening.
Anytime we look at history it is those in the Church, alive in the life and power of the Holy Spirit, being transformed to look like Christ are the ones pursuing true justice. And I think we all could learn a lesson from them. Racism has a discipleship problem. If our focal point in churches was on disciplining Christians to see whoever is at the table with them as another image bearer of God, with immeasurable value, and similarly broken by sin we would see the commonality that is shared by us all.
Then we would be able to put aside political dogma and rhetoric in our attempts to bring us all together and focus on the only one who reconciles. That is the one who died completing the perfect work of justice on the cross. As He is our focus, and truly is then I believe that things like racism will fall away.
Why?
Because racism like anything else not allowed in God’s Kingdom becomes washed away as we are transformed to look like Him. I may be a naive optimist with this view. But we believe that’s how it works for all the other pervasive elements of our broken human nature when coming in contact with the God who makes all things new.
by Joel V Webb | Jun 17, 2024 | Uncategorized
I was born in 1995,
which is long after the lifetimes of both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R
Tolkien. Yes, despite this large time gap, their written works have
been some of the most enjoyed and formative pieces of fiction of my
life, and I look forward to sharing them with my kids. Even now,
almost 30 years after my birth, their works continue to be
best-sellers, which numerous spin-off works being developed.
Why is this the
case? How can books, written in mid-late 20th Century
English, with a prose quite different from out age still be so
popular? I contend that it is the same reason why they were so
popular when they arrived on the scene. Their works (the Chronicles
of Narnia & the Lord of the Rings respectively) are built on and
extol the virtues that are grounded in reality. The timeless struggle
of good vs. evil, overcoming of great obstacles with the power of
friendship and duty to those you love that surpasses all else. All of
this built upon the Judeo-Christian framework of Western
Civilization.
Because of this
their works continue to be popular because they are in essence
timeless. While the writing is different than our own, and the events
that shaped their experiences that influenced their work are now
several generations in the past. The truth of their work still rings
true to the human soul. Because both men, as followers of Christ
understood and saw the world as the product of a loving intelligent
designer who is perfect, the source of all virtues, their words
penned still speak to us. This is solidified by the reality that
during the times of their writing, both Lewis and Tolkien were
outliers in the world of writings, as everything else popular at that
time was reeling into the post-modernist nihilism of the post-WW1
era. And yes, we can barely name other contemporary authors.
And then we come to
the modern adaptations of some of their works. While I won’t touch
on the more recent Narnia movies (which are for the most part
faithful to this vision), the Amazon TV show Rings of Power,
and potentially the upcoming Narnia show from Netflix have me
concerned. While much attention to the details is paid for specific
fan service (many easter eggs of the lore are scattered throughout
the visuals of the show), something is still missing. In the world of
animation there is a principle called “the uncanny valley”, where
something looks super realistic, and yet there is an unsettling
because something is just off. To the human eye, there is a distinct
lack of life in what we are perceiving despite it being almost photo
realistic. This is the problem that the Rings of Power
has.
The
show seeks to encapsulate everything that makes Lord of the Rings so
successful, but missed the most important part of it. While the focus
is on getting all of the visuals of armor, weapons, orcs and other
fantastic creatures photo correct, there is still something missing.
The heart of soul of the world that Tolkien created is but a void.
Despite all the flashy fantastical features the show presents, it is
really just dead and hollow. The dialogue is wooden and flat. Why?
Because the creators of the show don’t just not believe in how
Tolkien saw the world, but probably despise it.
I
get it. We are numerous decades since Tolkien died, and times are
different. The values and virtues of the old have been replace. And
that detrimentally impacts the imitation of works from that era. No
matter how hard they try with all the animation and big budgets that
Amazon can provide, they will never be able to capture the world that
Tolkien built because they wish to cast their own vision and world,
instead of the one that made the stories so beloved in the first
place. This is why the most
recent iterations of the Star Wars universe have been nothing but
sad. Arrogant, cringe-worthy unmitigated garbage. Full stop.
To
put it frankly it is a bastardization. I do not say that lightly not
without thought. It is but the sad feeble attempt of a culture devoid
of meaning and purpose that is attempting to monetize the beauty and
truth constructed in a story that has captivated many. And until that
worldview is recaptured and nurtured any
attempt to imagine these stories differently will like always flop.
People know when they are seeing the shadow of the thing instead of
the tings itself.
Now
to the hopeful part. Things don’t have to stay this way. We can
again recapture the beauty of seeing the world that developed these
amazing stories. The truth of the matter is that the virtues extolled
and written about in their works are not enough on their own. There
is always something greater than the virtues themselves, and that is
the one from whom they flow. We again have to capture the beauty and
mystery of Christ and His Gospel, and how He works and transforms our
lives. Even in the face of adversity and evil, good stands firm to
love those, even those who hate you.
We
live in a world that in many ways is tearing itself apart. Our
self-centered narcissism has turned into self-consumption like a star
collapsing in on itself. Instead we can present a different
narrative. One where love is the ultimate victor over power and evil.
Where being the last is really being first, and reminding people that
all that glitters is not gold.
by Joel V Webb | Jun 13, 2024 | Uncategorized
There is a fantastic
quote by C.S. Lewis in the introduction for my copy of On the
Incarnation, by Athanasius where he says,
“There is a
strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be
read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content
himself with the modern books…. This mistaken preference for the
modern books and this shyness of the old ones is nowhere more rampant
than in theology.”
Our
modern day and age, maybe more so than others seems to have a desire
to throw out what is deemed as “old” and “antiquated”, and
rather utilize what is new, sleek and up to date. This is likely true
for every generation of humanity. It just seems the rate for us is so
much quicker. We always want to tear down the fence without ever
asking why it was there in the first place.
I
think the same thing goes for books. I love books. I have many books
and hope to have many more (my wife would disagree). It’s an
attribute and love that I get from my dad, which I am so grateful
for!
In
our day and age of the Church we are looking for the way to reach
out, modified and evolve how we are doing things to interact with a
culture that is very different than 100 years ago. Because of this we
are searching out for the answers of how to address this culture, and
the people who we know are in need of a Savior. And rightly we are
spending a lot of time searching out the answer, looking for new
ways. But what if the answers are already there, thought out, tried
and found working?
Be
it the early church father or the reformers, there is so much
examined and practiced wisdom found in the Christian tradition. So
many of the questions that many are asking that leads to
deconstruction have been grappled with by theologians within a few
generations of the life of Christ. What I think has happened though,
is we have traded the tried and ancient answers of the Church seeking
out flashier answers. And is many cases, the trade off has been
worse. Instead of deep and satisfying answers for the problem of pain
and suffering, we hand out shallow platitudes of evangelical niceness
that do more to hurt those in lament and sorrow than giving them deep
and abiding hope in Christ and the resurrection.
The
answer? Read old books! Things are really only as old and tired as
you are. Dead religion in reality is only as dead or alive as you
are. There can be life and Spirit-aliveness in a high liturgy
service, and complete spiritual deadness in a Charismatic service.
The question to be asked is how alive in Christ is that person? This
holds true to the answers of the ancients. So many of the struggles
we are grappling with have been examined and thought through my men &
women smarter that I hundreds or thousands of years ago.
If
you want a place to get started, you can go to ccel.org which has
HUNDREDS if not thousands of books, sermons and documents that are
free to access, Collections of the depth and breadth of Christian
wisdom through the ages.
Read
old books, live alive in the Spirit.
D.V.
by Joel V Webb | Jun 11, 2024 | Uncategorized
Recently I’ve been seeing a series of posts about what they see are
the problems with full-time ministry. Part of his emphasis is the
importance of pastors building alternative streams of income so they
are not sole dependent on a fixed ministry income. Is this an overall
bad thing? No! I agree that for some it can be important to have
alternative sources of income, especially in contexts where a single
church is not able to provide fully for a pastor and their family.
And I do also see a trend where in certain contexts, more pastors
will need to be more dual-income just as Paul was with his tent
making.
That being said, I
do not take this reality as a wholesale rejection of full-time
pastoral ministry. To be honest, much of this brother’s concern is
not with the idea of a pastor being full-time as it is with the
culture of many churches that has been developed over the last 50
years. Many of the issues this brother highlights are because in many
cases the role of pastor has stepped outside of the primary role of
shepherd, and turned more into a spiritualized charismatic CEO of
industry.
In my seminary
studies one thing has become clear in regards to the role of a
pastor. The needs of the human soul have not changed since the
founding of the Church, and will not change. Sure, the specific
challenges and circumstances we has humanity face may look different,
but the core needs of our souls are still the same. Because of this,
the core role of a pastor has not changed either. But in the broader
evangelical non-denominational culture, we have forced a shift on
pastors. Instead of being the shepherd who lives and grows with the
flock, the pastor has become more of a business boss who is more
involved in keeping sure programs are running effectively.
As Richard Baxter
says in his classic work The Reformed Pastor,
“To be a bishop, or pastor,
is not to be set up as an idol for the people to bow to, or as idle
‘slow bellies,’ to live to our fleshly delight and ease; but it
is to be the guide of sinners to heaven.” The
primary role and goal of a pastor is to shepherd and love those in
the church to follow Christ. This does not mean we do the work of the
Holy Spirit (because we would muck it all up). But the pastor is to
be the encourager and one who through experience and knowledge, help
set up a framework on how the Gospel instructs our lives.
This is a stark
departure from the role of pastor as it has been know. Now, there is
nothing wrong with church programs and the like. They are apart of
how many conduct church, and need to be managed. However, the role of
pastor has morphed into the manager of these programs, rather than
being the shepherd of the people of the flock. I agree with many of
the surface criticisms that have been presented. They are problems
that need to be addressed. But I do not think the blanket solution
for this is getting rid of full-time ministry altogether.
Instead, we need to
look hard and long at the roles of our pastors. Are they engaged in
the building of the believer, focused on the health and faith of
those in the flock. Or, are they simply managing programs? If it is
the latter, then something needs to change.
Put simply and
finally. The issue is not with full-time pastoring as a whole. This
has been the norm for all of Christendom, and I believe in various
ways will continue to be. We need men & women who are dedicated
to not just the study of the Word and functioning of the church, but
also dedicated and focused on the growth of the believers in their
context. Can and should pastors also work other jobs. If there is the
need or calling, then yes! God utilizes believers in so many
different ways. For some it may be a bi-vocational role where they
work both in and outside the Church for need of income and/or
ministry opportunity. And, there are those that God calls to be
dedicated full-time to pastoral ministry, as there is great benefit
there as well.
But let us be sure
to diagnose the problem correctly. Not with the role itself, but
instead the unhealthy culture of what the role is supposed to be that
has become so prevalent in the last several generations.
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