Law vs. Grace

This week again the story of Nadab and Abihu came up again in the reading in Gospel Worship.  It made me wonder again how we can apply this Old Testament idea of strange fire to a new covanant relationship with God.  I can't remember if we already discussed this earlier in the class.  How can we take the story of Nadab and Abihu who worked under the Mosaic covenant and expect God to treat us in the same way now that we are under Grace instead of the Law?

Drama or worship?

In today's reading Carl Trueman brought up the way people share their lives with the world and how its removed privacy from their lives. He used Facebook to explain this idea but it also is seen in myspace and twitter and snapchat and many other social medias. I have found what the author is saying to be similar to people and their relationships; people wear their hearts on their sleeves and it becomes vulnerable. In the same way we share our personal issues or daily events for the world to see, this removes our privacy and makes us vulnerable for drama.  A good example of this can be found with the Pharisee and the tax collector. (Luke 18:11) The Pharisee was quick to speak loudly making himself an "exhibition" announcing why he was better then the tax collector.  Both believers and non-believers are to willing to make exhibitions of themselves, whether it is in the way they handle themselves. Also too many Christians have become okay with putting their life story on the internet and letting other believers and nonbelievers acknowledge them and giving the satisfaction they need. However, God should be first on our list of where to turn when something is wrong, not the rapidly growing social media.  Instead of sharing our personal life for the world to see, we should be humble and be weary of how media will effect the christian life.

My question is this: How can we encourage believers and nonbelievers to find their satisfaction in the Lord instead of searching for it from the drama that comes form social media? How can the church direct people in this way through corporate worship?

A Sadduceic-Pharasaic Psuedo-legalism

 In Gospel Worship, Burroughs outlined the process of the Lord's table. As he went along, some things really struck me in ways I have never seen them before. He mentioned that the communion was originally done seated around a table (341-342), that nearness (communion) is important (341), that it was originally taken as a community (345), and that Jesus had the disciples sing afterwards (348). He wrote: "Now it may be that this, at first, seems strange to many, yet we observe this: but keep to the institution in the Sacrament" (348). I wonder how much of what we do communion is keeping to the institution of Christ, and how much has changed by tradition (grape juice, no table, no meal, etc). This got me thinking.

We live in a generation that is fleeing from legalism. I could not count the times I have heard pastors confess their past legalism, and I have to do the same thing! It seems like our whole generation is recognizing the forms and systems that have replaced a genuine pursuit of God in the Church, and running away from them as fast as possible. But I want to ask: What are we running to?

Doc has pointed out in class that some people in our generation may be forsaking the legalism of old and running to embrace a new "hip" legalism; we abandon hymns but enslave ourselves to "worship experiences." This is a definite problem, but I think problems exists on the other side as well! I have really enjoyed reading Give Praise to God this semester (and I have learned a ton), but I have noticed something in this book that really worries me. That is this: It seems like many of the writers in GPTG turn to creeds and historical arguments WAY MORE than they turn to Scripture; they seem to be advocating a "reformed view" of worship more than a "biblical view." The irony is: they stress being Word Centered, but do not practice what they preach.

So, in all of this, I have a growing theory. Is the Church today falling into the same pattern of religious legalism that the Jews had in Jesus' day? Some of us run to be like the world (like the Sadducees) and some of us try to stay protected by tradition (like the Pharisees). As far as this second group, it seems like some of us place theologians and creeds as practically equal to Scripture (e.g. take GPTG, "Calvinism", and the Lord's Table). I guess my main question is: Why are we slipping away from God's Word? Is there an underlying psuedo-legalism?

What in the World are We Doing?

In the section of Gospel Worship Burroughs speaks of how to approach the sacraments. He speaks of knowledge and understanding which then (the next step he has) leads to cleansing and purging of the heart. Knowledge is fairly simple; such as I know that God is the creator but understanding that concept is I think where we are letting diligence go. My question is why are we not TRUELY understanding the truths of scripture (answer this question individually)? If we TRUELY understood we would seek to cleanse and purge our hearts. So, what are we doing or not doing corporately that is hindering people from understanding the Word?

Approaching the Sacraments

In the Gospel Worship reading, Burroughs expounds upon many different aspects of the mindset with which we should approach the sacraments. One aspect of this is the combination of joy and sorrow in approaching the sacraments: sorrow because of our sin in the sight of a holy God but joy because He has given us mercy and grace (248).  Without having that initial sorrow for our sin, we will not have the joy of knowing we are saved by grace from that sin.  Thus as we reflect on the work of Christ, we experience both sorrow and joy, which seems contradictory but really one flows from the other.

Burroughs starts his conclusion on this sermon on our approach to the sacraments by saying that “so far as you have been wanting in any of these, know just so far you have taken God’s name in vain . . .” On pg.254, he also says, “Ho, how many are cut off who have thus profaned the name of God in this sacrament and have never come to understand this danger! They are cut off and now are undone forever.”  Is Burroughs saying that any failure to partake of communion perfectly results in condemnation? What does he mean by condemnation?   

Who blogs tomorrow?

Good Question! Answer: Josiah, Beth, and James.

How Many Rings Are on the Average Earthworm?

Truman points out that we are trivial people.  We see these insignificant things in our lives, and then celebrate and discuss them at length as if they mean something.  Even more though, than the "hilarious" time of announcements at the beginning of the service, do we take God's Word and trivialize it?  I think that we do this in two ways.  The first, we take the facts of Scripture and make them out to be little tidbits of information of no more significance than how many rings are on the average earthworm.  Instead of learning from King David's example, we memorize facts about him for only the facts sake.  The second is taking short passages of scripture to move the service along or manipulate it for our own sake.  I honestly am not sure quite where I stand on this one.  I use passages of Scripture when leading songs, but do I actually treat them like the Words of God?  Do we use the Word or let it work on us?

My question is how do we trivialize the Word in church, and how can we not trivialize it?