J.S. Park

Mar 18

Don’t Trust Me: Because I Will Let You Down

The Christian community fervently follows tons of bloggers, preachers, and voices to aid them in their spiritual walk, and I think this is awesome: but please, please, dear friend, you must also please think for yourself.

If something in a sermon sounds funny or off or weird, don’t believe it just because it’s coming out of the mouth of your favorite preacher.

If your favorite blogger is saying something you silently disagree with, it’s okay: you don’t have to fanwank them to protect their pedestal in your mind. It’s okay to disagree.

If they say something obviously wrong, it doesn’t make them a bad person: it just means they’re still learning, and so are you, and so are we, and no one gets it right every time. Most of them — and me too — are still working on the things they’re preaching.

Every single person you listen to is just as broken, crazy, and capable of error as you are. I’ll go further and say: some of these guys only care about blog hits and revenue and the number of followers and likes and reblogs, and don’t really care about you, and they have their prepackaged automatic statements ready to fire when they want to act like they care about you. We all do.

Some do love you, but are not truthful. Some are truthful, but don’t love you.

Don’t trust them; not fully, ever. Don’t trust me. Just trust Jesus.

I’m not saying this out of some kind of reverse-humility, as if to look more humble. I’m dead serious. Don’t trust me.

I’m also not as cool as I try to make myself. If you met me, I’m much shorter than you imagine, I laugh too loud in public, I usually smell like Asian food, and my teeth are pretty crooked. You’d be disappointed.

None of these preachers and bloggers are heroes. They’re not the sacred hologram we might have built them up to be. I’ve seen many wonderful men and women of God completely melt down, freak out, throw tantrums, and go violent (including myself) — and again, it does not make them bad people. It just makes them people.

Question everything. Use the Bible as your lens. Ask: Would Jesus have agreed with this? And at some point, land your heart on your conviction. We can’t walk this walk emulating other peoples’ opinions and secretly hoping for their approval and applause when we can parrot back information.

I am not discounting community, but the danger of numbers can often lead to conformity. True transformation only happens when your mind fully closes on the truth, and that journey of discovery must happen on your own.

Otherwise, when you find out these people are only people: your identity will be crushed, too.

Don’t look up to me, or to some supposedly eloquent, articulate, witty, humble blogger. Please don’t get caught up in the magical spun spell of a brilliant-sounding idea that is backed by the icing of so much self-aware, juiced-up, over-hyped scaffolding. At its central core, even when the “good idea” is true: it cannot work in the space of your deeply held convictions unless you actually swish the idea in your mind and clamp your mental jaws upon the meat.

It can’t become a part of you until it passes through you: and even then, it needs to pass the test, to be rotated in 3D, to be examined in the light of reality. You will be disturbed by how many ideas so quickly fall apart this way. Yet you’ll also be liberated towards pure wisdom that is not only functional but alive, a pulsing breathing life that is more than inspirational pep talk on a page.

Wisdom, then, is so much more than mental assent or reblogging a “convicting” post — but to be held up against itself, in the scorching no-nonsense eye of God, stripped of flowery layers, and arriving in your heart before applying it with your hands. This is how great revolutions began.

Try an experiment. For a week or so, do not read any blogs or listen to any sermons. Don’t read any Christian books or seek someone else’s advice. Instead: Spend time in prayer and Scripture, in your bedroom or out in nature, and question everything. Talk with the Father. See what you find. Solidify your convictions, and when you come back to the open world of voices, see if you have a refreshed perspective.

I think your outlook will change. I think you’ll find that many of the paradigms and social constructs that you held dear were wrong: not because anyone is bad, but because we buy into ideas that sound good but don’t really work.

You’ll find that some authors and pastors and bloggers probably have noble intentions, but they’re writing from a vacuum-sealed, isolated laboratory without true love for your soul. You’ll see the cute little catchphrases and preprogrammed statements and all the self-promotions and attention-seeking — and you’ll see it in me, in you, and realize there is Only One we can truly trust with our entire being. Because He absolutely loves you within Himself, without extra motives, without working an angle. I would check with Him first.

Follow Him. Please: follow only Him.

Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22

Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?
– Isaiah 2:22

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
– 1 John 4:1

The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
– Psalm 19:7-8
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
– Jeremiah 33:3

Posted 2 months ago

46 notes

Christianity, trusting God, pastors, bloggers, Christian blogs, Jesus, God, religion, church, culture, belief, faith, humility, idolatry, 1 John 4:1, truth, conviction,

Dec 18

One of my blog posts was published at ChurchLeaders.com …!

It’s about giving more attention to “attractive” people in the church.

Thanks for all the encouragement and prayers. Love you guys!

— J

Posted 5 months ago

15 notes

Christianity, Church Leaders, Christian blogs, church, ministry,

Dec 4

If your theology is not pushing you towards a seriously grief-filled heart for real living human beings and to say I love you Jesus, it’s not a theology worth having. If your theology does not allow you to rejoice, cry out, smile, sing, and have fun, that really sucks. If your theology does not encourage you, but condemns you and puts you on eggshells and makes you constantly anxious about ‘having right doctrine,’ that’s pretty lame.

Who cares if you win the internet? What I care about is you look me in the eye and you love me. That the Holy Spirit is working. That you love Jesus. People can tell if you don’t. They only need to see your blog.

- from this post

Posted 5 months ago

68 notes

Christianity, Reformed Calvinism, Calvinists, church, ministry, Christian blogs, Jesus, love, grace, doctrine, theology,

Nov 28

Me Is Angry At Blogger So I Ranting: A Letter To Angry Christian Bloggers

When a Christian blogger calls out other Christian bloggers, I always get a little concerned.

I really admire the fiery passion and I’m certain there’s good motives, but I always sense an angry spiteful resentment that just lacks grace and forfeits Christ.

There’s a way to speak to people that just makes you kind of an unhappy jerk and sort of small and hostile.

It’s a dead giveaway that maybe you don’t speak eye to eye with human beings and you’re only used to a cold screen. It’s not that you’re wrong or insincere, but it’s easy to see you’re riding a bandwagon tidal wave to rouse your fanbase-choir.

Dear friend: I love you. So many of you are incredible writers. You might get a lot of “likes” and reblogs and applause from like-minded followers for your hotheaded rant, but the very audience you’re aiming at won’t ever hear you.

No one who reads an angry post that’s intended for them thinks, “Oh wow yeah I never saw it that way before so thank you for entering my life and pointing that out to me in your very aggressive voice.” Try reading your own posts as if you’re a stranger to the church: and maybe you’ll see. It’s not effective.

Please consider that while some cleverly articulated piercing arrows might guilt-trip a few people to modify their behavior, it’s only grace that will cultivate long-term change.

That takes a thoughtful patience to reach people with humility instead of yelling, and will actually require more from you. It requires you to pray graciously over who you’re writing for. It requires a deeper love that stops describing the water we’re drowning in and instead sets us free. It requires you to be like Jesus.

If you are an influential Christian blogger, please tell us not what should be, but what could be. Challenge me to a greater level. Tell me what but also tell me how.

I’m telling you this because I know you can do better and you really could change a whole corner of the universe. My heart hurts for you most because you are so gifted. Please, please, please use your powers for good.

— J

Posted 5 months ago

28 notes

Christian blogs, Christianity, grace, love, Jesus, guilt, freedom, church,

Nov 20

Question: Favorite Authors?

Anonymous asked:

Do you have any favorite authors? Why or why not?

Indeed, though my taste is changing. If you would’ve asked me this a few years ago about Christian authors, I could’ve given you some very generic answers about all the famous pastors that are hot right now.

But having read over 200 Christian books and having been challenged more recently in my theology, it’s obvious that most of these Christian authors don’t have a clue what they’re doing. They write in church to church people about church because church is all they know. Meanwhile, real people with jobs and bills and everyday pressure are drowning in a sea of hurt while the preacher pontificates on some pointless doctrine.

I’ll offer a few standbys who are more or less legit.

Timothy Keller — A very, very smart man who speaks both to new Christians and church veterans. He completely understands helping the community and working through doubt, questions, and personal struggles. He’s also one of the few megachurch pastors who purposefully stayed at a tiny rural church for a long time and reluctantly became “big” through his writing.

Andy Stanley — A lot of people diss Andy Stanley because he’s “shallow” or has shaky doctrine, but he actually gets people. When I read his stuff and hear his sermons, it’s like he’s been following me around and reading my mail.

Francis Chan and David Platt — I put these guys together because they have nearly an identical voice and the same passions (I say that as a compliment). While occasionally they drift into a guilt-driven tone, they are all about the Great Commission and urban inner-city ministry. Platt refuses to go multisite with satellite videos and Chan stepped down from his megachurch to ultimately pursue the poor in San Francisco. They haven’t written much between them, but their voices are badly needed in America.

Jerry Bridges — I don’t know why he’s not more popular. While he does fall into the trap of speaking to the typical suburban, mid-30s, pop-Christian Reformed culture, often he has a razor-sharp simplicity with zero fat. He’s like the cool laid-back uncle that keeps it real over a cup of tea.

C.S. Lewis and old dead Christian guys — Everything you feel is something everyone else in history has already felt. Except today you have better healthcare, more civil rights, air-conditioning, and too much food. When people ask me if it was harder to be a Christian back then, I always answer with a thunderous YES. Which is why it’s so important to read them: because their convictions came about in such tumultuous times, and sometimes even because of them.

C.S. Lewis, of all people, should NOT have been a Christian. He fought in WWII, saw the worst of human atrocity, was a raging atheist with the best education this side of Hogwarts, and could’ve eaten Dawkins for breakfast. Yet Christ totally KO’ed him.

The bar for following Christ over history has been tremendously high. The word “Christian” is ridiculously easy now unless you’re in a third world country. And if you think these “new atheists” are something, they’re tranquilized kittens compared to the intellectual greats of centuries past. It’s worth your time to endure the outdated vocabulary and some of the cultural trappings to examine a dead Christian dude’s life. They had every reason to walk away from Christ but they kept the faith.

Christian blogs — I’ve completely stopped reading from The Gospel Coalition and other similar sites because most of them are honestly just ignorant out-of-touch jerks. I’ve unfollowed a lot of the popular “Christian Tumblr blogs” for the very same reason: it’s mostly just guys in their 20s being all shrill and hyper-spiritual, as if that’s convicting. I check out Mark Driscoll’s blog occasionally. But the best blogs I still read are: Unka Glen, Lee Younger, Jed Brewer, Jon Acuff, Joshua Harris, and Ramses Prashad. Follow them and I promise blessing on your face.

As for non-Christian authors, I enjoy Stephen King, Michael Crichton, James Ellroy, Raymond Chandler, George Orwell, Chuck Palahniuk, and Haruki Murakami. I appreciate the occasional classic like The Count of Monte Cristo and Frankenstein and I, Robot. My favorite books are by far Watership Down, The Catcher In The Rye, and The Big Sleep. You can check out my Goodreads account here.

Posted 6 months ago

49 notes

Christianity, books, literature, Christian blogs, Christian authors, Christian culture, favorite authors, favorite books,

Jun 1

Question: You Can’t Say He’s Going To Hell

Anonymous asked:

So I just started reading your stuff because someone showed me an article of yours where you claimed that apologists like Ken Silva were going to hell. Uhm, seriously? How do you back up that?

You’re referring to this (about five paragraphs down).

I wrote:

I say this without apology: guys like Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries plus a handful of bloggers at The Gospel Coalition are almost certainly going to hell. I’m not kidding, and I say that with absolute grief and sickness in my stomach. It doesn’t matter how many “good things” they do or how well they raise their family, because it’s so obvious they’re dividing the church — and no good works can make up for that. Jesus loves them and so do I, but they have to stop the nonsense.

First, I have no power to declare anyone is going to hell. No one does. So you’re correct in being incredulous, and I don’t blame your tone. I’m sorry for being a bit hyperbolic.

Second, I wouldn’t wish hell upon anyone. Not Hitler, not Dahmer, not Pol Pot, not Bin Laden, and certainly not Ken Silva.

Third, I’m absolutely certain that Ken Silva could go through my blog and my podcasts, line by line, and find all sorts of heresy and blasphemy and incorrect doctrine. All that without a single conversation with me, with zero gestures of brotherly love. And that’s the problem, isn’t it?

Fourth, I recognize the futility of what I’m doing, since I’m basically doing the very thing I’m calling him out on. I hate to cause any more division in the Body than there already is. You got to believe me when I say that my heart aches for Silva and I love him regardless of what he does. I’d have dinner or a phone call with him, but I doubt that will ever happen.

Fifth, if I did have to guess the spiritual status of guys like Silva, this is what I’m going from:

¹⁴Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
— 2 Timothy 2:15-16

Paul is talking specifically to teachers and preachers and ministry workers. James also talks about teachers undergoing the stricter judgment (James 3).

The thing is, SOMEONE has to stand up to Christian bloggers who go out of their way to be purely nasty to other pastors. There’s a proper way to call out heresy, but you don’t do that using pet names and ugly sarcasm and straight-up insults as if they’re substandard second-rate people. I was once called a “lying witch abortionist” by one of these bloggers. I mean, come on bro.

Trust me here: I hate being that guy, the one who has to point out the obvious truth, and I don’t relish it one bit (not like many bloggers do). It makes me a bit sick to my stomach to say stuff like he’s “almost certainly going to hell.” I prayed over it, prayed for Silva, prayed for bloggers, prayed for the church, prayed for me. As best I could by the grace of God, I prayed with a loving heart.

But look at those blogs for a moment. If you take a step back: Isn’t it damn obvious what’s happening here? Am I the only fricking one who’s actually going to say something about this? Are we walking on so many eggshells that we can’t call out the reality of hateful divisive words? Isn’t it also obvious that he’s doing this for publicity, to stir controversy, to gain blog hits, to look “doctrinally correct,” to cater to the hyper-conservative subculture, to preach to the choir? Am I just fricking crazy?

Everyone is afraid of these kinds of bloggers, because again, I know these so-called gatekeepers of the faith could theologically tear me apart. That’s easy. But I’m not afraid of human beings. I’m afraid of God’s wrath. And I fear for these bloggers because of God’s wrath.

Later in 2 Timothy 2:19, Paul writes, “The Lord knows those who are his …” So again, I can’t claim any divine judgment here. God knows. I don’t.

I just know that standing before God at the end of this short life on earth, I bet a lot of people will be surprised at where they go. I could be one of them. So I just want to lovingly point out the obvious truth: that writing all this garbage (and I’m talking to myself here too) does NOT help our case. My motive is not to slander, but to speak the truth even when it’s not pretty. I worry for them. I love these guys, but they need to stop.

Posted 11 months ago

7 notes

Apprising Ministries, Christian blogs, blasphemy, doctrine, hell, heresy, humility, inhouse fighting, Reformed, Calvinism,

Dec 31

The Top Ten Posts of 2011

These are the Top Ten Blog Posts of 2011. Thank you to every reader and supporter, your prayers and encouragement are welcomed and appreciated. Here’s to 2012!

–

10) A Christian Is Not Up To Your Damned Standard
An angry post that caused me to lose some followers, tick off some Reformed people, and indirectly caused a blogger to call me an “abortionist” and “witch whore.” I did apologize for my angry tone.
See also: I Love My Doctrine More Than Jesus: Why No One Cares About Your Theology
And: Gospel Idolatry

9) Movies That Christians Should See: The Truman Show
The most popular review of “Christians Should See” series, with perhaps my favorite film of all time.

8) Book Review: Erasing Hell
Francis Chan writes a succinct response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins, which I was also interviewed for by the local newspaper.

7) When Pastors Just Want To Quit
When your church is falling apart: no one’s listening, no one’s cares, no one’s convicted. But why it still matters.

6) It Would Be Easier If I Wasn’t A Christian – Part One
A four-part philosophical look into why we should consider being a Christian. Part Two here. Part Three here. Part Four here.

5) Why Is The Old Testament So Crazy? — Part One
A multi-part discussion about the insanity of the Old Testament. A straight reading of the OT is like a bad acid trip, with its supposedly misogynistic, slavery-endorsing, pagan-esque ways. Plus Part Two.

4) How To Lose The Gospel
We tend to fear the boldness of the Gospel. Whether you’re the everyday churchgoer or a pastor, we water down the cross of Jesus Christ. Here’s how, and how not to.

3) The Beneficial God: Modern Christianity and Its Ubiquitous Psychological Slope
How the Gospel has become a Marketing Campaign for the psychological advantages of the Christian religion. Every preacher is doing it.

2) Porn Addiction, Part One: Excuses and Myths
As a recovering porn addict, this is an ongoing discussion about what porn does, why it’s “bad,” and how to quit. Parts two and three also included.

1) The Problem With Heart Motives
A critical look into a popular teaching model called “Heart Motives,” which has a small fanbase but a rising backlash against its unsound theology.

Posted 1 year ago

7 notes

Christian blogs, Top Ten List, The Way Everlasting,

Apr 19

It would be easier if I wasn’t a Christian: Part Three

This is an ongoing reflection on why being a Christian may or may not be worth it.
Part one is here. Part two is here.

It’s hard to want God. We can say He exists, we can call the Bible true, we can conform to the religious pattern of a typical midwest backroad King James-reading church, but we can despise God with every passionate fiber in our puny body. Jumping the bridge from “There is no God” to “I want God” is nothing short of a miracle. You cannot convince the blind to see or the lame to walk. It takes an act of God. Really us tiny humans can only describe the seeing and walking.

Two conversations with atheists –

The first: “The Bible was just written by people. We can’t know if God exists. I have good morals and I stay out of trouble.”

The second: “There is no objective proof that God exists. And there is no real world application to believe in God. I need math to go to the market, but without a God I can live a good life just fine.”

The first conversation is easily answerable. The second though, I absolutely agree.

So we ricochet between two walls: one says God is not knowable by the self and the other says the self is knowable without God. Many self-proclaimed Christians also live this way. He is too difficult to fathom or we’re into our own thing.

But wanting something takes a choice, and many are too lazy to really consider it all. If your entire life and purpose and trajectory and destiny was possibly determined by a being of infinite proportions, wouldn’t you be at least be curious in rooting out all the angles of such a thing? Wouldn’t you absolutely want to know beyond a shadow of an existential doubt if you wanted God? We could at least go beyond our familiar territory to see if He is desirable amidst all the hypocrites, bad preaching, and rotten pastors.

Instead most of us only read things to confirm our own beliefs, so atheists go on angry atheist websites and Christians stay within the safe church walls and Christian literature. Every narrow-minded soul has a pre-commitment to their truth, throwing arrows rather than asking questions. It is when we have considered all bases — truly allowed them to percolate in our heart, mind, and soul — that we should commit to anything. It’s the same way in which we wisely pick a car, a spouse, a house, a college, a career. But with God we tend to carelessly use our preprogrammed defenses and automatic statements — for or against — that we’ve never fully contemplated on our own.

Posted 2 years ago

13 notes

Christianity, Christian blogs,

Apr 15

It would be easier if I wasn’t a Christian: Part Two

This is an ongoing reflection on why being a Christian may or may not be worth it.
Part one is here.

Imagine you’re a Chinese guy comfortably living in China, and suddenly some white guy with nicer clothes than you tells you about eternal life, a better way, and an intimacy with the Creator of everything through a man named Jesus Christ. But in China you could get arrested or shot up for believing that. It would be easier then to just believe that stuff in private, but no: Jesus has commissioned all followers to share the truth, because after all it’s the only truth that saves people from eternal hell. That sounds serious. Your friends call you crazy, foolish, brainwashed. But you go to the underground meetings, read your Bible in secret, and even attend public worship services that could tarnish your immaculate record.

Your friends ask: Is this really necessary? Do you have to be a Christian?

Millions of Chinese have chosen Jesus. Not quietly, either. At the outset this looks ridiculous; religion always flies in the face of our luxurious rational comfort zones full of Sun Chips and never-bother-anyone except for when-it-bothers-me. These Chinese must be crazy. They don’t have to be Christians, says the inoffensive whitewashed politically correct champion of tolerance. One thing is for sure: any public Chinese Christian is unequivocally the real deal.

Uncommitted: God, can we be friends with benefits?

We circle back: Is it necessary to be a Christian? This is a peculiar interrogative because it sounds like a manner of profession. A job is necessary because of its basic provisions but we can choose to change jobs. It’s like putting on clothes or leveling up an RPG sorceror. To interpret Christianity as a pair of jeans is dumbing it down to a fringe luxury. This is exactly what has happened with nominal, non-serious, hypocritical believers.

Posted 2 years ago

5 notes

Christianity, Christian Blogs,

Apr 13

It would be easier if I wasn’t a Christian: Part One

I commend every single person who wakes up early on Sunday, hops in that cold shower, finds their best dress, best shoes, best tie, and flies out the door for an hour plus of spiritual beatdown. To enter the church doors with all the piercing eyes, carrying your awkward Bible, some lugging an awkward purse and wild children, finding a seat in silence, trying to sing the songs you don’t know (not so loudly that others can you hear but loud enough that God can hear you), and not fidgeting for the entire sermon. Then trying to say hello to the pastor who is surrounded by more important looking people, meeting new people who probably already know you from tagged pictures on Facebook, and slipping out without having to volunteer for some expensive mission trip to an unpronouncable country. You go home, set the Bible on your nightstand for the week, and loosen your tie. You survived.

I’ve often thought: Wouldn’t life be easier without church? If I wasn’t a Christian, couldn’t I just do the stuff I always wanted to do? What do I even get out of all this?

In moments of extreme doubt, this is the tennis match I play out in my head. I’ve made lists. I’ve divided it pros and cons. I’ve pretended to be an atheist for days at a time; I used to be one so that wasn’t too hard. I’ve reformatted my moral grid to relativism. A few times I’ve contemplated all the wild things I could do if I wasn’t a “Sunday church person.” I remember what it was like when I would stay up four nights in a row downing shots of Bacardi and flirting with random strangers in tubetops. Sometimes I can even convince myself those days weren’t so bad. I imagine a world without God — impossible — so I imagine just my life without God. And every time the suspicion screams out: Life would be so much easier without Him.

Posted 2 years ago

5 notes

Christianity, Christian Blogs,

Posts tagged with "Christian blogs"