The Seabourns

Keith Seabourn

Filling up the Afflictions of Christ

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419x6-ac3TL._SL160_I just finished reading John Piper’s book Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton. Great book. I’ve been thinking deeply about the role of suffering in the propagation of the gospel since I first listened to a Piper sermon in 2007 called Doing Missions When Dying Is Gain. If you haven’t listened to this Piper sermon, get on over to the Desiring God website and listen. It’s free. You can listen online or download to your favorite MP3 device.

Speaking of free, you can download Piper’s book for free too. How sweet is that? So if you’d rather burn 128 pages in your printer, you can print your own copy. Or do what I did. I recently purchased an Amazon Kindle 2 (I’ll write about that sometime). I converted the book into Amazon’s Kindle format and read the PDF on my Kindle. It’s not as clean as a true Kindle book, but it worked fine and God stirred my soul at a deep level.

Some of Piper’s thoughts that I can’t get over:

I am saying that this suffering is part of God’s strategy for making known to the world who Christ is, how he loves, and how much he is worth.

… this voluntary suffering and death to save others is not only the content but it is also the method of our mission.

“… Christ’s suffering is for propitiation; our suffering is for propagation.”

[Colossians 1:24] is one of the most important verses explaining the thesis of this book—that missionary sufferings are a strategic part of God’s plan to reach the nations.

In his sufferings Paul is “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for . . . the church.” What does that mean? It means that Paul’s sufferings fill up Christ’s afflictions not by adding anything to their worth, but by extending them to the people they were meant to save.

So the afflictions of Christ are “lacking” in the sense that they are not seen and known and loved among the nations. They must be carried by missionaries. And those missionaries “complete” what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ by extending them to others.

God intends for the afflictions of Christ to be presented to the world through the afflictions of his people.

Paul’s missionary suffering is God’s design to complete the sufferings of Christ, by making them more visible and personal and precious to those for whom he died.

And these thoughts are just from Piper’s introductory teaching. His exposing the lives of William Tyndale, John Paton, and Adironam Judson and they way they lived out the sufferings of Christ so that “‘the gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) spread to all the peoples of the world and take root in God-centered, Christ-exalting churches.” Piper calls this “The invincible purpose of God in history.”

So get on over to Amazon and buy the book. Or get it free from DesiringGod.org. If you need to whet your appetite more, listen to Doing Missions When Dying is Gain. And may we not regard God’s call lightly. It’s why Kay and I are doing what we’ve done for 33 years, but now with greater clarity and purpose than ever before.

Invisible whispering

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Have you used Instant Messaging or Chat during a meeting, as an official part of the meeting? We are using invisible whispering in meetings and it really helps. We are finding that this really helps in several ways.

It helps meeting participants improve their understanding of the meeting content. Participants ask clarifying questions, and peers can respond. Points can be clarified. Facts can be checked for accuracy.

It helps keep people focused during the meeting. Interacting with others can help the group accomplish its work. People stay engaged with the content.

It helps provide social support to help quieter members “speak up” through contributions in the IM/Chat. Confidence is bolstered. Especially in a multi-lingual environment, some participants feel more confident when they can type out a question or comment and review it before sending it to others.

It provides direction in the meeting. If several participants are agreeing in the IM/Chat, the meeting content may be influenced. The direction of the meeting may change.

It allows for a parallel meeting within a meeting. Problem-solving or strategy development may launch among some participants in response to information received during the meeting. Participants may even critique the meeting resulting in improved meetings.

Our experiences so far have been good. We’ve used a Chat room. We’ve used a joint Skype session. What about you? Good experiences? Bad experiences?

He is no patcher

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I like to see the work of my hands be built up and prosper. My guess is that all of us like to see our work built upon, not torn down.

William Tyndale’s words this morning reminded me that God doesn’t want to build on another man’s foundation. God’s building process first razes all, then builds block by block.

If God promise riches, the way thereto is poverty. Whom he loveth he chasteneth, whom he exalteth, he casteth down, whom he saveth he damneth first, he bringeth no man to heaven except he send him to hell first. If he promise life he slayeth it first, when he buildeth, he casteth all down first. He is no patcher, he cannot build on another man’s foundation.

He will not work until all be past remedy and brought  unto such a case, that men may see how that his hand, his power, his mercy, his goodness and truth hath wrought all together. He will let no man be partaker with him of his praise and glory. [Tyndale, The Obedience of a Christian Man, p. 6. Quoted in Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ, http://www.crosswalk.com/books/11606829/page12/]

He is no patcher, he cannot build on another man’s foundation [not even mine!].

He will let no man be partaker with him of his praise and glory [not even me!].

Mowing the lawn as a Myers-Briggs exercise

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Lawn mowing is the ultimate introvert exercise. No one interrupts you (they might be asked to take a few rounds). No talking to anyone.

As I mowed today and philosophized this new realization, I grew in my understanding. I realized that lawn mowing is the ultimate exercise for Myers-Briggs INTJs. Not only am I totally alone in my I-ness, lawn mowing doesn’t take much thought. That leaves an NT with a free mind to soar with other ideas. I do some really good thinking while mowing the lawn.

Myers-Briggs INTJ

Then there is the J-judging. I’ve never really understood that, but I read this today:

Key words for judging: structured • decided • organized • scheduled

People who have a preference for judging use their preferred judging function (whether it is thinking or feeling) in their outer life. What this often looks like is that they prefer a planned or orderly way of life, like to have things settled and organized, feel more comfortable when decisions are made, and like to bring life under control to the degree that it is possible.
(http://www.knowyourtype.com/judging.html)

Now I get it. I just thought everybody was this way. Who doesn’t want a planned life, an orderly life, having things settled, feeling more comfortable when decisions are made? It’s the only way to live!

And lawn mowing is a great time to get things settled, planning out next steps, deciding.

Ahh, what a great INTJ experience. I think I’ll mow my neighbor’s lawn today also!

Courageous Pastor

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The pastor was really courageous. After the evangelism class he taught, I chatted with him about how courageous he was. Evangelism and Giving are two subjects likely to make people uneasy. Many leaders avoid them or minimize the time.

Why?

I think that evangelism (and giving) dredges up guilt and shame. We know we should be more active in talking with others about Jesus. And we are ashamed to admit how little we proactively initiate with others.

I visited church with my son and daughter-in-love yesterday.  That’s where I attended the pastor’s evangelism class. Training others in evangelism is what I’ve done all my adult life. It doesn’t make me an expert evangelism trainer, just an active participant in trying to help others experience the amazing privilege of seeing someone open the door of their lives to Jesus. Getting to see a new birth is a tremendous privilege.

I had several thoughts during the class. Here are some the things I’ve found helpful.

  • Having the proper perspective: Success in evangelism is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. This simple explanation frees me to be successful because the results are God’s.
  • CoJourners is one of the best approaches to evangelism I’ve used in recent years. The focus is coming alongside others on the roadtrip called life. I’ve written about my experiences here and here.
  • Sharing your personal story is an excellent way to share with others. The 5clicks.com site is very helpful in preparing your story in a compelling, winsome way.
  • A friend of mine uses a very intentional approach to prepare to share with someone every day. Each morning, he takes a booklet or a New Testament or a Jesus Film DVD in his hand. He prays, “Lord, this belongs to someone else. Please lead me today to its new owner.” Then he goes out for his day eagerly expecting to find someone to give the booklet or DVD.
  • Don’t be afraid of a question you can’t answer. I don’t hesitate to ask someone to play basketball because I’m afraid they might ask a question I can’t answer. And if I am asked a question, saying “I don’t really know a good answer right now. How about if I think about it and get something to you tomorrow?” Then go to search.ccci.org which searches across 2,000 websites in 50 languages for the best articles to questions like “How do I know if God really exists?” or “How can a good God allow all the evil and suffering in the world today?” Go to the search engine and type in one of these questions. See, good results that you can forward to your friend.

My son wrote about another misconception voiced yesterday.

It works! It takes courage. It takes overcoming all sorts of little whispers from the one who would have us keep silent. “He’s not interested.” “Don’t interrupt her now!” “You’ll only embarrass yourself.” I hear these and more every time I’m about to take the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God.

As Nike made famous, just do it.