The Surprising God

The Relational Pastor, part 13 For other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 , 14 ,  15 . Last time in this series in Andrew Root's book,  The Relational Pastor , we saw that Christian ministry is fundamentally about joining Jesus in sharing the lives of other persons. "But," some might object, "isn't our job as pastors to get people saved?" Root answers by pointing out that rather than a  transaction (based on a forensic model of the atonement), salvation should be understood as an enduring relationship with God, for "in union with God we are saved" (p148). This Trinitarian incarnational, relational view of salvation holds Christology and soteriology (the theology of salvation) closely together. It acknowledges that Jesus, in his divine-human person, is our salvation. Jesus is the atonement. Thus our calling as Christian minis...

We take a short break here in our ongoing series on The Relational Pastor to consider a different, though certainly related topic. Given that all are included in Christ through his incarnation, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, how are we to understand what happens when a person turns to God in faith (the moment often referred to as "regeneration" or being "born again")? And what about evangelism: How are we to present the gospel in a truly Christ-centered way, including inviting a person to a response of faith? Thomas F. Torrance Regeneration  As with evangelism (see below), the key to a thoroughly biblical, Christ-centered understanding of regeneration is to focus one's attention first not on personal (subjective) experience, but on the objective (albeit mysterious) reality of Jesus Christ as the permanent union of God and humanity in one divine-human person. This key is helpfully addressed by Thomas F. Torrance in his book  The Med...

The Relational Pastor, part 12 For other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 ,  14 ,  15 . Last time in this series exploring Andrew Root's book,  The Relational Pastor , we looked at the stunning truth that Jesus, by virtue of the hypostatic union,  is God and man united inseparably in one person. Now Root considers the implications, noting that because ministry is about participation with Jesus in his ministry, truly Christian ministry is both  personal and spiritual . Ministry is personal Root asserts that "personhood" is the "location" where "God most fully reveals Godself" (p139). The point of this assertion is not to suggest that God is limited to a location (he is omnipresent), but that, because of the Incarnation (John 1:14), God is encountered most fully in Jesus--the Son of God who became (and remains) human person so that we might know...

The Relational Pastor, part 11 For other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 , 9 , 10 , 12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Last time in this series exploring The Relational Pastor , we looked at how Andrew Root exhorts us to move beyond ministry models to flexible, responsive sharing in the actual continuing ministry of Jesus. Now Root unpacks the nature of that sharing by examining the nature of Jesus himself, understanding that as ministers we are called... ...to encounter Jesus as the incarnate person Jesus is, to share in God's life by sharing in Jesus' person. And I think what the incarnation does is give me the gift of sharing in God's life by sharing in the personhood of others. I think that the incarnation, the revealing of God's person in Jesus, makes personhood the very structure within which we encounter God. So to claim the incarnation for ministry is to claim that we share in God's ...

The Relational Pastor, part 10 For other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 , 9 , 11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . This is the tenth post in a series that explores Andrew Root's book, The Relational Pastor . Last time we looked at moving beyond ministry models to sharing in the reality of Jesus' continuing personal ministry. This time we'll note how Root views this sharing as a gift from God: Ministry is the gift given to us by God to share in God's life, to participate in God's action as we share in the person of others. Ministry is the gift of being a person, to dwell in doubt, fear and need, inviting others to indwell us as we indwell them. Ministry is God's gift to us, the gift of leading others in sharing in the life of God (p125).  It's easy to lose sight of the reality by getting caught up in the "stuff" of ministry. And so we need the "40,000-foot overview" that ...

The Relational Pastor, part 9 For other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ,  15 . This post, the ninth in a series exploring  The Relational Pastor , looks at Andrew Root's concerns about ministry models in general, and one known as "incarnational ministry" in particular. Those who advocate incarnational ministry speak of "incarnating ourselves into people's lives," and "being Jesus with skin on." Though these concepts are admirable in many ways, they reflect (likely unwittingly) a common, though flawed concept that the incarnation was a  temporary  strategy--a means  God used toward a particular end , namely, our salvation. But the incarnation was no mere strategy and certainly was not temporary. The reality is that the Son of God permanently added our humanity to his divinity, becoming Immanuel (God with us, Matt 1:23) forever. The personal union thus forged between God ...

The Relational Pastor, part 8 For other posts in this series, click on a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 ,  12 , 13 , 14 ,  15 . In part 7  of this series exploring  The Relational Pastor   by Andrew Root, we noted that Jesus' place sharing ministry is the outworking of his indwelling of humanity. This incarnational ministry of Jesus then points to our own, for we are called as Christians to participate with Jesus in his ongoing place sharing ministry. Our participation is fundamentally relational, because the triune God, who is relational, has created us in his relational image. As Root likes to say, "We are our relationships." It follows that relationship is the principal "location" where Jesus' ministry and thus ours occurs. This being so, a key characteristic of effective pastors is the personal quality that we refer to as  empathy. Here is Root's definition: [Empathy is] the experience of feeling (often involuntaril...

The Relational Pastor, part 7 For other posts in this series, click on a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ,  12 , 13 , 14 ,  15 . In part 6 of this series exploring The Relational Pastor , we concluded with Andrew Root's observation that ministry finds its "lifeblood" in the reality of personhood. Ministry is life-giving when it is authentic participation in the place sharing ministry of Jesus, who as our High Priest, is relating to human persons as we truly are: beings-in-relationship . Jesus' indwelling, place sharing ministry is powerfully illustrated by  Ron DiCianni in this evocative painting entitled  The Leper. Root expands on this important concept by noting that place sharing is the outworking of indwelling . In explaining what this means, he asks a rhetorical question: "How could there possibly be something called ministry that violates or ignores the dynamic spiritual mystery of personal indwelling?" In answering, Root...

The Relational Pastor, part 6 For other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ,  13 , 14 ,  15 . The last post in this series, which is examining Andrew Root's book,  The Relational Pastor ,  concluded with this rather provocative quote from Root: "To be a person is to be our relationships" (p67). This trinitarian, incarnational understanding of personhood as "being-in-relation" leads Root to ask and answer an important, related question:  What is a pastor? If we define persons as their individual functions and interests, then a pastor's job is to attend to those functions and interests. But if persons are their relationships, then a pastor's job is relational, not functional. Root comments: We could try to define a pastor by his  or her functions, and it has been en vogue for the last century to do so. The pastor is the one who preaches, gives the sacraments, runs the meeting, visits...

The Relational Pastor, part 5 For other posts in this series, click on a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ,  15 . Last time in this series exploring the book  The Relational Pastor , we noted Andrew Root's definition of ministry as place sharing. This perspective is framed by a trinitarian, incarnational anthropology that embraces the biblical view of persons as beings-in-relation. From this perspective, personhood is understood to be rooted in and defined by the tri-personal being of God who created humankind in his own relational image. This view contrasts sharply with the predominant Western-modern idea of persons as singular, distinct individuals. Root comments: There is simply no [human] life in being alone, no such thing as a singular person.... We could even stretch it to say that hyperindividualism, is the very judgment of God.... There is no humanity without relationship... [without] being bound one to another, ...

The Relational Pastor, part 4 For other posts in this series, click on a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ,  7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ,  13 , 14 ,  15 . In The Relational Pastor , Andrew Root defines Christian ministry as place sharing . This post explores that definition, which sets the stage for the rest of his book. It's common, these days, for Evangelical authors to urge Christians to practice ministry in a way that is "incarnational" or "relational" (terms often used synonymously). Their exhortation to us is to, "do ministry like Jesus." Though it's laudable to want to be like Jesus and do ministry like he would, the reality is that we can't actually be "incarnational" like Jesus. Why? Because as the one and only incarnate Son of God, he is the unique God-man who, alone, is fully God and fully human. This being so, it's more accurate for us to refer to our ministry as our sharing   in the incarnate ministry that Jesus is do...