What is Godliness?

Posted on June 7, 2010

Not many people want to be godly. That’s a shame, but it’s also understandable. Very often apprehension about godliness has to do with our perception of godliness. Perceptions of godliness are often fuzzy, and when they are, it is difficult to focus on being godly, much less desire godliness. One reason we might not be clear on godliness is because of the kind of people we associate with godliness.

Prudes and Punks Distort Godliness

One kind of person or misperception of godliness is that to be godly is to be a prude. Prudes are excessively devoted to appearances and isolate themselves from anyone or anything that interferes with their ideal appearance. They love cultivating character. They are joyless, holier-than-thou people who make others feel uncomfortable by separating themselves from community.

Another misperception of godliness is that to be godly is to be a punk. Punks, instead of being excessively concerned with their own appearance, obsess with others’ appearance. Punks like to point out character flaws in others. Punks are joyless, hard-nosed people who make others uncomfortable by judging them.

Clarifying Godliness

What then is godliness? Godliness isn’t devotion to character; it is devotion to God. The prude and the punk are excessively devoted to character, perhaps spirituality, but not to God. Prudes and punks are superficial. But true godliness is deep. It gets below the surface. It is devotion to God not to character.

True godliness is God-centered, not character-centered. This deep devotion to God results in an overflow of god-liness. If we possess deep, below the surface devotion to God, we will become like him—compassionate, kind, gracious, humble, joyful, righteous, truthful. But if we possess devotion to an appearance of godliness, we will become holier-than-thou prudes or hard-nosed punks. So how do we avoid these misperceptions?

Making Progress in Godliness

In First Timothy, Paul calls us back to sound doctrine, the doctrine of God. He’s trying to help us put spectacles on that clarify who God is, to see him as he is, to be God-centered, not self-centered. And good, God-centered vision clarifies godliness, which is why Paul refers to sound doctrine as the “doctrine that accords with godliness” (6:3). So sound doctrine has a way of clarifying God and producing godliness.

What is this doctrine? According to Paul, it’s the doctrine of “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1:11). Another way to translate this is: “the good news of the gloriously happy God.” In other words, doctrine doesn’t just change how you think; it changes who you are. Sound doctrine sweeps us into the joy of a God who is never-ending glory. The first way to make progress in godliness is to get your heart happy in a right teaching of God, not just to get the right teaching.

Another way to make progress in godliness is through gospel training: “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way” (4:7). Train yourself for godliness. Are you training for godliness? Are you disciplining ungodliness so you can cultivate godliness? Or are you focusing more of your training on what your body, resume, bank account, character or spirituality looks like? We don’t stumble into godliness anymore than we stumble into a great body, successful business, a college or graduate degree, or a great piece of art. Like anything worthwhile godliness takes training.

We get the English word “gym” from the Greek word for training. The gymnasium of the Greeks was radically man-centered, much like modern sports. They sculpted their bodies based on a Greek ideal of beauty. If we are to get the right perception of godliness, we will need the biblical ideal of beauty, of godliness. Where do we get that?

Godliness is Jesus-centered

Paul shows us godliness in a hymn he refers to as the “mystery of godliness” in 1 Tim 3:16:

vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed in the world,
believed upon by the nations,
taken up in glory.
He was manifested in the flesh,

How is the mystery of godliness revealed? Who is the subject of every line in this hymn? Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ideal godliness. Jesus is the ideal image of God (Col 1:15). As Alan Hirsch says: It’s not just that Jesus is God, but that God is Jesus. Godliness is clarified by sound doctrine that is Jesus-centered.

Jesus is godliness both in substance and example. He shows us godliness–dining with sinners, laying his life down, healing the lame, teaching social outcasts, fielding questions from cultural elites, and being at odds with the religious right. We should follow him, emulating is sinner-attracting godliness. The problem is that we can’t. We fail. We act like prudes and punks instead of like Jesus. This is why we need Jesus in substance. We need him, not merely as the example of godliness but as the giver of godliness. Jesus becomes our godliness by faith. Godliness isn’t character-building; it is Jesus-worshiping. It’s training ourselves for godliness, while also resting in the mystery of godliness.

For the Beauty of the Church

Posted on June 6, 2010

For the Beauty of the Church is book for both pastors and artists, and that’s not a marketing ploy. Both artists and pastors are present, not only as the book’s audience but also among its contributors. The book bears a sincere burden, pastoral and artistic, carried gracefully by a group of theologians, pastors, patrons, and artists, led by an articulate, winsome, and wise artist-theologian-pastor, David O. Taylor.

Theological and Practical

For the Beauty of the Church sets itself apart from many books on church and art because it offers time-tested wisdom and theologically anchored vision. As Taylor points out, we can cheapen art by reducing it to a church tool for Sundays (pragmatism) or we can cheapen church with an inadequate theology of the arts. For the Beauty of the Church steers right between both dangers, offering helpful practice and theological depth.

In the words of the introduction: The book begins at the beginning: “The Gospel.” It ends with a vision of the church’s future in the year 2058: “The Future.” In between, the book addresses key components for an integrated vision: “The Worshiper,” “The Art Patron,” “The Pastor,” “The Artist,” “The Practitioner,” and “The Dangers.”

A Sprint Through the Book

Although the book is worthy of a more extensive review, I will offer a sprint through its content. In chapter one, the delightful prose and cultural strength of Andy Crouch lays the theological foundation. Though other contributors could have done a better job at laying a biblical-theological foundation, Andy certainly delivers thoughtful biblical reflections that get the reader’s mind going in the right direction.

It’s hard to find a more qualified person to write chapter two on worship and the Arts. John Witvliet is the Director of the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship. His reflections are at once theological and practical, guiding the church away from sentimentality and idolatry in the Arts to worship that is corporate, communal, and iconic.

We get to read Laura Winner’s words in chapter three, where she offers “a patron/pew” perspective with a Jewish twist. Eugene Peterson gives sage witness to the role of artists in the church, while chapters five and six tackle the artist’s identity and practice. Finally, the dangers of artistic activity in the church are elaborated and expanded upon in chapter seven, not something you would expect in a book promoting a vision for the art in the church!

For the Beauty of the Church is a beautiful book, in more ways than one. David wants to show us how to hold art and church together without cheapening either, and he and his contributors have done just that.

Who Influenced You Toward Missional Community?

Posted on June 4, 2010

At the GCM Community Site, D Thompson of the Verge Network is asking a couple questions to gather missional community information for the next Exponential Conference. Head over a drop your two cents!

  • Who/what has influenced you to pursue missional communities?
  • What books, authors, thought leaders, voices, churches, etc. have influenced you the most with respect to missional communities?

If you get directed to a registration page, just register so you can get in on the tons of helpful conversations going on behind the GCM Collective website. There are some great insights and comradery building there!

Take Gospel Relationships & Titus 2 Woman

Posted on June 3, 2010

The 2nd quarter of City Seminary starts on Monday! It’s not too late to register for Gospel Relationships: a mess worth making or The Titus 2 Woman: Living a Godly Life. Register Here.

3 Reasons to take Gospel Relationships

  • If you ever struggle with Busyness, Conflict, Pleasing people, Marriage & Singleness or Parenting? Gospel Relationships will equip you to understand how to relate to others in the strength and grace of the gospel in these demanding and difficult areas of life! Most people have not been adequately trained in all of these areas. This course will train you how to think true thoughts and act in grace towards others. I wish I would have had it in my 20s!
  • If you want to better understand “the Gospel” and how it really affects everyday life. This course will show how the gospel of Christ is not a LCD, a lowest common denominator of the bare minimum facts necessary to get into heaven, but rather a TOE, a theory of everything that has explanatory and transformational power for everything from human motivation to work and culture.
  • If you are or aspire to leadership in Austin City Life this course is required. We believe so strongly in the value of this class that it is a requirement for City Group leaders and Staff.

2 Reasons to take The Titus 2 Woman

  • If you are a woman then you should take this class, seriously. The reason I have such a godly wife and a delightful marriage is because my wife took this class (an applied it) before we got married. Over and over again, she goes back to the wisdom and instruction of God’s beautiful design for women laid out in the Scriptures, which is a source of constant blessing to me.
  • If you want to make disciples of other women that help them be who God has created them to be. This teaching is basic Bible for godly womanhood and profound for making disciples in your life. Many women have a very distorted understanding of who they are in Christ. This study will help clarify your identity and role in Christ.

REGISTER HERE!