Thoughts in the wake of a great Staff Retreat

By jdgoodwyne on Feb 16, 2010 in Blog

I just arrived back in town from a fantastic staff retreat in Boone, NC where they had this blizzard on, all except the five hours that we were on the slopes. The Lord was kind and gracious to us, because the weather provided a ton of good natural snow, but the conditions while skiing were perfect. So I wanted to jot down a few thoughts.

As a staff, we looked at 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12:

1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5  For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed— God is witness. 6  Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. (ESV)

Trying to really hone in on v. 9, we discussed what it meant to share “not only the gospel but our lives as well” as the NIV has it, and we evaluated how we are doing as a staff. We considered this in relation to each other on staff, to the church, and to the world.

The question that I am wrestling with is this: Is there a way to really divorce sharing the gospel and sharing your life? I think my pragmatic forebears would argue that one can share the gospel without sharing one’s life, and that one might share one’s life without ever sharing the gospel. At least my initial reaction is this: If one has the true gospel, how can they share their life without sharing that same gospel? And if one understands the gospel, understands a God who takes on flesh, who “dwelt among us,” how can one share this gospel without sharing their life?

Perhaps this is idealistic. There are plenty of rational equations in the Christian life that can lead to despair if one doesn’t have a place for “already/not yet” in their theology.  For instance, if I sin, and repent, which is a turning away from sin, then I am committing to sin no more. But I do sin again. Rationally, this doesn’t make sense. If I repent, then I should sin no more. If I do sin again, then I am not truly repentant. But I AM truly repentant, and still I sin again.

Perhaps this is similar. An example of tensions, sharing life/sharing the gospel. But the major difference is that sin and repentance are morally conflicting. One is good, the other bad. But sharing life and the gospel are both good. And they don’t seem to be in tension the way, say, law and grace are. So it seems as though we would just say “both are necessary.”

But if we read Paul, it seems as though he considers “sharing life” to be something extra. As in “We shared the gospel, and that would have been sufficient, but we had so much affection for you, we were compelled to share our lives as well.” So maybe my postmodern, touchy-feely, community-driven worldview wants to say that you have to share your life, but perhaps Paul doesn’t say that. And maybe it isn’t even possible. If a man pastors a flock of hundreds or thousands, can he really share his life in any meaningful way with them all? But it still seems as though the temptation is to compartmentalize your world into “my life” and “my ministry” when perhaps it is better for these to look like concentric circles. And a person has to choose who lies where in those circles, but either way, there is an element of life-sharing all the way out.

Regardless, it is clear to me that there must be some element of life-sharing in one’s sharing of the gospel. It may be true that one cannot meaningfully share one’s life with every person with which one shares the gospel, but that life sharing ought to be happening in some way. We are created for relationships–we see that from the Trinity.

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4 Comment(s)

  1. Just a quick note on your short discussion on repentance.

    N.T. Wright talked at length about what the word repent actually means. We’ve all heard things like “turn around” or “do an about face” and those are fine as far as they go but they don’t really capture the meaning according to Wright.

    He tells a story from Josephus about a Roman commander speaking to a captured man. The Roman commander wanted to convince the man to repent. Now, no one would believe the commander was asking the man to trust in Christ or stop sinning.

    Wright says the full meaning of the word is to “give up your agenda and trust me for mine.” It seems to me that’s a pretty good picture of what we are really commanded to do. We have to give up our own agenda (read will) and trust God (Christ) for His agenda (will).

    To me that brings the whole concept of repentance into something of a new light. It says to me that falling down doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve taken up my own agenda and stopped repenting. It might mean that, but it doesn’t have to. I can fall down and still be repentant if I’m staying on the ground after I’ve fallen.

    Yes, I know, not so quick a note.

    Pops | Feb 19, 2010 | Reply

  2. I used repentance as an example of a Christian tension, where two seemingly contradictory things are both true. So repentance is true, and is just as you say, but sin is also true. It just seems like nonsense, though joyous nonsense that sin would not nullify repentance. But really, I digress. Repentance wasn’t really the point, but it does deserve more time, and hopefully we can discuss it more in a later post.

    jdgoodwyne | Feb 19, 2010 | Reply

  3. The wisdom of God is foolishness to the world and the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God.

    Pops | Feb 19, 2010 | Reply

  4. Agreed.

    jdgoodwyne | Feb 20, 2010 | Reply

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