Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows (Pt 2) provoked more reflection than I would have ever expected. After viewing it (Alamo Draft House) last night, my wife and I discussed the ending all the way home. So, [spoiler alert] for those that haven’t seen it and hope to.

The Ending Is Not What You Want

The Harry Potter series concludes in a way that is counter-intuitive. There is no grand vanquishing of evil, no triumph that, without a doubt, secures peace, no enthronement of the hero, no visual restoration of all that has been undone. While the Potter series in no way nods at capitulation to evil, or even a balancing of evil and good (see Matrix Triology), it did leave me longing for more.

The great showdown between Voldemort and Potter is anticlimactic. Voldemort blows Harry into an intermediate state, where he walks with Professor Dumbledore, only to return, resuscitate, and fight for what? Their wands fuse in a stream of green and red power, Voldemort is weakened by the destruction of his last Horcrux, and Potter gains the upper hand. As the red stream of wand power retracts, the elder wand (most powerful in the world) catapults through the air into Harry’s hands. As Voldemort visibly weakens, gazing with disappointment at his failing wand, he disintegrates, his body flaking into ash which is blown away by the wind.

Harry rejoins Ron and Hermoine and walks to the edge of the bridge, where he takes the most powerful wand in the world, and snaps it in two, tossing it over the edge. He denies himself the greatest power in the world. Then, there is no erupting applause, no shoulder-carrying of the reluctant hero, no enthronement of a new Headmaster or Great Magician. Instead, Potter walks the halls of a derelict Hogwarts, as we hear the wounded students and teachers bemoan their suffering.

The Future Harry Potter

Then, we are suddenly taken into the future, 19 years later, where we find Potter and his family escorting his son to the magic train to take him to Hogwarts. Potter is unimpressive, surrounded by wife and children. He is tender, kind, and fatherly. He is not powerful, immense, and regal. The Potter family is joined by the Weasly family (Ron & Hermoine) as, they too, send off children to Hogwarts. This concludes this film.

Disappointingly, we see no vision of a restored Hogwarts (though it is implied). We see no great display of power. Potter does not represent cosmic security, peace, and power. He is, in a word, normal. All we see are simple families ushering their children into the next stage of life. Magic, it seems, does not have the last word…or does it?

“What matters to God is the way we work, not what we do for work.” This is a common perception of work; assuming, of course that your work is ethical. But apart from this assumption, does God really care what we do for a living? Does God really care whether we install urinals or pacemakers? Or is God primarily concerned with how we do our work?

More Than Ethics

To be sure, God is concerned with the how of our work, that we don’t lie, cheat, or steal.. But assuming that your vocation and ethics are God-honoring (or, the “what” and “how” of your work are good), I suggest that God still cares what you do for a living, that he is intimately concerned with the essence of our vocation. In fact, if we can identify the essence of our vocation and reflect on it theologically, work can even become worship.

The Essence of Your Vocation

The “essence of vocation” is shaped by its principal goal or discipline. For instance, the principal discipline of medical surgery is biology. In order to make the proper incisions, a surgeon must know where human organs are located and how circulatory systems function. After you have identified the principle goal or discipline of your vocation, try to connect that principal to the nature and character of God. For instance, medical surgery reflects God as an orderly, creative Designer and as a merciful Redeemer. Here’s how.

Surgery exists because God created the human mind and body. Surgery works because God made the body in an orderly fashion. Surgery repairs because God has built redemption into the very fabric of life; our bodies can be restored. With the discipline of surgery in view—biology—and a little theological reflection, we can worship God through our work. In this case we get to witness his creativity, orderly providence, and merciful redemption. As a result, we worship God in Christ as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer (Col. 1:16-17, 20). Another term for this activity is theological integration, the integration of academic disciplines and/or vocational principles with the knowledge of God.

Integrated Work in the Bible

Theological integration is not an esoteric practice, but rather a mundane activity celebrated by Jesus. In the Gospels, a Roman centurion came to Jesus seeking healing for his servant. Jesus agreed to go with him; however, the centurion replied by saying that Christ need merely speak the word, not come to his house, and his servant would be healed. The centurion came to this conclusion by considering the essence of his work—authority—present in military principles. His reflection on the essence of his work, joined with faith, led him to conclude: “For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it” (Matt. 8:9). In response, Jesus praised the centurion for this great faith. By reflecting on the essence of his work through faith, the centurion was able to glorify God. His work must have never been the same.

God is concerned, not merely with how you work, but what you do for work. Consider the essence of your vocation and try connecting it to the nature and character of God. Identify what discipline or principle drives or sustains your line of work—science, math, language, arts, sanitation, service, construction—and trace it to the nature and character of the triune Creator. In cultivating theological integration, work can become worship.

This article originally appeared at The High Calling.

Many of us practice our faith like it’s a cafeteria food tray, with all the different compartments for the entrée, veggies, the roll, and dessert. When we do this, we restrict Jesus to just one of the compartments, the dessert section, or if we are really spiritual, maybe the entrée. Christ is not permitted in the other sections of our lives. Jesus isn’t allowed into work ethic, family dynamics, or our entertainment. We worship him on Sundays, but treat our families or free time without a thought of Christ.

Dessert-Sized Jesus at the Family Table

Men, in particular, need to rearrange their view of Christ. Are you feeding your family a dessert-sized Jesus? Your wife and kids don’t see you connecting Jesus to everyday life. You don’t pray with your spouse or kids, you don’t apply the gospel to your use of movies, TV, computers, video games, sports. You don’t lead your family in any kind of regular Bible reading or prayer. Hec, you think highly of yourself if you happen to read the Bible for yourself. You don’t serve your wife. You don’t have a clue the last time you bought her flowers and told her why you love her. You don’t lift a finger to cook or clean. You come home, plop down on the couch, flip on the TV or computer, and eat your little dessert Jesus, watching your stupid little TV shows while your wife lingers in loneliness and bitterness and your children run around like crazy.

What if Jesus is the Tray? (or holds it together)

Why? Because you have a desert-sized Jesus. Jesus doesn’t fit in the dessert tray, or even the entree section. He is the tray! He is Lord of all, holding everything together, calling us to worship him in every aspect of life. What if you resolved to follow the real Jesus, the one who holds your whole life together? How would that change your family, your work, your free time?

Adapted from sermon on Ezra 6 The Temple and the Cafeteria Tray Jesus

Two of my favorite doctrines converge (Creation & the Holy Spirit) in Creator Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Art of Becoming Human by Steven Guthrie. This book appropriates a theology of creation with a robust understanding of the Spirit and then applies it to Art. Guthrie wields constructive theology, integrating theology across disciplines, with ease. This is one of the best books I have read on the Holy Spirit.

While familiar with much of his helpful explanations of these doctrines, I found his application of these doctrines in the realm of Art, insightful and compelling. His prose moves the reader along in hopeful anticipation of yet, another intellectual and inspiring gem. The ease with which he floats between, for instance, John Coltrane, Plato, and Jurgen Moltmann win me over.

Appreciating More Than Art

Now, this is not stuffy theology, though some theological background is needed. The lofty touches down on the mundane, where we stand in Art Galleries gazing at something we know not how to interpret. Guthrie sweeps across Art criticism and history to provide us with handles for art appreciation (though his work is much more than that). Have you ever wondered whether Art should absorb your attention or redirect it beyond itself? Guthrie helps us here, citing primary sources. While expressionists want us to experience emotion, and Tolstoy wants us to experience the profound humanity in art, Guthrie insists that art is meant to point us, not ultimately to mystery or to its medium, but to God himself. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who himself is remaking humanity into the form, not of mystery, but of the very image of God.

Knowing the Spirit

In all his constructive efforts, even the non-artist can benefit from this book. Guthrie provides a remarkably concise and stirring theology of the Spirit in chapter two, the same chapter which exegetes John Coltrane’s The Love Supreme (which I listened to with new ears today). His primary interlocutor, church father Athanasias, provides insight into the person and work of the Spirit as the re-humanizing Person of the Godhead. The goal of the Spirit is to re-humanize us after the image of the true human–Jesus Christ. I found Athanasias’ comment regarding the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus insightful: “This did not take place for the advancement of the Word but for our sanctification, so that we may share in his anointing…” In other words, the Spirit did not come upon Jesus because he was divinely insufficient, rather, it was so that Jesus, in his humanity, could become the prototypical new human who is indwelt with the Spirit of God, to become the true human. Of course, this was also an expression of the approbation of God as Jesus succeeded where Israel failed in passing through the watery judgment, to receive the favor and fellowship of God as the one, true Israelite who would lead the people of God out of the slavery of their sin into a new land of salvation. But he did this as the ultimate Man, possessing the power of the Spirit, just as his posterity, the Church does. Oh that we would commune with the Spirit in fellowship and in power to display the new humanity we have possessed by faith to the world, not in bold arrogance but in bold compassion and worship!

Chapters on the communal shape of singing, creativity, and vocation continue to push theology into practice with inspiring twists and turns that, themselves, embody the work of the creative Spirit radiating through Guthrie’s new humanity. This book is not for everyone, but it is about everyone. It is a theological, philosophical, artistic work that brings the reader along with insight and inspiration, grasping more deeply what God has accomplished and is accomplishing in Christ through his Spirit in every follower of Christ.

Free excerpt of Creator Spirit

What is marriage for? Is marriage a social or cultural convention? Is it a silly obligation intended to “legalize” sex or short-circuit pleasure? Marriage actually has enduring purpose and and points away to deeper pleasure. God created marriage, male and female he created them, as a reflection of his relationship to us (Gen 1:27; 2:18-25; Eph 5). Marriage is by God and for God. Whenever we turn it around—marriage by us and for us—we mess it all up. It backfires. Inevitably, we all mess marriage up, which is why it’s so important that we know how to turn it around. We need a clear bearing on how we’re to exist as spouses. How does this marriage thing work?!

Marriage is by God and for God.

Marriage is a precious gift from God. When we respond to God about marriage, we bend it around his intention like a potter shapes a piece of wet clay, forming it into something stunning and useful. However, when we refuse to turn our marriages around, and reject what our marriages are made for, they devolve into competitive need-meeting, which eventually hardens, dries, and becomes brittle. When your need—not God—is in the middle of marriage it will crack. However, when our marriages are regularly splashed with the grace of God’s purpose, they can be shaped into something more beautiful and satisfying than any human can account for.

Beliefs About Marriage Matter

I have been married for eleven years. The second year was hell. Screaming matches, threats, curse words, tears, passive-agressive, pain, confusion, anger, withdraw. If we believed that marriage was about us, about getting our needs met, we would have walked away in year two. I’m so deeply grateful we didn’t. What moved us through a difficult year, and into thriving years, and later on through suffering years, and back into thriving years, was our common belief that marriage is not only a precious gift but also profound stewardship. To be more plain, we believed that marriage was penultimately about us and ultimately about God. We knew that we made a commitment to one another second and a commitment to God first.

Marriage is not only a precious gift but also profound stewardship.

Marriage is a profound stewardship before God. Sure, it is a wonderful gift but sometimes it doesn’t feel wonderful. And feelings do not get you through hell or suffering in marriage. What does and can get you through is truth. The truth about husbands and wives, when believed, so reshapes feelings that marriage becomes something molded, not around our expectations but around God’s expectations.

You Don’t Complete Me

God tells me that my marriage is a mysterious display of a greater relationship between Christ and the Church. That the husband sacrificially, humbly leads and the wife respectfully, lovingly follows. But my society tells me that my marriage exists for my happiness, that it is meant to “complete me” in some pipe-dream Jerry Mcguire sense. That we are two identical halves waiting to fit together. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are more like two puzzle pieces, very different, with egdes that need smoothing, but are meant to fit together with each playing its intended role in the overall picture of God’s wise and kind design. We are wonderfully equal but incredibly different.

My feelings tell me that marriage is relationship that should bring me substantial, if not inordinate satisfaction. God tells me that He alone can bring me inordinate satisfaction (Psalm 16:11). Our feelings often lie but God always tells the truth. When marriage messes up. When conflict, hell, or suffering come will God’s truth shape your feelings or will your feelings dictate a new “truth” (“I married the wrong person.” “This won’t work.” “We fell out of love.) These are need-centered, feeling-based cop-outs from God’s marital design.

Grace-shaped Marriage

Will marriage be about you and your needs or about God and his great purpose to shave off your edges and draw you closer into Him? Will marriage be by you and for you or will it be by God and for God? When marriage becomes less about us and more about God, we can settle into appropriate expectations and joy as husbands and wives. And when we return to God as our great Husband or Lover, we can love and respect, lead and follow in harmony. We will have a bearing on what God has made us for. What we believe about marriage matters, and when we believe what’s true we can experience joy in marriage. When we insist on what is false we harden. In God’s design, we can be so splashed by grace that marriage becomes not only a profound stewardship but also a precious gift, useful and stunning.

——

Read to grow your marriage in grace:

• SACRED MARRIAGE: What if God Designed Marriage More to Make us Holy than to Make us Happy?
• THIS MOMENTARY MARRIAGE: A Parable of Permanence
• WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage

HT: ACL Blog

The challenges of parenthood begin before the baby is born! The nine months before birth are a microcosm of the liberties and limitations of parenthood. Sonograms, name selection, baby room shopping, morning sickness, loss of time, money, and sleep all transpire in those few months — serving as an introduction to the diverse joys and pains of parenting. Fear sets in early on. Will the baby be born healthy or at all? How will we financially support another person? What about breast-feeding and diaper-changing? How will my spouse change? What if I screw up my kid? Can I do this?

Read the Rest

The Colson Center for Christian Worldview recently reprinted a short article by Tim Keller on how to deal with criticism called “Speaking with Contempt.” Its a mix of good advice, exegesis, and a very real struggle everyone faces. It is especially helpful for leaders. An excerpt:

It is natural, when under criticism, to shield your heart from pain by belittling the critics in your mind. “You stupid idiots.” Even if you don’t speak outwardly to people like Moses did, you do so inwardly.  That will lead to self-absorption, self-pity, maybe even delusions of grandeur, but the great sin is that the growth of inner disdain leads to pride and a loss of humble reliance on God’s grace.

Read the rest

In the prior three posts (Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3) we have examined the claim that Jesus exclusive claim as the only way to God is both unenlightened and arrogant. As it turns out, it is actually the opposite. It is religious pluralism that is rather unenlightened and carries an air of arrogance. In this post we will examine the important idea of tolerance. Is religious pluralism more tolerant that Christianity?

Is Religious Pluralism Truly Tolerant?

Very often people hold to religious pluralism because they think it is more tolerant than Christianity. I’ll be the first to say that we need tolerance, but what does it mean to be tolerant? To be tolerant is to accommodate differences, which can be very noble. I believe that Christians should be some of the most accommodating kinds of people, giving everyone the dignity to believe whatever they want and not enforcing their beliefs on others through politics or preaching. We should winsomely tolerate different beliefs. Interestingly, religious pluralism doesn’t really allow for this kind of tolerance. Instead of accommodating spiritual differences, religious pluralism blunts them. Let me explain.

Instead of accommodating spiritual differences, religious pluralism blunts the differences between world religions.

The claim that all paths lead to the same God actually minimizes other religions by asserting a new religious claim. When someone says all paths lead to the same God, they blunt the distinctives between religions, throwing them all in one pot, saying: “See, they all get us to God so the differences don’t really matter.” This isn’t tolerance; it’s a power play. When asserting all religions lead to God, the distinctive and very different views of God and how to reach him in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam are brushed aside in one powerful swoop. The Eightfold Noble Path, the 5 Pillars of Islam, and the Gospel of Christ are not tolerated but told they must submit to a new religious claim–religious pluralism–despite the fact that this isn’t what those religions teach.

The Religion of Religious Pluralism

People spend years studying and practicing their religious distinctives. To say they don’t really matter is highly intolerant! The very notion of religious tolerance assumes there are differences to tolerate but pluralism is intolerant of those very differences! In this sense, religious pluralism is a religion of its own. It has its own religious absolute—all paths lead to the same God—and requires people of other faiths to embrace this absolute, without any religious backing at all. It is highly evangelistic! Religious pluralism is highly political and preachy. Yet, it does so under the guise of tolerance. It is a leap of faith to say there are many paths to God. Says who? The idea that all paths lead to the same God is not a self-evident fact; it is a leap of faith. It isn’t even an educated leap, nor is it as humble and tolerant as it might appear.

Religious pluralism is a religion of its own. It has its own religious absolute—all paths lead to the same God—and requires people of other faiths to embrace this absolute, without any religious backing at all.

Recall Stephen Prothero’s comment regarding religious pluralism: “But this sentiment, however well-intentioned, is neither accurate nor ethically responsible. God is not one.” He goes on: “Faith in the unity of religions is just that—faith (perhaps even a kind of fundamentalism). And the leap that gets us there is an act of the hyperactive imagination.”

As it turns out, the reasons for subscribing to religious pluralism—enlightenment, humility, and tolerance—actually backfire. They don’t carry through. Religious pluralism isn’t enlightened, it’s inaccurate; it isn’t humble, it’s fiercely dogmatic; and it isn’t really all that tolerant because it intolerantly blunts religious distinctives. In the end, religious pluralism is a religion, a leap of faith, based on contradiction and is highly untenable. Christianity, on the other hand, should respect and honor the various distinctives of other religions, comparing them, and honoring their differing principles–Karma (Hinduism), Enlightenment (Buddhism), Submission (Islam), and Grace (Christianity). In the next and final post, I will examine Jesus’ exclusive claim, and the charge that his teachings in Christianity are unenlightened, arrogant, and intolerant. In particular, we will examine the unique principle of grace.