Selling out the Kingdom - by Doug Hartman
The message of Jesus' kingdom has been called a "downward gospel in an upward world." Indeed even before the beginning of his life, Jesus embodied the "wheat-kernel" principle. "I tell you the truth," he said, "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (John 12:24). The attitude of self sacrifice for the good of others well summarizes Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. In Philippians 2:5-11, Paul observes this principle of self-denial and sacrifice for others in Jesus' life: Jesus had every right to hold onto his position of "equality with God," but the radical (almost scandalous) nature of the gospel is that Jesus willingly gave up that right. Instead of being concerned with his personal benefit and comfort, Jesus "emptied himself" and took the form of a slave. From the lowest position within the social hierarchy, Jesus "humbled himself," even to the point of allowing himself to be tortured to death. More scandalous, though, is Paul's introduction in this passage: "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus." Suddenly, the onus is on us. We are challenged to follow him-to sacrifice our agendas, comfort, and status. Peter agrees completely with Paul on this subject. "You have been called for this purpose," he said, "since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps" (1 Peter 2:21). If we take this command seriously, we will find creative, yet difficult ways to move ourselves downward ("to lose our lives...") so that we can build creatively into the lives of others.
At an urban ministry conference in 1999, Tony Campolo related the story of a student of his named Charlie. On a mission trip to a poor country, God had given Charlie a vision of graduating from college and medical school so that he could return and serve the poor there. Campolo later ran into Charlie. He had gone on to medical school, but he went on to specialize in plastic surgery and was living it up. Charlie started back-pedaling. "But Doc," he protested, "I'm tithing..." Campolo wouldn't let him finish. "You're a sell-out Charlie!" he said. "God had given you a vision, and you gave it up for a Porsche." I think we often sell-out, too. We fall prey to the thorns and thistles, "the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches... [that] enter in and choke out the word" (Mark 4:18-19). But we gain nothing if we only gather together to console one another about those failures. Our intention should be to overcome those failures and to "bear fruits in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:8). After pointing to three different negative examples of those who heard the word, Jesus offers a positive alternative: the word bearing fruit among us! If bearing fruit in God's kingdom is our goal, we should make the personal sacrifices necessary for that goal to be a reality among us. Through dying with Christ to our old ways and the desires for personal gain, we experience the new life in Christ of service to God and to those around us.
The story Tony Campolo shared about Charlie is particularly instructive in that the crux of the issue was Charlie's "secular" job. Many assume that talk of being seriously engaged with God's kingdom requires us to quit the jobs we have in our field and go into the ministry. This is simply not true. Our secular careers can be the most potent form of ministry! As Christ-followers, we may have "secular" careers just like the rest of the world, but if we pursue a career it should be so that we may work for God's kingdom through that career. If we have training in the medical profession, it should not be so that we can make lots of money and be members of exclusive golf clubs, but to serve others who need that type of care. If we have special abilities in understanding financial matters, we can bring that knowledge to those who are so scared of banks that they will not open a checking account. There will inevitably be less personal profit and a less comfortable lifestyle involved, but those are American values not kingdom ones. A wonderful example of people being employed by God for his work in their "normal jobs" is Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus. How did God uniquely gift them? God equipped them in wood-working, embroidery, weaving, metal-working, engraving, and instructing others in that work. God chose these two men by name to build his Tabernacle so that the people of Israel could fellowship and worship him. What we think of as secular work, then, can be one of the greatest ways for God to use us in his kingdom. We simply must be willing to give away that power instead of brokering it. Rather than clinging to our personal gain and comfort, we must give it up. Then not only can we empower and enrich those who are powerless and in need, but we can also break the life-strangling hold those things have on our lives.
There are many creative ways for us to give of ourselves for the benefit of others. Several years ago, Shane Claiborne, who I know through the urban ministry conferences, went to India to work with Mother Teresa. While he was serving there in Calcutta, Shane noticed that Mother Teresa had terrible feet. One of the other sisters explained that just enough shoes were donated to their group for everyone to have a pair. Mother Teresa, not wanting to have a better pair than anyone else, would go through the supply until she found the worst pair and that would be her shoes. Over a lifetime of living with the worst pairs of shoes, her feet became horribly deformed. Shane summarized: "A lifetime of love had deformed her feet...I want to be able to love like that." Obviously, there is no benefit in pain for pain's sake. But the point is to find creative ways to build into the lives of others even when it is difficult. I think my Dad is another good example of this principle. Over the past several years, he has given countless hours to different renovation projects for the Urban Connections ministry house. He has overhauled whole rooms, replaced sinks and toilets, rebuilt crumbling walls, fixed burst water pipes, and slogged about in mud to replace foundations that had gone AWOL. And instead of expecting to be paid for his work, my parents have given to Urban Connections faithfully and sacrificially since the beginning.
There will always be a personal price to be paid for giving of ourselves to God's kingdom. If anything, Jesus' life shows this intentional pattern to his thinking. He firmly established the wheat-kernel principle both in the small, daily matters of his life and in the more difficult decisions. We need to have this same attitude that was also in Christ Jesus.

Christian Economics - A Theology of Enough - by Doug Hartman
Of late, I have found myself plunged into the field of economics. This is partly a function of the people I know and the community in which I live. I am confronted daily with the vast gulf between the wealthy and the poor, and that has a way of distilling economic theories and conjectures down into an all too real, flesh-and-blood experience. In my mind, it is the difference between saving a couple hundred bucks on my tax returns and our kids having a $.99 bag of Doritos as their only meal for the day. Malnourishment of that magnitude is something you can see-and feel. Elsewhere, economics means being so desperately overwhelmed by poverty that you sell your own kidney. My wife recently read about this growing phenomenon among the poor in India.
The flip side of economics for me is the "gotta have more" syndrome that drives us as a country (regardless of income level) to be constantly dissatisfied with our way of life. There is, after all, always a better one to be had: the cell phone I bought last month is so passé now because it doesn't have screen savers! That's society at large, but how easy is it for us Christians to get caught up in this game? We're supposed to be different, but are we? Tom Sine, author of The Mustard Seed Conspiracy and Mustard Seed vs. McWorld, spoke at the last Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference. He observed that "the established church" is almost completely silent about cultural values, especially as they relate to economics. The teaching on stewardship almost exclusively is about tithing faithfully, with nothing to say about other economic concerns. Specifically, the amount of materialistic goods in one's life is viewed as irrelevant or at best a passing personal concern. Sine chided, "It is amazing how many people my age have this incredible amount of materialistic goods, and never apparently develop a materialistic hang-up." So, how exactly does the Christian life of loving our neighbors as ourselves fit into a consuming culture like ours? The short answer: not very well. What is the solution to this dilemma? To that question, I am learning, there can be no short answer.
Our reactions to controversial issues can be very peculiar. In America, traditionally two opposite extremes of a controversial issue are given, and it is assumed that people must cling tenaciously to one or the other. Advocates of a "moderate" position are practically little more than people who think much the same way as everyone else but don't yell quite as loudly about it. Politically, you have your choice of Republican or Democrat. On abortion, there is the pro-life stance or the pro-choice camp. There are the advocates of gun control or the National Rifle Association. And then there is the generic and yet all-inclusive liberal or conservative designations. Regardless of the issue, there are somehow only two possible stances. We feel obliged to pick one. I have witnessed this same approach when it comes to wealth and poverty. When confronting the issues involved, the potential solutions are narrowed immediately and inexplicably to (1) largely unquestioned individual excess, again at all income levels, or (2) the idea that everyone should be poor. Are those really the only options?
Many Christians historically have gone the route of voluntary poverty. Why? Part of the answer may be that God through the biblical writers almost always associates poverty with social oppression and therefore comes to the aid of the poor. Take, for instance, King Solomon's words: "He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him" (Prov. 14:31). Jeremiah even wrote, "'[Josiah, king of Judah] did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord" (22:15-16). Does this mean that our options become a self-serving carelessness that turns a blind eye to the poor or that every good Christian must take a vow of poverty to avoid contributing to the oppression of the poor? The tragedy of an either-or philosophy is that it tends to bypass any other option (no matter how viable) and therefore exclude any realistic solution. God speaks very blatantly about the grave jeopardy of ignoring the poor, but he does not romanticize poverty either! God condemns laziness and the type of poverty that results from it. Isaiah even describes heaven as a place where people will work in their own fields and build their own homes without the threat of losing them (65:20-23). This vision brings together the ideas of just recompense for one's labors and a strong work ethic. More to my immediate point, voluntary poverty offers no solution to those suffering under the grinding effects of involuntary poverty.
Many affluent Christians, largely due to an unconscious ignorance (lack of knowledge), isolation (lack of contact), or indifference (lack of concern), do not provide the assistance that real people desperately need. They may also easily succumb to the lures of wealth and power and in the process give up more than they bargained for. The option of voluntary poverty may solve the personal problem of materialism (though poverty is certainly no guarantee of that), but it likewise fails to address the needs of the poor. Into this mêlée, we submit a different option-a theology of enough. The idea here is to live simply and sacrificially in order to (1) enable us to use the resources we have to build into the lives of others-both in the household of faith and outside of the Christian community-while also (2) avoiding the snares of materialism and wealth.
A theology of enough is not a moderated position between voluntary poverty and personal extravagance. Instead, it is a distinct alternative to the traditional understandings of "Christian economics" that acknowledges the biblical teachings about the hindrances of our material excess in God's kingdom. It allows us to serve the poor in a way that is much more creative and effective than the typical practices of "charity." For many people, acts of charity are completely out of step with their overall lifestyle, amounting to little more than a thoughtless donation of leftovers. Even at its best, our charitable system can be dehumanizing and debilitating to its recipients. Well meaning people can hurt the very people they are trying to help. But if practiced, this theology of enough would help us to make concrete steps toward a unique, liberating lifestyle of ministry that is much more beneficial for those who need it. The "less affluent" and the "more affluent" could actually develop friendships and learn to build into one another's lives in a much more significant, thoughtful and personal way. It would be a lifestyle that is much more in line with Jesus' command to love our neighbors as we would ourselves. I will admit that this is a radical vision. The idea of significantly changing our lifestyles to be able to share with others and provide for those who are in need is challenging and perhaps even offensive. But as Christ-followers, we must seriously consider what it means to store up our treasures in heaven.

Fearing God - by Doug Hartman
You can't give away what you don't have. This old adage has been rolling back and forth in my mind for several weeks now as I think about my life and how it reflects (or fails to reflect) the reality of Jesus Christ. Fundamental to my thinking is the notion that how I live is the greatest indication of what I truly believe. It is the biblical pattern: despite how much I may wish to protest, the fruit marks the tree. Did Jesus of Nazareth really die on a Roman cross so long ago? Did his death really mean that we human beings would not have to bear the punishment of our sin? Did that same Jesus really rise to life beyond death? Does that same Jesus really now sit at the right hand of God, reigning over all things and holding them all together by the sheer power of his will? Does God really exist at all? If so, does he really care about what I do and don't do? If I believe the answer to all these questions is "yes," then why don't I act like it?
Don't get me wrong: in my better moments I would undeniably confess the precise truth of the gospel of Christ and go into more detail about my own wickedness than anyone would care to hear. I believe in these truths with my whole heart, as they are foundational to all that I am and ever hope to be. Why then is that firm belief so often contradicted by my own actions? I see all too clearly what I truly believe displayed prominently in the decisions I make and the way I treat other people. At times I am disgusted by it, but all too often I am not even aware of it! Why is that? Why do I not live in a way that more clearly reflects our belief that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection are genuine and real? I think the answer is frightfully simple: It is my lack of vision, my lack of prayer, and my undisciplined walk with the Almighty that leads to my spiritual apathy and disillusionment.
Many preachers these days seem to be talking about the "fear nots" of Scripture. They talk of God as the supreme end to fear and about relating to him in such a way that fear itself is excluded. There is indeed truth to that thought (see 1 John 4:18), but there is another type of fear in the Bible that is good and healthy. More realistically, it is inevitable. Almost every single person in the Scriptures that has an encounter with the living God have the same kind of gut reaction-fear. Even the Apostle John, who reclined at Jesus' breast during the Last Supper and was perhaps the closest earthly friend to Jesus, was not immune to this. At seeing Jesus in his glory, John fell at the Lord's feet like a corpse (Revelation 1:17).
In the OT Scriptures, properly placed fear was the identifying mark of the righteous and misplaced fear was a sign of wickedness. Though we are commanded repeatedly not to fear other things, fearing the LORD was synonymous with being properly related to the Almighty God and living in obedience to his commands (Deut. 6:13). The Psalms say, "Blessed are all who fear the Lord" and admonish us to "serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 128:1; 2:11). Solomon wrote that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, leading to life (Proverbs 1:7; 19:23). This obviously assumes a different understanding of fear. Rather than some evil to be avoided, it was seen as evidence of a healthy acknowledgment of the incomparable power and majesty of the Holy One, a humble recognition of who God is and who we are by comparison. If we dare trivialize him or take his presence for granted, it shows that we have a frightfully impotent understanding of the God we serve.
In my mind, these two subjects-fearing the LORD and my persistent lack of faith with the spiritual apathy that accompanies it-are intricately connected. My lack of vision and prayer amounts to a reckless disconnect with God, inevitably causing the separation and apathy. And it takes precious little time for that severed connection to manifest itself in my behavior. I think it was for this reason that James absolutely refused to allow a wedge to be driven between faith and works. Facing someone trying to divorce the two, James countered, "I will show you my faith by what I do" (James 2:18). If his contemporaries wanted to see the reality of the Master, Jesus Christ, James could point to how he behaved. The corollary would be equally true.
Like James, I think we must resist this separation of how we live and what we believe. It is the reality of our common life together of love, faith, and good works that gives credence to our faith in Christ. Whether we like it or not, our perception of the living reality of Christ is displayed in our daily choices and conduct. If we have an inadequate vision of Christ and the healthy, respectful fear of him that accompanies that vision, we will have a crippled, maimed "walk" with God that is almost beyond recognition. We will be overcome by the persistence of our own wickedness and lulled into complacency. We will not even be aware of the great height from which we have fallen. And the ultimate insult will be that we will see our Master and Savior as an oppressive evil trying to rob us of our freedom and fun rather than the One who poured out his own life so that we may share in his abundant life together. Inadequate vision leads to a lack of healthy fear, which quickly leads to a lack of obedience.
Fortunately, we need not be characterized by a lack of vision, a lack of healthy fear, or a corresponding lack of obedience. God is in the business unveiling eyes and opening hearts. And he is plenty well experienced at working with weak, sinful human beings like me, transforming them through his grace and power into dynamic, Spirit-controlled instruments of his service. This is my hope. This is the beginning and end of my aspirations. But we do play a part in this struggle. I think fear of the works-righteousness heresy has led many to be inherently suspicious of any theology that might involve human beings making an effort to follow God. Yet historically God has not been able to rescue many people, not as a result of his own inability, but because of human unwillingness (see, for example, Isaiah 59:1-21). There is such a thing as a hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. Do we hunger for God's righteousness? Do I? For, according to Jesus, it is only those who hunger and thirst for that righteousness that will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). I pray that we all will be satisfied with nothing less!

The Sabbath Community - by Doug Hartman
I have recently been confronted afresh by certain realities of my neighborhood. There has been a string of incidents recently in which young kids have either been killed or seriously wounded by stray gun fire. The only consolation was the weak solace that some were "accidental." Also, through some recent reading and movies, I have been confronted afresh with the horrible gaping wound of racism in our supposedly "integrated" and "civilized" society. Here, too, the hushed silence and respectful distance kept between ethnic and racial groups to maintain an uneasy peace-more realistically, a lack of conflict-hardly suffices as a resolution. Most of us accept it without question nonetheless. And through some random dinner conversations with the teenagers, I have heard of their dangerous flirtations with the darker elements of life. Conversation regularly involves issues like 15 year olds in adult dance clubs all night, unbridled materialism, a near constant experience of violence at school and home, and the obligatory sexual activity. And then there is a blaring, inescapable message from the media, movies, advertisers, friends, and others around them: live for the moment, obey your impulses, feed your desires, the good guy finishes last. Such is the contamination of human sinfulness. That we can sit down with these young people and have a real conversation about following God, righteousness, and sin will never cease to amaze me. That they would actually heed this message and start a new life centered on loving and following God and loving those around them is almost beyond the realm of imagination.
Human depravity is an overwhelming torrent: the number one cause of death among people of all races, age groups, and socioeconomic backgrounds. As I have been confronted afresh by that torrent around me and in me, what may seem like a bizarre topic has surfaced again and again in my thinking: the biblical notion of Sabbath. At a basic level, Sabbath is the holy day of rest, as set forth by God. Just after delivering the Israelites from slavery under the Egyptians, God commanded them to observe the Sabbath (Exodus 16). God gave the Israelites the Sabbath as a gift of rest and recuperation, made possible through his sheer benevolence and goodness. Even in the face of feeding a million people or more, no work was to be done on this day. That was made possible by God, who promised to provide enough for everyone's needs (despite the "lost time"), if they would separate and "sanctify" the seventh day to the LORD (Ex. 16:28-30). Thus, the Sabbath became a testing ground (in more ways than one) for the Israelites in the wilderness. God would give them this day every week to cease from all their labors and legitimate busyness, focus on and trust the LORD, so that they may be refreshed and renewed. It was a new pattern of life that God graciously offered to them, if they would simply bend their wills to the LORD's and to each other.
As modern Christians we might easily succumb to thinking that the Sabbath day of rest was some archaic Jewish ritual, but the life pattern of Sabbath rest was established in creation. It was not until the Sabbath rest on the seventh day that God called his creation activity complete (see Genesis 2:1-3). Thus, the Sabbath becomes a rich promise for all of humanity. Especially for Christians in our culture of busyness, the Sabbath rest is a weekly testing of our willingness to yield our schedules and agendas to God's and to "take correction" from the LORD, as Jeremiah said (17:23).
My fundamental understanding of believing in and following Christ is that it is an alternative way of life. Paul makes this very clear: "...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). And as I have come to understand through study of Exodus and Leviticus, the LORD makes this same point repeatedly to the Israelites after coming out of Egypt. God's laws and instructions might well be summarized as, "See, I make you a new people...do not act or treat each other like you learned and saw in Egypt...do not worship me like the Egyptians worshipped their gods! Worship me like this. You are a new people!" So, the Sabbath was a sign of this whole new way of life. The same is true now: if the LORD is our God, then we will inevitably think and act different both in relation to God and other people. The old ways of relating to one another will pass away. And just like the Israelites in the wilderness, I think Sabbath rest will be one of the primary ways that this new, distinct life will be displayed in us.
But the biblical concept of Sabbath is more far-reaching and important than a generic rest. We do not keep the Sabbath by watching TV or going golfing, as relaxing as those things may be. A Sabbath rest was purposefully directed toward God: a day of communal worship, prayer, fellowship, and Scripture reading and study. Sabbath rest also had clear socioeconomic overtones in that it was a day of rest for everyone: slaves, servants, hired laborers, animals, and even non-Jews so that they too could "pause-for-breath" (Exodus 23:12). It was intended to be a communal time for people to humble themselves before God and one another, placing the wealthy and the poor, the menial servant and the top boss, on equal footing. From God's perspective, we all have equal personal importance and significance; Sabbath was a weekly reminder of that for the people. This socioeconomic "leveling" of the people was taken further in the "Jubilee" year-the Sabbath of Sabbaths-when debts were cancelled, slaves were set free, foreclosed land was returned to its original owners, and the poor were allowed to come in to fields and vineyards of the wealthy and get whatever they needed (see Leviticus 25). Strange perhaps to our modern ears, but it is fundamental to the biblical concept of Sabbath. Many modern scholars even think that Jesus' message (especially texts like Luke 4:16-21) indicates that he intended his followers to be a perpetual Jubilee community, where there would be no slaves and no masters, no rich and no poor. The practices of the early Christ-followers seems to indicate their efforts to embody Jesus' teachings (see Acts 2:43-47, 4:32-35). They were in essence a Sabbath Community.
In the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, the Sabbath was given as a sign of the covenant (Exodus 31:16-17). I believe our willingness to receive the Sabbath from the LORD remains a sign of our faith in God and our willingness to accept life as he defines it. Sanctifying the Sabbath to God identifies us as God's people, who live his way. It also firmly establishes that it is God's action, not our action, which brings change to the world. It corrects our tendency to want to "save the world" but also continually reminds us that the world is estranged from God and in need of his rest. Amidst the chaos and hectic pace of modern life, sanctifying the Sabbath together would communicate our allegiance to the risen Lord more powerfully than the most sophisticated, well thought-out gospel presentations. The Sabbath practice of submitting ourselves to God and one another across social, racial and economic boundaries helps to remove the blinders to the deep scars of our own sin and prejudice. In time, weekly practice of the Sabbath would do much to heal those gaping wounds, reconciling us to one another and again displaying the lifestyle-transforming power of Jesus Christ. And in a world that is all about 'my' power, getting 'me' ahead, 'my' position, and living 'my' life on 'my' terms, the corporate life of the Sabbath Community would do more than communicate a message; we could be that message of an alternative way of life! This, I believe, is the vision of Sabbath. As I am reminded daily in my neighborhood, the sin-torn world around us needs this alternative way of life.

Our "Philosophy" of Ministry: Being Equipped to Equip- by Doug Hartman
"But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift...He gifted some as apostles, and others as prophets, and others as evangelists, and others as shepherds and teachers to equip the holy ones for work of service, for building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God-to a mature person, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:7-13
Maturity is the ultimate goal of the Christian life as stated in this passage of Ephesians. I think maturity is by nature difficult and time consuming. It is a characteristic developed through experience, so there can be no quick and easy ways to arrive at maturity. It will never be achieved through hurried nips at a watered-down devotional on the Christian faith, nor can it be imparted through ten minutes of preaching-no matter how zealous, creative, practical, or "Spirit-filled" the speaker may be. Such "microwave Christianity" is doomed to be immature. Moreover, the vision of maturity presented in Ephesians is not personal maturity, but the maturity of the whole body as a unit. Rarely is this type of picture presented as the purpose of our new life together in Christ. Rather the much more easily attainable goal of making converts-those who pray the prayer and "accept Christ as their Savior"- is made the goal. Precisely where the process is begun is turned into the end. Accepting immaturity as normative is highly problematic, but perhaps mostly so in that everyone seems to lose out. Within this vision of maturity, everyone rises and falls together, because Paul said that "we all" must strive together so that "we all" might become fully developed and completed in Christ. Like a bicycle missing a pedal, immaturity of some part means impediment of the whole. The immaturity we often accept is a mere shadow of authentic Christianity, and it threatens to disappear as quickly and unnoticeably. If indeed it ever was, I believe corporate immaturity will not be an option afforded to the Christian community much longer.
It is beyond unfortunate that immaturity is frequently viewed so casually and indifferently. Accepting immaturity in our common Christian life can do much more harm than good: If we are somehow able to convince someone to "accept" Christ, our own immaturity may prevent the new convert from becoming firmly rooted in Christ. He or she might fall away completely, becoming angry or embittered towards Christ and/or other "Christians." Or, he or she might go through the frustrating (but common) process of committing oneself to Christ, drifting away, "recommitting" oneself to Christ, only to drift away again and again. That person would be what Paul calls an "infant," a person who constantly gets tossed about by every wave and the wind of falsehood (Eph. 4:4). In such a situation, the Christian community suffers its own moral defeats: aside from never experiencing the vital contribution of that person, we might get discouraged and be turned off to Christ ourselves. Some might get mad at God as if it were his fault. Whatever the case, the body is surely not built up. And the world suffers, too: it never sees anything significantly different than what can be achieved through its own resources and abilities. Why go to God to "be happy and fulfilled" when sex, drugs, alcohol, etc. seem to get it done just as well. Everyone, though, seems to end up with the same basic impression: Christianity is nothing special, and Christ's death and resurrection really do not make a difference in the real world.
Many have addressed this topic at length. What I wish to add is the quite simple "how" of maturity. Paul said here that maturity is developed through the working of the "normal" members of the body, but the twist is that maturity of the whole depends on certain members of the body giving away their own spiritual resources. One's gifts often determine status and power, so giving them away would mean a loss of that power and control. From a worldly point of view, it is madness-a sign of weakness and complete foolishness. Status and power are to be guarded diligently, not given away. And it matters little which context to which we apply this. In a business or political setting, that gift or resource might be the only advantage that allows one to stand out from the crowd, determining either success or failure. In the Christian community, things are not always different: power can be one of our most intensely guarded commodities. Many Christian leaders seem to be about little more than securing and enlarging their control. Freely sharing that edge with as many people as possible does not make sense on a human level, but we are gifted for precisely this purpose.
As this passage from Ephesians makes clear, Christ gives the gifts of the Spirit for the maturity of the whole body, not the benefit of a select group or person. The crux of this passage is the little phrase which literally reads "for the equipping of the holy ones." The purpose of Christ's gifting of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, the shepherds and teachers is so that they can equip every single member of the body to function and use their various gifts. Then, as each member does its part, the whole body develops fully unto maturity in Christ (see Ephesians 4:16). In our world of hoarding power, domineering over others, and defending one's place and position at all costs, giving away power and resources is the antithesis of wisdom. But in the God-ruled community, it is not to be that way. Rather, giving away authority in service to others was to be an identifying mark of the Christian community (see Luke 22:24-27), and as such it is the fuel which drives our unity, equality, and mutual development. This is the pattern established by Jesus the Christ himself, in voluntarily pouring out his own life, giving up his own position and power at the right hand of God (see Philippians 2:5-11), so that we may be rescued from our self-inflicted ruin. In a multitude of different ways throughout the New Testament, we Christ-followers are called to follow his example of humility and self-sacrifice. Our gifting and functioning within the body is a prime example.
This is the end to which I have committed myself, and it is very much a part of our "philosophy of ministry" at Urban Connections. Some of our youth and kids have begun to follow Christ; others are not yet there, so (in both cases) we must continue to pray. But regardless of their individual places at this exact moment, we labor to build into them the resources and skills they need to function and grow up in all ways, both in the body of Christ and in society. Our desire is for their maturity and development, so we try to build into them the resources, share with them the gifts, and equip them for works of service.
At Urban Connections, that means we continue to work with them in tutoring. Through our daily interactions, we show them love and affection. We teach them what it means to be a friend and a Christian brother or sister and how to resolve conflicts without violence and anger. We challenge them to reconcile with one another when something tears apart a relationship. (Some of this they have never experienced before.) And this year we have begun to teach them a basic hermeneutics (Bible Study) course, so that they can have the tools to read the Scriptures, figure out what they mean, and then how they might respond. The wind and waves of false teaching are ever-present in our culture. Just as in the early church, authentic Christ-followers are a minority in our modern world, and I believe we will become increasingly marginalized in the future. Immaturity just won't cut it. So, the youth and kids we serve need to be as equipped and well-prepared as we can possibly make them-not to survive, but to thrive and become fully mature in Christ. We cannot afford to do less.

Looking the Wrong Way - by Doug Hartman
I recently was listening to a dramatic reading of the book of Job in the Bible. The dramatic readings were fairly well done, bringing life and energy to the text, as it would have been understood originally, especially in the exchanges between Job and his "friends". But the book begins with the infamous scene where Satan comes into God's presence, and together they have a rather casual discussion about the sincerity and devotion of this righteous man named Job. As one might expect, the voice of God was positively majestic: an eternal echo of glory and elegance. And, equally predictable, Satan's voice was dark, metallic, and sinister-not unlike that of the cheesy arch-villain in a '50s era movie. "They're so completely and obviously different!" I thought to myself, "if only it were that easy..."
Popular depictions of Satan are always so unmistakably evil, like the little red guy with horns and a pitch-fork or some hideous beast with fangs and fiery breath. How could someone possibly be beguiled into following such a creature? We may laugh at the cartoon-like depictions and dismiss them as harmless. But then something like 9/11 happens, and people instinctively reach for those same images. How many people claimed they saw Satan's face in the billowing cloud of dust and debris when the Twin Towers fell? It is so easy to relegate all the scourges and wickedness of human society to demonic forces. It's too easy, really. Such thinking undermines the biblical responsibility of human beings for their own conduct, both individually and collectively. The mantra of "the Devil made me do it" also ignores not just our potential but our propensity to be destructive and hurtful. The sin to which we cling leaves no one unaffected nor unharmed. But demonic forces are at work in the world. Surely, we trivialize such influences when we look for Satan's hand in these cartoon-like ways. But more importantly, in doing so, I think we fall prey to his ultimate deception: looking for Satan in all the wrong places.
In almost any major American city, one could find a card shark working the people on the street. Playing a simple game of moving three cards back and forth rapidly, he is nonetheless able to fool almost anyone who dares challenge him at his craft. It is simple enough, really, but the quick exchanges are difficult to follow and before we know it, we wind up looking the wrong way. I think this a fitting picture of Satan's activities in the world. In the Scriptures, it says that "the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 4:4). The original context of this passage is obviously limited to unbelievers. But, it seems reasonable to say that one of Satan's chief vocations for all people is given here: to blind from the truth and to keep attention focused on what lacks worth and substance from God's perspective. Like the card shark, the ultimate power of Satan might be to keep us looking the wrong way.
If this is truly one of Satan's most powerful schemes, what we must get past is the instinct of rationalization: defending our practices and behaviors based upon their perceived merit. Truly I think it matters very little whether our time is consumed by materialism, saving the whales, crack cocaine, maintaining the perfect lawn, terrorism, or football. Yes, some things which occupy people's lives have a degree of merit and importance while others are just despicable, but anything that consumes our lives other than Christ must be equally suspect. It is not just the blatantly evil that Satan can use to draw us away from God's intended path; it is often the "good things" in life that are the most deceptive and distracting. Surely such thinking is behind Jesus' rhetorical question to his disciples: "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26). The obvious answer is "nothing." Satan's deception strikes exactly here, at what appears good and honorable but in the end amounts to nothing. Many things are legitimate and socially acceptable, but where do they lead us? What is their end? Ultimately, how do those things stand before the God of the cross?
The Christian hip-hop group, The Cross Movement, has an ingenious description of Satan's role in the world. They say that "the Devil's in blinding business, the counterfeit-shining business..." Yes, making that which is false seem appealing, attractive and legitimate. Surely, Satan has a role in getting young men and women from all over the world to dedicate their lives to the senseless destruction of innocent people in the name of a government or a cause. Truly, how deceived a person must be to blow others apart and think it honorable and praiseworthy. But how quickly would our "Amens!" fade if we apply this same thinking to those that devote themselves to college football, building a Fortune 500 company, or fighting wrinkles? Are not these equally powerful deceptions? What we say of ourselves concerning these things may well be irrelevant. To the extent that these pursuits crowd out God in our lives day after day, they are equally counterfeit. The nature of the deception is beside the point. Satan's counterfeiting-business remains successful as long as such things distract us from the God's purposes. We were created by Christ's hand and redeemed by his blood for much more than we often accept!
In our rapidly moving and changing world, it is easy to lose focus, to become distracted from the high calling of God upon the lives of his people. I know I struggle deeply with the distractions in my life, and I ask God almost every day to help me focus my life on the important things, as he defines importance. The trick to beating the "card shark" is counterintuitive: it's not in trying to beat him at his own game, but in recognizing that the game itself is a sham. Our goal should be to avoid playing it entirely. If I know I have a propensity to let TV sneak into a place of idolatrous influence in my life, I should not mess around-Paul warned us against even giving Satan a foothold! Rather, I should treat it like the deceptive influence that it is. Why mess around with something that leads me away from the path to which God has called me?
Our kids at Urban Connections face the ever-present deceptions of violence, sex, and drugs. The lure of materialism is likewise dangled in front of their faces daily on TV. Oddly enough, that life is simultaneously denied to them. Even before many of them are born conditions exist that lock them out of that world. Yet my hopes and prayers for them do not revolve around luxurious homes and expensive cars. That would be leading them into a deception as equally powerful and destructive as the drugs and violence. Of course, I want them to be responsible, but my dream goes far beyond that: it is that each one experiences the full richness and incomparable greatness of life defined by a mature faith and complete devotion to Christ. This abundant life is free from the stereotypical inner-city vices but equally free from the suburban and rural ones. To that end, we must avoid hypocrisy, not treating our own deceptions and vices as somehow categorically different from theirs. No, we must be genuine, alert and on our guard against all the schemes of the Devil. It's not easy...Satan is a master con-artist, the master deceiver-perhaps the ultimate expert at duping people into looking the wrong way. But Jesus is the greater Master-the Crucified One is sovereign even over Satan. As Christ opens the eyes of our hearts, we no longer have to be ignorant of Satan's myriad schemes. Instead, our vision can become clear to see past his deceptions and overcome in service to the Master.