Author Archives: Aaron C Gray

About Aaron C Gray

I am first and foremost a child of God. I am married to my highschool sweetheart, Erin Lynn, and we have 3 little girls together: Mackenzie, Delaney, and Reagan. In 2007, God brought an older girl, Tristen, to be a part of our family as well. I have an undergrad in classical guitar and am a performer/worship leader/recording engineer/producer and all-around music nerd. I am a fan of spicy foods, Apple products, coffee, red wine, Seattle sports. I have served in pastoral ministry since I was 18, and I am currently serving at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

God Moves In Mysterious Ways

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From they hymn by William Cowper:

God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace
Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour
The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.

You Love Yourself Enough Already

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The following is an excerpt from “When People Are Big and God is Small” by Dr. Ed Welch.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew 19:19

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is considered the Biblical proof-text (for those who need one). When interpreted through cultural spectacles, this verse means that we must love ourselves in order to love other people. But in reality, the passage doesn’t even suggest such an interpretation. Jesus spoke these words to a rich young man who clearly loved himself and his possessions too much. There is only one command in the passage and it is “love your neighbor.” Nobody, including the writers of scripture, could have dreamed that this passage taught self-love. It took some cultural changes to reinterpret it and turn our eyes inward.

The Bible assumes that we have more than enough self-concern. We dress ourselves. We get depressed when things don’t go our way. We can be consumed with what someone thinks about us. But cultural assumptions have blinded us. We no longer see the smog we live in. So pastors of many growing churches preach almost weekly about healthy self-esteem, as if it were taught on every page of scripture. Too many Christians never see that self-love comes out of a culture that prizes the individual over the community and then reads that basic principle into the pages of scripture. The Bible, however, rightly understood, asks the question, “why are you so concerned about yourself?” Furthermore, it indicates that our culture’s proposed cure – increased self-love – is actually the disease. If we fail to recognize the reality and depth of our sin problem, God will become less important and people will become more important.

New Series: Seven Thoughts

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I’m not very good at blogging.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy it. It’s not that I don’t think I’m a decent writer. It’s not even that I don’t think I have something valuable to say. Simply put, it’s that I’m not very good at sitting down and writing a blog post.

There are several factors at work here. First of all, the nature of my work is such that I sit at a computer for most of my day with a lot of that time spent writing: emails, communications, curriculum, etc. Second, I am in school. As I write this, I have two five-page papers due at the end of the month. I’ve written almost one hundred pages of content so far this school year. When I have an idea for a blog post, I immediately think of all the other content that I should be generating for classes. Lastly, I tend to overdo it when it comes to my blog posts. I have a difficult time being brief, outlining my primary points, and sticking to a simple model. Because I’m a teacher, I often fall into the trap of trying to say everything there is to say about a particular subject instead of doing a cursory overview. I want people to think deeply, but that limits my ability to write a blog post because each one turns into a tome.

The other day I had an idea. What if, instead of writing every blog as an exhaustive treatment of a subject, I simply forced myself to jot down my initial thoughts regarding a topic? The idea hit me to try to limit myself to seven brief thoughts. That seems doable. Seven is enough to allow me to approach the subject from a number of angles, but not so many that I turn it into a treatise. It’s challenging for me and hopefully beneficial for you.

I already have several Seven Thoughts topics drafted with the first coming out tomorrow: Seven Thoughts: Treyvon Martin and Racism (I know, start with an easy one, right?) I’m hoping that this new approach will help me feel inspired to blog more and that each post forces me to think creatively about how to quickly shape my thoughts into something coherent. If you have any suggestions for topics, I’d love to hear them too.

In Honor of My Grandfather

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My grandfather passed away this morning. He was 82.

When I was young, both my parents worked and I spent every day at his house. I helped him mow and water the lawn, pull up carrots from the garden, played tennis with him on his tennis court in the back yard, and took naps in the guest apartment.

My grandpa taught me how to read. It was Dr. Seuss’ “Hop on Pop.” I’ve since moved on to much more difficult reading and I owe that foundation to him.

My grandpa taught me how to ride a bike, something that I don’t do enough these days. In the last few months, as I taught my kids to ride without training wheels, I have thought back on those times.

My grandpa taught me to love sports. My dad was never really into sports, but my Grandpa forced me to watch Cubs baseball with him on TV. When I was a tween, he took me to some spring training games in Arizona. When I was a newlywed and my wife surprised me with tickets to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, guess who was the first person that I called with the news (at 6am, I think).

My grandpa took me to Hawaii and Disneyland when I was a little kid. My parents didn’t have any money and I was the first grandkid, so I got spoiled rotten. I just took my kids to Disneyland for the first time over Christmas and reflected fondly over those memories.

He even took me to a church with a hymnal – what a weird experience for a young charismatic kid. “What do you mean you don’t have a drummer for your worship service? What’s with all this call-and-response stuff?”

When I was a teenager, he took me on rollercoasters. My dad gets badly motion sick and my mom was a chicken, so my 70-year old grandpa went on the loop-the-loops with me.

He was an extremely hard worker, a tough man who spent over 50 harsh winters in Fairbanks, Alaska. He was a businessman, an entrepreneur, a husband (of almost 60 years), and a father. However, the role I think he filled the best was grandpa. I miss you.

This picture was about 6 years ago when Mackenzie was a baby. No matter what was going on, Grandpa would always take time to play with his grandkids and great-grandkids.

Why Christian Community?

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If you’re a part of a church, you’ve probably at some point been asked to be a part of a small group of some sort. No doubt you’ve heard some reasons given as to why this is a good idea: it will make a big church feel smaller, it will keep people from leaving through the “back door,” it’s where people can develop genuine friendships, it’s where pastoral care can take place. While these are all good and legitimate reasons, I think it completely misses the boat when it comes to the reason why Christian community exists in the first place.

Foundation #1: Trinity

The theological foundation for Christian community is rooted and grounded in the understanding of God as Trinity. The historical, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity is that there is one God who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Godhead have always existed in perfect relationship and community. The Bible also teaches that human beings are unique in all of God’s creation in that we were made in the image and likeness of God. There are different aspects as to what “created in the image of God” means, but it certainly includes the idea that God intended for human beings to exist in relational community as he does. Because we bear God’s image, human beings desire - at the deepest level - relationship and community.

Foundation #2: Christ’s Reconciling Work

Because of sin, relationship is breached. In the garden, after Adam and Eve had eaten from the fruit, God asked a very insightful question: “where are you?” God did not ask this question because he was genuinely unaware of their location; he asked it to illustrate the point that sin fractures relationship. Relationship with God is broken and relationship between people is broken. However, the cross of Jesus Christ changes everything. God the Father sent God the Son on a rescue mission to the earth to reconcile guilty sinners to himself. However, the implications of the cross don’t just end at a restored relationship with God – as incredible as that is by itself! God included in his plan of redemption the possibility for sinners to be reconciled with one another. Here are two passages of scripture that illustrate this point:

  • But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. - 1 Peter 2:9-10
  • But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7

Only after we understand community as being rooted in God’s Trinitarian nature and the cross of Jesus Christ can we begin to understand what God’s purposes for community are.

Purposes For Community

There are three main functions and purposes of gospel community:

1. Discipleship. In Matthew 28:19, we see that Jesus gave his church the responsibility of making disciples. A mature disciple of Jesus is someone whose identity is rooted in God, who reflects God’s glory back to him in worship, who shows God’s love to other Christians in community, and who lives on mission to show God’s glory to a lost and unbelieving world.

2. Care. Throughout the New Testament, we see a picture of God’s people caring with one another, carrying each other’s burdens and sharing in each other’s joy. In Ephesians 4:2-3, Paul says that we are to bear “with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The church is intended by God to be a place where we receive his comfort and care.

3. Mission. God is still on mission in the earth, saving rebellious sinners and reconciling them to himself. For whatever mysterious reason, God has graciously chosen to use his people, the church, in this work of reconciliation. In 1 Peter 2:12, we see what the fruit of gospel-saturated community is: outsiders seeing our lives and being drawn to our Heavenly Father. We must never forget that mission is absolutely vital to a Christ-centered understanding of community.

I hope that you can experience the joy that comes from gospel community. It truly is a gift from a gracious God who delights in relationship.

Guest Post: Grace and Then Truth

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The following is a guest post that we written by my friend Daniel Delgado. He is currently pursuing a Master’s at Western Seminary. You can check out his blog at http://www.flathillfaith.com.

Repetition is a powerful tool. We repeat things that are important to us. We repeat things we want to remember. In fact, educational experts believe we must be exposed to something at least three times before we can fully understand it. This is why I’ve started highlighting key words in Bible passages I read. For example, in the first chapter of Genesis, God speaks 15 different times. This repetition subtly communicates to something significant about God’s character: namely, that our God is a God who speaks. Another example is found in 1 Samuel 8:10-18, when God-through-Samuel is describing what Israel’s king will be like, he uses the phrase “he will take” six times. Obviously, God wanted the Israelites to know that their king would take, take, take, take, take, and take some more.

In the first chapter of John, there are a handful of words that are repeated: Word, life, light, world, etc. Towards the end of this chapter, the Bible repeats two words that define Jesus’ ministry. In John 1:14, we read that we have seen Jesus’ glory, which was full of grace and truth. A few verses later, in John 1:17, we read that Moses brought the Law, but through Jesus came grace and truth. Jesus revealed His glory to us through grace and truth. In fact, the original Greek for verse 17 literally says that Jesus brought “the grace and the truth.” In Greek, word order is important and I think it’s worth noticing that both times, grace comes before truth. I think there’s profound significance to that word order. Grace must precede truth.

I’ve met a handful of people who seem to think that the most graceful thing we can do is be truthful (i.e. brutally honest), as though the two terms were synonymous. But why then, would the Bible use these terms separately? I’ve been reminded by people in this camp that Jesus was no ballerina. While this is true, it’s also true that Jesus was not a knuckle-dragging ogre who went from village to village bashing people with a club named “Truth.”

But I’ve also met people who stand by the conviction that all that matters is grace. The only thing that matters, they would say, is the grace that God gives us. But why would this Bible passage connect truth to the reality that Jesus brought grace? Can we honor God if we’re only graceful, but not truthful? If people do not understand the truth about their situation, will they even appreciate God’s grace?

And so we find a complex balancing act between grace and truth. Sam Williams once wrote that “Grace without truth is sentimentalism. It lacks power. Truth without grace is legalism. It lacks compassion. Grace and truth is the power of God that transforms lives.” As I said before, I think there is significance to the order of grace and truth. In fact, I think we need to encounter people with grace and then truth…in that order!

Take a look at how Jesus approached the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus offers her living water and then confronts her about her promiscuous lifestyle. Grace and then truth. Go forward to Jesus’ encounter with the paralyzed man: Jesus heals him (John 5:8) and then calls him to repentance (John 5:14). Grace and then truth. Go forward to the statement Jesus makes to the woman caught in adultery: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” Grace and then truth.

I think this is the example we are meant to follow: Grace and then Truth. As a friend once told me, no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. As Christians, we must resolve to enter into relationships that are characterized by grace. We must commit to love and accept others unconditionally in order to create a safe, trothing relationship. Then, when they’re ready, we can begin to share the wonderful, life-changing Truth that has set us free. Only after people feel loved and accepted by us will they be open to hearing what we believe.

Jesus, Our Worship Leader

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The following is adapted from the work of Dr. Reggie Kidd.

On Sunday, many of you will gather together with your fellow Christians for worship. This worship will have several different elements, including prayer, the preaching of God’s word, singing, and the Lord’s Supper. Throughout, there will be men and women leading the congregation in the various aspects of worship. But, as we participate in these various forms of worship, we should be reminded that Hebrews teaches us that Jesus is the worship leader for all Christians.

Jesus, Our Liturgist | Hebrews 8:1-2
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.
When the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is a “minister,” the word there in the Greek is “leitourgous,” the word that we get “liturgy” from. This word comes from two other Greek words that mean “work” and “people.” So, a minister is one who leads the liturgy, or the “work of the people.” What the writer of Hebrews is saying is that Jesus is the priest, the leader, the minister who leads God’s people in worship. Not only is he ministering in our churches, but he is ministering in the direct presence of God the Father on our behalf.

Jesus, Our Prayer Leader | Hebrews 7:24-25
[Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
One of the important elements of the liturgy (or the worship service, if you prefer) is prayer. While it is common for us to have various people lead out in prayer during the worship time, we must never forget that Jesus is making continual intercession on our behalf. Jesus is our prayer leader forever.

Jesus, Our Preacher | Hebrews 2:11b-12
[Jesus] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
In prayer, Jesus makes us known before the Father. But in the ordinance of preaching, Jesus makes the Father known to us. In the above verses, the writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 22 and attributes it to Jesus. The Bible is not about us, it is all about God. When the preacher reads and teaches from God’s Word, Jesus himself uses that to come and make the Father known among us.

Jesus, Our Song Leader | Hebrews 2:12b
“…in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
Again, in the same verse as above, the writer of Hebrews uses Psalm 22:22 to teach us what Jesus is saying to the Father. The end of this verse specifically mentions singing. Have you ever been in the middle of a song, looked up at the song leader and thought about Jesus himself leading us in praises of the Father? What a powerful thought.

Jesus Serves the Bread and Wine | Hebrews 13:10
We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.
On our own, we have no right to eat at the table of God. But that is the entire point of Hebrews: that Jesus invites us to the table of God, he invites us before the throne of God, places that only he has earned the right to go. What an incredible thought! Earlier in Hebrews, the writer says that Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. While Melchizedek is certainly a mysterious figure in the Old Testament, one thing is clear: he institutes the holy meal of bread and wine. This meal is served between brothers and in the presence of God. When we participate in Communion at the church service, we remember that we are invited to the table of God by Jesus who sets the table.

Everything above is written to the worshipper who participates in the service. The point is to thank God for your leaders but to remember that it is Jesus himself who leads our worship. I want to close with one final thought for those of you who are leaders in the church service: preachers, song leaders, communion servers, and prayer leaders. Jesus is the one who is leading, we get invited by his grace to participate. Here is how Dr. Kidd put it:
Our task as worship leaders? Simple, if not easy. Give the platform to the real worship leader. Let him pray effectual prayers. Let him declare the Father’s blessing. Let him sing over his people in love. Let him set the most lavish of tables. – Reggie Kidd

Why The Jesus vs. Religion Video Is So Popular

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In you haven’t been on Facebook or Twitter in the last few days, you probably haven’t seen the newest YouTube viral video going around entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” Actually, you probably still have; it has almost 10 million views as of when I’m writing this.

What I am not going to do in this blog post is analyze the good and the bad aspects of the video. Kevin DeYoung has already written a very thorough, well-written, grace-filled response to the video. What I want to do in this post is attempt to answer a question that was raised by my friend Eric as to why this video became such an overnight sensation. Here are my top 5 reasons why I think this video has resonated so deeply with people.

1. America Loves YouTube Videos
First and most simply, everyone needed a YouTube video to post this week. It seems like there are always a couple of these huge viral videos floating around at any given time. (The other one this last week is Jimmy Fallon doing his Bowie-Tebow combination song. It’s pretty funny.) Regardless of the specific content, the Jesus vs. Religion video is reasonably well done and engaging. Jefferson Bethke’s poetry does not put him in the same category as Ralph Waldo Emerson, but neither does it put him in the same category as Kip Dynamite. Simply put, this was a well-done video and the time was right for it to go viral. Now, on to the more serious reasons…

2. New Calvinism
In 2009, Time Magazine listed New Calvinism as one of the Top 10 Ideas Changing The World Right Now. While I’m not a huge fan of the name (I’ve read more Augustine than Calvin), this is the general theological framework that I find myself in, as does Jefferson Bethke. What this movement has produced is a large number of young Christians who are absolutely devoted to and in love with the reformed understanding of grace. In a nutshell, we believe that the Bible teaches that we can never impress God with our good works, that salvation is a pure gift from a loving God, and that all human attempts to earn God’s favor are gross, legalistic (religion), and firmly anti-Christian. A lot of the people who I’ve seen posting this video fall into this category. Even though I have concerns that Bethke was sloppy in his definitions and may have sent some mixed messages about grace, his overall trajectory was in the right direction.

3. Misunderstanding of Grace
However, not all of the Christians that are posting this video fall into the New Calvinist movement. I believe that some of these Christians, while genuine, are missing out on some deeply Biblical themes regarding grace. They have an understanding of God’s grace that generally does not include God’s wrath against sin poured out on Jesus, the unbelievable price that Jesus paid to secure our salvation, and no deep theological understanding of exactly what took place on the cross. These Christians have more of an understanding of God’s grace as a shrug towards sin and an “it’s OK, nobody’s perfect” pat on the back toward sinners. This video resonates with this subset of Christianity because the messages of grace can be misunderstood due to the ambiguity present in Bethke’s poetry.

4. General Rebellion
Has anyone asked why so many non-Christians are linking to Bethke’s video? The only answer that I can see is general human rebellion against authority, rules, and structure. Because Bethke is taking aim against hypocritical, legalistic, self-righteous rules and authority, some assume that he is taking aim against all authority and structure. The Bible says that Jesus has all authority in the universe (Matt. 28:18), that governments exist to restrain evil (Rom. 13:1-7), that parents are to exercise loving authority over their children (Eph. 6:4), and that there are leaders in the church who hold authority for the good of the flock (Luke 22:25-30, Heb. 13:17). To criticize legalistic, unrighteous authority is good and Christ-like; to throw out all authority and rules is not.

5. Anti-Church
This one is particularly sad to me. Jefferson has posted a response on his Facebook to those who are using his video to bash the church. He absolutely crushes this one out of the park, so I’ll just let him speak for himself:

If you are using my video to bash “the church” be careful. I was in no way intending to do that. My heart came from trying to highlight and expose legalism and hypocrisy. The Church is Jesus’ bride so be careful how you speak of His wife. If a normal dude has right to get pissed when you bash His wife, it makes me tremble to think how great the weight is when we do it to Jesus’ wife. The church is His vehicle to reach a lost word. A hospital for sinners. Saying you love Jesus but hate the Church, is like a fiancé saying he loves his future bride, but hates her kids. We are all under grace. Look to Him.

As usual, I am always glad when something like this goes mainstream. I’m encouraged by all the discussion about relationship with Jesus as opposed to legalistic religion. I’m even encouraged by the respectful dialogue that we’re seeing between Bethke and DeYoung now. Jesus will use all of this to bring glory to himself, and for that I am thankful.

Maybe I Do Want Topical Preaching? | 9Marks

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The following comes from Jonathan Leeman on the 9 Marks blog. As a preacher and a future church planter, I found this exceedingly helpful.

Dear Mr. Young Expositional Preacher. I am a member of your church. Call me Johnny Average Church Member.

First of all, I am very grateful for your commitment to expositional preaching. Don’t lose the commitment. I know a guy named Leeman who wrote a book on the supernatural power of expositional preaching, which I read, and, on the whole, think I would affirm.

But I need your help. I’m trying really hard to be a better husband, and worker, and citizen, and parent, and to wear all the other hats I have to wear. I need to know how to be a man, how to fight stress, how to have a better prayer life, how to make a difference in my neighborhood. I mean, Greek verb tenses and Old Testament typological structures are sort of interesting to me, at least if it’s one of those Sunday mornings when I’m pepped up on several cups of Joe.

Yet I’m trying to figure out what those things have to do with how I go to work on Monday, and how I speak to my little girl, and what I do with my money. These are the decisions that face me as soon as I walk out of your building. And I have to be honest with you, this is why those big mega-church guys and their topical sermons are appealing to me. They give it to me straight.

Now I know what you’re thinking, because I’ve picked up some of your lingo on The Gospel Coalition website. You’re thinking, “Johnny Average Church Member, it sounds like you’re looking for ‘how-to’ moralism. I preach Christ-centered sermons!”

Yes, thank you, give me Christ-centered sermons. But if Jesus is Lord, shouldn’t that fact affect how I go to work on Monday, and speak to my little girl, and spend my money? What does the gospel have to say to me in all those places? What does the gospel say to me about stress, and retirement, and serving in government, and talking to my friend with a gambling addiction?

It seems to me that your gospel-centered expositional sermons should get to all the stuff that topical preachers preach about, right? Your preaching should be giving people all that and more. I think you call it sermon “application.” Shouldn’t your applications make expositional sermons topical, so to speak? Shouldn’t they, over time, cover all the topics of people’s lives? Shouldn’t the members in your church feel like they’re not missing anything?

Okay, okay, I know there’s still a huge difference between your average topical sermon and your average expositional sermon, which is crucial. The Bible doesn’t exist, and church gatherings don’t happen, and sermons aren’t preached, simply to help people like me do this or that better. And a steady diet of topical preaching can make it seem that way—like the point of the whole church exercise is to improve my daily life. When really, the whole point of gathering and listening to preaching is to behold God, and to hear whatever he wants to say. I know that. I know I need his Word exposed, no matter what it says. I know I need to hear all of it, even the parts that seem obscure and irrelevant.

I’m just saying that I need you to show me how those obscure bits are relevant, even if those Hebrew chiasms are as naturally fascinating to you as they are to my Sunday School teacher who doesn’t get out much. I need you to show me how those chiasms help me to trust more, hope more, love more, and what that faith, hope, and love look like in the different areas of my life. Make sense?

Connect the dots for me. How do I get from justification by faith alone to being a manly man who cares well for his aging parents?

Okay, I admit, I don’t really want you to give up the expositional thing. I just want more from you. I want to have my cake and to eat it, too. Call me biblically greedy. I want you to apply your sermon in my life so that I’m learning all the helpful stuff they’re learning over at Topical Tommy’s church. Okay?

Thanks for listening, Mr. Young Expositional Preacher. For real, I thank God for you, and the fact that you’ve chosen the harder, more faithful path.