Allowing Jesus to be Lord—In all Areas
By Mark Doerksen
As you read this, summer may well be nearing its end, but I thought I would write about an experience I had on one of my weeks of vacation this summer.
We had a family wedding to attend in Vancouver, but for a few days prior to that, we decided to take the train from Vancouver to Seattle and spend a few days there. We visited the Pike Market, and even found ourselves at the Starbucks Reserve restaurant, where some Starbucks coffee is roasted. Mary and I would make our way there in the early morning, waiting for the kids to wake up and join us.
I had decided before the trip to read a book by Wendell Berry called The Hidden Wound. It’s a book about his experience as a farmer from Kentucky, whose family had owned slaves some time earlier. I appreciated his witness, as he relayed the experiences of his childhood, and hearing the stories of previous generations of his family. Berry noted that he had inherited the constraints of racism, and he was trying to figure out how to recover and respond to the reality that he found himself in.
One of the examples Berry gives in his book has to do with local churches during the time of segregation. In an incisive way, Berry writes about (critiques) the church, and messages from the pulpit in that era, how the main message was about how to get to heaven without obeying the moral imperatives of the Scriptures. Practically, masters and slaves would attend church together at times, and the only way that could happen was if the gospel was “hollowed out”—that is, certain parts of the Bible were ignored altogether so that both races could attend church together.
So, since my vacation, thank you Wendell Berry, I’ve been thinking about this from my perspective.Where have I hollowed out, or silenced the Scriptures, for my own life? Where do our churches hollow out the Scriptures because of the sticky situations in their context? Do I really want to know what the Scriptures say about money? Do I really want to know what the Scriptures say about greed? Do I really want to know what the Scriptures have to say about sanctification?
To make matters worse, this topic is echoed in what I have been reading in Michael Gorman’s work on the book of Romans. The message has gone from mono to stereo for me. Gorman is famous for the word “cruciformity,” the idea that a life of faith must seek to follow the example of Jesus. He also uses the phrase believing allegiance, which means that belief must be accompanied by following Jesus as Lord. Upon retrospection, are there areas in my life where I am deliberately not allowing Jesus to be Lord?
I am not totally dismayed or discouraged. For example, I think that our churches are concerned with both a confession of faith and a deepening discipleship amongst members. There are challenges in the way to see this happen, individually, culturally, corporately, and so on, which makes me all the more grateful when I see people in our churches with faith that seeks to see Jesus as Lord. I see this regularly as I visit churches, individually and corporately—and it’s a privilege to see. Be encouraged, and keep at it!
The Peace of Christ,
Mark
Not Knowing the Answers
By Luke Rafuse, Associate Pastor of Next Gen and Outreach at Westhill Park Baptist Church
My journey into ministry began with the ministry I received from faithful men and women. I grew up in a Christian home with loving parents and a solid church family. During adolescence, I was both curious and serious about my faith but inwardly, what I was really seeking was assurance that my faith was legitimate. When I thought of my relationship with the Lord, I often found myself struggling to know for sure that I was saved or that Jesus had his hand on my life. Though I wasn’t aware at the time, I see now a lot of the questions I had really were God’s way of working out my faith as he placed people in my life who were capable of both answering and assuring me of the deeper questions in my heart.
Looking back now, I understand the Lord saw my shaky faith and guided me to a weekly Bible study outside of youth that was designated as “just for boys.” The weekly meetings consisted of Bible study but also life skills, where we learned how to cook, do laundry, maintain cars and stay in shape. The catch, however, was that this male-only weekly meeting was led by a woman in our community named Cheryl with a heart to see young men grow up to love Jesus with everything they have. She desired to see us become responsible, hard-working, honest and strong in our faith so she planned weekly meetings and tasks that would accomplish those goals. Naturally, those teenage years were a lot of fun though not without growing pains and challenges but what I cherish most about those days is that Cheryl also made time for me to process things I was struggling with and was always willing to listen and pray. It didn’t matter the subject or the issue at hand, she was willing to prioritize me and help me discover that God would meet me where I was and help me move forward under His guidance.
God used those teenage years in that small group to shape a vision in me for ministry as Cheryl poured into hours and hours of her time mentoring and shaping me and several other young men into the people God was calling us to be. That output of love made me want to do the same to others, so after High School, I attended Briercrest College and Seminary to study ministry.
But as I entered into a new season of independence, the Lord once again provided a new mentor (the former pastor of my home church!) into my life. During my four years of school, Shawn would call me to walk with God as he did. We met for lunch to go through Scripture, confess sin and pray for each other as we dealt with the challenges of life. Being formed, encouraged and loved by someone who was already far along in their walk with Christ helped me understand that finding the assurance isn’t really about knowing all the answers but knowing the One who has the answers and it further shaped the desire to go and do likewise for other young people. I knew once I finished at Briercrest, I had to follow Jesus into the places and to the people who were looking just as I was and to help them find and know the truth.
Ultimately, my being in ministry is rooted in that desire, to know Him who gave himself up for me and help others discover Him as I did. May God use us to have such an impact in our day.
This regional newsletter is published quarterly within the CBWC’s monthly newsletter, Making Connections. Have a story idea? Email our senior writer, Jenna Hanger: jhanger@cbwc.ca