Author: Jojo Agot

Pastor at Victory. Faculty and adviser at Every Nation Leadership Institute (ENLI). MA in Theology and Mission at Every Nation Seminary.

A Waste of Christian Intellect

“Our churches are unfortunately overly populated with people whose minds, as Christians, are going to waste. As Malik observed, they may be spiritually regenerate, but their minds have not been converted; they still think like nonbelievers. Despite their Christian commitment, they remain largely empty selves. What is an empty self? An empty self is a person who is passive, sensate, busy and hurried, incapable of developing an interior life. Such a person is inordinately individualistic, infantile and narcissistic.

“Imagine now a church filled with such people. What will be the theological understanding, the evangelistic courage, the cultural penetration of such a church? If the interior life does not really matter all that much, why should one spend the time trying to develop an intellectual, spiritually mature life?

“If someone is basically passive, he will just not make the effort to read, preferring instead to be entertained. If a person is sensate in orientation, then music, magazines filled with pictures, and visual media in general will be more important than mere words on a page or abstract thoughts.

“If one is hurried and distracted, one will have little patience for theoretical knowledge and too short an attention span to stay with an idea while it is being carefully developed.

“And if someone is overly individualistic, infantile and narcissistic, what will that person read, if he reads at all? Books about Christian celebrities, Christian romance novels imitating the worst that the world has to offer, Christian self-help books filled with slogans, simplistic moralizing, lots of stories and pictures, and inadequate diagnoses of the problems facing the reader. What will not be read are books that equip people to develop a well-reasoned, theological understanding of the Christian faith and to assume their role in the broader work of the kingdom of God.

“Such a church will become impotent to stand against the powerful forces of secularism that threaten to wash away Christian ideas in a flood of thoughtless pluralism and misguided scientism. Such a church will be tempted to measure her success largely in terms of numbers—numbers achieved by cultural accommodation to empty selves. In this way, the church will become her own grave digger; for her means of short-term “success” will turn out in the long run to be the very thing that buries her.

“What makes this envisioned scenario so distressing is that we do not have to imagine such a church; rather, this is an apt description of far too many […] evangelical churches today. It is no wonder, then, that despite its resurgence, evangelical Christianity has been thus far so limited in its cultural impact.”

Excerpted from J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (InterVarsity Press, 2009) page 5.

God at the Center

As I see it, the Christian life must be comprised of three concentric circles, each of which must be kept in its proper place. In the outer circle must be the correct theological position, true biblical orthodoxy and the purity of the visible church. This is first, but if that is all there is, it is just one more seedbed for spiritual pride.

In the second circle must be good intellectual training and comprehension of our own generation. But having only this leads to intellectualism and again provides a seedbed for pride.

In the inner circle must be the humble heart — the love of God, the devotional attitude toward God. There must be the daily practice of the reality of the God whom we know is there…

When each of these three circles is established in its proper place, there will be tongues of fire and the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, at the end of my life, when I look back over my work since I have been a Christian, I will see that I have not wasted my life. The Lord’s work must be done in the Lord’s way.

Excerpted from Francis A. Schaeffer, No Little People (Crossway Books, 2003), via Ray Ortlund’s Blog.

Subtle Heresies

I once heard Ravi Zacharias talking about two kinds of heresies according to Frank William Boreham: the heresy of hereness and the heresy of thereness.

The heresy of HERENESS is the idea that God is HERE (not out THERE) and so therefore, if I am to escape His presence, I simply have to get out from this place. Jonah is the perfect example of this. When God called him to preach in Nineveh, he FLED to a distant land, falsely believing that by going away, he had escaped from his accountability to God.

The heresy of THERENESS is the exact opposite. It is the idea that God is out THERE and if I am to escape His presence, I just need to stay right here and not go out there. Adam is the perfect example for this. When he and Eve succumbed to the temptation, they hid in the bushes and covered themselves with fig leaves. When they heard God walking in the garden, Adam falsely believed that God is just out THERE, unable to see him.

Both views of the presence of God are wrong. But of course we know all that. In theory, at least.

Things would only get a little complicated when we fool ourselves into believing that we could get away with little compromises just because we’re outside church walls or on vacation and nobody sees us. In Psalm 139: 7- 11, David wrote these classic verses about the omnipresence of God. If this psalm doesn’t make us think twice about sinning in private, I don’t know what would.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day.

Lessons I Learned from the School of Local Church Ministry

We just kicked off our ministry training two weeks ago and so far it had been a blast. Today, Pastor Jun Escosar was our lecturer. Here are five ministry lessons I learned from the School of Local Church Ministry so far:

I Need to Grow in Character

In the ministry, character is prized over giftedness. If you plan to last in this line of work, you need to grow in your character. Education is not enough. Talents are not enough. Connections are not enough. This is not a question of whether you are really called or not. That issue should have been resolved before coming to the School of Local Church Ministry. You can be truly gifted and truly called and still fail if your character doesn’t match your spiritual gifting.

The Goal is to Finish Strong

Pastor Jun mentioned Steve Farrar’s book Finishing Strong. I read that book several years ago and the single most vivid picture that I got from it was Farrar’s list of seminary classmates written at the back of his Bible. Over the course of 25 years, he crossed out most of their names as one by one they fell away from the ministry. It was a sobering read. After I read that book, I started praying for God’s grace to carry me until my very last breath. The goal is not just to get started in the ministry. I want to finish well and finish strong.

I Need to Keep Making Disciples

Pastor Jun advised: do not be in a situation where you are not investing in the lives of at least five to ten people. The ministry is often tricky. You could be pulled to a hundred different directions if you are not very intentional about discipleship. I think I’ve seen enough ministry leaders who are simply too busy doing everything else except in investing in the lives of the next generation.

Learn to Focus on One Thing

One other lesson I learned is that I need to focus in an area of ministry where I excel. I think that’s a wise but difficult advice. It’s wise because with all the things that need to be done, young ministers need to recognize their areas of strength and give that ministry their best efforts. It is difficult because young ministers have to start in a generic role before they get to the point of specializing in their areas of strength.

Embrace this Window of Grace

Pastor Jun talked about dealing with personal issues while we are still in school. In the next few months, we will bury ourselves deep in study and training for the ministries we would be doing in the next decade. This is the perfect time to come out and confess hidden sins while we still have no reputations to protect.