Converts vs. Disciples

During orientation week, Scott Kelley, the Director of Friends of Refugees, stated the organizations mission as this: "To make disciples, not converts."

Jesus, in Matthew 28, gives his followers the same mission, to "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Evangelical mission clings to these words of Jesus. But the Great Commission is often read and interpreted, interestingly enough, this way: "Therefore go and make converts of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit..."

Has the church been misinterpreting the Great Commission? Is there a fundamental difference between a "convert" and a "disciple" or is it just a semantics issue?

In my short life, two authors have shaped and molded me as a Christian: C.S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer addresses this question in his book "The Cost of Discipleship", a book every Christian needs to read this book at some point in his/her life.

In the book, Bonhoeffer makes a distinction between two ideas of grace that manifests itself in the heart of the church: cheap grace and costly grace. Here is what Bonhoeffer says about each:

"Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner...Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves...Cheap grace is the grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate...for cheap grace [is] the bitterest foe of discipleship, which true discipleship must loathe and detest."

"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him...It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."

Bonhoeffer goes on further to state that the Evangelical church of his time (Early 20th century) propagates the notion of cheap grace: "[They] poured forth unending streams of grace. But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly ever heard." The church seemed to misconstrue Jesus' Great Commission. They focused on the "baptizing" part of the commission while skipping over the discipleship part.

I believe some members of the body still promulgate cheap grace, a grace void of discipleship. These members of the body replace conversion with discipleship. It almost becomes a competition, "How many can we save this week? On this mission trip? How many can we baptize? How many can we get to rededicate their lives to Christ?" If you take the Apostles as an example, they were under Jesus' watchful hand for 3 years. We do not know the exact moment the Apostles were justified in their faith. It could have been when they immediately dropped their nets to follow Jesus. It might have happened when they finally recognized and truly believed that Jesus was the Christ. But what we do know is that through their relationship with Jesus, they were being discipled so that they could go and do the same for others around the world. They experienced the essence of costly grace.

I'm thankful to be apart of an organization this summer whose goal is not to proselytize to the refugees. Instead, they build relationships through the love of Christ for the purposes of "making disciples." The discipleship process takes time. It is messy and even unsuccessful sometimes. But for all the Judas', a Peter takes root to share the beauty of Christ -- the giver and sustainer of costly grace.

First Week in Clarkston, GA

Ah...the orientation week before camp starts. Lots of little details that no one wants to read about. So, here were some of the highlights/low-lights of the week:

• Registering campers -- The only way to effectively register kids for camp is to drive to their apartment complex or house and watch them fill out the forms. We spent a good 6 hours and only registered 15 or so campers. It was a great experience interacting with the refugee families in their homes and reconnecting with last years campers.
• Un-registering campers -- This year, the camp is only for Clarkston residents when in the past it included kids from surrounding towns. This changed in order to meet the Clarkston kids. So, I had to call a few families and inform them that their kids could not come to summer camp.
  
• Academic preparation -- Slowly, but surely, the Middle School academic portion of camp has taken shape. I feel like I might be a little bit over my head with what I am trying to accomplish, but the potential fruit far outweighs the risk.
• I'm pretty sure the definition of orientation means the excelaration of ones desire to accomplish the task that lies ahead.

Time

ROSALIND

By no means, sir: Time travels in divers paces with
divers persons. I'll tell you who Time ambles
withal, who Time trots withal, who Time gallops
withal and who he stands still withal.

ORLANDO

I prithee, who doth he trot withal?

ROSALIND

Marry, he trots hard with a young maid between the
contract of her marriage and the day it is
solemnized: if the interim be but a se'nnight,
Time's pace is so hard that it seems the length of
seven year.

ORLANDO

Who ambles Time withal?

ROSALIND

With a priest that lacks Latin and a rich man that
hath not the gout, for the one sleeps easily because
he cannot study, and the other lives merrily because
he feels no pain, the one lacking the burden of lean
and wasteful learning, the other knowing no burden
of heavy tedious penury; these Time ambles withal.

ORLANDO

Who doth he gallop withal?

ROSALIND

With a thief to the gallows, for though he go as
softly as foot can fall, he thinks himself too soon there.

ORLANDO

Who stays it still withal?

ROSALIND

With lawyers in the vacation, for they sleep between
term and term and then they perceive not how Time moves.

.....

ROSALIND
Well, Time is the old justice that examines all such
offenders, and let Time try: adieu.

______________________________________

Last week, I went to DFW's best burger joint -- The Love Shack -- with a friend of mine and her family (If you have never been there, go and get the Dirty Love Burger. It will change your life.). I had never met her family before, but since she speaks loudly, proudly, and incessantly about everything, it was a pleasure to finally meet the much ballyhooed family. Her father is an Anglo-Catholic (Reformed Episcopal Church) priest and since I come from a conservative, evangelical background, I was curious to find out how this "denomination" was different and/or similar from the Catholic and Protestant traditions.

As I indulged myself in a half brisket, half prime tenderloin burger, topped with a fried quail egg and a tasty "love sauce", as they call it, I became acquainted with a faith that worships like the Catholic tradition but with important doctrinal differences (If you are interested in the details: http://tinyurl.com/26pdzlj). One of the main goals of the REC is to unify the Body of Christ.

When he mentioned this goal, I asked him what it would take to accomplish unification. His answer, in short: Time. He realized that change in the church takes time. He mentioned that the young priests and leaders become discouraged when the unification process fails to occur in the present. But as Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, “Time is the old justice that examines all such / offenders, and let Time try.”

For Shakespeare, Time is a transcendent mechanism that tries all of mankind. Furthermore, Time is a tool used by God to accomplish His will. “Time” will bring about the unification of the Church and it is our job, as followers of Christ, to see that the Church is on the path to unity, even if we never see it actually occur.

Why, on this blog about working at a summer camp, am I talking about Time?

I needed a reminder that my desire to change the hearts and minds of students does not happen on my own time. In reality, it happens in God’s Time. My responsibility as a Christian lies in the teaching of truth so that they at least recognize the path of Christ. God, in his Providence, will change their hearts. Even though I feel like the young maid Rosalind mentions when I work with students, I realize Time will continue to run its course in spite of how I feel. In essence, trying to enforce Time's hand promulgates the American ideal of instant gratification. But instant gratification leads to a false transformation veiled in behavior modification. True transformation, tried by Time, changes hearts through Christ which in turn changes behavior.

Thank God for his sovereignty! If my will be done instead of His will, things would get ugly. The world would be one extravagant masquerade.

What Do I Value?

A recurring theme in my life right centers around this question: what do I value? In preparation for the summer, I have been reading academic journal articles on Education to see what they think are some of the necessary attributes for a teacher when they teach students from low S.E.S. families. The most frequently referenced attribute a teacher needs to have: a love for learning.

Not only was this referenced in articles, but it was also mentioned in an educational forum I attended last week for class. The forum speakers were Dr. Louise Cowan, one of the most brilliant literary minds and Dr. Diane Ravitch, one of the leading historians on American Education. Both of them claimed teachers' enthusiasm in their own learning rubbed off on to their own students which enabled them to be more successful in school.

Do I disagree with these sentiments? Of course not, I think they are right on the money. But the bombardment of this solitary theme over a one week period caused me to reflect a little bit on my own life. As a future teacher, do I value my own learning? Leading up to my experiences at UD, I would say emphatically and consciously (sad to reflect upon) NO! At the present moment, though, I would say I do value learning -- but I still slip into days and weeks where I don't.

So, of course, I got down on myself a little bit knowing that I'm not where I need to be, yet. But the one thing I do know, reading about what I need to become and listening to brilliant people talk about the virtues of teaching, helped arise in me a passion to become a great teacher. This whole project of building an academic, 6-8th grade, curriculum for the summer helped fuel the desire, as well.

As I reflected upon what I value as a future educator, I also applied the question to another important area of my life -- my faith.

I'm not going to lie, it is hard to live the Christian life as a college student. It is almost as if the majority of Christians who go to college end up devaluing Christ for a period of 4 or so years (including me). The shape and form of devaluing looks a little bit different for everyone: some by excess booze, some by sex, some by pride, some by selfish ambition, some by lack of love, and the list goes on forever....

For me, my devaluation of Christ probably takes the shape of an ugly, 3 headed monster of some sort, contrived from the latter three vices I placed in the above list. Fun ones, huh? Not really.

Okay, to continue on the theme...So, if a teacher is someone who loves and values learning, what is a Christian and what does he/she value?

Of course, I think learning can be apart of the definition of a Christian because God gave us the ability to use our brain and reason and think logically so the more we learn, the more we become who he wants us to be. But, I think that is more a correlation than anything else.

What is at the heart of it, then? It must be, and has to be, Love. No matter how many good deeds I do, no matter how many times I go to Atlanta to help meet the needs of Refugee families, if it is done without Love, it is just a clanging symbol. And we all know, clanging symbols are incredibly annoying. I devalue Christ because I don't take his love seriously so it rears its ugly head in the form of a 3 headed monster. In devaluing Christ, I fail to embody the attribute that makes me most like him: Love. Similarly, a teacher who devalues the profession, fails to learn.

I think this song sums this post up nicely in that it represents the Grace God gives to us in spite of constantly devaluing him:

Daily I could look at the gold

And the fine, fine silver

With which You have adorned

My arms and neck and fingers

So I was called beauty in the eyes
These gifts assured me You were mine
So I was called beauty in the eyes

Of my God and the angels

Yet I sold all the jewels that You gave to me
And I used all the cash on other lovers I’d see
Hoping that none would discover this feat
Of the muck and the mire I’d continue to feast

Daily I could take in the scent of the fragrance You’ve sprinkled on me

And all the clothes made of cashmere You give cause’ You call me lovely

Daily I could look at how fair I was because of You

Instead I’d forget what You’ve given and living for suitors I’d choose

Still I remain treasured in the eyes

Still I remain treasured in the eyes

Still I remain treasured in the eyes

Of my God and the angels

Yet I sold all the jewels that You gave to me
And I used all the cash on other lovers I’d see
Hoping that none would discover this feat
Of the muck and the mire I’d continue to feast

Do not spare the rod how I long for faithfulness

Tell me once again of Your grace and woo me in

Let not these lovers be more attractive than You God

Remind me of love, remind of You, Jesus all of You

Still I remain treasured in the eyes

-Called Beauty by Jenny & Tyler

Friends of Refugees

My first post mentions I will be working for Friends of Refugees this summer. Most of you are probably wondering, "What is Friends of Refugees?" For a history of the ministry, check it out here.

Each summer, the ministry holds a summer camp for the children from the local refugee community. The camp is only $1 a day for each child. The camp consists of two, four week sessions with the camp operating Monday-Friday from 7:30-1:30.

The camp provides the children with daily academic lessons, breakfast and lunch, outdoor activities, field trips, and loving adult relationships. The camp is run from a Christian perspective but the gospel can not be openly shared. This frustrates some of the youth groups who volunteer and it definitely clashes with the way I perceived "missions" growing up.

But, there is a very practical and necessary reason for this. Many of these families come from strict religious backgrounds, and if their child were to come home "saved," the families would kick the child to the curb, literally. Also, the families would not send their children to the camp if they thought their children were being proselytized. Don't let this method fool you, the camp does encourage the cultivation of Christian character and virtue in each child, but not in an overt way.

Now, this is not to skirt the responsibility of the believer to fulfill the Great Commission. Instead of focusing solely on the child's salvation, only leaving him/her to the wolves of their family, Friends of Refugees strives to build relationships with the families of the children. Because of their Christ-like love to the children AND to the families, the entire family unit transforms into a miniature representation of the Church. Of course, this transformation does not occur overnight, but instead, it happens within a struggling relationship between a lover of Truth and a family in need of Truth -- between people from completely different worlds and life experiences. God, by his Grace, uses these earthly relationships to unveil the darkness so His people actualize their potential to project His image.

Sounds a little bit like the Incarnation, huh?

"But, in fact, the good God has given them a share in His own Image, that is, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and has made even themselves after the same Image and Likeness. Why? Simply in order that through this gift of Godlikeness in themselves they may be able to perceive the Image Absolute, that is the Word Himself, and through Him to apprehend the Father; which knowledge of their Maker is for men the only really happy and blessed life....The Self- revealing of the Word is in every dimension—above, in creation; below, in the Incarnation; in the depth, in Hades; in the breadth, throughout the world. All things have been filled with the knowledge of God."

St. Athanasius -- On the Incarnation

Some Pictures

I'm sorry, I have not had the time or the mental energy to post of late. To be honest, I probably will not post again this semester until the very end where I hope to give an overview of my time in Europe. In the meantime, check out my website to view some pictures from my journeys to Paris, London, Geneva, Villa of Hadrian, and the Villa d'Este.

-Justin

The Crew Meets the Inklings

Have you ever had a moment in your life where multiple experiences clash together, in the way a Sigur Ros song, to merge into a single, ultimate, beautiful experience? I read the short story Sonny Blues to Sigur Ros music and dim lights causing my heart and soul to cleave to the words on the page. Incredible of experience. But that experience has nothing on what happened to me last Friday in Oxford, England...

For my spring break, I made my way to Folgaria, Italy, Paris, and London (more on the other places later). But I want to focus solely on my only 6 hours in Oxford.

While in Rome, I really only wanted to visit the pub that C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their group of friends known as the Inklings hung out in from the late 30's to the 60's. I wanted to sit in the room they sat in, drink the beer they drank, talk about the things they talked about, and enjoy company as they did. I mean, I was excited about the Colosseum, St. Peters, and such but for some strange reason, I wanted to lounge in the very place that the greatest Christian mind (Lewis) of the 20th century lounged. I had read about the Eagle and Child pub in Lewis' biography about his conversion in Surprised by Joy.

Why would I really want to go to such an obscure place in the vast history of the church? Honestly, I don't know. Other than the temporal desires previously mentioned, I think I desire to meet friends in a place that I call my own and talk about Theology with people who you love and who love you; a company who is not afraid to tear down your idea in the search for Truth. So count this as my stepping stone to fulfilling my desire one day back in the States.

So while in London, a few of us decided to make the hour train ride to Oxford. Everyone made fun of me in my unfettered excitement for this Pub, to the point that it frustrated me. But that is beside the point. When we arrived in Oxford, we set out on finding the pub. To all of our surprises, Oxford is not a small town. Hoping to find the pub on a leisurely stroll is not quite possible without a little luck. So after we asked for directions, we found our way to the Eagle and Child pub.



I literally spent all 6 hours of our time in Oxford sitting in the pub. When we went in, the room where the Inklings met had an open table for all 5 of us to sit. The others went to walk around before they would eventually come back but I stayed not wanting to lose the table.

When my friends left to go explore the town, I stayed at the table in the Inklings' room and took some time to read Lewis' Mere Christianity, while sipping on a nice, but strange, green ale. I don't know if he churned out some of his logical, rational arguments on the law of nature in the room, but to read his arguments there definitely was a treat. As Steve put it, it seemed as if you got smarter for just sitting in the room.


(Yes, the picture is staged)

Greatest of all was the friendship we built with the manager of the pub. In our time there, he shared with us stories he heard about what kind of conversations went on with the Inklings and things of that nature. Through the conversations, I assumed that he was a Christian. I mean, he told us he jumped on the opportunity to manage the pub when his boss offered it to him because he loved to read Tolkien and Lewis as a kid.

Once American politics came into the conversation, things started to get interesting. He made some jokes and jabs at Bush and Texas but we let them blow over in order to avoid conflict. He also asked us about our point of view on Obama. We kind of tip toed around that one too with a non-committal answer like "we just need to wait and see." But with all of this side stepping, Jennifer's blood pressure boils past her tolerance line since she avidly supports pro-life, and rightfully so. It showed deeply in her face. As calmly as possible, she mentions her pro-life stance in order to show her dissatisfaction with Obama.

This took our discourse in a completely different and incredible tailspin towards Religion and Christianity. Soon do we find out, our friend is an agnostic. But this conversation was not a harsh or irrational or angry discussion. Our manager friend asked sincere questions and added constructive thoughts that every thinking man or woman, Christian or non-Christian should ask and think about in their search for Truth. Questions and comments that involve the problem of pain, the nature of evil (if it exists) and how it pertains to death, the validity of the Bible, and so on and so forth. Amazing, a conversation like this usually delves into the irrational with random Christian phrases being thrown around with no substance or spit spewed out in anger because of the disconnect between the two opposing sides.

Here is the greatness of the day summed up: A few friends and I sat in the Inklings' pub, in their exact room, read Mere Christianity, drank a beer, talked about life and God to each other as well as to a man who did not believe in God. Amazing, huh?

More to come later on the rest of my spring break as well as something on Love (Christian, not marital/sexual), which I thought a lot about while on my break. It will probably be jumbled and incoherent, but hopefully not. Also, more pictures on Picasa later.

-Justin