Children & Dangerous Ministry (John Piper)

Kirk E. Miller

Should we engage in ministry and pursue the mission even when it might involve putting ourselves in potentially harmful situations. Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt. We do not make an idol out of our welfare and self-preservation.

But what if we have a family? What if doing this sort of ministry and pursuing the mission in this way not only potentially endangers ourselves, but also our family and our children — those of whom Paul says, “[I]f anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:8).

John Piper — “Short answer: Yes.”

Why? Because the cause is worth the risk, and the children are more likely to become Christ-exalting, comfort-renouncing, misery-lessening exiles and sojourners in this way than by being protected from risk in the safety of this world.

Read the article, Risk Your Kids for the Kingdom? On Taking Children to Unreached Peoples.

On Faith as “Obeying the Gospel” in 1 Peter (and Elsewhere)

Kirk E. Miller

See “for obedience to Jesus Christ,” 1:2; “obedience to the truth [of the gospel],” 1:22; “they disobey the word [of the gospel],” 2:8; “some do not obey the word [of the gospel],” 3:1; “those who do not obey the gospel of God,” 4:17; cf. outside of 1 Peter — 2 Thes 2:8; Rom 1:5; 15:18; 16:26; Acts 6:7.

The gospel message is not merely something to be believed; but, rather, it is also something to be obeyed. It is not merely a proposition to be heard and considered — something like, “Believe it if you feel like it.” No. Accompanying the gospel is a summons straight from God himself, a summons to believe. To not believe is not to take a neutral stance towards the gospel. It is to rebel; it is to disobey God himself, rejecting his very appointed means of salvation (see 1 Peter 2:4-8).

Resolute Suffering (1 Peter 4:1-6)

Kirk E. Miller

Resolute Suffering (1 Peter 4:1-6)
South City Church
November 19, 2017

Podcast link.

See all sermons from this series on 1 Peter.

“Christians are a Bunch of Scheming Swindlers” (Søren Kierkegaard)

Kirk E. Miller

We have an uncanny ability to use pious and theological reasoning to explain away our responsibility to do the things that we don’t want to do, all the while cloaking our sinful inhibition in a facade of Christian maturity and conscientiousness.

Søren Kierkegaard: “The bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.”

That, or we find sophisticated ways of interpretating ourselves out of the Bible’s demands. As Søren says later, this is “the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close.”

He continues, “Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. ‘My God,’ you will say, ‘if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?’”

In other words, if your Christianity doesn’t make you uncomfortable or require much sacrifice, your Christianity is probably not that of Christ himself. It is probably not that of the Bible.

We have fashioned a God in our own image, rather than us resembling his.