Surprised by N.T.Wright

Some post-thoughts from a pastor’s conference in San Diego. For several years, I have made this southward trek to get my soul refreshed, my brain re-energized. Generally, there is someone whose voice rises above the rest. Last year, it was Eugene Peterson. Unlike some, who seem to be more enamored with themselves and their stories, Peterson simply opened the Word of God and allowed its wisdom and power to speak for itself. It has been one of the disappointments of this conference that all too often presenters seem to have little apparent expectation God will speak through His Word

Not that I was completely disappointed. For the one who rose to the top this year was N.T. Wright, a bishop from England. I have been reading Wright for the past few years. His Simply Christian is one of my favorite books. Like Peterson, I feared that his presentation would not be up to his books. But like Peterson, he did not disappoint. His speaking was as engaging as his writing. There are few Christian thinkers I have met who expand my imagination like this man. Maybe none. Wright was amazing—and refreshing. He did not try to impress with an Anglican collar, nor come off as some rock star (as some, who I will leave nameless). With scribbled ideas on a piece of notebook paper (I took a peek at them while asking him a question), Wright opened with prayer and proceeded with his discourse. No engaging introduction, no wandering illustrations—just majestic truths coming out of obvious hours of meditation in Scripture. And the most amazing thing of all—he shared his messages with absolute humility. I never detected an intellectual arrogance, one so prevalent in others of his stature.

I tried to capture as many insights as I could. Here are some—

1-Wright reminded us to come to the biblical text with 1^st century eyes and 21^st century questions, rather than 19^th century eyes and 16^th century questions. Most do not want to do the hard work of exegesis (that pulls us into the 1^st century), while others are too out of touch with present culture to know the questions they must ask. Wright notes that there is a crisis in Western democracy. These are dangerous times—threats of terror, an ecological crisis that should have the attention of every believer, and a wave of books by Dawkins and others intent on attacking the credibility of Christianity. There must be cultural critique, but it must not be in the form of bashing, but rather be about Spirit led discernment. Reasoned discourse is what will win the battle. And Wright models this. It was clear in each of his talks that he has spent considerable time seeking to discern the flow of the biblical books, the world of the authors, while discerning the times in which we presently live. A good model for all of us.

2-Wright has done a lot of thinking on evil. Reflecting his recent book, Evil and the Justice of God, he reminded us that the Word is not so interested in explaining evil as telling us what God is doing about it. God began with a call to Abraham to undo what Adam did. Each subsequent act in Scripture simply builds upon the other. God is confronting it, judging it, and stopping evil from having its desired effect. When Jesus came, evil moved to its greatest intensity, aiming itself at the cross, where Jesus disarmed the powers of darkness. All of which tells us we don’t have to wait for the future to start experiencing our deliverance from evil.

Sitting with a Christian leader from Beirut two nights ago, and hearing of the unspeakable going on in Lebanon, I thought again about Wright’s words, as well as what Jesus has accomplished. While we cannot explain a lot of this mess, we do have this assurance that in Christ we have nothing to fear.

3-Much of what Wright addressed reflected his newest book, Surprised By Hope, which is one of those books that can truly transform your life. I found myself reading it between meetings, in the hotel room, on the plane. It is a complete rethinking of heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church. We often get heaven wrong in our thinking. Death is not moving into some ethereal state, where our permanent address is in some heavenly sphere with streets paved with gold. Rather, we will eventually receive resurrected bodies to live on a future earth (this earth), one no longer suffering the present corruption of sin. In Christ, we have been saved for this world to come, as well as this present world. We are a new creation now living at the intersection of present and future, enlisted to become a window, a foretaste of God’s kingdom.

Rather than sing “This World is Not My Home”, we need to be singing, “This is My Father’s World”, one in which we are called to presently serve. The point here is this—what is to be true in the future must begin to become true in the present. Our future resurrection needs to begin to be lived out now, as a foretaste of the future. In other words, live flourishing lives, feeding our imaginations on I Corinthians 15, Eph 1, and Rom 8. Until we learn to imagine a world as Isaiah describes, we won’t know how to get there. So we need to embrace art and beauty, justice and reconciliation. To live as if this present world doesn’t matter—it will simply one day burn up—is not only bad eschatology. It is bad living.

Comments

[Jeremy Anderson]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience from this conference. I've been a fan of Wright for years now and he continues to encourage me to put my mind in the cultural context of 1st century Christians and their relationship to Jesus before I try to paint my interpretations on his word and their application to this age. I'm not even a pastor (by profession anyways) but so desperately longing to have my postmodern counterparts come to love Him like I do and stop living according to customs of man, but after a pattern of the Master.

[JD]

Never heard of the man but I already have great respect for him now. Many of those from England I have found to have a habit of repeating what has been already said or writing what Christians have already thought about. Quite good to know that are those around that still adhere to God and scripture. As you said pastor, there are those that (nameless) who do not.

[Nathan]

As usual, really enjoyed this John. Thanks for sharing. I have one of Wright's books, but you've give me some more to think about and another good reason to get back to the bookstore. Sounds like an inspiring conference.

[Peter]

"To live as if this present world doesn’t matter—it will simply one day burn up—is not only bad eschatology. It is bad living."

Ahem…
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.