Eat to Grow

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

(Romans 8:29–30)

What glorious and precious truths are contained in those two sentences! As I chatted to some visitors after a morning service recently, I heard about how they were saved through a pastor coming to their house to perform an exorcism. Yes, you read that correctly: an exorcism.

They had the idea that there was an evil spirit in their home at the time and so they called a pastor to come and deal with it. One thing led to another and they were confronted with the gospel and saved into a Charismatic church.

But then they began to read the Scriptures and very soon they realised that they needed a church where they could grow and came into contact with Reformed theology.

A few years ago, I worked with an Eritrean man who had come to South Africa to study dentistry and was saved while studying here. During his studies, there was a coup in Eritrea and Christians quickly got a target on their foreheads. (Eritrea is actually the most dangerous place to be a Christian after North Korea! Did you know that?)

Instead of returning home, he and his wife remained in South Africa as refugees. I remember having very interesting conversations with him, because at the time he was attending a Pentecostal church and, as he was reading his Bible, he was seeing all sorts of inconsistencies in the way his church did worship and the pattern in Scripture. He was concerned by the man-centredness of the church. Furthermore, he was digging into Romans and beginning to have his mind blown, as Romans is apt to do.

Many of you, in fact were saved into nominal, shallow, or downright heretical churches, but here you are today.

The point is this: Growth starts to happen when believers read the Scripture. In fact, this is exactly what the Holy Spirit used to give the Protestant Reformation traction five hundred years ago. Up until Luther, the Scriptures were available exclusively in Latin, and were therefore only accessible to the clergy. But as Martin Luther began to read the Bible himself, he realised just how far the church had strayed. He got to work translating the Bible from Latin to German and, once that happened, the truth spread like wildfire!

Living entities grow. In fact, growth is one of the scientific requisites for something to be defined as “living.”

The passage I quoted above from Romans 8 speaks to the inevitability or certainty of Christian maturity and growth. Those whom Christ saves will grow. Some grow fast, while others grow slowly. Some yield a hundred-fold while, in the case of others, you’d need to observe them for ten years or more before you see any significant growth. But all those who have been born again grow.

One of the fundamental ways in which Christians grow, as I’ve noted through observation, is as they read  and study the Scriptures. Do you want to grow? Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8)? Come further up and further in by reading and loving the Scriptures.

Here are some practical suggestions for doing this. 

First, read the passage to be preached before the service. Do this multiple days in a row if you can, and write down any questions that arise. These questions will either be dealt with by the preacher, or you could raise them during the discussion at Grace Group. If you are unsure about the passage, check the order of service or the weekly roundup. You could also message the preacher, or else just read the chapter you anticipate being preached, as well as the preceding and following chapters.

Second, set aside time every day to working through Scripture systematically. Commit to this. Select a realistic goal, whether it be time-based (“I am going to read the Bible for ten minutes each day and pick up the following day where I left off”) or volume-based (“I want to read two chapters every day”). Commit to this and don’t let a day go by without doing it. Do you willingly go through a day without eating any food? Probably not, so don’t willingly starve yourself of the bread of heaven (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Third, consider listening to Scripture, instead of a podcast, while you exercise, drive, or clean up. As you do so, consider listening to the same passage or book of the Bible repeatedly to become really familiar with it.

Fourth, ask questions of the elders and other church members when you don’t understand something. But before doing so, meditate on it carefully to see if the Lord reveals anything to you. This will make any answers you get from fellow believers more meaningful and memorable.

Fifth, try to see how you can pray the Scriptures back to God. Is there a command you’ve read that you need to obey? Ask God to help you. Is there an attribute of God you can praise him for? Use it to fuel your worship. Is there something from old covenant Israel that Christ has fulfilled? Praise him for it.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:15, and Peter in 1 Peter 2:2, to “grow up” into Christ and salvation, and we cannot do that without the Scriptures. May the Lord bless you as you seek to plumb the depths of Scripture to the glory of God!

What Are You Living For Anyway?

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The subject of death is never far from my mind. This is not because I have any sort of morbid fascination with death, or am suicidal in any way, but just because it is an enormous existential reality. Death means that my time is not infinite, and I must give thought to how we spend it.

The stoics had a phrase, “Memento mori” which was an object kept in order to be a continual reminder of one’s mortality.

Indeed, Solomon, the wisest of men said that it is better to go to a funeral than a party because the living will see the reality of death and lay it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

So thinking about death, and even my own death is wise.

For most of history, this fact of death was ever-present. Humans lived far less “sanitized” lives. Death was all around a person. One of the reasons that people wanted to have more children was that many children did not make it to adulthood.

Sickness claimed lives, the sword claimed lives and the expectation of death was far more imminent.

Today we have created a comfortable illusion that death is not inevitable. We speak about someone “passing away” rather than having “died” and thanks to advancement in medicine and surgery, many previously life-threatening illnesses are now small cause for concern. Many people have never even seen a dead body.

Most people in the western world expect to live to a ripe old age, and we consider a person dying of a heart attack in their 50’s a true tragedy.

Of course, these advances and their accompanying increase in life-expectancy are something to be celebrated. What is not to be celebrated, however is the illusion of immortality. The way we take time for granted, and waste our lives. The way we hold onto life at all costs.

If you look for it you’ll notice in movies and tv shows that the one universal and unquestioned assumption is the human will to live. It is an absolute given in the plot line that when a person’s life is threatened, they will comply with any demands made.

Somehow when we stop thinking about death, we quickly lose any transcendent reason to live.

I recently finished reading a book recommended to me by a good brother called,  Left of Bang by Patrick van Horne and Jason Riley.

The book itself was helpful in that it teaches techniques of what is called, “Combat profiling” which allows a person to more objectively assess a situation and predict threats, thus responding to them proactively, before the “bang” has happened rather than after.

As I was reading earlier today, I noticed a line: “We would never recommend that a person purposefully put himself or herself in danger, but depending on the situation, this may be necessary.“

Of course, even in bygone eras where the reality of death was more difficult to conceal, no one was rejoicing in the fact of their mortality. But even without glorying in death, there was a more pervasive sense that certain things were worth dying for. Certain things were worth sacrificing one’s life for. And these consequently were things of value, things worth living for.

In the past sometimes these things were as simple  as having sworn an oath to serve the king. You may not personally have believed in the cause for which you were fighting, but you were loyal to the Lord you were fighting for and so you would be willing to risk your life to help him attain his ends.

Sometimes it was family, faith, land et cetera. Whatever it was, the point is that there were things worth dying for.

Nowadays we seem to avoid death at all costs. The thought of dying before you’re old and wrinkled is abhorrent, and not to be accepted under any circumstances.

This worldview only makes any sense at all if you consider that this life is absolutely all that there is. But for Christians, who know otherwise, for Christians who know that this life is a mist which vanishes with the sun, a flower of the field which withers in a day, this clinging on to life at all costs is either insane, or embarrassingly revealing. Insane because it makes no sense to cling to a vapour when you’ve been promised the ocean.

And if it’s not insane, it reveals your unbelief. If you refuse to give up life on this earth until you have absolutely no strength left in you to keep living (i.e. old age), then you reveal that your heart is here on earth along with your treasure.

But if your treasure is in heaven, there are many good reasons to sacrifice one’s life.

There are numerous dangerous situations which I can reasonably place myself in, in service of something greater than life. Someone greater than life.

As a Christian, dying to protect my family, or even a stranger is no waste. As a Christian dying for any cause is no waste. After all, this is what Jesus did at 33 years of age. 

If God is good – and he is. If God is wise – and he is. If God is sovereign over every detail of life -and he is, then my death is never a waste because it’s not the end, and my best life is not now.

I don’t lead a risk-free life, and thinking that I could live a risk free, but valuable life is nothing short of ridiculous. So I intend to lose the fear, to be bold. I intend to accept and embrace my mortality, and make my life count. I intend to live for something worth dying for. To live confidently. To spend my life well.

I don’t want to live conservatively, coasting along and arriving at the harbour with wasted provisions on board. I want to use it up. And if the time comes where I’m called to sacrifice it in service of my King, I pray I’ll do it boldly, joyfully and without hesitation. 

Tossing Kids Into the Digital Deep-End

For a little over a month now I have been co-teaching an elective class at my church entitled Gender Issues.

The class begins with a foundational understanding of gender from Scripture and the theology behind gender. It then moves on to how our understanding of gender has been corrupted by the Fall and finally it examines the transgender movement and how Christians ought to respond and live in light of the culture that surrounds us in Western societies.

As I have had opportunity to give this topic some more thought, one thing has stood out to me in various books, articles and interviews I have been exposed to, and that is the role of the internet and social media in the development of much of the widespread sexual confusion has become so ubiquitous today.

As I consider how to raise my children in light of these realities, I have become more and more convinced that the smartphone (and by extension, the internet) is an incredibly powerful, yet unbelievably dangerous tool. We cannot afford to think of it otherwise.

Packed into one tiny device, we have access to more information today than the most learned humans have had in the history of the world.

In addition, our communities have expanded and are no longer geographically limited – we are now able to connect and interact with people from other corners of the world in ways which would have seemed like magic just one generation ago.

The internet is incredible and the temptation is to get as much of it as we possibly can. And yet we cannot afford to be naïve.

Just as we do not allow 10 year-olds to drive a car, or carry a firearm, so I’d suggest we ought not to thoughtlessly give our young children access to the smartphone and computers.

I recently had a conversation with a co-worker whose son was commencing grade 1 at a local government school. She told me that she had to purchase a tablet for him to be able to do his school work on! If that’s not the most foolish idea you’ve come across today, then you must have had a pretty bad day! And this in a middle-class suburb in South Africa! I relate the story to highlight the unquestioned and even reckless ways in which we are foisting the digital world upon minors. 

A very common justification for early exposure of children to devices is that the way of the world is digital. The future is digital. We cannot afford to allow them to be left behind.

And yet, I am from one of the generations who remembers a time before computers and smartphones.  I know that not only was everyone in my generation able to adopt these technologies and put them to use, in fact, many of my peers have even risen to the cutting edge of digital development in their careers.

Add to this the fact that my 18 month-old son has already figured out how not only to begin workouts on my Apple watch, but he is now able to de-activate water mode, which requires a long-press of the digital crown – my previous Trump-card-setting invoked to stop his swipes from achieving anything unwanted.

What’s more, my son has done all this while generally not being allowed access to any sort of smart-device.

As I said, this knowledge of my own generation’s adoption of technology coupled with my observation of the behaviour of the  “digital natives” has lead me to believe that kids will be able to  “catch up” with using digtal technology very, very easily when they are older. Even without early childhood exposure.

There is no need for fear that they will be left behind. Furthermore, I believe that the importance of being able to “code” is going to be less and less important for the average person. Not only will it be easier and easier to manipulate and create software in the future (remember binary code?), but the tools that we have to do it are becoming more and more suited to the needs of the average user (think of something like ChatGPT’s potential).

Nobody would argue that you need to have a thorough knowledge of anatomy as a child in order to be a good surgeon as an adult, so why do we worry that a child who doesn’t learn to code at school wont be able to work with digital tech later in a field like engineering?

No, your kids will not be left behind – they will catch up just fine. The bigger threat is the threat of evil influences, poisonous incursions into their minds at an age where they are not equipped to deal with them.

So, what is the solution? I’m honestly  not entirely sure. And given the constantly changing landscape of digital devices and the internet, I would imagine that the questions we are needing to ask and answer today will look very different in a few years’ time. But one principle seems to stand out to me purely based on a common sense analysis of the dangers.

That broad principle is that I think it would be ill-advised to give your kids unrestricted access to the internet before you would be comfortable for them to go out and navigate the world on their own for a few days.

Think about it – if you aren’t confident that your child is mature enough to interact wisely and safely with strangers, to handle money, to cautiously evaluate threats, and avoid risks. If you couldn’t trust them not to visit dodgy entertainment, or handle the advances of some seductive person toward them, why would you give them virtual access to all that and much, much more?

Now of course that doesn’t mean that you don’t train them to be able to navigate these dangers correctly before you send them out on their own. Just like you would take a child with you out into the world, point out various dangers and explain how and why to steer clear of them, so you should be training a child to learn to navigate the internet wisely. After all – the technology is not intrinsically evil, in fact it is a form of wealth, a blessing to be stewarded with thankfulness. The internet and digital technology are powerful tools which can enable us to do and see and experience so much more than we could have done the analogue way. Provided you are equipped to master it, rather than becoming enslaved to it.

Use it to equip your child to spread and show the truth, rather than allowing it to shape your child’s desires, their aspirations, their sense of justice and identity. This can only be done by having a greater fear of God than our sense of FOMO for our kids.

Only as we reject the lie that by restricting the world’s access to our kids we are somehow harming them can we truly protect and equip them.

It’s a strange new world (to borrow the title of Carl Trueman’s excellent book) and I for one, would like to help my children to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves – to teach them to swim before tossing them off the pier and into the waves of the ocean.

Gospel Motion-Pictures

“Do as I say, not as I do.” This is a phrase, I would wager, that most of us have thought or said at some stage or another. We realise that we often do not live up to our ideals, whether they be moral, physical or otherwise.

Part of being human is falling short. We know this, and the truth of the statement should temper our expectations of others. Having said that, one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.

In Christ, believers are freed from the penalty (punishment) for their sin. They are freed from the power of their sin, and they are looking forward to the day when they will also be freed from the presence of their sin in heaven.

Whereas, when we were unbelievers, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and enslaved to our passions and desires, in Christ we are made alive—free to serve God in righteousness.

Recently, at an evening service, we prayed that God would help us to be more aware of discipleship by example. We prayed that we would not be hypocritical in our lifestyle and undermine the message we preach with the incongruous actions we practice.

As I was reading Deepak Reju’s book on children’s ministry—Building on Jesus—I came across this statement: “To a child, watching a Christian adult is like watching the gospel turn into a movie—kids see Christianity in action in all kinds of ways.”

If you are anything like me, you may have wondered why God chose to send Jesus at the time in history that he did, rather than in a time like today where the message of the gospel might have travelled far more quickly. Or perhaps you have been labouring to read Scripture in your time of devotion, and wondering why God didn’t make a movie instead of revealing himself through the written word.

As I read that quote by Reju, I was struck by the thought that perhaps the reason that God didn’t give us a movie is because he intended his followers to live out the gospel, to live out the truth in a live action drama. God intends us, his people to be the movie!

Indeed, Scripture suggests the same idea when it speaks of the church in terms of a body, and the members as body parts. In other words, the church and her members give hands and feet to the truth of the word!

Discipleship happens all over the place in a healthy church. Parenting demonstrates the discipleship dynamic in the most obvious way and serves as a sort of microcosm by which discipleship can be analysed and examined, but discipleship by example applies to any sort of interpersonal interaction.

What is discipleship by example, exactly?

Discipleship by example is not a call to live a perfect life. The chances of that happening are quite slim. Among other inscrutable things, God uses our own sin and temptation to remind us of our need for him, and to demonstrate his grace. Christians who pretend to live lives of moral perfection are a part of the problem. They speak as if the struggle against temptation is no factor in their lives, but their actions show that it really is, and thus they anger and frustrate those who are watching the movie of their lives by claiming one thing and living another.

Discipleship by example is quite simply a conscious realisation that teaching and discipleship are primarily learnt by example and secondarily explained or formalised with words.

To use a parenting example I have read somewhere, when your child carelessly gesticulates and breaks your best ornament, the lesson they are learning from their mother in that moment is more of how a Christian responds to someone who has wronged them and caused them to suffer harm, than that they should be more careful with their arms.

This discipleship by example concept may seem like a tough reality, because of the ongoing struggle with sin that we all face. But discipleship by example means that those who watch our lives are learning more through how we respond to our own sin and failure than they are by our speaking about holiness.

Confession and repentance lived out are far more powerful than simply speaking about them. On the other hand, words about confession and repentance lose all their meaning if we keep refusing to confess and repent of our sins against our neighbours.

The temptation in conversations like this is always to pit words against actions. That is far from my intention. To return to a parenting example: We are told raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). This calls for both words and actions. So the encouragement is not to abandon words in favour of actions, but rather to remind us that actions often speak louder than words, and that words can easily be smothered by actions which contradict those words. On the flip side, words backed up by actions, or actions explained by words (1 Peter 3:15) are more powerful than any Christian book by some famous author.

How are your actions contradicting your words? What are those watching the movie of your life learning about your love for the Scriptures? What are they learning about your faith in the power of prayer? What are they learning about the value you place on actually gathering with the saints? Your need of the Lord’s Supper? Your love and respect for your spouse? Or your belief in the all-wise sovereignty of God?

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,” Paul told the Corinthian church. This should be the backbone of our discipleship too.

In summary, the gospel has both and audio and video components. As you live your life, may your life movie play in sync with the gospel soundtrack to the glory of God.

For This is the Will of God, Your Sanctification

King David’s story is well-known and loved in Scripture. He was an exemplary individual in so many ways: his faith during his long years of being on the run from Saul; his self-control as he refused to take matters into his own hands and kill Saul during the numerous opportunities which presented themselves to him to do so; his modelling of what it meant to be a prophet, priest, and king; etc. In many respects, David foreshadowed Christ.

And yet, though David was so admirable in so many ways, like you and me, he was a sinner. He was not the promised offspring of the woman sent to crush the serpent’s head, although we know that the promised Seed would come from his line.

As I read the account of David’s adultery with Bathsheba again recently in 2 Samuel 11, I was struck by how, after he gave into temptation and sinned with Bathsheba, there were a number of remarkable events which took place as a result of God’s all-wise, all-powerful plan. God’s first act of sovereignty was causing the sin to result in pregnancy when it would seem that this was unlikely at that time. A child was conceived, however, and Bathsheba sent a message to David to let him know.

When he realised that his sin was about to be exposed, David’s flesh kicks into overdrive as he began to look for ways to cover his tracks. He thought, “Perhaps if I can get Uriah home, I can make this look like he conceived the child.” Easy peasy. It seemed like a foolproof plan. Phew, close call!

But no, Uriah didn’t go home, not even after David resorted to intoxicating the man with alcohol in order to do away with Uriah’s pesky sense of honour. So, instead, David resorted to murder, instructing Joab, commander of his army, to put Uriah at the front of the fighting troops and then to pull back from him, leaving him exposed.

Compared to the first plan, this second plan was by no means foolproof. Uriah was listed as one of David’s mighty men. He was a seasoned and exceptional warrior. Of course, David’s plan would leave Uriah exposed and vulnerable, but God could have easily thwarted this second scheme just as he had the first.

But God, in his wisdom, allowed the second plan to succeed rather than fail. Why would he do that? It would seem that God was far more committed to his servants’ sanctification than their comfort. Rather than allowing David to get away with coveting his neighbour’s wife, and adultery, he caused Bathsheba to conceive against the odds. Rather than allowing David to cover his sin by making it look like it was Uriah’s child, God frustrated his  plans to get Uriah to go home, against the odds. And, finally, God allowed David’s plan to murder Uriah to succeed, when it could have easily failed.

It would seem that God intended to expose the sinfulness of David’s heart, allowing the depravity deep within to come to the surface. This helps us to see that David was just a sinner like you and me. But it also resulted in David being humbled in his own estimation and realising something of the extent of his own sinfulness. It was only when he was humbled that he recognised he had no other options but to own and confess his sin.

This is how God works. And praise God for the fact that he loves us enough to sanctify us, exposing our sin such that we are drawn again to the cross. In this way, we are transformed and made more and more like the only perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s learn from David. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). God wants us to see and acknowledge our sin so that we can take hold of the only remedy: the gospel of his Son. Until we acknowledge our sin, we won’t see a need for the Saviour. Rather than being stubborn and kicking against the goads, let’s embrace this process and repent early and often!

A Healthy Dose of Skepticism

Having finally emerged from our worldwide panic attack with the recent COVID pandemic, one can only hope we’ve learnt a few lessons about how to deal with health threats in future. The truth is that I’m sure we haven’t learnt half as much as we should have, but let’s hope I’m wrong. 

Besides what we should have learnt about how to deal with health threats, we ought also to extrapolate a few other bits of data to see where the lines take us. 

One small, but important lesson we should learn, is that what goes under the name of “science” is not always quite as objective as we would like to think, and more importantly, that science does not give us the answers. Science merely provides us with data which must be interpreted. 

The science may be objective, but the interpretation of that data which the god of science yields up is most certainly subject to the worldview of the scientist. 

Coupled with this realisation that interpretation requires an interpreter, we must also note that the data is only as good as the inputs, or the tests. 

Faulty inputs lead to faulty outputs. 

Put another way, incorrect assumptions lead to untrue conclusions, no matter how watertight the equation is. 

The initial Imperial College modelling predicted 

2200000 deaths in the USA and 510000 deaths in the UK without a coordinated response

Of course the real numbers are closer to 1 million for the US and 180 000 for the UK. And remember this is almost three years down the line, with a whole lot of sketchy reckoning involved, such as how we define a covid death. 

In listening to a recent discussion between Doug Wilson and Ben Merkle (which can be found here), Dr Merkle made the profound observation that just as the science yielded up wildly inaccurate predictions about the devastation COVID-19 would produce, so the science could also be yielding unreliable results when it comes to some of the extrapolations used to support the theory of evolution. 

The scientific method is a gift from God and should fuel our gratitude to Him. Science is good and it is not to be disregarded, but rather used as a tool for taking dominion of all Creation. 

As we take dominion, we need to remember that not everything which goes under the name of science, can rightly be so named, and we need to remember the fact that assumptions and interpretation of the data will influence the bottom line. 

If we hadn’t learnt this before the COVID-19 pandemic, we ought to have learnt it by now.

So praise God for science. Use it, study it and build on it. But don’t also forget to mix in a teaspoon of healthy skepticism next time you hear some patently dumb conclusion touted as “science” either. 

The Secret to a Meaningful Life

In October 2021 my first natural-born son, (but fifth child) was born at 28 weeks. This led to a 91-day stay in hospital for him.

This was a rough period of my life, probably the toughest I have experienced thus far. It’s not my intention to go into the details of that experience at this point, although perhaps I will write more on that time in the future.

What I did notice, and what I would like to write about was that following a period of “survival mode”, I experienced a profound sense of purposelessness. A sense of being adrift without much meaning.

I recently heard a song on the radio which captured the mood perfectly:

"Do you ever get a little bit tired of life
Like you're not really happy but you don't wanna die
Like you're hanging by a thread but you gotta survive
'Cause you gotta survive
Like your body's in the room but you're not really there
Like you have empathy inside but you don't really care
Like you're fresh outta love but it's been in the air
Am I past repair
A little bit tired of tryin' to care when I don't
A little bit tired of quick repairs to cope
A little bit tired of sinkin'
There's water in my boat
I'm barely breathin'
Tryna stay afloat
So I got these quick repairs to cope
Guess I'm just broken and broke
The prescriptions on its way
With a name I can't pronounce
And the dose I gotta take
Boy, I wish that I could count
'Cause I just wanna see if this could make me happy"

Numb Little Bug -  Em Beihold

Depressing, isn’t it? Naturally, this sense of purposeless, floating was alarming to me, and so I began to give it some serious thought along with much prayer.

As I meditated on my mental and emotional state and its roots, it occurred to me that, given the fact that a song like “Numb Little Bug” exists – it follows that there are many people drifting through their entire lives with this empty sensation within them.

The more I considered it, the more I came to realise that this sense of meaninglessness – the lack of something to live for, is an almost universal plague on mankind, and is behind much of the depression, mental illness and even physical disease prevalent in the world today.

There is a worse existential condition, of course – it can always be worse! If you add a sense of deep-seated guilt, shame and regret to meaninglessness and you have nothing less than a taste of hell!

By God’s grace, I have already been saved from guilt, shame and regret by the cross of Christ. This happened as God gave me faith to trust not in my own track record of good deeds, but in the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, the sinless Son of God on my behalf. This one event wiped away my guilt, and shame.

Have I not also been saved for a life of purpose though? Of course I have! This sense of meaninglessness that I was experiencing is incongruous, its utterly out-of-step with a healthy Christian mindset.

What was it then, which was causing this existential “crisis” of sorts?

Jocko Willink, the retired Navy Seal Commander of Task Unit Bruiser is an extraordinary individual. He seems to accomplish more in his 24 hour day than one would think possible. He is smart, he is physically fit, he is a black-belt BJJ practitioner, he runs several businesses, several podcasts, conferences and authors numerous books etc, as well as being a husband and father.

How balanced an individual he is, is debatable, but the fact remains that he is extraordinarily productive!

He often refers to his motivation for keeping this sort of lifestyle up, by speaking about his fallen comrades. The soldiers he served with who gave their lives in military service. He speaks about his sense of obligation to live to the fullest, the life they died to protect.

This is a good mindset to have. This way of approaching life can clearly motivate a person to lead an incredible existence. And yet – if this life is all that there is, if this short life of 80 years is all that we have, then even a productive life really holds no more meaning than an unproductive one.

A lazy, gluttonous life of hedonism is really no worse in the grand scheme of things than a life of “unmitigated daily discipline in all things.”

Jocko’s motivation is insufficient, but his mindset is spot-on.

The reason that I was feeling such a profound sense of meaninglessness was that I was too focused on myself.

The need to survive the trauma of having a baby in ICU for an extended period of time, while managing a busy practice, and four young children at home had caused me to become used to looking inwards.

With the traumatic time concluded, I was so used to trying to ensure that my life didn’t fall apart, that I forgot to look up, and even in a time of tranquility, my focus was on myself and my own comfort and happiness.

The lesson I learnt was:

You, and your goals, ambitions and aspirations are simply insufficient to create a life of meaning!

I was involved in good activities: Even in a time of listless emotional drifting, I was still a husband, and a father. I was still a dentist and a pastor.

Initially I thought I just needed another hobby. Something exciting to look forward to in my spare time. But that’s not enough!

I need to be living for something bigger than myself. Something big enough to fill the hole in my heart. I was created for more than self-focus, self-interest, and ultimately self-worship.

I need to be serving the Creator who made me for a purpose of His choosing.

It’s not enough to say that I’m living for Him, I need to live for Him consciously and intentionally.

Whenever I find myself feeling “a little bit tired of life, Like [I’m] not really happy but [I} don’t wanna die”, I find that invariably I have lost focus on Christ, and therefore I have lost focus on my calling.

Christians need to live like soldiers. Better yet, Christians need to live like slaves. Like those who belong to someone else. Like those who exist to serve a purpose other than their own comfort. This is the only way to experience meaning and ultimate fulfilment in life. It is the only way to do so consistently and joyfully, through the good times, the tough times, the times of plenty and the times of doubt.

This mindset not only gives life meaning, direction and purpose, but it also helps with decision-making:

Should you get married? Have children? Emigrate?

Should you get that new car, watch that tv series, or eat that food?

It answers the question: How can I face another day of work, doing a job which is repetitive, unappreciated and which might even amount to no earthly value?

How would a soldier think? Surely a good soldier, a devoted slave would do only that which serves his Master? Surely a good soldier or devoted slave would be fully aware that the resources under his control do not belong to him. He is a steward of these resources and must use them in service of his Master. Surely a good soldier/slave would find meaning and purpose in who he works for, more than any intrinsic value in that work itself.

How much more so when that Master is an all-wise, holy, loving, heavenly Father?

Diversity is Not the Goal

Photograph by Caio

Ethnic diversity in the church is not the goal, holiness is. Although it shouldn’t be, this is a terribly controversial statement in 2020 amid all the racial tensions, but that is precisely why I have decided to write about it. Whether or not I ever publish this article remains to be seen, but like the grey-bearded wizard, Dumbledore, I am anxious to deposit into the pensive, the thoughts swirling around in my head.

So, as we begin, let’s remind ourselves of some fundamentals.
Firstly, what is the mission of the Church?
Jesus answers this question in Matthew 28:19-20:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

There it is, Anton, “all nations”. Good observation. Hold that thought and we’ll come back to it soon.

What is the goal of the church?
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27

By now, many are wondering why I am writing this self-defeating article. I’ve said that we are to disciple “all nations”, which speaks of wonderful diversity to look forward to in heaven, and I’ve quoted a passage which speaks about the church being made holy, i.e. set-apart unto God, pure and free from sin, sin such as pride, partiality (racism) and the like.

Well let me first explain what I am not saying. I am not saying that racial diversity in the church is a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact. My own church is more diverse than many, and I can personally attest to the richness, and the beauty that comes from seeing “Jew and Gentile” united in love and worship of Jesus Christ. I, myself have a diverse family, made up of four black members, and two white members. I love having godly black brothers and sisters, along with many other races in my local assembly, for my children to look up to and emulate. One day heaven will be filled with “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes” Revelation 7:9
This will be glorious, as the multitude of heaven stands witness to the power of the gospel to reconcile the irreconcilable, and unite hearts in adoration and worship of our one Creator-King.
So I am not against diversity, in fact, just the opposite. I think ethnic diversity in the local church is a wonderful thing, as is every other type of diversity (1 Corinthians 12:14)

I am also not saying that we should not do our utmost to ensure that the church is a warm, welcoming place for repentant sinners of every ethnicity.
Scripture is clear that we are not to judge with partiality, and although James 2 is addressing socio-economic partiality, the principle can be extrapolated to include racial prejudice too.
Indeed, the very thing which marks us as being a supernatural community is that our unity is founded in Christ and nothing else. In the church, rival ex-gang leaders can break bread together. Murderers, can find forgiveness from the families of their victims and minister the gospel together, Jews can eat and fellowship with ‘unclean’ gentiles, and white and black can certainly be united, singing praises to our God. Our unity cannot, and should not be explainable solely or primarily through natural means.

But, and you knew there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you? In an effort to right past wrongs, and in an effort to love our neighbour, and (sometimes) in an effort to appear to be doing so in the eyes of the world and other churches, we take a wonderful by-product of the gospel, and make it the main focus.
How so? Well, we take racial diversity and try to force it. Instead of focusing on corporate holiness, Christlikeness, and unity in the gospel, we try to force diversity and get our quotas right. And if our quotas aren’t quite reflective of the national population demographics there are those with tender consciences and good intentions who get their insides all in a knot about implicit bias, and systemic racism.

Now of course, as sinners, there is always room for us to examine ourselves to see whether there is any sin which has lingered, hidden away in the recesses of our hearts, to which we continue to stubbornly hold. Is there anything in our control which is hindering diversity? That is a fair question and is worth asking and answering honestly. In so doing, we should take the counsel, experiences and suggestions of others (especially those in the minority of that particular congregation) into account. I am not discouraging such reflection and introspection.

Some would have us believe that in a country like South Africa, if our churches are not exactly representative of the population demographics, then there must be something wrong with us. I have seen it tweeted that if the leadership of a church is all white, people should leave that church. It is interesting how this sort of logic always flows in one direction only: If predominantly “white” churches don’t have enough black elders, then it is due to the racism of the “white” church, but if “black” churches don’t have a white elder, or even a white church member, then this is still due to white racism. ¹
This sort of foregone conclusion is a classic case of cum hoc ergo propter hoc (correlation being confused with causation). The fact is that although the church is primarily united around the gospel, this is not the only variable at play.
Factors like language, location, doctrine, appearance and a whole host of other factors come into the picture, including the desires, biases and prejudices of those looking for a church. It doesn’t all come back to the local church itself.
The leadership of the church ought to be made up of biblically-qualified men, be they white, black, Asian, or any other ethnicity. We cannot set aside what God has said is important in the name of inclusivity. If there is a qualified, willing black man who is not invested in by the leadership as an elder, this should be a cause for great concern, but if such a man does not exist, then there is simply no issue. God in his Providence has not blessed the congregation with such a leader. Now if there is a growing population of black church members, then most certainly, it would be hugely advantageous to have a black elder, and we should pray earnestly for God to provide such a man. God in his wisdom may well answer such a prayer, or he may not. Who knows what God is doing in the lives of church members in the process?
Many would point to Acts 6 and the appointing of Hellenistic deacons as a pattern, but the text is clear that they chose men “of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom”, meaning the qualified men had been provided by the Holy Spirit, they were not forced into the diaconate simply in the name of racial inclusivity.

In other words, diversity comes from God – it is not something that we can drum up or manufacture. We see incredible diversity in Creation. Diversity glorifies God, because salvation of sinners glorifies God. Saved sinners from every tribe, tongue and language together display the richness of God’s grace to humanity. But just as we cannot do the saving, but only ensure we are obeying God in the preaching of the gospel and removing hindrances to faith, so we cannot create diversity, only do what we can to remove obstacles to supernatural diversity.
To paraphrase and contextualize 1 Corinthians 3:7 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the diversity. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

So let’s not be sidetracked by the things which the world tells us are important, but lets rather remain steadfast in our pursuit of the goal God has given us. Growth in holiness and love for one another and the Great Commission is the aim, and the natural fruit of such obedience will be a kingdom made up of people from every tribe, tongue and nation whether that be within our own local congregation, or in the church universal.

1. I am loath to use terms such as “black” and “white” churches. According to Galatians 3:28 such distinctions have no place in the New Covenant regardless of how many members of a particular ethnicity make up a congregation – hence the scare quotes

Sacred Work

I have a terrible confession. Even as many struggle with retrenchments, short-time and pay-cuts, I sometimes feel sorry for myself as I leave to go to work. Some days I know I have some tough cases or difficult patients waiting for me (or both at the same time), and sometimes I am simply struggling against sinful laziness.

Perhaps its just me, or maybe you too find yourself not loving every moment of your job. Your lockdown “work from home” has come to an end and now you are having to brave the traffic to get to the office. Perhaps your particular field was designated “non-essential” during level 5, or maybe you just wonder what the point of it all is.

When such thoughts and emotions find their way into my heart, I realise that I have lost perspective of a tremendously important truth: For the Christian, there is no sacred/secular distinction. For the Christian, in a sense everything becomes sacred.

God is not interested in 1/7th of our lives. God calls us to love him with all of our heart, soul mind and strength, which means that all of life becomes an act of worship.

As Doug Wilson notes – when you sit down to say grace at your dinner table and you thank God for the food, you are thanking God indirectly for every person’s work which resulted in you being able to eat and benefit from that food. You are thanking God for his provision for you, through the agency of other people.

Others sitting down to their own meal, may be thanking God for His provision for them through you.

In addition, Jesus tells us in Mark 9 that as we serve others, by doing something as simple as offering a cup of water to them, we can be serving God.

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Brothers and sisters, whether your work is orientated towards the world, or towards the home, your work is an act of worship which can result in God’s glory and honour. “Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord, and not for men.” Col 3:23

Realise that as you deal with that challenging boss, you are dealing indirectly with your Lord, and as you discipline your son for the 75th time for hitting his sister, you are working for God’s glory. As you wash those clothes, only to do it again a few days later, or perform the same menial task, for even less pay than before, realise that it is “from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Col 3:24

Not only that, but you are being made more like your saviour in the process. This is true regardless of whether you are being paid, or not. All work has value, and all work has reward. Of course, we need some of that reward here and now – God knows that, so if you are providentially hindered from working, let us do the work of prayer with you for a fresh opportunity, as you do the hard work of calling, submitting your CV, and job-searching. Whatever your work today entails, let’s be done with just grafting for a salary, and instead live our lives – every part – for the Lord.

Your fellow labourer, struggling with you for the mind of Christ,

Anton

Eternal Quest, Eternal Joy!

I’ve been realising recently how although I spend a lot of time reading and meditating on the Scriptures, I am wasting the opportunity to memorize Scripture. Just as with family devotions – a little bit done consistently, amounts to far more than a lot done sporadically.

Years ago, I and a fellow brother memorized the book of Romans. But because I did it in a hurry. It was a short-term memory project, and today, all that is left is a familiarity with the phraseology and layout of the book.

That’s not what I have been missing. I have been missing out on meditating deeply on a passage, and committing it to long-term memory.
And so I have made it my task to memorize the book of 1 Peter. I’m planning to do it slowly, but consistently. My goal is not “to get it done”, but to be sanctified and matured in the process.

I chose this particular book for two reasons:
Firstly, I am not nearly as familiar with 1 and 2 Peter as I would like, and memorizing the book will ensure that I spend good time in it.
And secondly, because in reading through I1Peter recently, I was blown away by the preciousness of the letter.

Tonight, as my daughter and I washed the dishes (well, I washed, and she redistributed the water and foam over the remaining dishes) I put the audio for 1 Peter 1 on repeat on my phone’s external speakers. We got through the chapter about five times. And during that exercise, once again I was struck by the breath-taking beauty of the chapter. It is so encouraging, so eternal-perspective-giving, Christ-exalting and practical!
I was filled with joy and wonder as I listened and considered all I have received in Christ.

How awesome to realize that unlike every other activity or pursuit, I can give myself fully to God as I immerse myself in His Word. I can afford to be completely obsessed, to spend all my time studying, reveling-in, applying, living out and teaching the Truth. Scripture and the Living Word it points to are not only fully satisfying, but also the most deserving passion I can spend myself on.

Nor will the pursuit end at death! I see now as in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.