A Case for Good Fiction

"It must be more than thirty years ago that I bought - almost unwillingly, for I had looked at the volume on that bookstall and rejected it on a dozen previous occasions - the Everyman edition of Phantastes [by George MacDonald]. A few hours later I knew that I had crossed a great frontier....Nothing was at that time further from my thoughts than Christianity and I therefore had no notion was this difference really was. I was only aware that if this new world was strange, it was also homely and humble; that if this was a dream, it was a dream in which one at least felt strangely vigilant; that the whole book had about it a sort of cool, morning innocence, and also, quite unmistakably, a certain quality of Death, good Death. What it actually did to me was to convert, even to baptise (that was where the Death came in) my imagination....The quality which had enchanted me...turned out to be the quality of the real universe, the divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic reality in which we all live. I should have been shocked in my 'teens if anyone had told me that what I learned to love in Phantastes was goodness."

-C. S. Lewis, "Introduction to Phantastes"

The Awesomest Loser Ever

America loves a winner. We don't care what you do on the weekends; if you win eight gold medals in a single Olympics, Michael Phelps, we will frame a picture of you, set it on our nightstand, and kiss it goodnight (I hope I'm not the only one). Duke and the Yankees have plenty of detractors, but it wouldn't be March without Mike Krzyzewski prowling the sidelines or October without pinstripes. It's the winners who get the ovations. It's the winners who visit the White House. The winners beam and wave as confetti collects on their shoulders and "We are the Champions" blares. The losers are still kneeling on the court/track/turf, hands on head, mouth slightly ajar, still too stunned to cry. They have our respect, but our adoration belongs to another.

That's why, if I live to be 1000 (which, as I understand Christianity, is exactly what will happen), I will never get tired of Revelation 5:9-10. Perhaps more than any other text in Scripture, it demonstrates the utter upside-down-ness of the Christian message. This part of the book of Revelation is a scene in the throne room of heaven, and a bunch of mighty angelic beings are singing this song to Jesus:

"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain..." (Rev 5:9)

"Jesus, you are so unbelievably awesome, because you got yourself killed." With stuff like this in its holy book, how did this religion ever make it to the top? How did a religion built around the veneration of a martyred rabbi even survive to 2010, much less establish itself on every continent and in every nation on the planet? What was it about this death that made it not a tragedy, but a victory to be praised forever in heaven? Read on.

"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (Rev 5:9-10)

Jesus' death was a win because he did something by it. What looked to the world like just another state-sponsored execution was in fact the greatest upset, come-from-behind, buzzer-beating victory in history. When Jesus' enemies thought that they had crushed his sect once and for all by murdering its leader, in reality they had accomplished exactly what Jesus intended: salvation for his people. Rome didn't crucify Jesus against his will; Jesus offered himself to God as a sacrifice, as a substitute, in the place of untold millions who deserved the death penalty for their rebellion against God. He ransomed them, bought them out of captivity to sin and the fear of death, and delivered them to his Father so that they might be a people for God's own possession, who will reign with him forever and ever (cue Hallelujah Chorus). What looked like defeat was actually the greatest win ever, and the more we learn of Christ, the more amazing it will seem. This event, this cross, will occupy our fascination and our praise for endless ages in heaven.

One of the things that most assures me of the truth of Christianity is that it defies all the conventional wisdom. No man thought this up. Only God could have veiled the most important victory in history in the guise of its most ignominious defeat. Only in the mind of the Almighty could the face of a champion, the Champion, be that of a man struggling for breath, blinking sweat and blood out of his eyes, squinting in the desert sun, with a mouth so parched that he could barely gurgle out a prayer. The Christian message is that God himself became a man, went willingly to his own execution, and by his death gave life to all who believe. And to prove that his sacrifice was effectual, he rose on the third day to tell us about it.

What has your worldview done for you lately?

Two Roads Diverged

There are two ways for sin to be covered:

Psalm 32

1Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Either you can cover your sin, concealing it, pretending it hasn't happened and isn't happening, that it isn't so bad and that God doesn't sweat the small stuff, or you can confess it and he can cover it, seeing it, grieving it, and joyfully forgiving it all because of his Son's life, death, and resurrection in our place. On the first road, you'll waste away. On the second, you'll enjoy the happiness of communion with the God who for some reason loves drawing near to those who repeatedly draw back from his best. It's your choice.

Hey, choose life.

Reason #574 Why it's Good to Read the Psalms: You Realize What a Wuss You Are

Psalm 31 (A Psalm of David)

11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
especially to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!

After reading something like this ("Everyone in my life either avoids me or tries to kill me, but it's cool, because You're on it"), it gets pretty hard to pray, "Lord, I'm in such despair because of this traffic! I'm going to be ten minutes late to work! O why have you forsaken me? Where is your steadfast love of old?"

Why I'm Marrying Her

Seven months ago today, with sweaty palms and a determined avoidance of eye contact, I asked Kim Solari if she would ever consider going on a date with me. Four months from today, God willing, we will be married. One of my favorite things about Kim is her willingness to tell me when I'm being an idiot. I want to give you a small window into how this works.

Last week Kim and I had plans to bring to my BFF and his wife, recently home from the hospital after the birth of their third child, a hot meal to give them a break from cooking. I, neither for the first nor last time, was running significantly late. I got out of class late, traffic was worse than I thought it would be, and Portillo's (Did you think I was going to bring something homemade? Who do you think that I am?) didn't have the order ready when I arrived. By the time I picked Kim up to head over to their house, I was angry at everything.

"Why are you upset?" she asked.

"I hate being late," I said. "I wanted to give Bryan and Amy a break from cooking, but now we're bringing dinner late, the food is cold, and they're going to have to start feeding the girls before we get there, so we can't all eat together." I deliberated about whether to say what I was really thinking. I went for it. "Honestly, I just want to be the hero. I want to be everyone's hero all the time. And I can't. And I'm angry about it."

"Honey," she began gently. "You're not supposed to be the hero. That's not how the story goes." Thoughtful pause. "If you were everyone's hero, we'd all be going to hell."

Touché.

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." (Prov 25:11)

Help for Weak Hands

I had an alarming experience last Sunday. I was standing in CrossWay's lobby during the time of corporate singing at youth group, and these were the words we were endorsing together: "Your blood has washed away my sin/Jesus, thank you/The Father's wrath completely satisfied/Jesus, thank you" (you know if it has the word "wrath," it must be a Sovereign Grace song). As I sang, I found myself wondering, is this really true? The Father's wrath completely satisfied? I began to scan my memory for Scripture passages that would undergird the precious truth that Jesus, on the cross, took all of God's anger against my sin...and I came up empty-handed. I had nothing.

After a few minutes the juices started flowing again, but I knew that I needed to do something to get the truth of the gospel back in the front of my mind. This week I started using John Piper's The Passion of Jesus Christ in my devotions. It has fifty short meditations on what the Bible teaches about what Jesus accomplished on the cross (it has since been retitled Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die).

When you feel the need (I assume I'm not the only one!) to firm up your grasp on the truth of the gospel, what helps you?

Playing to the Cheap Seats, or, Everybody Loves a Baby

One of the great things about holidays is the opportunity to take group pictures. I give you the Wendles, present, future, and honorary (clockwise from top left): my parents Bill and Marg, my fiancee Kim, me, my brother-in-law Micaiah, my nephew David, and my (twin) sister Erin. The smiles aren't faked. We actually like each other.

And just for good measure, here are a few pictures of my nephew being adorable over the early months of this year:

New Year's Day.

1st birthday.

Easter.