{"id":2264,"date":"2020-03-19T15:11:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T22:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaymenslounge.com\/?p=2264"},"modified":"2020-03-19T15:23:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T22:23:47","slug":"the-storyline-of-the-bible-cleaning-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaymenslounge.com\/the-storyline-of-the-bible-cleaning-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Storyline of the Bible & Cleaning Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\nhttps:\/\/radiopublic.com\/the-laymens-lounge-GbpY7J\/s1!d994e\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Laymens Lounge \u2013 I specifically wanted to talk with you in connection with a book that you and Heath Thomas just wrote called The<\/em> Gospel of our King: Bible, Worldview and the Mission of Every Christian<\/em>. So my first question for you is, how do you organize the Bible? That is to say, when you’re coming to the Bible, are you drawing out one pearl here and one nugget there? Or are you reading it with a certain lens and a certain framework where you position the things you read? If so, what can you give us as readers to do what you do so we could better see the big picture, because we want the forest and not just the trees?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruce\nAshford \u2013  Yeah, it’s a good question.\nYou know, the Bible is composed of 66 books and written by many authors and\nmultiple genres. And sometimes it’s hard to, to sort of get a grasp of the\nwhole, but the Bible is coherent, it fits together and one of the easiest ways\nto see it fit together is as a narrative: all of those books and writers come\ntogether to give us a broader, bigger story about the world – the true story of\nthe whole world actually. And while in school, we’re often taught that our\nnation’s history or some sort of secular history text gives us the big story of\nthe world, and Christianity is just a little piece of that world. In fact, the\nopposite is true. The Bible tells the big story, the true story of the whole\nworld from beginning to end. And our little histories that we write are\nbit-players players within that narrative, and there are a lot of different\nways to organize the narrative. I think the easiest over the phone is to\norganize it into six different plot movements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Creation<\/li>
  2. Fall<\/li>
  3. Israel<\/li>
  4. Jesus<\/li>
  5. Church<\/li>
  6. New Creation<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    \u2026and we could spend a little time\ntalking about each of those at some point if you want, but that’s sort of the\nway we organize the first half of the book is by expanding the Bible, as a book,\nthat gives us the true story of the whole world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 I always sort of viewed the Bible as the fall and then\nsalvation that comes from Jesus. And when I say \u201csalvation\u201d, I meant not going\nto hell when I die. And the Christian life meant, essentially, sin management,\nand trying to snatch up as many people from hell before I die. My mind has been\nreally expanded from what you’ve what you’ve shared in that viewing the Bible\nas a story, as you said, sort of that that six-piece movement. Dr Ashford, what\nare you seeing as far as the approach that most Americans are reading their\nBible with? And how do you suggest, sort of through those six plot moves that\nyou just said, could we address and aid us as we read our Bibles?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Bruce\nAshford \u2013 Yeah, I think you’re right. A lot of times, we tend to only treat the\nChristian life as one of sin management – we know that there was a fall, that\nthere is sin, and that Jesus saves us from our own sin. But we sort of lop off\nthe other pieces of the narrative. So if I were to go through the narrative\nvery quickly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. The doctrine of creation teaches us that God\nspoke the world into existence, and then by means of His Word, He ordered the\nworld. So that would be the kind of world that we have today, a world with\nplants and animals and with sky and land and water, but also the world with art\nand science, and politics and sports and marriage and family and church. This\nis the way God organized the world. Also in creation He created man and woman\nin his image and likeness that he told us to till the soil: that’s a cultural\ncommand, take something, make something out of the world that I made. And so\nnot just agriculture, but other kinds of culture – He gave us a social command\nbe fruitful multiply. In other words build families and eventually societies.\nAnd he said, have dominion lovingly manage my good world. And also we forget\nthat very first plot movement, and it’s such an important one because it\ndefines who we are and what we’re supposed to do, we’re supposed to till the\nsoil and be fruitful and multiply in a way that glorifies God. <\/li>
    2. Now, the fall happened, and in the fall, Satan spoke\na word against God’s word. Remember, God had created the world by means of his Word,\nHe had ordered it by means of His Word, and then Satan speaks a word against\nGod’s Word, and uses a serpent to attempt Adam and Eve to sin against God, and\nthey did. And they sought to make themselves into a god, instead of just being\ncreated in the image and likeness of God. And because they did that, they were\nseparated from God. And they continued to be image-bearers who tilled the soil,\nif you will, and who are fruitful and multiply because of their sin, they do,\ndid those things badly in a way that displease God and all of us after Adam and\nEve has sinned, just like them. <\/li>
    3. So then briefly the third plot movement: Israel.\nGod called Israel to be a light to the nations to show the other nations what\nit’s like to be the people who obey God and live according to God’s will. And\nIsrael failed miserably to do that. <\/li>
    4. So then Jesus came forth plot movement. And He\nwas a light to the nations perfectly in a way that Israel was not. Also crucified\nand rose from the dead on our behalf for the forgiveness of sins. And then when\nHe ascended, He left behind a church and the Kingdom. <\/li>
    5. And the fifth plot movement is church. And that\nis that God has called a people, Christians who gather together in local\nchurches to declare that He is Lord – He’s called us to be a light to the\nnations the way to Jesus was. In other words: to shine the light of the gospel\nas far We can upon everyone around us and every everything around us. So Jesus behind\na church and the Kingdom which brings us to… <\/li>
    6. Our sixth and final one is new creation, or, \u201cnew\nheavens and earth\u201d. And that is when Christ returns the second time he is\nreturning to this earth, to renew it and restore it. The Bible says that there\nwill be a purifying fire burns away sin and the consequences of sin, and that\nwe will live together with Him and a new heavens and a new earth. And by \u201cnew\u201d,\nthat means renewed and restored, heavens and earth, and this is a beautiful and\na powerful story. And when we lop off creation and Israel and the church and\nnew creation, like you said, and view the Christian life as only the fall and\nsin management, then we lose much of the majesty of the Bible.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 It really doesn’t become compelling when the message is\ntruncated. It becomes compelling, when you share the way you just did, which is,\nessentially, you just told the story of the Bible  and that you didn’t give us a \u201csecret sauce\u201d\nbut just the view the Bible in its entirety. You just gave us this holistic\npicture and its really helpful. Now, having said that: are we currently in that\nthat fifth scene of the church? And if so, how are we a part of that story? And\nmore specifically, what are what is our task? What is my day-to-day task? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Bruce\nAshford \u2013 Yeah, so we are in this fifth plot movement, that I’ve called the\nchurch, It’s the era before Christ returns. And what we’re called to do is to\nconform our life to God’s goodwill, and to give witness to Christ, through our\nwords and our deeds, and in any sphere of culture, where the Lord Christ has\nplaced us and there are a lot of different spheres of culture, if you will, there\nis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Art<\/li>
      2. Science<\/li>
      3. Sports competition<\/li>
      4. Marriage and family and the home<\/li>
      5. Politics and economics<\/li>
      6. Business and entrepreneurship<\/li>
      7. And the religious sphere<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        You have all these different spheres\nand each person’s life intersects with various areas, sectors of society or\nspheres of culture, and our goal is to bring glory to the Lord both in word and\ndeed. I want to focus on word and deed for a moment. A lot of times people ask,\n\u201cWell, if I’m going to give witness to the Lord – Is that through speaking\nabout Him, or doing things on His behalf?\u201d And you got some people that say, \u201clisten,\nwhat really matters is speaking the gospel, but \u2018doing stuff\u2019 you can give it\nor take, it doesn’t really matter, do it If you want to but speaking the Gospels\nis the most important.\u201d Other people would say \u201cWe got too many people speaking\nthe gospel but not doing any loving deeds, not doing things on behalf of the gospel.\nAnd I would just say, as a general rule, Christian people should be doing both\nwords and deeds all the time. If you remember the old in the old days, they\nwould have covered wagons. And the wagon wheels would have a hub and then there\nwould be spokes coming out of the hub that would be tied into a rim. And if I\ncould make an analogy for a moment: You take this this wagon and compare it to\nthe Christian mission. We’d say that the hub of the wheel is like the preached\nGospel. The spokes in the rim are like our deeds. And you need both of those\nfor the wheel to turn. If you ever removed the hub, which would be the preached\nword of the gospel, the spoken word, the wheel collapses, and the wagon doesn’t\nmove. But if you have nothing but a hub, and there’s no spokes or rim, then the\nwheel doesn’t get traction, and If it does moves anywhere, it doesn’t move much\nat all. And so God has called us to both words and deeds so we want to always\nbe speaking the gospel and letting people know the reason for the hope that is\nwithin us. But we also always want to be doers. Someone asked me \u201cWhich is more\nimportant\u201d? I think they’re both important, which I mean, what’s more important\nfor me to share the gospel with my neighbor or refrain from having sex with his\nwife? They both seem pretty important to me. You know, I don’t like to pick\nbetween them but people try to make us pick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 I have a wife who’s at home with four children and she just\ndoesn’t have a whole lot of time and is just on the go constantly, and so she\ncant really \u201cdo\u201d much, as such she, and others like her, might feel\nsub-Christian\u2026 If you know what I mean? They don’t feel optimal. How, for\nexample, like even your own life – how does how does your wife Lauren feel? Like,\nshe looks at you, and you get to do so many great and helpful things for many\npeople, and yet, she’s home and she’s with the three kids and she\u2019s just busy\u2026.\nDoes she ever feel like \u201cI’m not being as radical as, as my husband, Bruce,\u201d or\n\u201cI’m not engaging in as much Christian activity\u201d \u2026 How does despair not set in\nbecause we want to be a blessing and we want to be, you know, we want to \u201cshow\nGod\u201d that, we really genuinely care, and we want to help others. But there’s\ndespair when we’re sort of held back by circumstances. So how does she, you\nknow, her and other people like her themselves? Or what truth do we need to\nremind ourselves in those times?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Bruce\nAshford \u2013 Yes, you know, our marriage are in the stages, you know, we had, and\nI think this is the most difficult stage often for a young woman or 20s and\nearly 30s, it certainly was for us\u2026 My wife would say that when you’re at home,\nespecially with the smaller kids are in diapers, but also with other kids,\nthere is a sense sometimes in which you feel walled off from the world and from\nsome other significant opportunities. And I think she would say a couple of\nthings now is that those were, even though there were very difficult years,\nthose are precious years because they are the most formative years in the\nformation of a child’s heart and the way a child experiences the world and even\nsociologists, psychologists, tell you a child\u2019s experience early on within the\nhome, you’re setting them up for success or for failure – and multiple different\nindicators I mean, medical, physical, physiological, psychological, future job\nsuccess, all of that. And there is nothing more precious really than knowing\nthat you were able to form your children. And then as life is called by the\nLord has given her some opportunities to some of the kinds of things that I do.\nShe’s actually writing curriculum for our church. She’s speaking and helping\nrun the women’s ministry, our church. And conversely, I’ve had a lot more time\nat home than in the past couple of years and I’ve been learning to and really\nloving spending time with our children and, I\u2019ve learned to cook\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 O yes you have been spending some time in the kitchen!  I’ve been seeing Facebook and I was like, This\nguy, he’s a cook and I see you’re trying to dial in some Russian, Russian<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Bruce\nAshford \u2013 That’s right, because I lived in Russia. But what I’ve realized is\nthat I often am teaching, speaking or writing – but I actually love preparing a\nmeal. Even though I’m at work all day, sometimes I feel like I’ve not\naccomplished anything, or not anything big, but if I can come home or prepare a\nmeal for the family, a good one that tastes good, and nourishes, my family and\nthey like it, that I have done something that really matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 If I may say, I made a pretty glorious curry last night. I’m\nnot gonna lie, it was wonderful. But here’s a question for you: as you were\nmaking dinner for your family – was that a \u201cChristian activity\u201d? Or was that morally\nneutral?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Bruce\nAshford \u2013 Well, I mean, it depends on your intent and your heart. But I would\nstart a general level: something as basic as the making of a meal. That’s a\ncultural activity. It’s something commanded by God, when God said \u201ctil the soil\u201d\nHe wasn’t just talking about agriculture, but every other kind of culture,\nincluding the making of meals in the home and it’s a nourishing of your\nchildren and of yourself and your spouse. But then if you’re cooking a meal,\nyou can cook a meal to the glory of God. I mean, the Bible teaches that you can\ndo anything you’re doing, as long as it’s not immoral, to the glory of God. And\nI would say cook the cooking of a meal is the one of the most important things\nthat a person can do. God made the world to run around meals. We saw Jesus\ndoing a lot of his disciple over meals. You see in history, many or most of the\nworld’s great events were brokered, over a meal. Friendships are made over\nmeals. I mean, it’s just such an important thing. And one thing the Bible\nteaches but that we miss and neglect is that in so many of these things that we\nmight think are mundane, just ordinary things that we do, there’s a great\npossibility to honor the Lord Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 Yeah, I heard it said that \u201cJesus ate and drank his way through\nthe New Testament\u201d and that resonates with what you’re saying. Also what you\nsaid reminded me of something. And I think I saw that you actually wrote an\narticle on your blog, which is BruceAshford.net, I think I saw you had written\nan article on Kanye West. And I remember I saw some late-night host interviewing\nKanye West and the interviewer said \u201cSo what, are you like a Christian rapper\nnow?\u201d And he said, \u201cI’m a Christian everything.\u201d And I kind of love that he\nsaid a \u201cChristian everything\u201d and made me laugh out loud. And I’ve shared that\na few times. So, you said cooking, I guess take it out further, is it possible\nto be a \u201cChristian Everything\u201d? Like what if Kanye isn\u2019t rapping about Jesus,\nbut say he’s rapping about his wife, which really loves is that a \u201cChristian\u201d\nsong?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Bruce\nAshford \u2013 Well, I mean, the way I would put it is that our Christianity can,\nand should, inform everything we do in life. And there are some people who\nthink your Christianity really only informs your personal ethics. You know: don’t\nsteal things, don’t sleep around your wife, don’t kill people, etc. So it\ninforms that, and it informs their quiet times and then their church\nattendance. But the Bible actually gives us a picture in Psalm 119 where it says,\n\u201cYour word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.\u201d It never says \u201cYour\nword is a lamp unto my spiritual feet and my private path.\u201d It’s your whole\npath, the whole path of life, that God’s Word, in creation, and God’s Word in\nScripture, is relevant directly or indirectly, in one way or another to\neverything we do. I was teaching this in in 10 or 15 years ago in a college\nclassroom and I had a college freshman there snickering and they were giggling\nand such\u2026 I said \u201cAll right, go ahead. Get it off your chest. What do want to\nsay?\u201d He said, \u201cWell, is the Bible relevant to washing my cat?\u201d So said, \u201cOh,\nthat’s very funny. It’s a funny guy. And yes it is.\u201d And so I took the funny\nexample and said something like: how does my faith inform the way I wash my\ncat? Well it  means that maybe it\nencourages me to wash my cat every once in a while and take care of it. That is\nGod’s good creation. But it also encourages me not to wash it with more love\nthan I would wash my baby. Because God has said, a human being is created in\nhis image and likeness and does have a significance and a status that an animal\ndoesn’t have. And, as I’m watching the cat, I’m going to realize that I’m not\none with the cat – that’s what the Buddhists would say but we’re actually\ndifferent. It’s a silly analogy, but the point is, I think that our\nChristianity positions everything in the world for us: teaches us how to view\nit, it gives us motivation to do it well and do it unto the Lord, and that\ncounts for the mundane things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The\nLaymens Lounge – That is good. That cat bit was a little bit genius. You know,\nI have a, a fish that somehow I got recruited to feed and clean its stinky\ntank, and I’m not gonna lie, don’t judge me, but some nights I lazily just don’t\nwant to feed it. And it’ll survive, because in the past I’ve missed, but you\nknow, I really think to myself: God created this fish. This is a \u201cChristian\u201d\nfish. You know, God created this fish. This is good, it was pronounced good.\nAnd I’m like, I don’t want to be less than awesome to this fish. So I feed it.\nSo for me personally, I’m starting to take these things that you’re saying and,\nand apply them to my day to day life because I mean, really being honest,\ngrowing up, I just thought Christianity was, like we said early, essentially\nhell insurance. That kind of segues into my next question for you. Having three\nchildren, you have three or four, but they’re around the same age. When they\nsay, \u201cDad, what is what’s the gospel?\u201d Or \u201cWhat’s Christianity all about?\u201d Or \u201cWhat\nare we here for?\u201d What, what is the sort of the synopsis that you give them? Or,\nbetter yet, if they’re able to say it back to you? What do they say back to\nyou?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Bruce\nAshford \u2013 We’ll talk about the broad lens and then the narrow lens. First is\nthat try to give them a broad land view of the gospel by teaching them Creation,\nFall, Israel, Jesus, Church, New Creation – I teach them that narrative. But\nthen I also focus on a more narrow lens, which is, what is the summary\nstatement of the gospel? In the Bible, only three places I can think of uses\nthe word \u201cgospel\u201d and then provide the definition immediately afterwards. And\nthe place where it’s most clear is, 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, even better read\nverses 1-11 for context, and here’s how the gospel is described: Christ died\nfor our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, was raised from the dead\naccording to the scriptures, and then was seen by many witnesses. And so the\nvery first word there \u2013 \u201cChrist\u201d is important because that’s a title. It is not\na last name. It’s not as if Jesus would go to the waiting room at the doctor’s\noffice and they say, \u201cOh, well, hello there Jesus, what’s your last name?\u201d And\nhe\u2019d say, \u201cChrist\u201d and they\u2019d say, \u201cMr. Christ go sit in the lobby.\u201d Christ\nwith a title. And it’s a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew title \u201cMessiah\u201d.\nAnd the Messiah is the kingdom-bringer, the one who ushers in the kingdom. He’s\na king and a savior. He’s the king over all of creation and every sphere of\nculture. So that’s the first part of the gospel is the person who’s doing it,\nand that\u2019s Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 Sure! He\u2019s King over the cats and our families and our souls.\nYeah.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Bruce\nAshford \u2013 And so the gospel liberates us to obey Him and follow Him, and that\ncovers every aspect of life. So Christ died for our sins, that\u2019s the part we\nknow very well and speak often about, and rightly should. That he took our\nname, which is \u201cguilty one\u201d, put it on himself, and got up on the cross and\nthen He gives us his name which is \u201crighteous one\u201d. In exchange – if we believe\non Him. So He died for our sins – is buried, that’s emphasized. In other words,\nHe didnt not<\/em> die. He was put in the ground, but He rose from the dead. When\nhe rose from the dead, there are several things going on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1.  The declaration\nthat He really is the Messiah, He really is the kingdom-bringer and can’t be\nheld down. <\/li>
        2. The resurrection is a picture of what happens to\nour soul and spirit when we embrace Christ – that God raises our soul from the\ndead making is alive in Him. It’s also a preview of the fact that our bodies\nwill be raised from the dead one day. <\/li>
        3. And finally, that Christ will raise the cosmos\nfrom the dead. He\u2019s going to take this heavens and earth and cleanse it of sin\nand all of sins consequences. So He rose from the dead.<\/li>
        4. Finally He appeared to many witnesses. In other\nwords, the gospel is public, and it’s something that happened in public, and its\nsomething that has continuing public relevance. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          That’s a more-narrow lens presentation of the gospel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          The\nLaymens Lounge \u2013 I think it was NT Wright, who said something like: Its like there’s\nfour speakers in a car, all too often we just have that one speaker turned up\nall the way, but the other 3 turned down and there needs to be all four of\nthose speakers equaled out. Well, brother. Just one last question, if you don\u2019t\nmind – I’m sure there is a listener right now, who is either a mom or just some\nYoung, Restless Reformed<\/em> guy, or, you know, people who are just want to\nbe pleasing to the Lord. You know, at the end of the day, they just want to\nthey just want the father to say \u201cwell done my good and faithful servant.\u201d How\nthen can we attain this? What can we do? Or what has already been done to where\nthat we could have this sense that the Lord is, or has, spoken that over us?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Bruce\nAshford \u2013 I think 1 thing I would say is, just to kind of put it the way you\nput it, is to remind ourselves of this truth that it is God who places us where\nwe are now standing. Even if this is not the place we want to be standing. Even\nif life isn’t perfect, even if we aren’t having opportunities to make our lives\nas meaningful as we wish they could be the way we envision it. We remind\nourselves it is God who put us here, and it is God who works in and through our\nefforts. And then the second is to just to remember that whatever corner of the\nworld we’re in, that in whatever activity we’re engaging in, we can always ask\nthree questions. And in answering those questions, we get to make a\ncontribution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. First question is what is God’s design for the\nkind of thing that I’m doing at the moment? Whether it’s caring for children,\ntaking care of a home, writing, etc. what is God’s design – what would He want?\n<\/li>
          2. Number two, how has sin corrupted and misdirected\nthis corner of the world? <\/li>
          3. Then number three, how can I draw upon God\nsaving works and word to bring healing and redirection to make things right in\nmy corner of the world? <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Whether that’s coffee shop\nconversations, friendships, childcare, our job, our leisure, whatever it is\nwe’re doing. Those three questions are the things that we’re supposed to be\nasking answering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            How does my faith inform the way I wash my cat? Well it means that maybe it encourages me to wash my cat every once in a while and take care of it. That is God’s good creation. But it also encourages me not to wash it with more love than I would wash my baby. Because God has said, a human being is created in his image and likeness and does have a significance and a status that an animal doesn’t have. And, as I’m watching the cat, I’m going to realize that I’m not one with the cat…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,85,10],"tags":[57],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Storyline of the Bible & Cleaning Cats - The Laymen's Lounge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaymenslounge.com\/the-storyline-of-the-bible-cleaning-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Storyline of the Bible & Cleaning Cats - The Laymen's Lounge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How does my faith inform the way I wash my cat? Well it means that maybe it encourages me to wash my cat every once in a while and take care of it. That is God's good creation. But it also encourages me not to wash it with more love than I would wash my baby. Because God has said, a human being is created in his image and likeness and does have a significance and a status that an animal doesn't have. 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