Bad Theology Suffocates Love (1 Timothy 1:3-5)

Last week, a minor league baseball team forfeited a game because several players on the team refused to wear rainbow, “Pride” affirming jerseys. Several major league players also received backlash for displaying Bible verses on their baseball caps during a game marketed as a “LGBTQ Pride Night.” It is all too common for these kinds of stands to be labeled “unloving” in our society. And LGBTQ issues are just one example of this. Today if you contradict anyone’s beliefs, you risk being labeled a hater.

But the apostle Paul offers a different diagnosis. He writes to Timothy:

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:3-5)

According to Paul, Timothy risks undermining love in the church if he lets false teaching and sin continue unchecked. False doctrine suffocates love. But biblical doctrine revives love. Biblical doctrine leads us to the God who is Love and defines love and lavishes his love upon us in Jesus.

Paul wants Timothy to charge the church to teach only true, biblical doctrine for the sake of love. The goal (telos) of promoting good theology and confronting bad theology is love. To allow false doctrine to go unchecked in the church is profoundly unloving. It is unloving to let lies rage like wildfire among Christ’s people. It is unloving to ignore distortions of the gospel, distortions of God’s character, or distortions of God’s commands.

The standard of truth the church should promote is the “stewardship from God that is by faith.” This stewardship is the sound doctrine of Scripture that we receive by faith. Anything that rejects, denies, or distorts this stewardship will not end up on the path to love.wardship will not end up on the path to love.

But when the church promotes biblical teaching, the church pursues love that has a solid foundation in purity of heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). Good theology promotes the purity of our hearts. We find cleansing in Christ, and God creates a clean heart in us as we believe the gospel. Biblical teaching also properly aligns our inner compass of right and wrong based on God’s standards. And sound doctrine fans our faith into flame by showing us the wonder of who God is and what he has done.

In contrast, bad theology muddies our hearts. It leads us to believe lies about God, the world, and other people. False teaching misaligns our inner sense of right and wrong. It also corrupts our faith and makes it looks fake, because it is man-made and not based on God’s truth. False doctrine shipwrecks our faith and drowns our love (1 Tim 1:19-20).

Therefore, if love is our telos, we will confront false doctrine and proclaim biblical truth without apology. Love should be our aim. Love should also influence our manner of proclaiming the truth. We don’t want to be jerks. We want people to see the beauty of the gospel and the beauty of living God’s way.

The most loving way to live is not ignoring sin and bad theology. The most loving way to live is graciously pointing people to God’s truth in Scripture as we live it out ourselves. Lord, help us to pursue this kind of love in the church by pressing into the sound doctrine of your Word.

It’s a Trap! The Fear of Man vs. Faith in God (Proverbs 29:25)

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

According to Proverbs 29:25, an alarm should sound off in our hearts every time we begin to make a decision based on the fear of what other people will do or think–it’s a trap. The fear of man is a trap. It’s a snare that we often walk into everyday.

What exactly is the fear of man? According to Duane Garrett, “The ‘fear of man’ describes any situation in which one is anxious about not offending another person.”[1] The fear of man is when the primary grid for how we live our lives is how people will respond to our words and actions. It leads us stay silent when a coworker cuts corners because we fear what might happen if we speak up. Or we do not confront sin in a friend because we are afraid of the repercussions. Or we do not share the gospel because we fear rejection. In other words, it leads us into a failure to do what is right because we fear the risk of making other people angry, hurt, and so on.

The fear of man is all over our world today. We are a society afraid of being offensive. We fear getting cancelled by the politically correct mob. At home, every decision can easily become about how we can make everybody happy. At work or school, we alter our behavior according to the people we are with. At church, we put on a mask because we don’t want people to find out what we’re really like.

But this is all a trap. We think acting this way will keep us safe. We think, “As long as we can keep everyone happy, everything will be okay.” But this is a lie. Living according to the fear of man will not keep us safe. We may avoid hard conversations. We may do our utmost to go with the flow and stay comfortable. We may earn a trophy for being the world’s #1 people pleaser. But in the end, we will not be safe.

We will live in constant worry. Our judgment about what is right will be clouded. Our courage will fail. And we will be held accountable by God (not people!) for how we lived. The fear of man is a trap.

True safety comes from trusting in the Lord and living according to his will. The person who trusts in Lord will be kept safe in the end because God’s ways are always best and God alone can give us true safety.

Therefore, the safest place for us is living by faith in what God says is good and right, not worrying about offending or angering other people. This doesn’t mean we never consider how our words or actions might make another person feel. It is clearly not wrong to want other people to be happy or feel loved! However, their will and desires are not always best. But God’s will is always best, even when it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.

This proverb also doesn’t mean bad things will never happen to us if we just trust God. Both Scripture and reality teach us otherwise. People will get angry with us. We may have relational conflict. But in the end, the safest place to live is always faith in what God says, not fear of how people will react.

  1.  Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 233. ↩︎

In Christ, You’re a Saint

“You’re a saint.” You’ve probably heard that phrase applied to someone who just did something really nice. Someone just agreed to help you clean up your shed this weekend, and you tell them, “Thank you so much! You’re a saint!” 

Even though this phrase may feel a little archaic, it captures one of the few ways we use the word saint today: someone who is extra holy or extra nice. Or we may think that a saint is a super godly person from the past, or maybe they are the older, super-spiritual men and women in the church.

But then here comes Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:2 where he opens his letter with these words:

“To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.” (CSB)

Paul opens this letter to a church filled with dysfunction (see for example 1 Cor 5), and he calls them saints. Paul does not address this letter just to the extra holy people in the church. He addresses the letter to the whole church and says they are called as saints. 

In 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul has just used a similar phrase for himself: “Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will” (CSB). Paul is called as an apostle. The Corinthian church is called as saints, God’s holy people. Even this dysfunctional church remains God’s holy people. They are called by God to be saints. 

The rest of verse 2 helps fill in what it means to be a saint:

Saints are those who call upon Jesus as Lord.

Paul writes that the Corinthians are called as saints along with everyone else who calls on Jesus’s Name. Everyone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation and submits to him as Lord is a saint. Becoming a saint isn’t something you earn by doing extra holy stuff. Becoming a saint is what happens when you call on the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue you. You have a new identity. 

Sainthood is a calling, not an achievement.

Paul also describes the Corinthians as “saints by calling”. God had called them to be saints. This doesn’t mean they were called to achieve sainthood anymore than Paul’s calling as an apostle meant he had to achieve his apostleship (he’ll let the Corinthians know he is an apostle only by the mercy of God, see 2 Cor 4:1). 

The calling here refers to the effectual call of God that calls us into fellowship with Christ (1 Cor 1:9). In 1 Corinthians 1:26-30, Paul connects the believer’s calling with God’s choosing (see also Jude 1; Rev 17:14). When they consider their calling, they will see that God has chosen what is weak and foolish to shame the strong and powerful of the world. We are saints only because we are chosen by the sovereign grace of God. We are called by God to be set apart as his people.

Both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are in view here. God calls us to be saints as we call on the Name of the Lord. God’s call always comes first (this is the biblical pattern; for example, think about Abraham who was called out by God before he called upon God, Gen 12:1-3; 13:4). Yet, saints also call upon the Name of the Lord. Saints are called by God as his holy ones who call upon Jesus’s Name. 

In this way, saints have a holy position before God because of Jesus.

A saint is a sanctified person. Paul refers here not to our progressive growth in Christ, but to our position before God. Positionally, everyone who is united to Jesus by faith is sanctified and set apart to God as a saint (a holy one). 

Therefore, a saint is a person who is set apart to God by merits of their union with Jesus. They are called to be saints because they are called into fellowship with Jesus (1 Cor 1:9). Every believer is a saint. Every believer belongs to the holy people of God. To be a saint means to be set apart to God because you belong to Jesus. This is now your identity in Christ. 

Therefore, Christian, you are a saint. You might recoil at that or laugh it off as just archaic language. But Paul used the term for the Corinthians (and other churches) to encourage them that they are God’s holy people and to motivate them to live out this new identity that they have in Jesus. 

Like the church in first-century Corinth, we are often pretty clunky at living this out. Yet even in our continued struggle with sin, we remain God’s people called to become what we already are—holy. In Jesus, we are saints. Let’s live like it by God’s grace. 

Are You Hungry for God’s Word?

This week I received an email with a profound question: what does it mean to be hungry for God’s Word and how can I feel this way? Most of us would agree that a hunger for the Bible is a healthy hunger. But what does this actually mean and how do we develop a deeper appetite for the Word of God? 

What Does It Mean to Have a Hunger for God’s Word?

A hunger for the Word of God is all about sensing our need for God’s truth. It is a longing to know God’s truth more so that it changes us. A hunger for God’s Word means we want God and his truth to shape how we live on a daily basis.

We see a hunger and a longing for God and his Word in the Bible itself, especially in Psalm 119. I’d encourage you to read the whole Psalm (it’s long but worth the read). Here are a few snippets that reveal a healthy hunger for God’s truth.

“My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.” (Psalm 119:20)

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)

Notice how the author of the Psalm longs for God’s rules (his truth, his Word), he loves it and thinks about it all the time, and he finds God’s words “sweet”. They are good and nourishing to his soul. He knows and feels his need for God’s truth. He longs to know more of the goodness and delight found in God’s truth.

Ultimately, a hunger for God’s Word is a hunger for God. God has spoken to us through the Bible, his Word. It is the primary way we come to know him as followers of Jesus. Thus, a hunger for God’s Word should be a hunger to know and love God more by dwelling on his truth conveyed in the Bible. 

We want him. And we want to love him more. And we want to live his way. So, we come to the Bible and read it with open hands ready to receive whatever God might give us to satisfy our souls.

How Do We Grow in Our Hunger for God’s Word?

The reality of the Christian life is that we may not always feel a hunger for God’s Word. Developing an appetite for the Word can take time, and it may ebb and flow. Our hunger for God’s truth will have high points and low points. There is no magic strategy to make yourself feel this hunger. It comes to us from God himself and often grows or shrinks depending on our daily habits.

So here are four practices for growing your appetite for God’s Word.

1. Pray and Ask God for a Deeper Hunger

The first step to growing in a hunger for God is by praying and asking God for a deeper hunger for his Word. Ask God: Help me to long to read the Bible and find it sweet and good and lovely. Help me to love your Word and think about it all the time. Give me a deep yearning for you and your truth. 

Confess to God that you don’t often feel this way: God, I don’t hunger for you and your truth as I should. Help me to develop a fiercer craving to read and live out your Word.

2. Take Small Steps to Encounter God’s Word Every Day

Then, take small steps to encounter God’s Word every day. Set aside a time every day to read a small portion of the Bible. And small can be key. If you aren’t reading the Bible on a regular basis, start with just a few verses or a chapter. 

Turn off distractions (i.e., put your phone in another room) and spend a few minutes reading. As you read, ask yourself what this teaches you about God or how it might point you to who Jesus is. 

Make a start to developing a greater desire for the Word by reading the Word daily. Our habits shape our appetites, so make a habit of being in the Bible everyday.

3. Chew on What You Read

As you read God’s Word make sure you are “chewing on it”. That’s what “meditation” on God’s Word means. Meditation is concentration on God’s truth for the good of your soul, to satisfy your soul with God’s nourishing truth. It’s simply taking time to slowly think about what God’s Word means. 

Once again, asking good questions is critical. Chew on the Word by asking what it teaches you about God, how it might call you to change your actions, how it encourages you to trust in Jesus, how it leads you to confess sin, and so on.

4. Read God’s Word in Community

Finally, read God’s Word in community with other believers. Make every effort to be in church regularly to hear the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. Find friends who can hold you accountable in reading God’s Word. Ask a friend to ask you once a week: What was something God taught you through his Word this week? 

God designed us to read and hear his Word with others. Our hunger will grow as we seek God’s truth with other followers of Jesus.

These thoughts are just a start, but I hope they get you thinking about what you are hungry for. Are you hungry for God and his Word? Or are you trying to fill the emptiness of your soul with entertainment, relationships, money, or something else? Only God can satisfy your soul through his Son, Jesus Christ. Getting hungry for God’s Word starts with repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus Christ alone to save us and satisfy us. 

Are you hungry for God’s truth? Confess the idolatry of your appetites, trust in Christ alone, and get in the Bible to grow your appetite for the sweetness of God’s truth. 

Technology, AI, and the Christian Life

When I think about technology and AI, my mind often wanders to a scene from the end of the film “Avengers: Infinity War”. In this scene, the villain Thanos has just turned half of the universe to dust. In a kind of vision, he approaches his adopted daughter Gamora (who he had to sacrifice earlier in the film) as a young girl. She asks him, “What did it cost?” Thanos responds, “Everything.”

It is a chilling scene that makes me wonder if in our pursuit of AI we are a little like Thanos chasing infinite power and knowledge, and it will cost us everything. That may be a little too apocalyptic, but it raises the issue of whether we really do count the cost when pursuing the wild dreams of new technologies.

As Christians, we need to be rooted in a biblical worldview about technology. The Bible may not give us a practical guide to AI, but it does give us a general understanding of what technology is and how we should use it. That is where we must start in considering how we approach AI as Christians.

What Is Technology and How Should We Use It?

Technology is a product of human beings living as image-bearers of God. Genesis 1:26-28 teaches that God created humanity in his image and gave humanity the task of exercising dominion over the earth. One way we image God, the Creator, is by making new things from his creation. This includes technology. Technology involves creating useful tools from God’s creation that help us carry out the callings God has given us.1

Therefore, the Bible begins with a positive outlook on technology. It is part of living as image-bearers of God who order and shape creation into useful tools that promote human flourishing. The goal of technology is the glory of God and the good of others. We shape tools that help us do the work God has given us and to make things that are useful for others.

Technology finds its roots in creation before humanity’s rebellion against God. It involves discovering the patterns God has wired into creation. Every man-made technology ultimately goes back to God, the Creator. Just as Isaiah reminds us that the farmer gets understanding from God to know how to farm, the designers of new technologies are discovering ways God has made things to work (Isaiah 28:26, 29).2

However, since humanity’s rebellion against our Creator, all technology is affected by the brokenness of this world. We use technology to hurt and harm others (think: Cain and Abel in Genesis 4). We use technology to enable our idols (think: the Golden Calf in Exodus 32). All technologies fade, cause headaches when they break, and can shape us in negative ways.

No technology is simply a neutral tool. All technology shapes us in certain ways. For example, the invention of the alphabet and reading shaped past cultures so that they were no longer strictly oral cultures. Thus, we should be intentional, patient, and wise in how we use technology. We should ask questions like, “How is this technology shaping me? Is it helping or hindering me from loving God and loving others?”.

Scripture is clear that whatever we do, we should do for the praise and glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). All that we do should be done in love (1 Cor 16:14). We should use technology in ways that honor God and show love to others. Scripture also calls us to walk in wisdom and holiness. Before we adopt new technologies, we should count the cost. This means that we consider how a technology might shape us and how we relate to God and others. We should avoid all uses of technology that push us toward sin and away from holiness.

Today, we live in a time of unprecedented growth in technology. Most of what we think of as technology today is digital technology. Screens are everywhere, from our pockets to our walls, in our cars and on our refrigerators. Technology today changes so quickly it is hard to stay on top of. Of course, the biggest strides in technology today come in the arena of AI (artificial intelligence).

What Is AI?

According to NASA, “Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems that can perform complex tasks normally done by human-reasoning, decision making, creating, etc.”3 It generally works through exposing systems to large amounts of data and applying algorithms to identify patterns and perform certain tasks (this is called “Machine Learning”). Instead of merely following rules, it uses lots of data to “learn” rules and notice patterns. For example, this might look like showing a system thousands of images of dogs so it can learn what a dog looks like.

AI has been a field that has interested scientists since at least the term was coined in the 1950s. With the increased speed of computers today and the wealth of information available on the internet, artificial intelligence has taken vast leaps forward in the past 20 years. Today, we live with AI assistants like Alexa and Siri and can type any question or draft any idea in ChatGPT. We can describe an image, and AI will produce it. Scientists are designing AI robots that can run half-marathons and perform other physical tasks.

We should understand that like most technologies today, AI is mainly being designed by those with a materialistic, evolutionary worldview that denies God and reduces humans to biological processes. In this worldview, our intelligence is a result of organic, chemical processes, and it can be replicated, replaced, or supplemented by AI. Some proponents of AI consider it the next step in human evolution and theorize that it might allow us to transcend our bodies. Others like Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) propose that intelligence will become simply another utility (like water and electricity) that we will purchase from companies like his.4

We should note this worldview and be careful of ways it can influence us as Christians. We should be careful about how AI itself can shape us and how we think about ourselves and others. As Christians, we need to remember that human beings are much more than the sum of our intelligence or physical capabilities. We are not fundamentally what we know or what we do. We are created in God’s image, body and soul, with inherent dignity and worth that no computer created by man could supplant.

The capabilities of AI will continue to grow. It will take over certain jobs and fields of work. But it will not change what it means to be human or our basic calling as followers of Jesus. We should consider how to use it and approach it in ways that glorify God and show love to our neighbors.

How Should We Approach AI as Followers of Jesus?

If we are using digital technology, we are all using AI in some form (e.g., from recommended videos on YouTube to Google searches to using Alexa to control your smart thermostat). Yet, as with all technology, we want to be intentional about our use of AI. As followers of Jesus, we should approach AI with wisdom, love for others, and a concern to live holy lives for God’s glory.

We can frame these three concerns into three questions. First, what is the cost of AI in my life? Second, does my use of AI help or hinder my love for others? Third, does my use of AI help or hinder living in holiness?

Wisdom

Wisdom asks more of AI than simply “how will this benefit me?“. The benefits of new technologies like AI are easy to see: I can ask Gemini to create a tailored workout plan for me in just a few minutes. That’s cool and helpful! But the costs of using new technologies are usually more hidden and harder to assess. As Neil Postman argues, technological change is ecological.5 Introduce a new technology, and it changes the entire ecosystem of a culture and your life. Wisdom discerns hidden costs to our “ecosystem” (what we lose, not just what we gain) and adjusts our use of technology accordingly.

AI technologies come with several hidden costs. Like many digital technologies, AI can play a role in eroding our ability to give something sustained thought. Why would we think through a problem, when we can ask ChatGPT? Why would we read a book when we can ask AI what we want to know? We become slowly reliant on our tools in a way that literally rewires our brains and erodes attention. For Christians, this matters because we are people of a book. We are called to read and meditate on God’s Word. AI might be able to give us quick answers to Bible questions, but it cannot give us the delight in God that arises from saturating our minds and hearts with his Word.

AI also forms us to value speed, efficiency, and ease. Yet, we forget that these things are not virtues. Gemini probably could have written this article better than I did. But that wouldn’t really help me in the long run (or you, either). It would be easier and faster, but I would lose the benefit of working through these issues myself. Life is about more than quick information and taking the easy road. Wisdom values knowledge that is bought by sweat and tears more than intelligence purchased for a small fee (or for nothing) from the AI “utility companies.” Patience and self-discipline are good in and of themselves. But AI changes the ecosystem of our lives in such a way that it can choke them out or hinder their growth.

Wisdom also recognizes how AI can lead us away from community and human connection and prioritize a self-centered experience. It may lead us away from asking others in our lives for help. We can simply ask our AI assistant. In the extreme, people have even developed disturbing intimate “relationships” with AI chatbots. But these kinds of connections are “artificial”. They lack the true connection that comes from a son asking his dad for help on a project. AI tempts us to just ask ChatGPT.

Love

Another question we must ask of our use of AI is whether it helps or hinders our love for God and others. In other words, is AI getting in the way of growing to be more like Jesus? The Bible is clear that our greatest calling in life is to love God with all that we are and all that we have and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

In our use of AI, we must strive to love God above all. We must be careful that we do not allow AI tools to become idols that lead us away from spending time in prayer or other spiritual disciplines. Since the Fall, humanity has turned to worship creation rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25). If we consistently turn to AI for answers before we turn to God in prayer, we are guilty of idol worship. Will we turn first to the all-knowing God who loves us or a digital AI assistant who is a creation of man? As we approach AI, we must use it as those who love God above all and refuse to turn our creations into idols.

AI should also be used in ways marked by love for others. We should refuse to use it in ways that harm or ignore people. Positively, AI may allow us to save a little time in certain menial tasks so we can focus on people in our lives. It might help us create positive content that may help or encourage others. Doctors have already been using it to help read scans and other reports more accurately in ways that have saved lives. If we are going to use AI, we need to dwell on this question for ourselves: how will this help or hinder my love for others in my life? We must refuse to use AI in ways that lead us to dehumanize or harm others.

Holiness

We also should consider whether certain uses of AI help us live in holiness or whether they push us to live in worldliness. Remember: God’s will for you is your holiness (1 Thess 4:3). We must not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of our mind in God’s truth (Rom 12:2). Therefore, we need to consider whether AI is helping or hindering our holiness and the renewal of our mind.

Using AI to write a paper for you and passing it off as your own is clearly an unholy use of AI. But also letting our minds become unduly saturated with AI-driven social media news feeds may quietly push us into worldliness. Social media algorithms give us what they “think” we want to see. This feeds our self-centeredness, creates echo chambers, and even hardens us to sin. As David Wells writes, “Worldliness is what makes sin look normal in any age and righteousness seem odd.”6 How much passes before our eyes on our screens that tries to make sin look normal?

We can use AI in ways that are holy and honor God. Using it with wisdom and love is a good start. If we are going to use AI, we better do so for the glory of God. We should recognize the costs and mitigate them as much as we can. We should be intentional about using AI instead of being purely reactive or using it mindlessly just because everyone else is.

Four Starting Points for Using AI

As we approach AI through the lens of wisdom, love, and holiness, here are four simple starting points for considering how we use AI.

  1. In everything, work hard for God’s glory and the good of others. Don’t use AI to avoid all hard mental work. Using AI for menial, mindless tasks is fine. It becomes more complicated when we’re asking it to do all the heavy lifting for us. There is satisfaction in hard work (mental and physical). Sitting around and having a machine do everything is an empty way to live. Give your all for God’s glory and out of love for the people around you.
  2. Don’t delegate your learning to a machine. Use AI to go deeper in your learning, not as a replacement for learning. If we delegate our learning to AI, we will lose something valuable. God made us to explore and to learn. Before consulting AI, take time to think through a problem, question, or biblical text for yourself or ask someone you trust. Resist the urge to look everything up all the time. Use AI to explore and learn, but don’t make it the end of your learning.
  3. Commit to reading books, especially the Bible. Don’t let AI keep you from slowly reading the best books. There is a reason God revealed himself in a book that contains many genres of literature. Reading (whether silent reading on your own or listening to a book) is the preeminent medium God has given us for experiencing truth and beauty. When everything becomes a conversation with an AI chatbot, we are missing out on something deeper and more satisfying. Our God is a God of words. He speaks. Don’t settle for AI summaries. Read the Bible prayerfully for yourself.
  4. Stay tethered to real community and in-person connection. AI isn’t a replacement for human relationships. Many people today are turning to AI for more than answers and information. They are looking for connection with something outside themselves. Connection with AI is a weak substitute for in-person community. So talk and engage with your family and your friends in real life. Commit to being an active member of your local church. Relationships with other humans are messy, but connection with AI can’t truly compete with them.

Conclusion

AI is here to stay. It isn’t going anywhere. We can be thankful for ways AI makes our lives easier or helps us streamline tedious tasks. But we must also count the cost. The ecosystem of our culture and our lives is changing in many ways. Yet our calling as followers of Jesus remains the same: we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we proclaim the good news of Jesus to the world, we love God and our neighbor, and we do all for the glory and praise of our Lord.

  1. Jason Thacker, The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (Zondervan, 2020), Kindle, 20.↩︎
  2. I owe this observation to Tony Reinkie, who writes, “God taught us how to build rockets and planes like he taught the ancient farmer to grow crops. In every human discovery we find the Creator’s instruction. God is our tutor, and he ordains every link in the chain of technological revolution.” Tony Reinke, God, Technology, and the Christian Life (Crossway, 2022), Kindle, 102.↩︎
  3. “What Is Artificial Intelligence?,” NASA, October 4, 2024, https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artificial-intelligence/↩︎
  4. Peco Gaskovski and Ruth Gaskovski, “The Sacred Triad: Where and Why to Resist,” School of the Unconformed (Substack), October 15, 2024, https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/the-sacred-triad-where-and-why-to.↩︎
  5. Neil Postman, “Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change” (speech, Denver, CO, March 28, 1998), https://student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs492/papers/neil-postman–five-things.html.↩︎
  6. David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Eerdmans, 1994), Kindle, 29.↩︎

Reformation Wisdom for Your Spiritual Formation: Thoughts on “A Heart Aflame for God” by Matthew Bingham

How do we grow in our walk with God? Plenty of books, articles, podcasts, and sermons try to help us answer that question from various angles. Some claim to offer ancient wisdom, while others suggest practical tips and tricks relevant to our day. Others seem to draw from several Christian traditions (no matter how much they contradict each other) to produce an eclectic approach to spirituality.

One recent book on the subject is Matthew Bingham’s A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation. Bingham is especially concerned that an eclectic approach to spiritual formation is neither necessary nor useful. He takes us back to an approach rooted in the writings of early modern, Reformed authors.

A Heart Aflame for God presents a helpful summary of some of the best thinking on spiritual formation from a biblical perspective. Here are some of the main ideas that I found helpful.

Spiritual Formation and our Reformation Heritage

Throughout A Heart Aflame, Bingham shows that evangelicals have a rich inheritance and deep roots in Reformation Protestantism for spiritual formation (5). We don’t have to follow modern eclectic approaches or feel the need to shift to Roman Catholic or Orthodox traditions to find a richer approach. We already have a very rich, biblical tradition to draw from. Yet many of us have neglected it.

These deeper roots are found in sources like John Calvin and the Reformers, the Puritans, and other early modern Reformed believers (10-12). Bingham explores spiritual formation from their perspective to help believers as they seek to grow in Christ.

Following the Puritans, we can define spiritual formation broadly as keeping the heart (23-27). Spiritual formation is watching what is happening in our hearts in all areas of life. It includes fighting against sin and fighting for a deeper joy in God (24-25).

Bingham defines spiritual formation more specifically as “the conscious process by which we seek to heighten and satisfy our Spirit-given thirst for God (Ps. 42:1-2) through divinely appointed means and with a view toward “work[ing] out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) and becoming “mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28),” (35). Spiritual formation is how we seek to grow up in Christ and grow closer to our God.

The Centrality of the Word and the Reformation Triangle

God’s Word is central to our spiritual formation. Bingham writes, “God’s people are most profoundly shaped and formed by God’s word,” (71). This was a major emphasis in early Reformed authors on the subject, and they derived this emphasis from the Bible itself (e.g., Psa 1:1-2; Psa 119:103-04; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Heb 4:12). As B. B. Warfield put it, “Life close to God’s Word is life close to God,” (72).

Bingham also draws from our Reformation heritage to argue that the way to our hearts is primarily through our minds (80). Spiritual growth isn’t the result of practicing the right rituals but is rooted in faithful, Spirit-filled interaction with God’s Word. We should avoid the anti-intellectual spirit all too common today and instead pursue the careful study of and meditation on God’s Word to shape our affections.

Near the end of the book, Bingham also interacts with authors such as James K. A. Smith who criticize a Word-centered approach to spiritual formation in favor of spiritual formation through embodied rituals and liturgies. Bingham agrees with Smith that we want to avoid a “brains-on-a-stick Christianity” (293). Christian spirituality is not merely about having good theology. At the same time, this doesn’t mean that we jettison the centrality of the Word in spiritual formation. There is little biblical or logical reason to accept an argument (like Smith’s) that “the way to the heart is through the body” (301).

Furthermore, Scripture isn’t merely one tool for spiritual formation. All of spiritual formation is connected to Scripture (92). This leads Bingham to present what he calls the “Reformation Triangle” of Scripture reading, meditation, and prayer. These three practices are interrelated and form the foundation of our spiritual formation: “we hear from God through his word, we reflect on what we’ve heard in meditation, and we then respond to God in prayer,” (94).

For many Christians, this may seem obvious. We grow closer to God and more conformed to Christ’s likeness as we read and ponder God’s Word and pray. Yet, we may forget what this represents—communion with God (193). Herman Bavinck explained it eloquently: In Scripture “God daily comes to his people. In it he speaks to his people, not from afar but from nearby,” (91). In prayer, we respond to God and bring our needs before him. Prayer (thoughtful and tethered to biblical truth) is like breathing for believers—natural and life-sustaining (167).

Meditation on Scripture

When it comes to keeping the heart, meditating on God and his truth is also essential. Yet, meditation is often a missing element in our discussions of spiritual formation in the church (139). Meditation takes the Word that we read and seeks to bring it home to our hearts. Drawing from the Puritans, Bingham defines meditation as serious thinking about God’s truth that leads to renewed affections toward God and application of the truth (135-37).

He also draws from the Puritans to present several helpful metaphors for meditation. Meditation is like rekindling a flame from the coals of God’s Word as we seek to warm our hearts (137). It is tasting the sweetness of God’s Word and not only chewing on it but digesting the truth for spiritual nourishment (145-46). Reading God’s Word is like surveying a house from the outside. Meditation is exploring the rooms in the house (154). We find that Scripture is bigger and better than we could have imagined—there is always more to explore.

Meditation is not emptying our minds but filling them with serious thinking about God’s Word that aims for deeper joy in God and more faithful obedience to God. It’s not easy in our fast-paced age that pushes us toward shallow thinking. But it’s essential to a life of flourishing in God’s economy (Psa 1:1-2).

Other Helpful Practices for Spiritual Formation

In the final third of the book, Bingham unpacks several other practices for spiritual formation. These build on the Reformation Triangle rather than being stand alone practices. These include self-examination, reflecting on the natural world, and pursuing godly relationships.

As we meditate Scripture, we bring Scripture to bear on our lives in self-examination. We keep a watch on our hearts and lives by noticing and repenting of sin and finding encouragement in God’s work in our lives (210-12). The natural world also can aid our spiritual formation. Bingham points out how many believers in the past have spent much time in nature, walking the woods in prayer and communion with God (248). God’s creation teaches us God’s truth and helps us savor God’s beauty, even in the ordinary wonders of nature (240, 251-53).

Bingham also makes sure that we don’t reduce spiritual formation to a purely individualistic endeavor. We need godly relationships in the home and the church (258). If we want to grow in maturity, we need godly examples and serious, intentional godly conversation, which the Puritans called “conference” (264-66). We will certainly grow more with the help of godly friends (274).

Finally, Bingham reminds us that we will face many spiritual challenges in our spiritual formation. “Spiritual struggle is a normal part of the Christian life, and no one is exempt,” (307). The reasons for these struggles can include harboring sin (313), our natural temperament (315), worldliness (318), life circumstances (319-20), and the schemes of the devil (321). The major way we face these spiritual struggles is with the means of grace God has given us. There is no magic bullet to overcome these shadowy days in our souls. We simply press on in reading God’s Word, meditating on it, praying to our God, and remaining in godly community.

Final Thoughts

A Heart Aflame for God joins a list of other solid books on pursuing intentional spiritual growth. Other books, like Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, are a little more practical. But A Heart Aflame for God is unique in its intentional focus on wisdom for spiritual formation from early-modern Reformed thinkers and writers.

Bingham focuses on building a foundation for a biblical, Reformed approach to spiritual formation more than presenting a list of disciplines or habits only. This approach also pushes back against other approaches that either promote more mystical practices (not rooted in Scripture) or approach spiritual formation as a buffet of practices we choose from based on what “works” for us.

A Heart Aflame for God reminds us that the simple practices of Scripture reading, meditation, and prayer are the core practices of our personal spiritual formation. When we pursue these for the sake of keeping our hearts, in the context of a community of believers, we will find our walk with God and our affections for God growing and deepening. Other practices might feel more novel and “fresh”, but communion with God in his Word and prayer must remain central in our pursuit of spiritual growth.

Faithful Gospel Ministry

We live in a time of unprecedented access to information. If we have a question about anything, we can find answers in seconds. We now even get an AI summary of our search results to relieve us of the tedious process of clicking the links ourselves.

When it comes to teaching about God, the Bible, and Christian living, you can find millions of articles, videos, books, and podcasts to learn from. Yet, in our age of tremendous access to Christian teaching, we face at least two serious dangers:

  • False teaching pervades many online resources. From TBN to TikTok, men and women peddling a false gospel seek our attention. Thus, one of the greatest needs in the church today is biblical wisdom and discernment about who we listen to and follow as spiritual leaders in our lives.
  • The online teaching we listen to is usually disconnected from real relationships. It is a blessing to learn from faithful pastors and teachers from the past and present through books and articles and sermon clips on YouTube. I am so thankful for the influence of faithful servants of Christ, dead and alive, in my own life!

Yet, these were never intended to be the only or the main diet of the Christian. The Christian life is meant to be lived in the context of relationships, in the context of a local church, where we can be formed in Christ through the ministry of men and women we know and love.

To help us combat these dangers, we should pay attention to Paul’s words in Galatians 4:12–20. In this passage, Paul contrasts his ministry with the ministry of the false teachers who were making inroads into the churches of Galatia. His words help us recognize what faithful gospel ministry looks like.

Marks of a Faithful Gospel Ministry

1. Faithful servants of Christ preach the true gospel no matter what.

Paul had come to these churches and preached the gospel to them (Gal 4:13). He proclaimed to them as we read in Acts 13:38–39: “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

Paul declared to them that salvation has come to the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth, for all who believe in Jesus.

Now, Paul continues to speak the truth to them and wonders if that makes him their enemy (4:16). But no matter how the Galatians respond, Paul preaches the good news of Jesus. He speaks the truth to them.

We shouldn’t take this for granted: faithful gospel ministry gets the gospel right. That is foundational. True servants of Jesus never deviate from the truth of the gospel. No matter what, they declare Christ and him crucified.

The chief calling of gospel ministry is not to make people better citizens or parents or spouses. That can be a result of the gospel. But it is not the gospel. The calling of gospel ministry is preaching the good news of Jesus so that men, women, and children would believe and have hope in Jesus for eternal life.

Faithful messengers of Jesus get the message right.

2. Faithful servants of Christ set an example in gospel-living.

Paul pleads with the Galatians to become as he is, to follow his example (Gal 4:12). Paul didn’t just preach the gospel. The gospel changed the way he lived. He lived in a way that was consistent with the gospel, and he calls others to follow his example as he follows Christ.

Those who seek to serve Jesus and his people should be example-setters in gospel-living. Faithful gospel ministry not only gets the gospel right, but it also lives in a way that is consistent with the gospel. Legalism is put to death. Christlike holiness is pursued. Love characterizes life and ministry.

We hear of many pastors and church leaders who end up failing in ministry, not because they get the gospel wrong, but because they live inconsistently with the gospel. They may be genuine believers in Jesus who have fallen into sin, but they are clearly unfaithful servants, who we can no longer trust or follow. They get the gospel right in their teaching but wrong in their lives.

3. Faithful servants of Christ willingly endure weakness and suffering for the gospel.

Paul was no stranger to suffering as a servant of Jesus. Yet, his suffering and weakness did not deter him from faithfully preaching the gospel. Paul suffered illness, pain, weakness, and persecution for the cause of the gospel.

Paul’s physical weakness did not weaken his ministry. His weakness did not rob the gospel of its power. We need to get rid of this idea that physical weakness, suffering, illness, and persecution are hindrances to gospel ministry. It is often the opposite. Our weakness can be the very channel that God uses to display the power of his gospel.

We tend to follow the strong, those who seem powerful and popular and attractive to us. Those who are most popular online and on social media are usually those who hone the craft of appearing healthy and strong and attractive.

Yet, those things are far from the key to faithful or successful gospel ministry. Often, God’s power is displayed in our weakness. Because then it is obvious that the power is not in us but in him. True servants of Jesus know they are jars of clay (2 Cor 4:7–10). It’s not about our appearance or brand but what’s inside our ministry. It’s about the treasure of the gospel. It’s all about Jesus and his glory that shines through us even in our weakness.

Faithful gospel ministry is usually marked by suffering. True servants of Jesus recognize that they are weak. It’s not about looking powerful. It’s about displaying the power of Jesus, even in and through our weakness. 

4. Faithful servants of Christ work hard for the growth of believers in Christ.

Notice Paul’s heart for the Galatians: he calls them “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Gal 4:19).

Paul loves these believers. They are his brothers and sisters in Christ, and they are his little children. He pleads with them because he cares so deeply for their souls.

He feels like he is experiencing birth pains again for his children. He preached Christ to them and saw them born again. He endured toil and pain to give birth to them as a kind of spiritual mother. He is again suffering those pains. They are drifting away from Jesus, and he again is suffering and in anguish so that they might hold fast to Jesus.

Paul uses a striking image here. First, he describes himself as enduring the birth pains, but now he refers to Christ being formed like an embryo in the Galatian’s womb! They are listening to false teachers, and thus, they are in danger of miscarrying and losing Christ and the gospel.

But Paul suffers the birth pains so that the Galatians might give birth to a fully formed Christ in their lives.

That’s a bit of a jarring image. Paul uses it to wake up the Galatians to see what is happening. He wants Christ to be fully formed in their lives. He wants them to return to Christ and see Christ reproduced in their lives. In other words, he will not be content until they are grown up in Christ. He longs to see them grow in their faith, lest they fall away and be lost.

This is the heart and goal of all true gospel ministry—that people would experience the new birth and would grow up in Christ. True servants of Jesus labor to see their people grown up in Jesus. They will do whatever it takes to see them following Jesus to their dying day.

Growth in Jesus is not an optional extra in the Christian life. Gospel ministry is always seeking growth. But it is not about growth in numbers or programs or buildings. It’s about the growth of people in Jesus.

We are not content merely with decisions for Jesus. We labor for lifelong faith and growth in Jesus! That’s the heart of every faithful pastor, elder, and ministry leader.

The heart of a faithful servant of Christ often bleeds for his people. He will not be content until Christ is formed in them. He will take comfort in nothing else but their growth in Jesus. He fears and is at a loss for his people as long as they drift from the gospel.

He does the only thing he can: he preaches Christ until Christ is formed in them.

That’s the heart of faithful gospel ministry. It is a heart of deep love and concern for the souls of people. It is a heart that will not stop sweating and bleeding until Christ is formed in people.

*This post is based on a portion of a sermon I preached in May on Galatians 4:12-20.

Reading Slowly in a Hasty Age

“When I get a little money, I buy books, and if I have any left over I buy food and clothes.” I have always resonated with this statement from 16th century Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus. I love books. Reading is one of the most valuable disciplines and joys in life. It is vital to feeding and clothing the mind and soul.

While I enjoy purchasing new books, I must also admit that I have many books on my shelves that I have not read—more books than I’ll be able to get through in the next several years. Many are for reference, some are beneficial for a quick read-through, and others need deeper thought and reflection. Add to this the hundreds of books I have digitally on Kindle or Bible software, and I have a wealth of books to feast on for many years to come.

With so many books to read and so little time, those of us who love to read can be sucked into valuing reading speed and reading quantity over reading quality. The goal can become to read a certain number of books a year, when it should be enjoying good books and being formed by the best books.

We can go so fast and pound our way through book after book, when we should be slowing down, reflecting, and chewing on what we’re reading. Especially as we read for learning and spiritual growth, we often need to slow down and read less, not necessarily more. We need to take time in our Bible reading to meditate on the text more than to meet a goal of reading the Bible in a year (as valuable as that is).

Thomas Brooks, a pastor in the 17th century, put it well:

“Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bees touching of the flower that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.”

If hasty reading was a problem for the Puritans, it is more so today, especially in our digital context. Our digital age conditions us for passive consumption more than active learning. It forms us to prize quick skimming and synthesis over deep thinking and serious meditation. The increasing ubiquity of AI may lead some to think that sitting down and reading a book for information and learning is an antiquated pursuit. We live in an age of speed and efficiency, where slowing down can seem impossible. But slow down we must, if we want to be formed through reading and not just gulp down books.

One way to slow down is to read physical copies of books and read minimally from a device. Purchase the print version before the digital version. For your Bible intake, grab a printed copy of Scripture instead of pulling out your phone. I own and use (and enjoy) reading on a Kindle, but for serious meditation and deep reading, holding a print copy usually forces me to slow down. I remember more of what I read. I can get a better sense of the whole book with a print copy and review it more thoroughly.

Reading a print copy also allows for better note-taking in the book itself. Digital note-taking is doable and some may prefer it. There are benefits to reading a digital copy and saving highlights easily. But once again, faster and easier are not necessarily always better for long term learning and growth. Physically underlining a sentence or writing a short note requires you to slow down and be more intentional instead of highlighting every interesting passage. It makes you pause, reflect, and think, not just consume passively.

There are certainly many times we should read quickly. If you skimmed this article, I don’t blame you. You still probably got the gist and maybe received some food for thought. At other times, we might read too slowly and too sleepily or sporadically that we gain little from it. Or we may read inferior books too slowly and miss out on better books. But when we read good books for growth, we all could benefit from slowing down a little. Especially when we read the Book God has given us, his perfect and inerrant Word, we must prize serious mediation over hasty reading.

To sum it up in the words of Mortimer J. Adler, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through you—how many you can make your own. A few friends are better than a thousand acquaintances.”

Online Corinthians

Read the letters of 1-2 Corinthians, and you’ll quickly see that the Corinthians had problems. Lots of them. There were divisions in the church. They were letting gross sin slide. They were leaving their poorer brothers and sisters in Christ out of the Lord’s Supper. They forgot that the way of disciples of Jesus is the way of the cross.

One of these issues in the Corinthian church had to do with divisions in the church surrounding different leaders. Factions arose that claimed certain leaders, including Apollos, Peter, and Paul himself, as their figureheads (1 Cor 1:12). A related issue was the Corinthian’s attitude toward Paul and his ministry. The Corinthians apparently didn’t think Paul’s oratory skills were up to par and saw his suffering as discrediting his ministry.

The Corinthians formed tribes around their preferred leaders. They looked for power in personality and worldly show instead of the gospel. They didn’t expect their leaders to be clay jars, ordinary and prone to suffering and brokenness.

Sound familiar? These issues are not unique to the church in Corinth in the AD 50s. In fact, perhaps the internet and social media have only acted as gasoline added to the blaze in our day. In a real sense, you could say that we all tend to be Corinthians online.

We form tribes around our preferred leaders. With the advent of the internet, social media, YouTube, podcasts, etc., we can easily devote ourselves to a leader who fits our preferred style. We come not only to be shaped by their teaching, but to defend their honor online, ignore any weaknesses, and bash other leaders who don’t match our vision of what a real Christian leader, pastor, or author should look like.

We look for power in personality and worldly show instead of the gospel. The online world prizes personality and a certain kind of show. What gets the most attention online is often what is most entertaining, loud, or extreme. And what gets the most attention holds more power. We tend to look for power in personality, charisma, show, and clips that can go viral instead of the gospel.

We forget that we and our leaders and influencers are ordinary clay pots. Our leaders are ordinary people too. They’re broken, just like us. They go through hardship just like us. Yet, we can unduly exalt them (they could never be wrong!) or cancel them for disagreeing with us (how could they be so wrong!). Celebrity culture and cancel culture prevail online, and we forget that while godly leaders are a gift from God, they too are jars of clay, men of dust. The power is in the ministry of the gospel, not in any man or woman.

We need the lessons Paul taught the Corinthian church. Our pastors and leaders, if faithful, are servants of Christ. They are servants of Christ who proclaim not themselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Cor 4:5). The source of power in any ministry is the gospel. God certainly gifts some leaders more than others. But at the end of the day, even the most gifted preachers and leaders cannot truly convert one soul to Christ on their own.

Even the most gifted preachers, even the most creative Christian content creators online, even the most persuasive communicators are clay jars. What matters is what is inside their ministry. What truly has power to transform lives is the word of the cross, the gospel.