A Confused But Hopeful Believer In Christ

by Catherine Cao

Father in heaven,

Letter 1
I’m back again, asking for strength and courage as you have commanded (Deuteronomy 31:6-8, NIV). I've been asked to write for Agathos, but I feel hesitant. While I believe in You and Your teachings, I'm certainly not knowledgeable enough to write a comprehensive article about my faith. However, I hope to use a few stream-of-consciousness letters to share my thoughts as a simple believer in your goodness.

Letter 2
Even in the most mundane daily activities such as stargazing at Farley Field, or paddling through Aziscohos Valley, I’m compelled to appreciate nature as all aspects of creation “sing for joy” (Psalms 96:11- 13). And, to even think about creation’s whole dependency upon your eminent character of transcendence shown through how you crafted what currently is from what was not (Hebrews 11:3), I’m undeniably learning to experience the breath of every living thing as universal, eternal proclamations to your glory (Job 12:7-10).

Besides marveling at these testimonies of your eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20), I take confidence from moments on the Appalachian Trails, looking at all the “birds of the air” and “lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:8-26). I might be a mere tiny mortal, but since in your words I’m “worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7) whom you’ve provided for, I know that I’m in good hands because you sustain me and think about me so much more than I may comprehend (Psalms 139).

Letter 3
When I’m admiring nature as a recreational activity with no harrowing worries, it’s easy to see goodness in all your creation (Genesis 1), but when I’m pulled back into “the real world,” it can feel like a flipped side. Even in nature itself, there’s a lot of cruelty.

I guess as I’ve began rereading the books of Genesis, Psalms, and Apostle Paul’s writings on the nature of creation verse by verse, chapter after chapter every week, I'm starting to struggle with a question that many people grapple with: if You are sovereign and have created all things to be good, why does suffering exist in the world? Despite seeking answers from other Christians, I haven't found any satisfying explanations. My friends may not understand my confusion, and pastors give me abstract answers difficult to grasp. It's hard for me to come to terms through their reasoning.

Letter 4
I've been trying to summarize the arguments I heard from these confident Christians who had no trouble reconciling the confusing aspects of your world and order. They often quoted St. Augustine, a prominent figure in the Christian community, who argued:
• Suffering is self-inflicted because sin is self-damaging
• You inflicted suffering as a response to sin
• Suffering reveals both good and evil
• Through suffering, we can distinguish temporary from lasting goodness
• Suffering in You, just as Christ has suffered, perfects us
• Sometimes, You permit suffering to humble us and prevent worse consequences from pride It's a lot to work with for my (not so big) Bowdoin brain, so I need time to think about it.

Letter 5
What I'm gathering is that suffering exists because of Adam and Eve's disobedience, despite knowing the consequences of death - both spiritual and physical (Genesis 2:15- 17). But what does that have to do with everyone else who didn't get to make that decision and is now dragged along with it, literally the entirety of mankind and animals and plants? And what about the billions of people who've existed on this planet and have been dealing with the consequences of "sin [entering] the world through one man" (Romans 5:12)? Besides, I don't even want to dive into the free will and determinism debate surrounding Adam's creation and whether he would make the same choice if he could relive his life.

It's been a few months, and while these aspirations sound noble and heroic, I’m not sure if I can reconcile that with Your image as a loving and understanding God.

Letter 6
On this topic, a friend recently asked me about the definition of good and evil. Considering that you went great lengths to declare that what you created was good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) with a particular emphasis on concluding day six on the goodness of all your creations (Genesis 1:31), I think it’s important for me to take a step back in really considering the purpose of creation to understand the meaning of goodness in the biblical context. As a thought experiment, sometimes I’ve played with the idea that you created all things for the enjoyment of mankind. After all, as God you are selfsufficient and not in need of anything, and you’ve intentionally provided the conditions of the world to be filled with mankind as its inhabitants (Genesis 1:1-31). The end of creation would ultimately be the happiness of the creatures – us. However, in circling back to the original question, this fails to explain suffering. Besides, we exist because you are God, rather than vice-versa, so it would inherently be flawed to argue that you allowed creation to exist for the purpose of promoting creation itself. You’re not dependent on us to be known, and your nature stands apart from creation.

On the flip side of that assertion would be – creation exists for your glorification. I don’t believe in having to reason through every argument for it to be considered as a correct statement, because I know this one is based on the truth simply because it is substantiated by biblical scripture, such as in Isaiah 43:7.

I guess it’s important to work with the premise that you are unchanging with an everlasting dominion (Psalm 145:13), and hence the goodness of your creation cannot be corrupted despite the introduction of sin. In your infinite wisdom and power, all that you’ve created has been and eternally continues to be good. So how do I come to an understanding of the goodness of your creation while recognizing the realities of conditions we face today?

Letter 7
Perhaps goodness in your scripture refers to the fulfillment of its purpose. Creation is good because it exists to glorify you – “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things” (Revelation 4:11). It’s easy to see that the cosmos was created for your exultation, as the famous verse goes, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1). But it’s also inspiring to be reminded that we have also been called for the same intention, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory” (Isaiah 43:7).

I find this encouraging. As God, you are not dependent on glory and creation for anything. Creation itself does not increase, but simply declares Your glory. Yet despite your complete independence and sovereignty from needing anything in your creation, you chose in your free will to create. And since the purpose of such creation is to reveal Your great wisdom and power, it is good.

Letter 8
I’m still trying to reach the epiphany moment of truly understanding what I wrote from my half-thoughts, but I’m confident that an earnest understanding will come to me one day.

In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.

H

God, Science, And Created Beings

by Ruth Olujobi

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”

Genesis 1:1-4, 26-27, 31 NIV

I’m sitting in my Biology class on the second day of the semester and while my professor introduced the class and all we’d be covering, he got to evolution and made a brief remark that alluded to creationism. “Some people say they don’t believe in evolution. Well, do they believe in an atom?”

Huh? Really? “Well, what a way to start off this class”, I thought.
Since that remark, I haven’t stopped thinking about the intersection of creationism, God, and science. I was pretty sure there was a connecting thread, but finding all the ways it connected was where I hadn’t found a way to properly articulate.

In another class, we were discussing the intersection between “religion” and science in our world today. I’m emphasizing religion because I think when it’s mentioned in these kinds of classes, it’s not usually mentioned as a way of life, like how we Christians see it, but like some foreign concept that only ignorant people believe. Being in both classes in the same semester meant that I had to intentionally choose to stand firm on my Christian beliefs, regardless of our discussions in class, as well as reflect on how God has been teaching me to see his hands in science.

I grew up in a religious community where you were either a Christian or Muslim. To help you understand the depth, I could almost always tell a person’s religion by their name. So, finding people who identified as not belonging under those two (umbrella) religious branches was certainly not common. As a result, I don’t recall any time in my childhood where I had to “defend” creationism. Everyone in my closest circle kinda agreed on it, something like an unspoken rule. I recall conversations with my immediate older brother where he would tell me how he had these kinds of conversations with non-believers at his university. I knew that I would eventually have these conversations as I grew older, but I didn’t know where or at what scale. Coming to Bowdoin’s definitely meant that I would have to engage in these kinds of discussions in and out of class. It’s been almost two years now and although I still have a lot to understand, I have learned so much about how our world is a masterpiece created by the greatest scientist Himself- GOD!

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This verse stands at the beginning of the Bible – simple, direct, and powerful, and constantly resurfaces in a similar manner throughout the entire book. Isaiah 45:12 says “I made earth and created man on it”; Jeremiah 10:12 says “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding”; and even Revelation, the last book of the Bible, says in the 11th verse of its fourth chapter “You are worthy, our Lord… for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being”. All these verses are a testament to the fact that God, the master scientist, created the world.

Sometimes I ask myself whether I believe this because I grew up believing it, but no, I believe this because I can feel God’s presence all around me in nature, I see him when I look at the way the waves of the ocean move so powerfully, I hear him when I hear the melodious singing of the birds or the rhythmic movement of the branches on thousands of trees in a forest, I feel him when I feel the tingle on my skin from the warmth of the sun. I see him everywhere! The Bible succinctly captured this when it said “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities —his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20) With my academic interests in STEM, God has been helping me see how he himself is the “brain” behind that field. From the incredible details in a DNA strand to the sheer precision with which every cell, tissue, organ, and system in our bodies work, it almost feels too clear that there had to be an intentional design.

For me as a Christian, knowing that I was created, and did not just appear randomly, gives my life so much meaning. The Bible tells me that I am created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14) and that I am “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Even in the midst of extreme pain and agony, Job testified that “the Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). Isn’t it great to know that we were created with such care and attention, and not mass produced like some robots? This realization gives me a sense of purpose, a reminder that I was created by God to fulfill specific tasks here on earth. But I recognize that this entire concept of creation might just be too hard to grasp. We truly can not do this on our own, we need God’s help. The Bible tells us that “by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Without this faith, we simply would struggle with understanding that there is a being, far bigger and majestic, that our human minds can simply comprehend. And how do we get this faith? – it “comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). This means that growing our faith means we’ll have to take active steps in reading and learning from God’s word.

There honestly is no better way to grow our faith except by going to the one who is the giver of all faith. And so, I know that I don’t have to choose one over the other, it’s not God or Science, God vs. Science, but God AND Science, as a sticker from a conference I attended earlier this year rightly put. I walk proudly in the acceptance that I am a created being, not an afterthought or a random appearance in the universe. I sit proudly in my labs, knowing that God is the greatest scientist of all times, and that I can come to him when I need help. I stand proudly in the midst of nature, basking in the fact that God created the trees, the birds, the ocean, the ants, the caterpillars, the sun, and everything we can and cannot see. God’s spirit takes expression in my life and I feel absolutely blessed to be made in his image. Have you accepted this reality and His place in your life yet?

From The Dust

by Sarah Kalonji

From the dust of the ground—there, You began.

With a vision in mind, You turned to Yourself and said, “Let us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in our own image, in our own likeness.” You looked at the dust of the ground and inconceivably, saw a canvas fit to bear Your image. Then with Your hands, the hands of a Potter, You began modeling—folding, pinching, and sculpting me, Your clay. Fearfully and wonderfully, You created all the complexities of my being, even my inmost being. Once formless—You gave me form. Once lifeless—You gave me life.

From the dust of the ground, now I stood upright. A jar of clay, filled and glazed with Your Light.

Seeing all that You had created, You said that “it was very good.” I was very good.

Most beloved amongst all Your creation. You took me and placed me in the Garden of Eden, giving me dominion over every living creature that moves on the earth. You provided for all my needs. You walked with me and I with You. You commanded me, saying:

“You may surely eat of any tree in the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16 (ESV)

Then, I met the serpent. A creature far more crafty than any other beast of the field You had created. He spoke of what you had commanded me not to do, but he told me that I would not surely die if I ate of the tree. That my eyes would be opened and I would be like You, knowing good and evil. I looked at the tree and saw that it was good for food, a delight to my eyes, and it would make me wise. I desired that—what's there to lose?

So I placed the fruit from the tree within my vessel,

And that’s when I realized…the serpent! He deceived me!

I fell and shattered.
My broken pieces scattered on the ground.

Something within me had changed—
Your Light! Where is it?

Darkness has entered

Why couldn't I put myself back together?
I was afraid, filled with shame and hopelessness.
Separated from You,
I am no good. Separated from You,
I can do no good.

The Fall came with pain,
The Fall came with sin,
The Fall came with death, and I died.

Is there any hope for the dead?

But what I did, did not catch You by surprise. For You had already prepared a sacrifice for this moment—even before the beginning of time.

Then, You came for me.
But You too were covered in dust.

The Potter became the clay

Fully God and fully man—Christ Jesus. For me, You humbly became as I was, a jar of clay. But unlike me, You embodied perfection. You lived a sinless life, a life that I could never live.
You took my sin and that of the entire world, past, present and future into Your vessel and it shattered You, Jesus.

“That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread and when He had given thanks: He brake it and said, Take, eat: this is my body which is broken for you” 1 Corinthians 11:23 (KJV)

For me, You were humiliated. For me, You were in agony. For me, You had to die. My sins killed You, Jesus.

“And being found in human form, He [Jesus, the Son] humbled himself by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phillipians 2:8 (ESV)

And now, like me, Your broken pieces were scattered on the ground.

Is there any hope for the dead?

But You did not stay on the ground!
No! You rose back to life!
You defeated death, once and for all!
O! What a remedy heaven has provided,
Christ Jesus, my Redeemer!
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God, my hope comes from Him.”
Your love for me is unconditional, unreserved, indescribable, indefinite— Agape love.
Once broken—You’ve made me whole. Once lifeless—You’ve given me life, again.

“For God who said, “Let the light shine out of darkness” made His Light shine in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (ESV)

From the dust of the ground, now again I stand upright. A jar of clay—imperfect, and yet, still filled and glazed with Your Light

“It is finished.”-Christ Jesus

….

What do you mean "I died?"

“You may surely eat of any tree in the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16 (ESV)

After Adam and Eve had sinned, they did not physically die right away. However, at that moment—they did die spiritually. In Christianity, at its core, sin is rebellion against God, hence it separates us from Him who is the Creator and Sustainer of life. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were in a perfect relationship with God—both their physical and spiritual bodies, in perfect health. When sin entered within them, it destroyed all of that. Because of sin, not only did their spirits immediately die, even their mortal bodies were now subjected to wear and tear which leads to eventual physical death. As descendants of Adam and Eve, we too [mankind] are now subjected to the same fate.

“For the wages of sin is death…”

If you take a fish out of water, it will die;
And when you uproot a tree from the soil in which it was planted, it will die.
Likewise, when mankind is separate from God, he dies.
"God is our natural environment."
We were created to live in His presence and to be connected to Him. I
t is only in Him that life exists.
It is only in Him that our spirits can live, eternally.

“...But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6: 23 (NIV)

Called by Name

by Kiana Gonzalez

Human beings are constantly running from God. We deny his existence. We form conclusions based only on our limited knowledge. We look for meaning in anything other than Him. The reason we search for this “greater purpose” is not just because we are broken and He is the solution, but because we were made to be in a relationship with God.

The creation account ends with Adam and Eve alone with God in the garden of Eden, in perfect relationship with Him. But when they both sin, the relationship is severed. Our relationship with the eternal God is fractured when sin and evil enters the world God had made through Adam and Eve. The relationship with mankind is damaged because God is pure goodness, and we cannot be in direct contact with Him when we are not totally pure. In God, there is pureness, goodness, and holiness in absolute terms. For the two to coexist, that is our fallen nature and God, the problem of sin and evil needed a remedy.

I remember starting my college experience, alone for the first time. And I really did feel alone. I had been raised in the church, and I truly loved God, but I found it difficult to stay connected to God. Thank God that I am not dependent on my own strength. It was only until God called me to Himself again, and said “daughter, come back to me” in undeniable ways that I began to embrace His love again. I remember going to church for the first time at school, and the pastor preached about the prodigal son.

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:18-20 ESV

As I thought more about this idea I realized God, who is represented by the father in this parable, is always in search of us, because even though we sinned, and did wrong, God wants us reconciled to Him even when we do not. In the parable, the father was not only waiting in hope for the son to return, but ran toward him, showing the compassion he had for his son. He was always ready with open arms. It is the evil that took us away that continues to keep us from Him.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Romans 8:7

So God reached out. The truth is, God has been calling us to Him since the beginning, even when we failed. In the garden, He was in search of Adam and Eve, calling out to them:

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ Genesis 3:8-9

God, being all knowing, was aware of their betrayal. And it was certainly betrayal. He had given them everything they could have desired, including a free will to follow and love Him voluntarily, and they rejected that for momentary pleasure. Regardless, God went out in search of them, calling Adam and Eve back to Him.

And the rest of the story, God’s story, follows this way; God, in his endless love, decided to keep calling humankind throughout history. The entire Bible tells of that story. Isaiah is called by God and sent.

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I (Isaiah) said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8

Over and over again He proved His boundless love to His precious creation, calling them back to Himself and sending His prophets. Isaiah prophesied of a coming Messiah, one who would take away our sin and our guilt, and bring us back to Him. Who is this Messiah? He is Jesus, God in the flesh. God’s ultimate call to us was when he laid down His life for us on a cross, on a hill, for all to see. In this way he “drew all people to himself,” (John 12:32).

And He did. The moment that Jesus died the veil in the Jewish temple was ripped in half. This holds more meaning when you realize two things. One, this veil was more like a large curtain, about 60 feet long and 4 inches thick. It was certainly no accident. And more importantly, this veil was the separation between where the Jewish people could worship in the temple, and where the glory of God resided. The miraculous splitting of this veil meant there didn't have to be a separation anymore. God called His people back, to freely be with Him.

And three days later Jesus appears again in a garden, alive again. This time, his disciple Mary is sitting crying, supposing she has lost Him.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” John 20:15-16

God is still calling. He is most certainly calling you. The Word of God promises this, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

If you only turned and listened he would say,

I have called you by name, you are mine. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:1,5-7

Your value is so much greater than what you have done, how people perceive you, how you have been treated, and how you have been hurt. Because your worth is defined solely by the fact that your creator who instilled his very image in you and loves you, with a love that is impossible to describe with words. His love goes beyond whatever keeps us from Him. He reaches across. The promise of the gospel is that we who have rejected God have the opportunity to be reconciled to Him in spite of the seemingly impossible barriers. Beyond the brokenness there is a God that calls out beyond the tangled vines and thorns and says…

“Daughter, come back to me.”

There At The Start

by Victoria Jang

Many know how the story goes. Adam and Eve disobeyed God; they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and now knew that they were naked. Shame and fear entered their lives. God, being a holy and just creator, could not ignore the situation and carry on as though nothing had happened. Thus, the serpent was cursed, and Adam and Eve were banished from the direct and unfiltered presence of God.

“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19 ESV)

There is, however, a crucial detail here that must not be missed. Right as they were being exiled from the garden of Eden, “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). This last act of God’s direct provision is significant on many levels.

On the surface-level, it was God’s provision for Adam and Eve’s physical bodies, now about to be subjected to the harshness of the wilderness outside the garden. The garments of skin, much more reliable and sturdy than the fig-leave-loin-clothsituation that Adam and Eve put together for themselves, was God’s gift of protection. The garments of skin would protect them from the heat of the day and warm them in the cool of the night, a token of God’s ever-present care for His creation’s wellbeing and safety despite their disobedience. Even as Adam and Eve turned away from their creator, God continued to provide for them, better than they could provide for themselves.

On a different level, by making for Adam and Eve garments of skins, God was acknowledging a new reality that sin had brought into the world. Previously, before the relationship between God and His creation was marred by sin, there was no need for covering of the body or any form of work or possession; God’s direct presence and provision in the garden were sufficient to fully sustain the entire creation order, humans included. However, now that the relationship was severed by sin, the same system of intimacy was no longer possible. Despite this, God continued to look after His people in new ways, providing for their new needs, staying faithful through change. In our volatility, through all of our inconsistency, God remains the same, “yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Lastly, the garments of skin were an expression of God’s sacrificial love for His people, foreshadowing the coming of Jesus from the very start. An animal was needed to make the garments of skin; an animal needed to be sacrificed in order to make the garments. Thus, God’s reaction to our sin, from the very beginning, has been sacrificial love. Before Cain or Abel or any other human being could bring a sacrificial offering to God, our Lord was the first to sacrifice an animal to offer us protection.

But, of course, garments of skin, sturdy as they are, cannot provide eternal protection. Over time they wear and they tear, requiring replacements. Does that mean that God’s provision and love for us do the same? Not at all. The garments of skin gifted to Adam and Eve were but a shadow, only a glimpse of God’s redemptive plan for His creation.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

"But God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)

The ultimate sacrifice, the pinnacle of God’s redemptive love for us came in the form of Jesus Christ. He took our place and was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, so that by his wounds we could be healed (Isaiah 53:5). The first sacrifice was a temporary fix, a palliative only aiding the physical body; the final sacrifice is an everlasting reconciliation, a cure not just for the body but for our souls. Christ has secured for us an eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12), finishing what we could never even begin to do. He has now taken off our dirty, worn, and torn ways of dealing with our fallenness before God and clothed us with his own righteousness.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10a)

In our disobedience, Christ came in full obedience, sacrificing himself for our redemption. In our rebellion, Christ came in perfect submission, not withholding anything to get us back. This is what all of creation has been groaning for since day one (Romans 8:22); this is what God’s deepest longing has been since the moment He caught our scared eyes hiding in the bushes. Ages and ages have all led to this. Just to win us back, just to bring us back into His arms.

From the very beginning, God has been love. There at the start was already sacrifice, grace, and mercy for us. That is who God has been, and that is who He will be forevermore. If His love has persisted through all space, all time, all history, then surely it will not tire of chasing after your soul. If He did not spare even His own son but gave him up to save you, then what more could He desire but to have your heart.

Living Our Best Lives

by Josiah Langworthy

(Genesis 2:16-17 ESV, 3, 4:1-16)

In our current society, we have reached a point of decadence. We no longer have the urgent concern for our most basic needs to be met; instead, we have the liberty to pursue personal pleasures and our own immediate gratification. With the liberty of choice, we have moved beyond simply what we need to the broad question of, “What do I prefer?” We have moved from the question of what helps preserve our lives to what helps enrich our lives. In our freedom to pursue a host of available possibilities, we are asking what it means to live our “best lives”. This pursuit is ultimately only possible in accordance with God’s will. The pursuit of our best life is not unique to our generation. It dates back as far as Genesis 3, immediately following creation. At the time, everything was created good and was stated to be good by God Himself. Humanity was given dominion over the Earth and lived in fellowship with God. Sin and death didn’t yet exist. Adam and Eve were given the freedom to pursue anything they desired. God gave them one single rule. They were not to eat the fruit from one particular tree. Despite the fact that they only had one rule to follow, they inevitably failed.

Initially, their actions may not make any sense to us. They were literally given the world and had none of the afflictions that now hinder us. With authority over a world unpolluted by the curse of sin and God’s permission and even encouragement to develop and create, they had the freedom of an incredible scope of possibilities that they could pursue. How could they possibly disobey their only simple instruction? Upon further evaluation, it is the same trend as man’s current relationship with God. Adam and Eve were content with their role in creation until God’s command was phrased differently. The serpent promised them that eating from the tree would grant them special information that would greatly enrich their lives. Furthermore, this was information that God was hiding from them. He told them that if they ate, they would become like God. The act of defiance that they thought would effectively liberate humanity is what enslaved us. Ultimately, by acting outside God’s will, they incurred all the hardship that we now experience in the world.

After the fall of Man, the pattern of rebellion against God to our own detriment continued without missing a generation. In the first passage in Genesis following Adam and Eve’s exile from Eden, the narrative shifts to their sons. As they grow up, they both offer sacrifices to the Lord. Abel brings a costly gift to God while Cain does not. Their respective heart attitudes are reflected both in their offerings and in God’s response. Cain did not respond well to God’s regard for his brother’s offering over his own. At this point, God speaks to Cain directly. He warns Cain about his anger and tells him that he can be accepted the same way his brother was. Cain ignored God’s instruction and killed his brother in the very next verse. After murdering Abel, Cain showed no remorse for his crime, only self-pity for the punishment he received. Even though God knew the extent of the evil in Cain’s heart and the sin he was capable of, He told him that there is still hope and charged him to improve. Cain’s fate was entirely avoidable. He had the same opportunities as his brother and God went as far as to reach out to Cain directly to give him a verbal warning when Cain was at risk of making a major mistake. Cain disregarded God’s warning and chose to pursue his own desires thinking that he knew better. Like Cain and Abel, we are born into the inheritance of a sinful nature and a life in a broken world. We have the same disdain for God’s law and a suspicion of His intentions toward us. We often consider His commands to be restrictive of our freedoms and limiting our true potential. We question the intent behind God’s law and conclude that His instructions are either arbitrary or else directly harmful to us.

To truly realize our “best lives”, we need to take the created order into account. God created material existence with a certain natural order. The Genesis 1 account of Creation describes the development of various forms of life and specifies that each was made “according to its kind”. God created all varieties of life forms with distinct characteristics. While a broad spectrum of variety exists within the world we know, there is an observable natural phenomenon of design. God’s vision for Mankind in Genesis 1:28 reflects this sense of order in His directive: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” We are told that we live in a world of order and that we are given authority over it.

The thought of a position of authority and a charge to manage the earth can certainly be a daunting one. Fortunately, we are not left in the dark. God’s instructions provide us with a guide for how to best interact with His creation. His Sabbath commands, for example, allow us to optimally interact with creation. A day of rest gives both our bodies and spirits a necessary respite which prepares us for the cycle to begin again. This rhythm of life was modeled by God in creation, by Jesus in His life, and should be followed by us today. Though it may seem like ceasing productive activity would prevent us from reaching our potential, rest actually allows us to be more productive, more connected with our brothers and sisters, and more prepared for what the new week will bring. Jesus makes this point in Mark 2:27. In the context of the passage, a group of Pharisees was criticizing His disciples for eating bits of grain off the plants as they were walking through a field on a Sabbath. In their elaboration on Mosaic law, the Pharisees had dramatically expanded the restrictions that the Sabbath conveyed on work to include many minuscule tasks such as picking bits of grain while passing by. Jesus reminded them of the intent of the original command when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus pointed out to them that the purpose of the Sabbath command was for Man’s benefit.

In the same manner as our predecessors, we are inclined to be skeptical of the idea of taking instruction from God. We either doubt His intentions or the reliability of His ideas. We suspect that they are antagonistic toward us or else simply outdated. Our history, however, suggests otherwise. Through repeated trial and error, we have found His commands to be beneficial. Furthermore, an eternal and omniscient being would have a comprehensive understanding of how best to interact with His own creation. In order to truly live our best lives, we need to reconcile with the directives of the One who created the natural order.

Joy, Pain And The 'Messy Middle'

by Alexander J. Kaye 

As we have studied Creation at the Joseph and Alice McKeen Study Center this year, God has put a few things in my heart. The first of which is joy, derived from the salvation from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. The second is pain, which we all feel as we travel through this broken world. The third is our awkward, transitory position on this earth – which, to borrow a term mentioned in Bible Study, I will call the ‘messy middle’ – and what we should be feeling, doing, and thinking in the years that we have now after being saved. Each of these three ideas is related to Creation.

Joy

Joy is a fundamental idea in Christianity but where does this joy come from? It comes as a result of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ upon the cross around two thousand years ago and his subsequent resurrection and what that means for those who believe in it. In the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul writes “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 ESV). Joy, I think, comes from being “saved” – but what are we being saved from? “But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25), for God has saved us from this desperate condition and justified us before Himself through the shedding of Christ’s blood. Through the sacrifice of he "without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), God’s just wrath has been satisfied on the cross. Those who believe in this and repent of their sins have “passed over from death to life” (John 5:24), thanks to Christ who is "the life” (John 14:6). In the place of hostility, we have been granted peace and reconciliation with God through Christ who is “our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). We who were alienated have been brought into His fold and have reached atonement (etymologically, at + onement) with God. We who were slaves of the devil have been redeemed (from the Latin, re + emo, roughly meaning ‘buy back’) to dwell with Him, our God and Maker. Satan, the accuser, quite rightly has a lot to accuse us for before God. Yet thanks to Jesus Christ, we have been justified and have been forgiven for all our sins. This is a cause for joy, and this is what is meant by salvation. The Bible tells us that ever since Adam and Eve sinned and ate of the Tree of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden and disobeyed God, humanity has been hostile to God. From that moment onward, we became “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (Colossians 1:21) and became “of [our] father the devil” (John 8:44)

“All have sinned” (Romans 3:23), Paul writes, and if we are being honest with ourselves, we all commit acts that fill us with guilt and selfloathing and that our contrary to God’s desires for His creatures. The eating of the fruit meant that we entered into a spiritual death and a “domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:13) and lost the unbridled access and fellowship we had with God in the pre-fall world.

“But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25), for God has saved us from this desperate condition and justified us before Himself through the shedding of Christ’s blood. Through the sacrifice of he "without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), God’s just wrath has been satisfied on the cross. Those who believe in this and repent of their sins have “passed over from death to life” (John 5:24), thanks to Christ who is "the life” (John 14:6). In the place of hostility, we have been granted peace and reconciliation with God through Christ who is “our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). We who were alienated have been brought into His fold and have reached atonement (etymologically, at + onement) with God. We who were slaves of the devil have been redeemed (from the Latin, re + emo, roughly meaning ‘buy back’) to dwell with Him, our God and Maker. Satan, the accuser, quite rightly has a lot to accuse us for before God. Yet thanks to Jesus Christ, we have been justified and have been forgiven for all our sins. This is a cause for joy, and this is what is meant by salvation.

Pain

But are Christians meant to be in a state of constant bubbly ecstasy because of the joy derived from salvation? Probably not. The reality is that we feel pain in this world. We feel pain when we see brokenness in people we love, the relationships we cherish, the world at large and even in ourselves. Paul writes that “in this tent, we groan” (2 Corinthians 5:4) and indeed we groan often and shed tears, knowing that this world of suffering and injustice is not how God intended it to be. Genesis offers an explanation for the origins of pain. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, pain and suffering were introduced into the world. God says to Eve, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing [emphasis mine]” and to Adam, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life [emphasis mine]” (Genesis 3:16- 17). Apart from the spiritual death and corruption of the pre-fall order that took place, a physical death would also eventually take place. The reality is that we live in a fallen world where pain exists, and this does not change after we are saved. Christ himself says, “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33) and for evidence we need only look at the lives and fates of apostles such as Paul and Peter and indeed our own lives. The question then becomes: how are we to live in and think about this ‘messy middle’, as we navigate this fallen world as saved people?

‘Messy Middle’

Though there is much to say about how a Christian ought to live in this world, a fundamental idea that I have dwelt upon this year is that of hope. Let me explain. An idea that I have neglected or hadn’t appreciated fully until recently is that when Christ rose from the dead, he conquered death. Christ, in the Book of Revelation says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18). The death of death means that we have hope after our mortal coil expires and can hope for eternal life. When Christ returns to earth, a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1) is promised. In it, God “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). In these verses I have found hope and encouragement. In this ‘messy middle’ – between salvation and the Second Coming – where our flesh groans for the perfection to come, we have joy in reconciliation and hope in the New Creation.

Who Will Show Us The Good At The Beginning Of All Things?

by Rob and Sim Gregory 

The Study Center Perspective

The current year marks the beginning of our 17th year working with students at Bowdoin College, and the 9th year serving these Bowdoin students at the Joseph and Alice McKeen Study Center. The 2022-2023 edition of the Agathos Journal is also the 9th publication of Bowdoin student and Bowdoin community essays reflecting on our weekly study, prayer and devotions on a yearly theme. The theme this year is our creation beginnings.

Our contribution to the journal each year is to reflect on the larger theme of the four-year cycle of first things, middle things, last things, and all things; our way of referring to the simple outline for the Christian ministry at Bowdoin College. We adopted this approach in 2014 when the on-campus ministry relocated across the street to a duplex near the edge of campus, affiliated as a member Study Center with the Coalition of Christian Study Centers. As directors of this Study Center, our mission is to help these students develop an increasing awareness of the coordinates of our earthly existence (the Self, World and Time –Oliver O’Donovan (2014)) that guide their human agency. These include of course the possibilities, the failures as well as the present imperatives to act “while it is still day” according to the faith of Christian teaching and practices. These three temporal horizons of beginning, middle, and end of life are the focus of Jesus’ teaching to his young disciples over a period of ministry similar to the time given to us in the four-year cycle of the student’s life on campus. We accept those horizons as the norm for our program of scripture reading and study during the short season we are with these students during their liminal years. The Beginning as a Very Good Place to Start For the academic year 2022-2023, we take on for the third time questions of creation beginnings. During the first semester our focus was entirely on developing an understanding of the givenness of the order of creation. We began the semester with the early church creeds which assumed the Lord God maker of Heaven and Earth as a creedal confession prerequisite to admission into the church life. The early Christians acknowledged the fact of creation as an article of faith. Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (ESV) The foundational creeds put forth creation as a self-evident truth (you know this) and we draw confidence from that position that we may move ahead with a year spent reading the scriptures to understand creation without apologetic attempts to prove what cannot be proven. You know this!

The Apostles Creed begins, I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and Earth; and the Nicene Creed begins with the words, We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

The faith premise of Christianity rests on beliefs in the God who is the maker of Heaven and Earth. Against these Christian presuppositions, the college student today must expect the scoffers and critics predicted by the apostle Peter, writing in his second letter to the early church, who will deliberately overlook and deny the creation event, and their creatureliness. 2 Peter 3:5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, (ESV).

We then examined the New Testament emphasis on New Creation. The scriptures paradoxically offer special insights about the beginnings at the end in the Book of Revelation and the new heaven, the new earth and a new garden that point to the fulfillment of the promise of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1. Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (ESV) and Revelation 22.1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. The apostle John, writing from the island of Patmos, would go on to say the words he was writing were trustworthy and true, that the God who makes all things new is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Revelation 21. 5-6. It turns out that the end is also a very good place to start.

The premise behind our 4-year catechism for students that opens with “creation beginnings” is that there is on the side of the Christian faith, a deliberate confessional commitment to what we know to be the truth of human origins. We did not make ourselves. We arrived at the moment of our birth in a well-ordered universe. Firstyear students at this highly selective American college undertake a course load that assumes in every academic field that there is an order to be known. That order was there before they arrived and will be there when they leave. Across the street from the Academy in this modest Study Center we assume without apologetic proof that that same ordered universe which students study in their courses at Bowdoin is also a morally ordered universe. These twin assumptions imply that a knowledge of the Creator is essential to understanding our experience of the world in both its order and its disorders. The possibility of shaping moral beliefs about how to live within that world inescapably raises questions about the account we give for our time within it. Hebrews 4.13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. The Gospel of Jesus Christ transmitted it to us is good news that God is vindicating and standing by the world He made in Jesus Christ of Nazareth who is also the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of all that is made. On the side of human experience, we are the creatures, the redeemed and those sustained by the providential hand of the Ruler of all nations.

Creation, History and Necessity

The balance of the first semester focused on the nature of the world God made with a particular focus on its goodness. We postponed entirely to the second semester our inquiry into the narrative of human sin; the misadventures and failures of the opportunities to live in a world that is the primordial good gift to be received, where all the good we could know comes from God, and all that God created was good. We looked at God's order of creation that brought the apostle John to tears in the Revelation when he learned from an angelic voice that there were matters that must take place. These are the necessities of human history that point both to order and disorder, and John saw no one in his vision worthy to open the scroll that makes these things intelligible. The Bowdoin student’s academic investigations of the aspects of that world given them to study will reveal to them its good order, and delightfully tell them something about its Maker and our Maker. The longer historic narrative of scripture informs them, however, that God has not only ordered the world in its structure and design with purpose and meaning, but he exercises his providential rule over that world understood as history. The God who made the world is the same God who governs its operations, and neither of these two are clear to us.

At this Study Center we believe that students can benefit from the angel's words to John that dried his tears with a promise of intelligibility about all of the necessities of our creatureliness, both those that are ordered in the nature of things, and those which God orders providentially for his purposes to bless his creation. Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals (ESV). As the students deepen their convictions about a world created to be inhabited and ordered physically and materially to be known for that purpose, the more they come to appreciate the God who governs that contested space. Psalm 2.1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed. (ESV)

Prayers and Creation Psalms

During the course of the summer and continuing into the semester our student leaders conducted regular Thursday evening prayer times centering on the many Psalms of the scriptures that point to God's purpose in creation, reminding us that the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19. 1. We explored together the question of how much of God's purposes for human life are generally revealed in the creation and how much we are dependent on the specially revealed perfect law of the Lord that revives the soul (19.7). The creation of God is rich with content to tell us how we are to live within it.

Elohim the God of Creation and Yahweh the God of Redemption

After a few weeks walking our way backwards through the scriptures and observing the way the Old Testament writers identified the God of creation (Elohim) as the same God who would redeem a people for himself as their covenant Redeemer (Yahweh) we read extended portions of Isaiah's prophecies from chapter 39 through 45 that left no doubt that the God who was in control of the history of Israel was the God who made them. Thus says God the Lord who created the heavens and stretch them out, who spread out the Earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.... Isaiah 42. 5 - 6.

Genesis 1 – The Good of the Beginning

We concluded the semester examining Genesis 1 and 2. Our focus primarily was to examine the question of the good. It is not self-evident these days what is good if we experience good only idiosyncratically as our subjective preference. The scriptures challenge that cultural presupposition. From the very beginning in Genesis 1, God controls the territory that identifies the good. Paul writes to Timothy in 1st Timothy 4.4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

But who can say what is good? Who will arbitrate competing claims to the good? The questions are at once theological and political. The Psalmist acknowledges this broader public anxiety about who and how we might adjust among competing creation-ordered common goods. Psalms 4:6 There are many who say, Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD! (ESV). We were particularly challenged by a reading of Psalm 119. 65 through 71 to learn about the many ways that we experience the good subjectively, formally, and as a divine command from the Creator who mediates the good to us by the one who is good and does good and teaches us through structures of commands to be obeyed. Psalms 119:68 You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. (ESV) The world that is before the college student to know as good is the world that presupposes in that goodness commands and demands to be obeyed. The Psalmist exclaims the Heavens pours forth speech (Psalm 19.1) and that creation speech is both descriptive of the world and prescriptive about our life within it.

Male and Female, He Created Them – In the Beginning

We closed out the first semester with 5 weeks studying the order of creation as it relates to male and female, the dimorphic structure of human life endorsed throughout the scriptures and by the moral teachings of the early church. We observed how the moral codes of the New Testament teaching the church about what it means to be male and what it means to be female, and about the creation ordered structure of marriage was not reacting to the fall of mankind of Genesis 3. Rather, the texts that we examined from Matthew 19 (Jesus teaching), 1 Corinthians chapters 6 and 11, 1st Timothy chapter 2, 1st Peter chapter 2 and Ephesians chapter 5 were a New Testament discourse on the goodness of Genesis 1 and 2. These New Testament moral guides to life as male and female look to the creation before the fall in Eden, thus grounding the moral life in the creation structures of life.

Questions of Creation Beginnings, Sin and Evil

At the time of writing this article we are about to turn the page at the Study Center to begin to review questions of human sin and its origins. We will explore how evil has only a secondary reality, some have called it a quasi-reality, that only appears as a negation of God's good in the order of creation and of God's good in the providential direction and governance of all that he made. Our hope is to end the semester with a clearer understanding of how our readings from the first semester and the readings of the second semester address that question of Psalm 4: Who will show us the good? We urge our students at the Study Center to be careful about our words. We hope that these students will not think about the good in casual speech without reflecting back on the way God has shown us the good. In a similar way, we ask the students to think about who they are as male and female, created in the image of God, and to try to make the effort to discourse on this question using the same words which scripture offers to us to understand both the structure and the purpose behind it. What God made male and female, endorsed throughout the scripture as the normative shape of our humanity - by Jesus and by the apostolic witness in the New Testament - is the exclusive framework for a Christian understanding of masculinity, femininity, marriage, divorce, and sexual immorality. These same words shape our understanding of it!

Biblical words about male and female run through virtually every page of the scripture and cannot be maintained (and never could it seem) without confronting earthly powers with different answers to the question, who will show us the good. From the perspective of the Biblical prophets, we must assume that these kingdoms, powers and authorities will assume that they, and not the church, possess that privilege exclusively and against all rivals. For that reason, these studies are made available at the Study Center where they cannot be held at other venues at this campus. Such is the nature of the proclamation of the Christian gospel in increasingly contested spaces.

In spite of this, it remains our joy and privilege to help students at Bowdoin College prepare for life in the church when we see them off at the end of their four-year sojourn among the tall pines of Brunswick, Maine.

The Simple Faith

by Patrick Kingston

For the past few years, I’ve been thinking a lot about the faith. It’s been a journey through the entire realm of Christianity and has lately landed on the question of converting to Orthodoxy. It all began by looking at the origins of my faith. I went to an Adventist preschool, a Methodist church in elementary school, and a Southern Baptist one since middle school. All my life I have been involved in Christianity in some way, but being raised in the church bred a particular kind of indifference and sometimes even resentment towards it. When I was little and had questions about things like evolution and the Big Bang and space and many scientific theories that seemed to contradict the dogma of the church I went to, I received simple answers that were both philosophically and scientifically inadequate. My salvation experience was a summer camp conversion where the fervor of the room led me to come to the front to say a short prayer with someone. When I was older I looked back on the experience and felt manipulated. I was 8. I didn’t know what I was doing and was manipulated by the exact same light and sounds you find at a secular concert.

At some point along the way it seemed as though I had just stopped believing full stop. But, I still had family commitments so I still had to go to church. If something is all you’ve ever known, it’s easy to just go through the motions. I’m reminded of the parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9). God came to me when I was born, when I was being taught, and when I was becoming an adult and all the while, I bore no fruit. In God’s vineyard of souls, I was the fig tree to be struck down. But, just as Moses advocated for Israel when God wished to burn the nation to the ground, Jesus advocated for me and saved me.

I spent many years simply acting Christian, just existing in the vineyard. But, in my Sophomore year of highschool I began to reinvestigate Christianity. I decided that I had to look at the origins of the faith. All throughout my life I had been Protestant, but knowing history I knew that there were things before any Protestant denomination. I had to go all the way back to the beginning. I began before even Sola Scriptura – the founding principle that I had been force fed my entire life. I started off with two  simple questions:  Can I trust the bible at all? As well as: What even is the Bible? After all, if I am to believe that scripture alone is what I need, I ought to know that I can trust it in the first place. Growing up largely southern Baptist gave me an intense reverence for the Bible, an intense dislike of “man made traditions,” a complete lack of understanding of the doctrines of other Christian traditions, and an intense lack of understanding of what the Bible was and where it came from.

And so I learned about manuscript studies, historical manuscript families, the Greek language, dating techniques, copying techniques, and much much more. Beyond just the manuscripts for the texts we do have, I also learned about the texts that we didn’t have. Some of these texts are held up by conspiracy theorists as books that were “hidden” from us, these are the books that are simply heretical or dismissed as anachronistic and pseudepigraphal. Others are texts that are simply never heard of because they have been lost to time. Others had simply stopped being read by Christians for one reason or another. I was absolutely enchanted by this world of Biblical studies that I had no clue existed before.

After all, the most I had ever heard about the writing of the Bible was that “Moses wrote some, some old testament people wrote some, the apostles wrote some other stuff, it was translated and now we have the Bible.” This answer always made me deeply unsatisfied, and it was simple explanations like this that my inquisitive younger self always received that made me lose my faith at the slightest resistance. Now that I had found an answer that took into account human authorship, church history, patristic texts, heretical texts, divine authorship, and more that I finally felt as though I could put my doubts in scripture to bed. Once I knew that I could trust the text, I was absolutely hooked. I was so swept up in this flurry of new information that my zeal for Biblical studies seemed to at times overshadow my zeal for Christ.

Now if I had been studying the text of the Bible, this wouldn’t have been a problem because it so obviously points towards Jesus. The problem was that I wasn’t doing that, I was studying the history and compilation apparatus surrounding the text. This phase of my journey did give me some answers to the questions that I had earlier. Can I trust the Bible at all? Yes. What even is the Bible? It’s complicated, but long story short it’s a collection of inspired texts compiled over thousands of years.

This whirlwind of study left me with more questions than answers. For one, I was no longer convinced of Sola Scriptura. Consider two pieces of text. One says “I am inspired by God and I was written by someone who traces their authority back to Jesus.” The other text says, “I am inspired by God and I was written by someone who traces their authority back to Jesus.” They teach similar doctrines, but one has certain things like the flesh being evil and that Jesus didn’t have a physical body. Now imagine dozens of these texts existing. The question then arises: How do we know which texts are actually inspired and which are not?

A cliff notes version of the current understanding of the New Testament is that there were many texts in circulation in the regions that Christianity had spread. By about the second century, the texts that we regard as canonical were all in circulation. However, there were several texts that were also circulated along with them. These are texts like the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas, texts that we still have around today. They were so influential that many of the earliest fathers and earliest codices held them to be inspired and of equal authority to the New Testament. Ultimately, the Bishops at the time who lived at the time gathered together at church councils and at the council of Carthage in 397, using the consensus of how these were used in the church they set in stone what we know now as our New testament canon. These texts, while they were eventually recognized to be not divinely inspired, still taught good teachings that could be of some beneficial spiritual use.

Eventually, I began to look into the Bishops who were in the Church councils (and those before them) as well as their writings. This experience became very individualistic for me, as I found myself accepting new doctrines like the role that pre-written and rote prayer could play in my life, the real presence in the Eucharist, and many more doctrines that sacramental churches hold that I had been taught to scorn. On the outside, my day to day life was still very Southern Baptist. I was still going to this church every single Sunday. I was still going to youth group every single Wednesday. I was even playing bass guitar on Wednesday nights, and sometimes even on Sunday mornings for the whole congregation. However, while the Christian walk includes and necessitates a communal relation to others, I internally found myself at odds with my church community concerning doctrines that I held to be so essential. I felt that I was no longer genuinely in the community. This was ultimately a conversion of the head, but not of the heart. I was still the unfruitful fig tree, the lost coin, the prodigal son. I had to continue thinking about the origins of my faith.

I reached a point where I settled the question of scripture, and of where it came from, and continued reading through the writings of the Church Fathers. I discovered that while these people aren’t infallible and can have ideas that are down right heretical, they also held at times the ability to have mind blowing and fruitful interpretations of parables. My favorite example of this is the parable of the barren fig tree, and I’ve already snuck a personalized version of this into the second paragraph. Theophilus of Antioch used the language, “Vineyard of God.” Ephrem the Syrian and Cyril of Alexandria liken the vinedresser to Moses advocating and also to Jesus as the greater Moses. Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose of Milan, and basically every aforementioned writer all compare the three years the owner came to different periods in the Old Testament and the nation of Israel. 

Through reading the Fathers, I was reminded that I wasn’t the first Christian to ever live, nor were the older Christians I lived with. Also, the pastor I had heard from for years was not the only source of spiritual and theological wisdom. I had always been taught that if I had a question, I should just read the Bible and find the answer to it. I was told to only rely on myself and my interpretations of scripture. The Fathers taught me that many of these questions had already been thought through. It was amazing to see that I could look back far into history and see what the earliest post-scripture Christians believed. Theology didn’t begin with me and my tradition. It is an ongoing conversation that stretches all the way back to Jesus.

Even beyond this, in an act of spiritual immaturity, I even began to be skeptical of the modern Christians around me and only trusting the most ancient sources I could find. My thinking at the time was that I ought to trust only the most ancient sources. After all, the further away that you get from the source of something, the more likely it is to be perverted. Nobody today can have theological wisdom, right? How foolish. 

Looking back, it was reading the Church fathers that softened my heart again and let me rediscover the beauty of the Parables and Scripture and such that I felt my heart to be with Jesus again. I felt that I was finally bearing fruit, albeit at a slow pace. In every period of my study, for example, the looming question of Orthodoxy was never, and hasn’t yet, been resolved for me. While I stand still at this crossroads discerning if I ought to be heading east, I feel the pressure that I should still be moving forward in my faith. Recently, I have begun praying daily, and studying scripture when I can, although it can be inconsistent. It has been months since I’ve gone to a formal Sunday morning church service. Instead of praying and getting closer to God, I sometimes spend time in petty theological debates. Instead of going to church on Sundays, the thought that I am excused from doing anything because I’m uncomfortable seeps in even though the fact that I get to sleep in is equally as big a reason. While I am in this situation of choosing where I ought to be Christian, I still need to be one. 

In some ways, instead of this long winding intellectual journey, I wish that I had simply looked to the true origins of my faith. I wish that I had the simple faith of the ones who gave me the faith in the first place. I’m not talking about some obscure Saint Ioanisiasnisiss of Paraclenopolis in the Xth century. I’m talking about my Mom. The one who truly gave me the faith. I wish that I didn’t have these questions arise and simply strove to be holy in my day to day life. I wish that I didn’t let myself rationalize excuses to not go to church. I wish that I had a simpler, more pious faith of the Christian who came before me. For better or for worse, my Mom isn’t bothered by these questions. When there is church, she goes. When there is Bible study, she goes. When it is time to worship, she does. She moves forward. 

I now stand still at my own crossroads. I pray that I, a prodigal son, will have obstacles removed and be able to fully come back home. Further, I pray for discernment to know where my home is on this earth. But, most of all, I pray for the strength to get out of my head and live out the simple faith that I was born with. Amen.

Laboring in the Vineyard

by Juliette Min

Parable of the Vineyard Owner

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Parable of the Unworthy Servant

“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’

The Yoke of Labor and Witness 

As I become a more seasoned Christian, I realize that a steady continuation of spiritual growth involves aligning ourselves to the biblical understanding of labor and witness. What is required of me in my interactions with others — with God, my friendships, my family, and the unbeliever? How do I come to grips with the frustrations that come with witnessing — and continue to labor heartily? The parables of Jesus and further texts from the Gospel books have helped inform the way I answer these questions. 

While at Bowdoin College, wrestling with the hows and whys of witnessing well in a college with a tense history with Christian students comprised much of my faith journey. Years of walking into classes and social spaces where Christianity was disfavored led me to see and believe that the cultural tide in liberal arts schools was moving away from God’s truths, which lead to a full, flourishing, and abundant life. Additionally, learning how to live out my deepened Christian faith back in my hometown proved to be difficult as I realized that my new faith-directed life was confronting and creating some deep-seated discomfort in my closest relationships. In these moments of discouragement, from the social and potential academic cost associated with siding with Jesus in classroom settings, and fear, of sitting in the tensions that Jesus invites us into in my hometown, I have come to discover that the Parable of the Vineyard Owner strangely was a source of much encouragement to me.

In the parable, a master of a house goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with some laborers on working for a denarius a day, he sends them out into the vineyard. While those laborers work diligently, the master goes out into the marketplace in the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and finally the eleventh hour to hire other laborers. After all the laborers finish working, the owner of the vineyard called his foreman to pay the laborers each a denarius, beginning with the ones who came last to the ones who came first. 

When the laborers who came first grumble about receiving the same payment as those who have worked only one hour, the master states, “I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:13-16 ESV). 

The First Laborers

Biblical scholars can see this parable in Matthew 20 as a response to Peter’s question to Jesus in the previous chapter, asking “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” and further relating to the mother’s request in the same chapter, which asks, “say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus is surrounded by disciples who think that their service to Him earns them “extra reward” like the laborers who came first to the vineyard. At first glance, these requests for a greater reward given his additional work seems fair —Peter, James, and John are disciples of Jesus’ inner circle, and they gave up much and suffered greatly for the kingdom of God.  In responding so differently, I surmise that perhaps Jesus’ vision of His Kingdom — and the labor required in it — are not defined by our worldly standards. Could His vision be better?

Jesus’ response is revealing to the way we should approach laboring for God’s Kingdom. Jesus responds, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” This response is similar to that of the vineyard owner, who states “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” 

The question isn’t how long we have served, in what manner, in what position, and to what effect, but rather whether we have served in the capacity God has ordained for us. Each of us is called by God in the manner and timing that best suits the vision God has for our lives and for humanity— we only align ourselves to it, knowing we are all equally unworthy of that gift. When we live for the kingdom of God, perhaps we are required to go the extra mile as these disciples did, but additionally cannot expect brownie points for doing so. 

Reading this parable today as a senior at Bowdoin, I can see myself as one of the early vineyard laborers, having stayed at the study center for a few more years than the first years joining us this year. This parable humbles me and exhorts me as I finish my race here, that my responsibility is to labor to the fullest extent that God has enabled me to and tell myself at the end of the day that I did what was my duty.

The Laborers to Come

Yet there is more to the Parable of the Vineyard Owner that can challenge and inspire us. At the study center, students considered whether the last laborers to be chosen by the master held particular qualities beyond laziness and lack of grit that led them to be chosen last. Could it be that the last laborers had been waiting and hoping to be chosen since the early morning — at the same time as the first laborers? Could it be that these workers waited all day, to discover that nobody thought they were worth their while? Could it be, that these workers represent — and are — the weak and the disabled and the marginal? Maybe these last workers are the workers who, despite their willingness to, would not have lasted longer than an hour in the vineyard because they were so weak in their bones and abilities. How would reframing the way we see these last workers change the way the parables inform our Christian life? How would it reframe the way we see the generosity of the master? At the same time, perhaps we are required to think this way of characters like these every time. 

When I consider how the master of the vineyard came to the marketplace every few hours to look for more workers, I wonder whether he looked upon each new worker fully knowing their strengths and weaknesses — and perfectly timed their hiring hours such that their labor would not be harder than they could bear. The master, who is like God, is kind and compassionate enough that he would provide for each of the laborers in this way — by giving them an opportunity to work when they could and in the way that they could. 

This parable helps me acknowledge that there are many who ran the race long before me. Because of their labor, I am here. I am thankful that God brought me to Him and to work for His Kingdom here at Bowdoin in his perfect timing. And as a student often discouraged by the hostility to the Christian message that I see at Bowdoin, in my hometown, and beyond, this message encourages me, because it teaches me that God calls each of us to labor in His divinely appointed time, to work the length and amount that they can according to their unique circumstances and abilities. This gives me hope that maybe the student who criticizes Christianity in my class today could be working in the fields with me tomorrow and that the close friend who I am in tension with over the Gospel would be chosen the next day. 

Can the love of my neighbor and my longing to be in spiritual communion and fellowship with them additionally fuel my inclination to work? I think it should. We can think of our labor as bringing forth the people who are closest to us — hastening the kingdom we so long for. Thus, if the first laborers reframe the way they see the other laborers, they might work so that after the hours have passed, the other laborers who, due to their unique stories and circumstances could not work earlier, could finally arrive and work too. Likewise, maybe while we are chosen to run this race, we should also do so faithfully with all that we have knowing that our labor is hastening those who are not yet suited to come and work now can come sooner. Our stories are connected — and they are being written by a God who knows each of us intimately and deeply. 

It is amazing and hopeful to believe that the people around me who I once doubted would be a part of God’s kingdom may be those who end up helping us clear the rest of the vineyard one day. But what is even more comforting is that as I work, the master is bringing more people under his wing to work and receive the denarius. I need not fret about working beyond what is allotted to me or be anxious about the work that has yet to come. He will call the right people, at the right time, who will join me in this labor. It is a dependable thing to know what my job is, and to know that despite my work being confined to a small subsection of a wide vineyard, God is bringing in more people to harvest the field.

The Denarius

Finally, the Parable of the Vineyard Owner encourages me in one final way. The denarius, which is the wage that each of the laborers earned, was a day’s worth of sustenance back in Jesus’ day. It is amazing that no matter what hour the laborer came in or how much they worked compared to others, the master rewarded only exactly enough sustenance for one day for the labor he assigned them. Those who worked very little compared to others still received enough to sustain them for one day, and those who worked much compared to others still received just enough to do the same. In God’s Kingdom, there is no saving up and there is no retirement. There is no excess; there also isn’t scarcity. The payment of a day’s labor being only sustenance for one day requires that each day is dedicated to living our lives in alignment with God and His Word. And yet, this sustenance is never lacking — it is always enough. 

This parable, like the Parable of the Unworthy Servant, humbles me and exhorts me as I live the Christian life. Like the servant who plowed and kept sheep all day and came home not to recline at the table but to prepare supper, dress his master, and serve him while he ate, I am taught that I should also be inclined to what is required of me and more. I should love more and give more, only to tell myself at the end of the day that I am an unworthy servant, and that I have only done what was my duty. I should do so with an excited and hopeful heart that my labor would not be in vain, that laborers would soon come to join me, and that my God will sustain me to the end.

Abundant Blessings: Thoughts on Discipleship and the Christian Life

by Alexander Kaye

The Lord is blessing me abundantly. 

 He has filled in what was hollow and gave rest to what was restless. 

He let me know who I am and whose I am. 

Through these beautiful workings, He has made Himself manifest. 

Through these things I feel His presence.

Through His amazing provisions He has made me His.

 The Christian life is to share this joy and to strive to be like Him in all that we do.  

Though it is no easy undertaking, we know He will be with us and is working through us. 

Lord, I pray that we anchor ourselves in you. 

That every decision we make is a Biblical decision. 

That in everything we do we strive to reflect you. 

We thank you for your love, your unutterable love. 

As I waited for the car that would take us to church on my first weekend at Bowdoin, some nervous thoughts darted across my mind. My reputation would be thoroughly “Christianified,” I thought to myself; The first thing people will know about me is that I am a Christian, I lamented, as I noticed curious glances directed towards us. It was a public declaration of faith that I was not used to and it made me uncomfortable.  

Back in Tokyo, where my home is, my faith was quite a private one. I went to church on Sundays, but in some ways I was like the figures depicted in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America who on “the seventh day of each week” enter into a “brief” moment of “meditation” and “repose.” In the days prior to and after the seventh, I was “agitated,” “restive,” and “active” with my worldly life. Perhaps doing slightly better than that, I prayed often but had many idols (earthly distractions) and my life was not as Christ-centred as it is now.  

When I reflect on it, however, being seen waiting for a car on Sunday mornings should not be the only declaration that we are Christians. There is an “aroma” (2 Cornthians 2:15-17 NIV) that comes with being a Christian and a radiance (Psalm 34:5 NIV) that cannot be ignored. It can be discomforting for those witnessing it and it can be uncomfortable for those emanating it, too. Christians are moths that gravitate towards the lamp that is the Word of God while the rest of the world shy away from that light. And the message is clear: we are compelled by God as Christians to be the light in this world; and taking on this discipleship is difficult. 

Indeed, approaching the light is not an immediately attractive option either. We have to leave the glittering world behind: 

“He [Christ] told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. (Luke 10:2- 4 NIV) 

We cannot “say goodbye to [our] family” (Luke 9:61 NIV) and we have no amenities or accommodations. This is not something we would ordinarily take up with open arms. Furthermore, discipleship is not a choice that we have, it’s an order. “Go!” Christ says and go we must. While spreading the good news is a natural deed for Christians, we cannot pretend that it is always easy. 

That said, though hard is the way, even harder are the consequences of not doing this. Though the difficulty is great, greater is the joy that we anticipate. Furthermore, though discipleship sounds difficult and indeed impossible, “with God all things are possible” (Mathew 19:26 NIV).  This is the point to be remembered: we cannot do anything by relying on ourselves. We must cling to God always and realise that it is only with God’s help and love that we can live the Christian life of discipleship. 

And indeed there is beauty in the struggle of discipleship. Though Christ himself uses the imagery of “war” (Luke 14:31 NIV) to describe discipleship, it must be borne in mind that we are fighting for something beautiful and wonderful.  As Rob, our study center leader, said recently, it is like how men in Ukrainian families leave their families at the border to go back into the thick of the conflict. They are fighting for their country and for a just cause. For Christians, it is similar. As per the old hymn, we are “clad in salvation’s full armour” to “join in the battle for truth.” Though we must make sacrifices, what we are fighting for is immensely beautiful. It is a plentiful “harvest” that we are to reap (Luke 10:2 NIV).  It is joyful. And it is eternal. 

This can also, I think, affect how we talk about our faith with non-believing friends. Instead of the sombre tone of, “If you’re curious, you should come to church,” we can, as Joshua from Bible Study said, invite people enthusiastically. “You should definitely come! It’s a great time!” is much more effective and in fact much more sincere than the former invitation. We should issue invitations far and wide and in joyful acclamation and those whom God has called will surely respond. 

Jesus says “in this world [we] will have trouble,” but “take heart! For I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV). Life is a flicker, a “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14 NIV). 

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV)

Let us, therefore, “store up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven” and let us not fixate on earthly deeds and achievements. Let us always be conscious that we are “citizens of heaven” (Philippians 3:20 NLT). While we are here let us “set [our] minds on things above” (Colossians 3:2 NIV), turn our gazes heavenward and anchor our perspectives on eternity. 

Such thoughts and convictions have grown in me in my time at the Joseph & Alice Mckeen Study Center and while spending time with my Christian brothers and sisters and with God. These certainties mean that I feel less of the embarrassment or fear the judgement that I did when I arrived several months ago and feel more emboldened to declare and live out my faith. 

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35 NIV). As one who has been forgiven much, I strive to love much (Luke 7:47 NIV). It is this indescribable and unfathomable love that we are called to share as Christ’s disciples.  

Lord, I thank you for what you have done to me.

I thank you for working through those around me and working in me.

Lord, I thank you for filling in what was hollow,

For giving rest to what was restless 

And for letting me know who I am and whose I am. 

This is your life not mine. 

So help me glorify you in all that I do. 

Amen

Faith In Jesus Christ

By Espoir Byishimo

If you were to choose one principle to guide you and to abide by for the rest of your life, what would it be? Think deeply about it. 

Ordinarily, we scarcely choose or even think of choosing such a principle. Yet, knowingly, or unknowingly, by many principles we live; principles that influence our thoughts and perceptions, our behaviors, and our decisions. For our own sake, we ought to examine what those principles, or assumptions are and how we have acquired them—for they exert a great deal of influence on our life. 

In this short essay, I write about a principle that you may have to consider. For beside it all other principles fall short. This principle is not a new principle, however. For those who have heard of it, it is a good thing to be reminded, and for those who have not heard of it, it is a good thing to know it. The principle, or truth, I present here is faith in Jesus Christ. 

For faith in Jesus Christ often gets twisted. Some equate it with religiosity. Some profess to have this faith but deny it by their actions. So, it tells very little when opinion polls indicate that the majority of people in a certain country believe in Christianity, for to have Faith in Jesus Christ is not identical to checking a box that you are a Christian. Perhaps if you want to find out what a person really believes, you should analyze that person’s checkbook.  As Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34 ESV). Thus, if you want to know where your heart is, check out your treasure. That is, where do you invest your time, energy, thoughts, or wealth? The underlying reason for misunderstanding faith in Christ is that we, humans, think that we can construct God out of our own imaginations. But truly we cannot, lest we fool  ourselves to be God. So if faith in Christ is not something that we can conjure up out of our own imagination and strength, what is it?  

Well, faith in Christ is initiated by hearing and believing the Word of God: that God is our creator. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and life was the light of men” (John 1: 1- 4).

And that faith is completed by doing God’s work. Merely believing that God exists is not enough. As James wrote, “Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19 ESV) God’s work is to believe in Him and to abide in his Word. Recognize that doing God’s work is inseparable from having faith in Him, but that both faith and work are intertwined. In fact, the ultimate work we are asked of by God is to have faith. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent,” said Jesus. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3: 16-18). 

Faith in Jesus Christ, the Word of God, reorients one’s mind. Simply put, where Faith in Christ is present, a change of mind inevitably follows. And the renewed mind conforms not to the thinking of this world but looks beyond the forms and structures of this world. 

 “For ‘all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’” (1 Peter 1: 24-25)

The renewed mind enables us to focus not on things that will not last, but on things that will last forever, always seeking to please and glorify God. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all else will be added, ”commended Jesus (Matthew 6:33 ESV).  And he gives us power to accomplish that. As Scriptures say, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”(Philippians 2: 13 ESV)

The renewal of mind continues by the continued work of the Holy Spirit and by the feeding upon the Word of God. And this continued work bears good fruits. It makes you love God. It makes you love his creation. And it makes you love the things of God. All other things of this world become of no value, if not of less value. As Paul said,

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3: 7-11).

If and when not sure of where you stand with faith in Jesus Christ or things of God, flee to the Word of God, draw near to Jesus Christ who will speak to you, minister to you, and strengthen you. For He is your creator. And in Him you may receive eternal life. 

Invitation to the Wedding Feast is a Rescue Plan

by Ismerai Ortiz

The hardest questions I’m asked about my faith come from family. I’ve come to understand that when it comes to faith, people ask questions to either pull in or to pull away from God. This binary in questioning doesn’t just apply to people who are not Christians, but also to Christians themselves. Sometimes as Christians, we have times when we ask questions to draw in closer to God, but other times, we just want excuses to pull away. 

When my sister and I were talking about Christianity, she asked me a set of questions that I didn’t know how to answer:

 “If Christians didn’t have the promise of eternal life, would they even be Christian? Doesn’t this just show how humans are so selfish? They’re trying to be good because they know there’s a reward.”

My first instinct was that yes, eternal life is important, but then I asked myself: how important should it be? First, I don’t think that the fact that there is an end to look towards or a reward at the end of our life diminishes the work that we do in this world. Second, I’ve never placed too much importance on eternal life even though I’ve heard about it a million times in sermons and read about it often in the Bible. So what exactly is eternal life?

 “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”.  Jesus says that eternal life is knowing “the only true God, and Jesus Christ,” and to know and to follow Him means to be in His presence. However, this is not just one way, if we know God, then He also knows us, and if we do not know Him, He does not know us.

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, once the door to the marriage feast is shut, it doesn’t open again. The people who were ready went in with the bridegroom, and they are therefore in the presence of the groom, who is Jesus. What does the bridegroom say to the ones who came after the door was shut? “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”. For these virgins that came after, the Lord did not know them, and thus entry into the marriage feast, and entry into eternal life was not allowed.

Knowing this, I think that the RIGHT question to ask is why is eternal life so important to Christianity? In reality, eternal life is inseparable from Christianity. Answering my sister’s question, Christians wouldn’t be Christians if eternal life didn’t exist, because Christianity itself would not exist without the concept of eternal life. Let me explain. If we take this back to the beginning - and I mean the very beginning - we look at Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When the serpent is tempting Eve, the exchange is this: 

“But God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will surely not die…”.

When I was little, I remember reading this verse but thinking, “but Eve didn’t die?” So why did God say that Adam and Eve would die if they ate the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden? Although Adam and Eve didn’t immediately die after eating the fruit, they eventually did die - which could be an answer. Another answer though, would be that the death God was talking about was not physical, but rather a spiritual death. The spiritual death for Adam and Eve was being cast out from the presence of God in the Garden of Eden. Eternal life is the restoration of God’s intended design for us. God’s original design for us is to be next to him, to walk with him, to dwell in His presence forever just as Adam and Eve were meant to be in the Garden of Eden. When we do not know God, or we choose to go away from God, we are choosing death, just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, when we choose to follow and obey Jesus, we choose to know God and His Son, and going back to John 17, we choose eternal life. 

God didn’t create us to be puppets, but rather, He gave us free will and freedom to choose. When we are invited to the marriage feast as the 10 virgins were invited, we are invited to enter into the presence of God forever. Can you imagine saying no to that? So while eternal life is a reward, I consider eternal life not just as a reward, but as a restoration and as a rescue from a life incomplete. A life that does not fulfill our intended purpose and design is a life in which we seek worth and fulfillment in things that are not able to fill or satisfy us. 

Sin will never fulfill us. If sin is doing the things that bring us or lead us away from God, then it only serves to temporarily assuage us, but ultimately we are left feeling more empty than ever, because we are straying so far from our intended purpose. In this world, we are rescued from being slaves to sin, by entering into the new convenant through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and thus we are able to live with Christ.

Christian Priorities in Luke 14

by Joshua Lin

If you care about God, you will care about the things He cares about. So what are some of the things that God wants us to pay attention to? Thankfully, the life and parables of Jesus are rich with resources to help answer that question. Let us take a look at four lessons Jesus teaches us in Luke 14 at a meal hosted by a Pharisee (an order of Jewish religious elite, some of whom were opposed to Jesus and his teaching).

1. Prioritize the Spirit of God’s commandments (v1-6)

At the start of Luke 14, a man with a lethal condition appears in front of Jesus during the meal on the Sabbath day. Knowing the Sabbath is a designated day of rest, some of Jesus’ religious opponents watch him, waiting to see what he will do. If Jesus does not heal the man, the man would die soon. If Jesus heals the man, he could be implicated for “violating God’s commandment” to honor the Sabbath by refraining from work. 

What does Jesus do? He takes hold of the man, heals him, and then sends him away (v4). 

In healing the man, Jesus showed that God’s intent for the Sabbath goes beyond resting from work. Rather, the Sabbath was fundamentally meant to help preserve rest and life for His people; it was a purposeful commandment based in a relationship between God and the Israelites. Acts such as healing or, as Jesus proposes, saving one’s child or livestock from accidents match the spirit of God’s commandment. This however was in opposition to the legalistic mindset of the Pharisees who were ready to consider healing on the Sabbath a form of forbidden work if that would help their case against Jesus.

Notice that Jesus lays his hands on this man to heal him – Jesus is not fazed by his medical condition. And whether or not this man was a plant from Jesus’ religious opponents, the man is sent away healed.

How do you think about God’s commandments? Do you see the spirit of what God is accomplishing through them? Let us not follow them legalistically for the sake of tradition like the Pharisees here. Let us be intentional about asking God to help us obey His commandments faithfully without relying on our own wisdom. As is said in Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV) The Pharisees’ vision of God had narrowed to focus on what the Sabbath kept from them; rather than the spirit of what God meant it to accomplish for them.

2. Humble Yourself (v7-11)

During the meal, Jesus notices some guests seeking out places of honor at the table. Using a parable, Jesus makes a concise point about humility. Setting up a hypothetical wedding feast scenario, Jesus exhorts the honor-seeking guests to find the lowest seat at the feast first, instead of assuming they belong in a seat of honor. The lesson ends with Jesus concluding that “...everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11 ESV) Jesus contrasts the goodness of a humble attitude with that of a self-honoring one. The one who humbles himself sees himself as no more worthy of honor than can be presumed, and with an active eye towards the interests of others. 

This parable provides a good point of reflection on how well we prioritize humility. It is tough to put others' interests above our own, not to mention, humbling ourselves to take the lowest seat at the table. That said, at the end of the day, we ought to remember that all we have and all we can do is by the grace of God! When in lack of humility, we can learn from  Jesus’ “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 ESV) How amazing is our God; that we need look no further than Him to see humility embodied and the beauty of it all despite the difficulty in achieving it.

3. Do the Unrepayable (v12-14)

Beyond addressing these honor-seeking guests, Jesus also confronts one individual in particular. Jesus had been invited to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee along with other Pharisees. Though Jesus is a guest at this meal; he directly rebukes the host. The host is told to consider who they invite to feasts in light of how they [the host] will ultimately be repaid. Rather than inviting friends who may repay him via similar future feasts, Jesus tells the host to give banquets to the poor and crippled. For though he may not receive repayment in this world, in listening to Jesus, he will surely receive eternal repayment from God in the resurrection. This parable presents a different way for us to think about our motivations and what kind of rewards are truly important. 

But how can we live in a way such that we prioritize receiving repayment from God? It can be tempting to adopt a transactional mode of thinking and living life, doing things only when we can see some concrete benefit in return. Let us remember that these things, while nice, cannot bring lasting satisfaction and ultimately will not be ours to keep after we die. Conversely, while God’s repayment is paid out after we move on from this life, we can trust it will be secure, long-lasting, and ultimately worth it. As we are encouraged elsewhere in the Bible, we can “...lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20 ESV)

4. Accept God’s invitations (v15-24)

After hearing Jesus rebuke the host, a guest jumps into the conversation with a proclamation of “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”. The passage does not say exactly what this guest’s intention was but, given the context, there is a possibility they responded with a general, “feel-good” statement aiming to defuse tension in the room following Jesus' statements to the host on who should have been invited. Regardless, we see that Jesus has another parable lined up to refute the comment made. 

In this parable, those invited to a great banquet excuse themselves from it upon receiving word that the banquet is completely prepared and ready for them to attend. Hearing these excuses, the host brings in many others to enjoy the banquet. Those who were initially invited to the banquet are consequently excluded from it for good by the host. 

Now, how does this parable address the one guest’s statement that “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God”? To be clear, I believe Jesus would agree with such a statement, so then why does Jesus tell this parable? Based on the context of Jesus’ meal with the Pharisees, I believe Jesus wants those around him to know that entry to the kingdom of God may not be as straightforward as they might assume. In the parable, it is precisely the invited who are left out. The Pharisees, in this light, may very well be those invited to the kingdom of God, given their knowledge of the Old Testament and history as the people of God. Still, despite their knowledge, they spurn Jesus and, consequently, the kingdom of heaven. In the end, the kingdom of God ultimately goes to those who were not invited! This is good news for those Gentiles (non-Jews) and those who conventionally may have been thought of as lower in society. Entry to the kingdom of God is for everyone!

Putting the kingdom of God alongside a great banquet, Jesus portrays the kingdom of God as a joyous, abundant celebration. However, despite its jubilant nature, there are still those who are invited and turn down the invitation. The reasons given entail “the necessity to inspect a field that isn’t going anywhere”, “freshly purchased oxen”, and “a wife that has just been wed”. 

The silliness of these excuses to me is comparable to having a friend turn down an invitation to your birthday party because they have just purchased some apples and need to take some time to try one. It is almost as if these tasks are super time-sensitive and somehow more worth than going to the great banquet. 

In light of what invitees are denying by making excuses, it is hard not to shake our heads in disappointment. That said, besides the direct application of the parable to the Pharisees and the Gentiles, we are pushed to think about how many times we may deny invitations from God to prioritize his cares. This parable gives us room to reflect on how well we really prioritize the kingdom of God; it is worth reflecting on how we see the kingdom of God. Do we believe it is as amazing as a great banquet - one worth dropping all of our daily to-dos to attend? If we sense that God may be inviting us to take part in something he is doing, whether it involves caring for a person, or completing some task, how do we perceive it? As in the parable here, unlike the guests who make excuses to decline God’s invitation, let us view these invitations as an opportunity to joyfully participate in something God has fully prepared for us, knowing that He will help us do whatever is required of us.

Placing Importance in the Things Above

By Adam Nelson

Over the past several years, many lives have been permanently changed, revealing just how abruptly the future can become shockingly uncertain. A global pandemic has taken so much away from us all – memories and experiences we will never get back. Meanwhile, international political tensions call into question the stability of human life and how much time remains before the end when Jesus will undoubtedly return to receive those who have received him and deny those who have denied him. Although these turbulent circumstances have been a source of great fear and anxiety for many, plenty have aptly recognized God’s revelation that we must prioritize our relationship with Him in our lives rather than focusing on empty practices, promises, and pleasures. Maybe humanity needed this wake-up call to assess our living situations and pray that He would restructure our priorities. Like Jesus commands in the parable of the ten virgins, we must be ready for his glorious coming with our lamps of love and devotion well lit, for, like a thief in the night, Jesus will make his return to judge all (Matthew 25:1-13 ESV). How can we expect to be fully prepared if we are preoccupied with insignificant, earthly concerns?

In the parables of Jesus, through the apostle Paul, and elsewhere, the Lord explicitly commands, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is …. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3 ESV) and “Provide yourselves … with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail …. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34 ESV). Admittedly, it is very difficult for us to not over-invest in the temporary things of this life, neglecting the more pertinent and paramount aspects concerning our eternal, spiritual lives. I have lived so much of my life fixated on academics, athletic performance, college and career prospects, hobbies and interests, etc. that when unseen circumstances have disrupted or devastated these components entirely, I have been left distraught and defeated, ignoring that God was still by my side through it all. 

Strange and disheartening as it may be, our earthly goals, interests, and loves decay and perish as we grow nearer to Christ since we have been reborn and resurrected. Once we decide to leave behind earthly idols and instead pursue Jesus with our whole heart and soul, there is no turning back. We must be transformed and equip ourselves with the new direction, attitude, and meaning that He has given us to serve Him. Thus, we must “Put off the old self with its practices and … put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of [our] creator” (Colossians 3:9-10 ESV). Although it has been discomforting to discover the parts of my life I once cared about so deeply no longer provide as much excitement or motivation, I am beginning to accept that God is turning things upside down in my life so that I would prioritize Him. 

Through the parable of the great banquet, Jesus depicts how those who make excuses for why they cannot wholly devote themselves to Him are misguided and foolish. The parable demonstrates how Christ has invited everyone to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but many make excuses for their unwillingness to leave their earthly selves and follow Him including “‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it,’” “‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them,’” and “‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’” In response, the master of the house, representing Jesus, becomes angry and declares, “‘none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet’” (Luke 14:18-24 ESV). Earthly aspirations and work such as acquiring wealth, land, and possessions can all too easily hamper one’s soulful search for Christ. If we acknowledge that many of the things we prioritize and emphasize in our daily lives will not carry over with us into the afterlife, we must be willing to ask God how to use them to further His kingdom on earth, or if that can’t be accomplished, to give them up entirely. God never promised it would be easy to prioritize Him over the earthly desires and practices we seek to give us meaning, but it is a fundamental step in the journey to His kingdom, for He is the only one that gives us purpose. 

Putting aside our pursuit of earthly desires and work and instead prioritizing the commands of our Father allows us to be fully obedient children of Christ. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me … For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits his soul” (Luke 9:23-25 ESV). A similar sentiment is found in Matthew 10:39 in that “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Those who give precedence to and wholeheartedly follow Jesus will reign with Christ in Heaven forevermore. In comparison, even if we achieved or accomplished every earthly desire or obtained every earthly treasure, we would still be left utterly unfulfilled because none of that will hold any significance in Heaven. Hence, we must not let those dreams distract us from the path God has dictated for each of us. 

Although it can be hard to accept, our temporary lives can never bring the unimaginable satisfaction and wholeness that life in the Kingdom of Heaven will. All the things I used to put so much stake in pale in comparison to my one true defining quality: a child of God. Everything of the earth will fade away in time and can never bring the indescribable joy that is knowing the maker of Heaven and earth nor rival the way the holy spirit moves and touches us. Nothing this world has to offer compares to the feeling I’ll experience when I run to my Heavenly Father’s arms and embrace the God I’ve put my faith in for so long. Truly, if not for the love of Christ that has been bestowed upon me, it would be a continuous struggle to get out of bed each morning and strive to be more Christlike. However, I know the Lord is building me up and strengthening my heart and soul so that I can fix my eyes on him and do the work that will glorify and honor His name. As long as I have the one true God beside me, before me, behind me, within me, beneath me, and above me, I don’t need anything else. All anxieties wrapped within earthly things can fall aside, for He amazingly loves me even if I don’t achieve the personal goals I set for ourselves. How freeing it is that I don’t have to worry as one cannot “add a single hour to his span of life” by being anxious about mundane concerns (Luke 12:25 ESV).

Despite the monotony and insufficiency of our daily lives, we can be patient for Jesus’s inevitable coming when this temporary life that is imperfect and unfulfilling is replaced by the perfect way of living God intended for mankind – free of pain, worry, sorrow, anger and where only truth presides. With this in mind, we must suit up with the armor of Christ: the breastplate, the shield, the helmet, and the sword, to endure the anguish and misdirection in our current lives, so that we may carry forward with our eyes on the bright morning star and trudge through the lonely desert sands and winds, following the living water that is the word of God. Then our courage and nourishment are restored and protected, and we can continue through the wilderness, not searching for a destination but enduring until the glorious day of Jesus’s new reign.

Oh Martha!

By Ruth Olujobi

“Now while they were on their way, Jesus entered a village [called Bethany], and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching. But Martha was very busy and distracted with all of her serving responsibilities; and she approached Him and said, “Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to do the serving alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.” But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:38-42‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Dear Martha, 

I saw you the other night rehearsing your solo for service on Sunday. I could tell you’ve really grown as a singer; those riffs were pretty solid. And that vibrato? Way to go girl! I’m really proud of your growth. But Martha, I'm a bit worried about you. I’m worried about your priorities. I’m worried that you’re losing focus and that your heart is drifting from the most important thing. I mean, thank you for wanting to serve, it’s simply amazing to see how much effort you put into things of the Father. In fact, we all should be just as happy as you to serve. But you see Martha, just serving isn’t enough. Where is your heart? 

Martha, it’s important for us to remember that we shouldn’t let the activities we engage in distract us from receiving all God has in store for us. There’s so much we would receive from God if we could only stop, take a deep breath, and redirect your focus. I know you might not admit it, but I can tell that “you’re anxious about so many things” (Luke 10:41 AMP). I see the worry on your face when you sit at bible study, I hear the anxiety hidden in your voice when you talk about your choice of career, I can sense fear of the unknown in your questions about the future. Truth is, you’re not alone, and that’s why there is a huge necessity for you to have your heart deeply focused on God.

Do you know that the matter of the heart is the heart of the matter? Yup! Once our heart aligns with God’s will, we have a better understanding of what he wants us to do with our time, talent, resources, and how he wants us to live our lives. Focusing our hearts on God gives us a clearer picture of who we are and what we should be doing at every point in time. Sitting at God’s feet helps us draw the strength and grace we need to serve Him in accordance to His will because honestly, we really can’t do anything with our own strength.  

Guess what? It doesn’t end there. Apart from better understanding what God wants us to do, having our heart focused on deeply knowing God helps us let go of the anxiety and worries that are deeply rooted in this thing called life. Here’s what the Bible has to say:

“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? … “Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.” 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:25-26, 31-33‬ ‭AMP‬‬

In our world today, it’s so easy for us to be overwhelmed by the many troubling things going on around us. The pandemic, wars, climate change, there’s just so much that can wrap us in uncertainty and fear, making us forget who AND whose we are. Things that once seemed certain have now taken a different turn. Ailments due to stress are on the rise and everyday, people are looking for ways to find peace in this crisis-stricken world.

But do you know what Jesus is saying? Just look at the birds of the air. They don’t sow or reap yet God still watches over them and feeds them. And don’t you know you’re worth so much more than the birds? (Matthew 6:26) He is telling you that He sees and knows your needs, many times even before you even ask Him. (Matthew 6:8) Jesus is also reminding us that even in a word full of chaos, agony, and despair, we are not without hope of the tranquility, happiness, hope, and love that He brings. He is the order in the disorder of our world, the light in the darkness we see everyday, and the breath of fresh air we all need to keep us going. But it’s hard to see all this if your heart is not fixed on God.

Finally Martha, do you know what else Jesus said about our hearts? He said where we place our treasure is where our hearts would be too (Matthew 6:21). Where is your treasure Martha? Is it just in the services you do? In the number of solos you’re able to nail? In the number of times you were able to lead Bible Study? No Martha, that shouldn’t be your primary focus. All these are great, but God wants more from you, so much more. God is looking for your heart. He is here today calling you to come into an intimate relationship with Him. He wants you to know that surrender comes before service; when you fully surrender your heart to Him, you can better serve in His temple. I know it might seem hard, but trust me, it would be the best decision you ever made. Would you accept His invitation today? 

Pause! 

I’m Martha! You’re Martha! We could all be Martha!

Yes, God wants our works, but more importantly, He wants our hearts. He doesn’t want us to be so busy with activities that we forget what is most important. This doesn’t in any way mean that we shouldn’t serve God in our capacities. Instead, it is an invitation to you who has drifted from God to return to Him, it’s a call to you who is distracted to reposition your priorities, and a gentle reminder to everyone currently serving that as we give Him our best, we should also sit at His feet to receive His best.

Being Dumb for the Kingdom of Heaven

By Daniel Kang

As Christians, we are met with challenges that oppose our beliefs, actions, and lifestyle. In a college setting full of people from different backgrounds, there is a diversity of worldly ideologies, behaviors, and characters that create a hub for students to grow socially and intellectually. Opinions on government as well as on morality are discussed between students and faculty so that human innovation and human intellect can progress.

Not only that, but in a college setting, we are met with students who immerse themselves in uncontrollable drinking, hook-ups, drug use, and parties that seem natural to follow. The world says that college is the time when you explore yourself, try new things, and do stupid things with your friend. But when friends realize that I don’t drink, gamble, steal, hook-up, use drugs, or smoke, they turn their heads and ask “why?” 

Why is it that you don’t engage in a culture so natural and exciting, where you can feel free from your burdens and have fun?

Jesus talks about a parable that shows the same response people make who don’t know the way, the truth, and the life. After He explains the parable of the weeds to His disciples, He goes on to tell them the parable of the Hidden Treasure and Pearl. And He says:

  “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”” (Matthew 13:44-45 ESV)

As many read this passage, they may think: Huh? Why would anyone sell all their possessions, all that he had, to buy that field of treasure or pearl? Surely, even though there is treasure in that field, the man didn’t have to sell everything he had to buy that field. And even though the pearl was of great value, the merchant didn’t need to sell everything just to buy this pearl. 

In this parable, Jesus shows how precious the kingdom of heaven is. A treasure so valuable and rare that when the man found it, he was full of joy. A joy so profound that it compelled this man to give up everything he had. The reader can imagine the man having no land, nor house, nor clothes, nor livestock, or any worldly possession but only that field which contained that treasure. 

A treasure hidden in a field.

Likewise, a merchant who, when he found a pearl of great value,  sold everything he had just to buy this pearl. A single pearl in exchange for the merchant’s possessions.

A pearl of great value.

A Precious Mustard Seed

I can imagine the men’s neighbors and friends questioning the well-being of the two men. “What is wrong with these people?” They would think. And as a reader, I was initially compelled to think that the men were dumb. Of course, there’s treasure and a pearl of great value, but they could have kept the treasure and pearl and his possessions with them. So why did they sacrifice their possessions just to obtain these things of value?

Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as something that is beyond human imagination and understanding. A kingdom that is so vast and beautiful that the human mind cannot fully comprehend nor fully grasp. In another parable, He describes the kingdom of heaven as being  like

 “a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”(Matthew 13:31-32 ESV).

 In this parable of the mustard seed, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a small tiny mustard seed, which later grows to the largest tree in the garden and welcomes “birds of the air come and perch in its branches”. In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is a place where life is overflowing with birds making its home on this tree, which all started from a small, tiny mustard seed. How precious and valuable is that tiny seed! 

This goes on to show how the value of the kingdom of heaven is incomparable to anything of this world. Nothing on this Earth can compare or have the same equivalence to the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom, as Jesus implies, is an eternal kingdom. A possession that will never fade away nor lose its value. Rather, it will increase in joy and beauty as more people look upon the kingdom. This was manifested in the parable of the mustard seed. As the seed grew, its beauty and splendor grew which allowed for it to give life and provide life for the birds of the air. 

These things Jesus tells us to pursue. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.” (Matthew 6:33 ESV). So reader, which is better to obtain: Worldly dreams, desires and possessions that are temporary and die out or the kingdom of heaven that gives life and emanates the beauty of God and His creation? Rather than aligning myself with the world and its so-called “beauty” of engaging in sinful and unholy activities, I would rather seek what is pure, holy, beautiful, and everlasting. If it makes me look dumb and stupid, so be it! For it is written in 1st Corinthians, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25 ESV). If God’s ways and will are far greater than that of man’s, it would be wise and better to submit under God and pursue His kingdom. The cost of having a bad reputation on Earth because of how I don’t align myself with the world is so much worth it since I can inherit God’s beautiful kingdom of heaven.

Treasure Hidden in a Field

Christians can be seen as “dumb” because of how they don’t copy the world and its ways of having fun. Many engage in unhealthy drinking, many Christians don’t. Many engage in hook-ups, many Christians don’t. Many dabble with the fun of using drugs or substances, but many Christians don’t. The world can see Christians as lame or dumb, but Christians see themselves as being obedient and faithful to the holiest God for what He has created: the Kingdom of Heaven. 

However, how does one obtain the Kingdom of Heaven?

In the parable of the Hidden Treasure, the man “found it”. Likewise, in the parable of the pearl, the merchant “found one of great value”. These men have found the kingdom of heaven, but how does one find the kingdom of heaven? How does one seek and look for an invisible kingdom, and often unrealistic kingdom according to the standards and reality of this world?

As churches say, the answer is always Jesus Christ. Through Him, we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and live eternally with God. For He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The way to salvation, the truth to the Kingdom, and the life for all to have. It is not by our strength nor abilities that we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but by the blood of Christ, in which he has already shed and given us eternal life. 

For those who are still doubting whether you are a Christian, non-Christian, or were a Christian, this article is an invitation for you to ask the Lord. Even if you don’t know Him fully, ask the Lord, and He will give it to you, for faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. Furthermore, God has created us to be eternal beings. This world is not the end. There is a kingdom of heaven that awaits those who accept Christ into their hearts. For we are not citizens of this world, but citizens of heaven. And with that, reader, I don’t need to worry about what other people think about me and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Rather, I have hope for Christ to take me back home. 

So, have you found Christ?

“For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.” (1 Peter 4:3-6 ESV)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:7-12 ESV)

A Call for the Endurance and Faith of the Saints

BY JULIETTE MIN

Dear future students of the Joseph and Alice McKeen Study Center,

Where all dwell, everyone is charged to make a choice to be on the winning or losing side. Yet where you dwell, the choice of following Christ will be met with even more toil, persecution, rejection, and struggle.

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Rob, our study center leader, once told me about the time he interviewed with the New York Times and was asked the question – “Is Bowdoin following culture or making culture?” This seems like a simple question, and one who spends a sufficient amount of time at Bowdoin would easily be able to say, “both.” But the nature of this question hints at a deeper observation that Bowdoin is both the originator and propagator of alluring moral viewpoints in our communities. Contemplating this truth can help us frame the way we as Christians can and should engage with the changing moral backgrounds of the college. 

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Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. 

When I contemplate the new and emerging secular social gospels that claim to bring freedom and justice to the marginalized and oppressed — gospels that Bowdoin prides itself in championing — I am cautious, primarily because they are new, as in their foundation is not in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have first heard. I recall John 1 whenever I engage with these new ideologies. The First Letter of John was addressed to a group of churches in which false prophets preached a gospel contrary to the one they first received, causing division in the orthodox church.

John writes,

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us— eternal life. (1 John 2:18-22,24-25)

These verses have always been so striking to me because they emphasize that the Gospel of Jesus, the risen Christ is enough. This means that throughout the passage of time, the Gospel will continue to be enough to address and be the solution to all events and occurrences under the sun. And in our context as students of an American liberal arts college in the 21st century, it means that the Gospel provides us with enough language and the means to reckon with and combat the injustices of our society — oppression, racism, poverty, slavery. The Gospel has always given us the language, understanding, and charge to do justice (Micah 6:8).

The Church has one Advisor and Consultant. The person who walks among the lampstands (i.e. the churches) in the Book of Revelation is not the government, an educational institution like Bowdoin College, or an institution of history and culture, but is Jesus Christ. All ideas, practices, and dispositions are filtered through this one person, who is the Standard and the Judge by which all things are measured. 

As Jesus walks among the lampstands he commends and reproves us, giving guidance to those who are willing to listen. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation 2:17). 

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The Book of Revelation is one of the means God gives to us to better discern what new and emerging ideas point us towards God and which ones drive us further away under the disguise of good. In particular, I look to the image of the First Beast in Revelation 13.

In Revelation 13, a beast appears out of the sea, which is a place identified with evil, chaos, and a resistance towards God. This beast is granted authority, power, and a throne by the dragon — it represents a world leader empowered and supported by Satan.

This beast sports a mortal wound which is then healed, a similar image to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This marvels the whole earth, who worships the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” When the beast is given a mouth, it pounces at the opportunity to utter haughty and blasphemous words, tainting God’s name and those who dwell in heaven (Revelation 13).

This image reflects an essential character of evil, which is to parody God in order to appear praiseworthy. While the beast is a character in the revelation for the end times, this characterization of evil that is present in the beast has always existed and can be seen as early as the story of Adam and Eve. We see how the serpent in Eden coaxes Eve by making disobedience appear like a good choice, for at the moment of decision, Eve sees that “the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and [the] tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). 

Evil can disguise itself so well that if not careful to test and discern all that is around us, we may easily be one of many who not only mistake evil for Good, but also support the blaspheming of God’s name by those whom evil has delegated authority to. 

Another essence of evil is that it willingly makes itself clear that it is not of God or the Church. For John writes in the First Letter to the churches, “they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). The beast in the story above blasphemes against the Lord the moment it receives a mouth to speak. 

Thus, be careful to test and discern the ideas that you encounter throughout your life — as a student at Bowdoin, as a citizen, but more importantly, as an image bearer of Christ in a fallen world. You need only to look for those that seek to imitate the work of Jesus in freeing the enslaved, caring for the poor and marginalized, and doing justice while leaving Christ out of the picture — performing a parody of the character of our Lord Jesus — or speaking blasphemies against the Lord when given the platform. God certainly calls the Church to understand the language of culture, to “be all things to all people” (1 Cor. 9), but that should never be at the expense of the Gospel. The Church is not given license to assimilate to the values of the world while losing its distinct identity as followers of Christ who speak the truth as “salt and light” in the world (Matt. 5:13-16). Instead, we are called to be a community that is rooted in the truth of the Gospel, testifying to the reality of the perfect love, freedom, and satisfaction that is found only through faith in Jesus Christ. This itself is not an easy task. But not only do we have to test and discern all things, we also have to love and witness well in this space, a world plunged in a spiritual battle where the means, with or without Jesus, to achieving common ends (e.g. human flourishing) compete.

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In the culture from which I am writing this, the ideas of Christ are increasingly obscured, misrepresented, and undermined. We live in a culture that sees freedom as a proxy for human flourishing, and historically, freedom in the face of oppression has been a great means through which justice and flourishing are brought about. However, we must remember that this freedom was never meant to be absolute. Even in Eden, God defined prohibitions in addition to Adam and Eve’s privileges so as to preserve the flourishing of mankind. 

The Christian life does not entail an absolute freedom to abdicate our responsibility to witness in difficult spaces. True freedom is a liberation from enslavement to sin into a complete surrender to the authority and command of God. Bowdoin College is a difficult space to witness in, but Jesus who walks among the lampstands that are in tribulation commands them to hold fast His name and keep His word, for those who endure faithfully will be given the crown of life (Revelation 2-3). From this delineated box, however it is shaped and filled, we operate. Within this box we must witness and give our testimony. 

During our four years at Bowdoin College, this looks like holding fast to Jesus’ name and not denying our faith in Him amidst a campus community that not only rejects Him, but also appears to be the first of earthly rulers who take counsel against the Lord and against his Anointed, plotting in vain (Psalm 2). In this space, we are called to toe the line between meaningfully engaging with our peers in love and learning how to walk away when the pressure to conform is too great (Acts 19:9).

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Be vigilant — but do not live in fear. We witness and live from a place of victory, for Christ has already inaugurated the beginning of His Kingdom on the cross, having written the fulfillment of His Kingdom into a coming reality.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 21).

To the one who conquers, God will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7). Life in the full, a relationship fully restored to our Father is our reward, and we need only to remain faithful to the end (John 10:10).

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Finally, do not lose your love. It is a curious thing that John, in his first letter to the churches, writes successively in the same chapter to not only “test the spirits to see whether they are from God,” but also “love one another, for love comes from God” (1 John 4). It is important to be vigilant, but our vigilance must not be so large that it sows seeds of anger and judgement in our hearts. We must be critical enough to test falsehood while not losing our love (Revelation 2:4). For Jesus says to us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45). God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. Let us love, because He first loved us (1 John 4). 

Where all dwell, all are charged to make a choice to be on the winning or losing side. Yet where you dwell, the choice of following Christ will be met with even more toil, persecution, rejection, and struggle. In this space, the love of Christ that dwells in and pours forth from us gives us confidence — not only in the midst of trials, hardship, and suffering, but also on the day of judgement — that we will be recognized as His own, as a lampstand that has testified faithfully until its appointed course is complete (Revelation 11).

A New Kingdom

BY JOSHUA LIN

The end-times: What picture comes to your mind when you hear this phrase? Is it one of disaster or one of hope?

Regardless of what comes to mind, imagination alone cannot reveal anything about what the end times will look like. The book of Revelation speaks to this exact situation, revealing God’s plan for the end of life on this earth and, just as amazingly, what comes next! That said, despite Revelation’s prophetic character, it also speaks to our lives in the present. 

The prologue (Rev 1:1-3) to the book of Revelation ends with the following promise: 

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Rev 1:3)

While there is much to explore in this verse, I was struck by the promise of a blessing to those who take to heart the words written. In what way do the words of this prophecy (i.e., the book of Revelation) bless those who read it aloud, hear it, and keep it? 

It begins with the words, “The revelation of Jesus Christ...” (Rev 1:1), so right away we see that the subject of Revelation is clear. The natural follow-up for us then is to see what about Jesus is revealed.

When you introduce a friend, you may find it natural to make mention of how they’ve helped you in the past. In introducing my parents, I wouldn’t hesitate a moment to acknowledge them as the ones who raised me. For a close friend, I would perhaps say they are someone who has kept me company through the ups and downs of life. 

John introduces Jesus in this fashion, acknowledging what Jesus has done not only for John but also for all those who entrust their lives to him whether in the past, present, or future - this is an open invitation! The profound statements made by John here are easy to gloss over without grasping their meaning, so let’s take a moment to process them.

First, John acknowledges Jesus as one “...who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood…” (Rev 1:5). John reminds us that, as a result of Jesus’ atoning death for all of humanity on the cross, we are no longer slaves to a self-destructive way of life. As affirmed in Paul’s letter to the Romans, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:18). How wonderful is this? To me, the implications here are twofold. In an earthly sense, the kings of pride, selfishness, lust, and the other temptations that we helplessly endear to ourselves for the sake of short-term satisfaction, are all dethroned. These stumbling blocks which fracture families, friendships, and communities can be overcome by finding lasting satisfaction in a relationship with God. It may not be easy, but the promise of freedom from sin here is one that permits a priceless revitalization of our relationship with ourselves and others.

In a supernatural sense, Jesus’ redemptive death also makes way for us to have a restored relationship with God. Believing in Jesus (John 3:16) mends the fractures that sin makes in our relationship with God. Thus, we are given a way to live life as fully as we were meant to when we leave this world, that is, satisfied as part of God’s family. 

Second, Jesus is acknowledged as one who has “...made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father…” (Rev 21:5). The thought of living in a kingdom as priests may seem a little odd from a 21st century lens, but consider just a few more verses of context, and it becomes a bit easier to appreciate the beauty of what is being said here.

The second to last chapter of Revelation begins with John seeing “...a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Rev 21:1). This is the kingdom that John is talking about. In this new heaven and earth, “...the dwelling place of God is with man.” (Rev 21:3) 

As of right now, the earth in its imperfection cannot be the final dwelling place of God. Nonetheless, when this reality comes to pass, “He [God] will wipe away every tear from their [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev 21:4)

What a relief! For those who keep the words of this prophecy, the future is promised to be free of pain, mourning, and even death. Given the abundance of suffering on earth, it’s difficult for me to even imagine how good such a world would be. Nonetheless, when this comes about, life will finally be what it was meant to be from the beginning. We will once again dwell with the God who lovingly created each one of us. Until then, those who hear the words of this prophecy will groan along with all of the created world in eager anticipation of this future.

When Jesus appears to John in Chapter 1 in all his glory, there is a sense of fear, and John “...fell at his [Jesus’] feet as though dead.” (Rev 1:17) However, Jesus’ intention is not to surprise; Jesus is showing who he truly is. Approaching John, Jesus comforts him saying “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Rev 1:17-18). 

This is encouraging for all readers. Knowing death itself has been conquered by Jesus opens us up to living life unafraid of death. Developing a relationship with Jesus is how we can most fully enjoy being human while we are still on the earth. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that while “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) 

Consequently, while God still calls us to love the world as Jesus did while he was alive - let us earnestly look forward to the day when all of earth, humanity, and nature, will be redeemed. At that time, Revelation tells us that all things will be made new by God. But, until then, may we be among those who read aloud, hear, and keep the words of this prophecy!