Holy Subversion (Foreword by Ed Stetzer) E-Book

Trevin Wax

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 212

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Christians are too often guilty of pledging their allegiance to the influential principalities and powers of this age rather than to Christ alone. In Holy Subversion, Trevin Wax challenges such behavior by urging a return to the subversive lifestyle of the earliest Christians. Their proclamation and demonstration that "Jesus is Lord" directly opposed the Caesar worship of their day. Today, Christians in the West must choose between Jesus and our "Caesars": self, success, money, leisure, sex, power. What would it look like, asks Wax, if today's church reclaimed the communal, subversive nature of the gospel, intentionally undermining all contenders for our devotion? How would the message that "Jesus is Lord" change our thinking about our jobs, our families, and our church participation? Here this gifted pastor-theologian offers help in taking our faith public, dethroning modern-day Caesars, honoring the Lordship of Christ, and understanding the church as the ultimate counterculture-an embodiment of Christ's supremacy over all.

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“Trevin Wax faithfully sounds the call for world-changing, Christ-exalting Christian practice. By unmasking contemporary ‘Caesars,’ he reveals real dangers and points to pitfalls of which many believers are completely unaware. This book serves as a helpful reminder and competent guide to draw out the implications of true allegiance to Jesus Christ.”

Al Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“How should God’s American people put the lordship of Jesus Christ on display in their lives? Wax’s searching answer is biblical, basic, businesslike, and blunt.”

J. I. Packer, Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology, Regent College

“Christianity is all about paradox. We lose our lives to gain them. We find life in crucifixion. We serve in order to reign. In his book, Holy Subversion, Trevin Wax takes up the question of how to be both a rebel—against the false authorities of this time—while simultaneously being submissive—to the divine authority of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This book is a helpful warning against both nihilism and cynicism.”

Russell D. Moore, President, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; author, The Kingdom of Christ and Adopted for Life

“Simple yet succinct, Holy Subversion exposes the idols of modernity and provides the biblical arsenal needed for their complete destruction. Trevin Wax provides medicine for the heart in this short, powerful study. Read it and be blessed.”

Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Trevin Wax provides good advice on how to turn away from the idols of success, money, leisure, sex. and power.”

Marvin Olasky, Editor in Chief, World Magazine

“Using a definition of subversion as ‘pushing something back down into its proper place,’ Trevin Wax seeks to subvert the idols of our society—self, success, money, leisure, sex, and power—in a theologically responsible and challengingly practical way. These false gods must be thrust back into their proper place, and that subversion is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ—the message about the crucified and resurrected God-man who is Lord over all bogus lords—equips us to do. Wax wonders, ‘What would it look like today if we reclaimed the subversive nature of Christian discipleship?’ Read this fine book if you wish to live as the true Savior and Lord Jesus Christ would have you live.”

Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“The Apostle John warns us to ‘keep ourselves from idols.’ Trevin Wax, in this incisive, convicting, and elegantly written book, considers the false gods that insidiously corrupt our lives. I was reminded afresh what it means to confess that Jesus is Lord and that glorifying God expresses itself in the concrete realities of daily life. What a joy to read a book that is theologically faithful and practically compelling.”

Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“In Holy Subversion, Trevin Wax issues a wide-ranging invitation for believers to rethink what it means to be a Christ-follower in a culture that offers rival ways of thinking and living at every turn. Those who wrestle with this timely and biblically-based challenge will be called to nothing less than whole-hearted faithfulness in all areas of life.”

David Dockery, President, Trinity International University

“In the midst of much debate and uncertainly about the kingdom of God in the world today, Wax makes it clear that Jesus’ kingdom challenges our allegiances. Wax looks at issues of idolatry and strongholds that, one by one, show us how the gospel of the kingdom requires a new loyalty. Holy Subversion is a helpful and challenging book.”

Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Chair of Church, Mission and Evangelism, Wheaton College

“There is the sense that something is wrong in the church, very wrong, and most prognosticators have been telling us what we need to do get back on track. Trevin Wax takes a different approach, a more radical approach—he calls us to come face to face with the ‘Caesars’ in our life. Only once we have understood the dire effect of these allegiances, as Wax shows, can we then hope to subvert the kingdoms vying for our localities. Holy Subversion makes clear the contours of the sacred revolution which is ours to undertake.”

Nicholas Perrin, Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies Associate Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College; author, Lost in Transmission? What We Can Know about the Words of Jesus

“Today we live in a land of self-made men who love to worship the creators of their success. Sadly, this very same attitude has crept into the church. Quite rightly then, Trevin Wax challenges us to see what it means to confess Jesus Christ as Lord: to embrace and rejoice in the sovereignty of Jesus Christ over all things. But this book is not about the doctrine of Jesus’ lordship; it is about how you live out Jesus’ lordship in every sphere of your life. In an age where there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’ biding for our allegiance, Trevin Wax calls the church to throw down these idols and to order their lives according to the story, symbols, and values of the Lord Jesus Christ. He encourages us to get our knees dirty by bowing to Christ and our hands dirty by serving him. This is a book that every serious follower of Jesus should read and heed.”

Michael F. Bird, Academic Dean, Lecturer in Theology, Ridley College

“Trevin Wax deftly uses Scripture and his cross-cultural experience in Romania to convict North American Christians of the subtle ways that we conform to our culture’s idols. His tough love inspires us to surrender to Jesus’ ownership of the world, and his bold plan for change shows us how. This book forces each of us to reconsider the most important question of our lives: whether Caesar or Jesus is Lord.”

Michael Wittmer, Professor of Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary; author, Heaven Is a Place on Earth and Don’t Stop Believing

“In Holy Subversion, Trevin Wax engages both the church and the world with clarity and conviction. With great insight into the heart of the apostolic gospel, Wax highlights the profound impact of early Christians’ complete allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth as Savior and Lord over all aspects of personal life and society. True Christianity, contends the author, dethrones the Caesar of our day and enthrones Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord over all life. This is a timely and prophetic book for our generation. I highly recommend it to pastors, evangelists, missionaries, Sunday-school teachers, and all believers in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, according to the inspired and infallible Word of God, represents the foundation for the author’s call to contemporary Christians to the ‘Ephesians Road,’ that is, to live and labor with undivided loyalty for the glory of one and the only Master of time and eternity, Jesus Christ.”

Paul Negrut, President, Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania

“Trevin Wax delivers a sober challenge for the church to live up to her lofty calling. By God’s grace, may Christians heed his warning and follow the narrow path prepared by Jesus. Perhaps we will then see the fruit of the Spirit’s transforming power in our midst.”

Collin Hansen, Editorial Director, The Gospel Coalition; author, Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists

“The bridge between the biblical world and ours is a two-way path. Most travelers start from the Here-and-Now world and, equipped with the tools of exegesis, step back in space-time into the There-and-Then world. Trevin Wax makes a bold proposal for a journey in the opposite direction. What would it be like if the biblical authors were to step into our own world? How would Moses, David, Paul, or even Jesus proclaim God’s message if they were living today? The author’s creative and persuasive proposal invites the readers to ponder what they might plausibly hear if the biblical imperative against idolatry were given to us today.”

Radu Gheorghita, Professor of New Testament, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“This book reads like a series of very good sermons. There is pastoral wisdom, balance, and conviction in these pages. Trevin Wax helps us remember what really matters.”

Kevin DeYoung, Pastor, Christ Covenant Church, Matthews, North Carolina

Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals

Copyright © 2010 by Trevin K. Wax

Published by Crossway Books a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Studio Gearbox

Cover photos: Photos.com, Visual Language, Getty Images

First printing 2010

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from The New King James Version.

Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0702-1 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-0703-8Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-0704-5ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2341-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wax, Trevin, 1981–      Holy subversion : allegiance to Christ in an age of rivals / Trevin Wax ; foreword by Ed Stetzer.         p. cm.      Includes bibliographical references.      ISBN 978-1-4335-0702-1 (tpb) 1. Christian life. 2. Jesus Christ—Lordship. I. Title. BV4509.5.W3745      2010 248—dc22                          2009014506

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD by Ed Stetzer

1 JESUS AND THE GOSPEL OF CAESAR

2 SUBVERTING THE SELF Three Strikes, You’re Out

3 SUBVERTING SUCCESS Finding Success in Our Suffering

4 SUBVERTING MONEY Taking “Almighty” off the Dollar

5 SUBVERTING LEISURE Making Jesus Lord of Our Free Time

6 SUBVERTING SEX Celebrating Marriage

7 SUBVERTING POWER Finding Our Place as Servants

8 SUBVERSIVE EVANGELISM Subverting Caesar by Sharing Christ

AFTERWORD

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

FOREWORD

IN HIS “HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER,” Jesus, who knew his betrayal, arrest, torture, and crucifixion lay mere hours away, nevertheless prays for the community of his followers. For three years, this carpenter-king and his band of misfit disciples set about teaching and living the presence of the kingdom of heaven.

This kingdom didn’t look like earthly kingdoms, and, in fact, in many ways it was the opposite of every kingdom first-century cultures were accustomed to. The truth, of course, is that those earthly kingdoms were corrupt versions of the real, eternal kingdom. For this reason among many others, both King Jesus and the kingdom of God were (and are) radically countercultural.

In those anguished moments of intercession, Jesus says to the Father, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” This is why the kingdom of God, where Jesus’ followers are still called to live, is always counter-cultural— or, rather, why it should be.

The church was never meant to go along with the world; it was supposed to stand out. The church received the charge from Jesus himself to continue the witness of their King and his kingdom. The church was meant to be “in the world, but not of it.” Ironically, in our earnest and sincere efforts to transform the culture around us, we have actually been transformed ourselves. Instead of being salt and light, we have become unsalted and lite.

A 2002 Barna Research study indicates “a large share of the people who attend Protestant or Catholic churches have adopted beliefs that conflict with the teachings of the Bible and their church.” Another revealed that 54 percent of those identifying themselves as “born again Christians” believe that moral truth “depends on the situation.”1 Numerous surveys have confirmed that the unchurched may be interested in Jesus, but they think the church is full of hypocrites. Whether this perception is fair or not, it certainly is not the result of an overwhelming number of Christians living in accordance with their beliefs.

In a 2007–2008 study, LifeWay Research found disconcerting results when looking at the views and practices of 2,500 Protestant churchgoers. Among the more discouraging revelations is that only 50 percent indicated they choose God’s way over their own way when faced with a difficult decision. Only 53 percent indicated they give 10 percent or more of their finances to charity, including their local church. Additional questions on anxiety, forgiveness, and correcting wrongdoings indicate the church may be more similar to the world than we’d like to think.

In his book The Shape of Faith to Come, Brad Waggoner presents even more sobering data.2 Among his findings, Waggoner reports that only 16 percent of Protestant churchgoers read their Bible daily and another 20 percent read it only a few times a week. Just 23 percent “agreed strongly” with the statement, “When I come to realize that some aspect of my life is not right in God’s eyes, I make the necessary changes.” A full 47 percent of Protestant churchgoers admitted to often just “going through the motions” during the singing and prayer portions of worship services. The interesting thing is that the survey respondents actually believed they were experiencing significant spiritual growth. But according to the Spiritual Formation Inventory evaluation tool, only 3.5 percent of respondents showed a significant level of spiritual growth a year later.

The evangelical church must own up to the frustrating possibility that we are not as effective at making disciples as we think we are.

As the church rides the waves of a changing culture, struggling to do the necessary work of contextualizing its message and practice to diverse environments, it has become evident that many have overcompensated. Like Paul, we seek to become like all men in order to win some, but for many of us this has meant becoming indistinguishable from all men. It’s not cultural con-textualization we’ve achieved, but cultural capitulation.

Like Israel, the church has gone after the gods of the nations. The idols of self, success, money, leisure/entertainment, sex, and power are enduring lures, and unfortunately have even been employed by the church as lures in its fishing for men. It was idolatry the prophets rebuked Israel for; it was idolatry Jesus called his followers out of; and it is idolatry the church must call the nations out of. We must start by repenting ourselves and resuming the prophetic mantle of radical worship of the resurrected King.

In the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, seven unlikely characters form a subversive alliance to thwart The Phantom, a stealth enemy who plans to conquer the world by bringing about an Armageddon-like war. As the villain and his henchmen are capturing a German professor, the professor asks what the diabolical character wants. The Phantom replies, “The world, Herr Draper. I want the world!”

As the movie unfolds, the league learns to trust one another and work together in order to defeat their unknown enemy, especially after they figure out who the traitor in their group is. They are willing to risk resources and their very own lives to stop their evil enemy and save the world from destruction. In the same way, God has called the church of Jesus Christ to join him on a mission to save the people of the world from sin (the internal enemy), Satan (our stealth enemy), and eternal death (the end for those without Christ).

When Jesus started his earthly ministry, he formed a subversive alliance with twelve other men. Their enemies were sin and Satan. With his motley crew, Jesus spoke about faith, follower-ship, love, kingdom, and righteousness, all beginning with allegiance to his lordship, which of course begins with repentance from all other lordships.

Trevin Wax calls this life of repentance “holy subversion,” and in this book you will hear loud and clear how allegiance to Christ mandates it. If Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, then Caesar is not.

Chapter by chapter, Wax invites us to cast down the “Caesars” of our own making and lay down our crowns before the throne of God, and he shows us—biblically and practically— how to do it. To be a kingdom people, after all, we must raze our idols and raise our crosses.

Consider some of the things Jesus said about his lordship:

• “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Matt. 4:10).

• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

• “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

• “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Luke 3:4).

• “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12).

• “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46).

• “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23).

• “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

It sounds like Jesus was pretty serious about this lordship stuff. Jesus’ status as Lord is supposed to mean something to his followers; it should make a difference in the lives of his followers and, through them, spread to the world. That basic truth is really what Trevin has described in a masterful, practical, and relevant way in Holy Subversion. The lordship of Jesus Christ should permeate every area and aspect of the believer’s life; that alliance with King Jesus should subvert the idolatrous forces of the heart and the culture to impact people all over the world with the gospel.

Those like me who have been fortunate enough to encounter Trevin’s writing in print and online know his voice is a precious and rare one in a world of Christian “noise.” With painstaking clarity and steadfast focus, Trevin never strays from the “first importance” of the gospel. Trevin is one of my favorite writers, but Trevin’s writing is not, as it is for so many others, mere theoretical styling. From his service in the mission field of Romania to his pastoral ministry in the mission field of the Bible Belt, Trevin writes from a hard-won experience and a firsthand passion. His outright affection for the kingdom and its King has been cultivated by a Godward allegiance that has taken him to “the ends of the earth.”

I know you will find Trevin’s devoted affection for the things of God challenging, but I trust you will find his call to holy subversion stirring. To echo the description of the growing church in Acts 9:31, may the words that follow strengthen and encourage you to walk “in the fear of the Lord.”

Ed Stetzer www.edstetzer.com

1

JESUS AND THE GOSPEL OF CAESAR

LORD.

Savior of the world.

Son of God.

Divine ruler.

The news of his birth and his rule was called “the gospel.”

His fame was spread throughout the known world by special messengers.

The preachers of his gospel believed he had brought a reign of peace to the whole world, and that he had all authority in heaven and on earth.

Who is this man? If you were to visit a church and ask people to whom these titles and sayings refer, almost everyone would say “Jesus Christ.” And rightly so. The Bible claims that Jesus is Lord, the Savior of the world, God’s Son.

But let’s say you were living in the first century under the rule of the Roman Empire. If you were to enter a town or city and ask people to whom these titles and slogans refer, they would answer differently. Lord? Savior of the world? Son of God? “Of course you must be talking about Caesar,” they would say. In the first century, each of these titles described the Roman emperors— powerful men who ruled the world with an iron fist, demanding submission to the ever-expanding empire.1

The early Christians used some of the same titles given to Caesar in their preaching about Jesus of Nazareth. Why did they do this? And what does this mean for us as Christians today?

THE WORLD TWO-THOUSAND YEARS AGO

Two-thousand years ago, at the helm of the burgeoning Roman Empire stood the Caesars, named after Julius Caesar, who lived during the first century BC. The early Caesars had been declared “divine” shortly after their deaths. Before long, the Caesars had begun accepting that title of worship during their lives. The emperors commissioned messengers to travel from town to town, preaching allegiance to Caesar. By the time of Jesus, the cult of Caesar worship had begun to spread throughout the empire.

First-century “heralds” visited the cities and villages of the Roman Empire, sharing the “gospel” (good news) of a Caesar’s accession to the throne. As Caesar worship spread, those under Rome’s authority were forced to bow down, confess Caesar as Lord, and pay the appropriate taxes. It didn’t matter whether they approved of Caesar or not. Caesar was sovereign. He was the ruler. You refused to worship him at your own peril! Domitian, one of the late first-century Caesars went so far as to sign his documents, “God.”2

At times, Rome could be surprisingly tolerant of other religions. A pantheon of deities was allowed in the Roman Empire as long as Caesar worship trumped them all. The highest loyalty was reserved for the earthly Caesar and his authority. All other rivals had to kneel before his throne. Jewish believers who believed in the one true God were a perfect target for Roman rulers and prefects, men like Pontius Pilate, who often intimidated their Jewish subjects by acts of senseless violence.3

THE FIRST CHRISTIANS

Into this highly charged atmosphere of oppression, a group of men and women began spreading a message about a crucified and risen Messiah. It was a message that would cost many their lives. The apostles (“sent-ones”) took to the streets of Rome’s cities as heralds, messengers of a new gospel. However, the good news they were sharing was about a Jewish Messiah’s lordship over all creation, not a Caesar’s accession to the throne. They began preaching that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, and the Lord over Caesar himself. Their creed? “Jesus is Lord . . . and God raised him from the dead.”4

Christians even took the honorific titles and sayings reserved for God in the Old Testament and applied them to Jesus himself. There is no other name in heaven or on earth by which people can be saved.5 All authority has been given to him.6 At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow.7

But these titles, derived from Jewish teaching about God, also confronted the Caesar-worship of the first century. The disciples made it clear that the Savior of the world was not the Caesar who provided peace for the nation and pacified people with bread. The Savior is Jesus, who restores us to God and neighbor, and who offers his own body as the bread of eternal life. The disciples recognized that Jesus was the true Lord of the world. Caesar was a phony, a caricature, a parody of the true God.8

And the message spread. Christianity began to expand beyond its Jewish heritage. Churches (communities made up of these followers of another king) began to rise up in dark corners of the Roman Empire.

As Rome increased her borders by capturing and enslaving nations and people groups, Christianity grew by proclaiming freedom from the slavery of sin and death.

As the Caesars offered bread to the hungry in order to stay in power, the Christians upstaged the rulers by feeding the hungry themselves in the name of Jesus, the true Lord of the world.

As Rome’s livelihood depended on a wide gap between impoverished slaves and wealthy citizens, the early Christians subverted Rome’s economic system by voluntarily selling their belongings, giving to the needy, and treating slaves as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The early Christians submitted nobly to Roman authority, understanding that Caesar did have lawful authority delegated to him by God. Ironically, even though the early Christians faced periods of intense persecution, they still believed that the government was a gift from God and that a king could have a legitimate right to the throne.9