The temptation of Jesus -- and the temptation of ministry

At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, his first action after his baptism was to go to the wilderness for a time of fasting. How did he spend the forty days? Did he spend the time fixing his mind on the things he needed to accomplish? Did he fix his mind on the good he was setting out to achieve? Did he picture the ultimate success of his achievement in the world to come?

We only know this: a tempter came with these temptations: Prove yourself. Use your abilities and powers to serve yourself -- it's not much, and nobody could dispute that you need it. Use God's favor and protection to glorify yourself. Gain the world for yourself.

Jesus said no. We say yes, too often. Those same temptations come to everyone who sets out on any major task. Those temptations come even to people who set out to achieve something good -- maybe especially to people who set out to achieve something good. We think if our goals are good then we have already gotten past the temptations. We're wrong about that. The temptations are right with us: Prove yourself. Make it about your own reputation. Use some of your status for your own benefit. Gain recognition and honor. Gain something for yourself -- after all, you've deserved it, haven't you? Aren't we supposed to be gaining something?

We begin follow Jesus at our baptism -- he is baptized, and we follow him in our own baptism. We can forget to follow him for the next step: rejecting the temptations that came even to him. Those who serve are tempted to make it about themselves. People need to be convinced their leaders are clever, right? The leaders, once they begin to lead, need to prove themselves, don't they? It helps the ministry if we gain recognition, doesn't it? At each turn, there's a wrong way to do things, which leaves the ministry subtly poisoned -- or not so subtly, as time goes on.

I wonder how much every human action meets those same temptations. I wonder how often we recognize them.

"Feed my sheep" -- the prerequisite

"Simon, Son of Jonah, do you love me?" ... "Feed my sheep." - Jesus

Our seminaries teach people how to read Greek and Hebrew, how to interpret the Bible, how to preach. But none of that can make someone a good pastor. They teach systematic theology, Christian doctrine, church history -- but those don't make a good pastor either.

If a pastor doesn't love Jesus, then whatever he's doing, he's not "feeding the sheep"; they will go home unsatisfied. They may go home educated, or motivated, or impressed; but they will not be spiritually fed.

The gospels teach us to love Jesus. The authors wrote them because they had learned to love Jesus. What makes people want to follow Jesus? It's not being impressed with the pastor's skill in translating, or in skewering his enemies, or in presenting himself as smart. It's not even understanding systematic theology. It's Jesus. When we see and recognize the good in him, we follow him.

Haiku - Nature

I know that poetry isn't my strong suit, so I limit myself to posting it only rarely. But not too long ago I wanted to write some haiku. It's one of the few types of poem you can complete in just a few minutes, where only one clear thought or image is needed. Syllable sudoku meets crossword puzzle. Poetry for a time-challenged age. So ...

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Myriad flowers
Fast-winged bees in the sun
Honey spicy-sweet.

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Lightning's crackling spark
Shatters dark and shows the storm
Thundering closer

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Quiet foggy dawn
Spiders with their spiral webs
Catch the shining mist

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Ok, and now I'm going to spoil the whole effect of all the previous ones with a haiku designed for a first-grader:

Busy buzzy bee
Pick up all the pollen, please
More honey for me!

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Yes, I'm aware that haiku is not usually used with other poetic devices. But, really, it's fun to mix and match.

Best of the Blogroll: 2011

Here to ring out the old year and celebrate another year of excellence in Christian blogging. You all have my heartfelt appreciation as you keep on blogging. It takes a lot of dedication. While I may not comment often, please know that I'm reading along and am enriched by it. Thank you all for blogging! Here are some highlights of the year:

• Aardvark Alley - Welcome back to the Aardvark as he once again takes up the valuable service of posting the memorials for saints' days and seasonals throughout the church year.
  
  
• Ancient Hebrew Poetry - John Hobbins considers what it means to hallow God's name, taking us on a tour of other quotations that echo that phrase in order to deepen and ground our understanding. Along the same lines, his post on The Beauty of Holiness was a highlight for me.
  
  
• Bede's Journal / Quodlibeta - This group blog (usual fare: science and history) pulls an interesting, in-depth quote on science and determinism from J.R. Lucas.
  
  
• Blogotional - John Schroeder writes on imagination and expanding our horizons beyond the head-knowledge of facts. (This idea is closely related to the post linked below from Jared at Thinklings.) He also writes about restoration - when the call to "forgive the pastor" is a sleight-of-hand to change the subject from whether a person is fit to retain an office of trust.
  
  
• CADRE Comments - This group blog usually focuses on Christian apologetics; a good example is The Bible has Philosophical Profundity.
  
  
• Chrisendom - Chris Tilling helps us by spotting and translating from an insightful sermon on Jesus as the bread of life. More recently, he shares a video of Dr Peter Williams on a subject that's a regular topic on this blog, the objectively measurable differences in quality between the Biblical gospels and the non-biblical gospels, with live presentation and additional examples.
  
  
• Cross Reference - Jeff Pinyan reviews the old musical Godspell, with insights on what is has and what it lacks compared to its sources.
  
  
• Culture Watch - Doug Groothuis reviews Rousas John Rushdoony's book, The Cure of Souls. (No, Groothuis is not a Reconstructionist. He reads Rushdoony like we all read most authors: testing everything, holding on to the good.)
  
  
• The Dawn Treader - The Dawn Treader, while slowing down on his blogging this year, takes up two very important themes for bloggers. He considers Jolly Blogger's comments on the spiritual dangers of blogging (self-promotion), and reflects on humility as the mark of wisdom.
  
  
• Dr Platypus - Always with the fascinating historical angles, Darrell Pursiful links to video and audio of the oldest written melody in history -- from around 1400 BC. On specifically Christian topics, he highlights an article contending that the quest for relevance makes a church irrelevant.
  
  
• Faith and Theology - Ben Myers stands up for the goodness of the much-maligned violent fairytale. By way of announcing the winner of a prize for theological writing, he also provides some leads on good theological reading.
  
  
• Fearsome Pirate - The Pirate vents a frustration that most Christians have felt at some time in their lives, as he points out that technical orthodoxy does not make up for bad preaching.
  
  
• Hyperekperissou - Welcome back also to Phil Snider, host of the patristics carnival / round-up. He ponders an interesting topic for academics on useful studies as opposed to useless studies.
  
  
• Incarnatus Est - Paul Gregory Alms passes along a great insight from Leo the Great from an Epiphany sermon.
  
  
• Kyrie, Eleison - Anastasia posted an intriguing piece on reading the Garden of Eden as an icon painted with words -- a window on the kingdom. The follow up considers specifically the creation of man. For anyone interested in different perspectives on creation -- or on interpreting Scripture, or on being transformed into the image of God -- these are good reading.
  
  
• Meta's Blog - Metacrock, always on the front lines of witnessing to skeptics, puts together some good arguments on how we know God is not evil.
  
  
• The Pocket Scroll - This wily and elusive blog moved during the year, so update your bookmarks to keep reading. We welcome him back to the blogroll under the new URL, and join him in celebrating Christ the King Sunday. (The non-liturgical types really miss out on some great stuff in the Christian calendar. If you have no idea what Christ the King Sunday is, please read it with an open mind or better yet a joyful heart.)
  
  
• Pseudo-Polymath - Mark Olson provides a service with news roundups on selected issues. He is also my link to the Jolly Blogger. While the Jolly Blogger is not actively blogging, he did have an insightful observation about all the people who are Called To Serve God:

  I would trade every kid who takes a mission trip to change the world for one who would stay home and clean his room, treat his brother like a human being and help mom around the house without being asked twice. Changing the world is easy, the latter is harder and far more Christlike.

  
  
• Sun and Shield - Martin LaBar passes along a valuable resource on Bible passages that are helpful in controlling anger.
  
  
• Thin Places - Pulling a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, we read about the "wayside sacrament" of beauty.
  
  
• Thinklings - Jared pulls a quote from C.S. Lewis about the rightful place of adoring God, in our Christian writing and teaching. Lewis stands up for the rightness of adoring without apologizing for it or watering it down, in full recognition that adoring is greater than analyzing.
  
  
• Weedon's Blog - William Weedon's usual fare is a valuable service: a steady stream of uplifting or thoughtful quotes. It is hard to choose one above the other. This patristic quote of Athanasius is well worth a read, as was this quote teaching people to distinguish between error and sin, and St Basil on grace. He also posted on the history of the liturgy, specifically how the liturgy and calendar looked in 1613, about 100 years after the beginning of the protests against Rome. His post on repentance was also particularly helpful and insightful.
  

Once again thanks to everyone for blogging. A few of the folks on the blogroll have become mostly inactive; hope to see you all soon.

Debater's code of ethics

I have been thinking that Christians should adopt a higher standard of morals when it comes to debate.

Consider the typical debate. There are carelessly-researched items reported as facts, distortions in how information is presented, selective use of evidence. There are questionable techniques such as character attacks, or conveniently placed displays of anger or shock that may be used tactically. Regardless of how common these things are, should a Christian engage in them?

I think Christians would do well to develop a full-fledged ethics code covering conduct during a debate. It would make debates more productive. It would lead to deepening mutual respect among Christians rather than deepening divisions and hostilities. It would also - let's not forget the big picture - keep us from sinning quite so often. We do want to behave ethically, don't we?

Here is a first shot at a debater's code of ethics.

Debater's Code of Ethics

Preface: The goal of a debate is to firmly establish which position has the most merit. Any conduct that does not live up to Christlike standards weakens the position of Christianity, regardless of which side wins the particular debate in question.

1. Nothing should be presented as fact unless the debater has personally checked the original source material and verified its accuracy.
   
2. The debater should present facts accurately, without stretching or distorting the information.
   
3. The debater should never present facts in a way different than how they appear to him, or deny the reality of his own hesitations in order make his position seem stronger than he himself feels it to be.
   
4. The debater should honestly review all evidence and arguments, being more willing to change his views, acknowledge a mistake, or even lose a debate than to engage in dishonesty.
   
5. The debater should not smear, mock, belittle, or otherwise disparage the character of his opponent, or engage in any form of character attack.
   
6. The debater should be familiar with logical fallacies and should completely reject their use, regardless of any tactical advantage that might be gained by them.
   
7. The debater should not engage in tactical displays of anger, outrage, shock, or sorrow, or make other theatrical displays intended to play the emotions of the onlookers or distract from the lack of an adequate response.
   
8. The debater should assume the honesty, integrity, and good faith of the opponent.
   
9. If the opponent makes a mistake of fact or logic, or engages in unethical debating tactics, these are to be answered with honesty and good faith, leaving a clear conscience.
   
10. The debater should give a fair hearing to his opponent and should be willing to change his views, not allowing himself to become blinded by partisanship or ego, or prevented from taking the best course by fear of embarrassment.
    
11. The debater should develop his skills and knowledge so that he can support his position solidly, state his position clearly, and defend his position honestly.
    
12. The debater should always be civil and respectful: in victory, gracious and free of arrogance; in defeat, showing good sportsmanship and holding steadfastly to the truth.
    

What have I forgotten? Or what changes does that need?

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas. Jesus is the reason that Christian homes and Christian hearts are marked by faith, hope, and love. God is good.

Jesus, Name above all names: Series index

Here is the index for the series on Jesus, name above all names

• Jesus knows what the kingdom of heaven is like
• Jesus knows what the Last Day will be like -- and what justice looks like
• Jesus' teachings are vivid and personal
• Jesus keeps us honest about our religious pretensions, and about what God desires
• Jesus' morality has a focus: love
• Jesus comes across as more fully human
• Jesus' life is the world's most serious evidence of the supernatural
• Jesus has the highest and most beautiful morality yet articulated by anyone
• Reading Jesus' words is a religious experience
• Jesus rose from the dead

And here is the companion post about how "Jesus, name above all names" is the theme of the evangelists and the epistles, and how our call to evangelize means witnessing to that truth:

• Name above all names: The gospels, the epistles, and what it means to evangelize