Brian Castelli – With His Heart

My edition of J.I. Packer’s Knowing God has two prefaces, a short one penned for the update in 1993 and a longer one for the original edition penned in 1972. The latter contains a most interesting description of Packer’s intended audience.

Referring to a previous work by theologian John McKay, packer describes “balconeers” and “travelers.” One could think of the balconeers as those:

…sitting on the high front balcony of a Spanish house watching the travelers go by on the road below. The “balconeers” can overhear the travelers’ talk and chat with them; they may comment critically on the way the travelers walk; or they may discuss questions about the road, how it can exist at all or lead anywhere, what might be seen from different points along it, and so forth; but they are onlookers, and their problems are theoretical only. The travelers, by contrast, face problems which, though they have their theoretical angle, are essentially practical–problems of the “which-way-to-go” and “how-to-make-it” type, problems which call not merely for comprehension but for decision and action, too.

As he approaches God in this book, Packer is staking claim to writing a book for travelers–those who not only wish to know God but also wish to know how to live, how practical knowledge of the creator affects their lives.

Packer was motivated to write the book–really a series of articles that became the book–by his perception that the church of 1972 was weak–weakened by an ignorance of God. I wonder how much worse it is today–in a society where many young people do not even know that the Bible has two testaments. Of the ignorance, Packer identifies two causal trends:

Trend one is that Christian minds have been conformed to the modern spirit: the spirit, that is, that spawns great thoughts of man and leaves room for only small thoughts of God. The modern way with God is to set him at a distance, if not to deny him altogether… Furthermore, thoughts of death, eternity, judgment, the greatness of the soul, and the abiding consequences of temporal decisions are all “out” for moderns…

Trend two is that Christian minds have been confused by modern skepticism. For more than three centuries the naturalistic leaven in the Renaissance outlook has been working like a cancer in Western thought. [Many] came to deny… that God’s control of this world was either direct of complete, and theology, philosophy and science have for the most part combined to maintain that denial ever since.

Packer’s invitation to the reader comes from Jeremiah 6:16:

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good path is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

Packer is calling us back to the old paths, on the ground that “the good way” is still what it used to be.

Yeah. I agree. Weird title.

Two notions collided in my head this morning. I was listening to a sermon titled, “The Whole Christmas Story.” One of the strong points that was made was that if we don’t understand the bigger picture – the back story – it’s hard to understand the significance of Jesus’ birth.

Jason, one of our Elders, asked us to consider a contrast. We were invited to compare the joy we feel when we hear the news that a couple we barely know has delivered a child with the incredible joy we feel when we hear the news that a couple we know well, a couple that has struggled with miscarriages, pain, and suffering, has delivered a child. Because we know the back story of the couple we know well, there is greater significance and greater joy when we hear the news.

When we read the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the New Testament, we might feel joy akin to the joy we feel when we hear the news of that couple we barely know. We know it’s a good thing – birth, that is. We might also recall that Jesus is headed for the cross, therefore we know that it’s important. But without knowing the back story we might miss the incredible joy that comes from understanding the significance of that birth.

The reality is that Jesus’ birth was a huge deal. It was a birth long awaited and hoped for by the Jews. As we read through the Old Testament, we find an amazing story of a people that kept going their own way and God who wouldn’t abandon them. The Jews were waiting and hoping for a Messiah who would accomplish that which they were incapable of doing for themselves. In the dark days prior to Jesus’ birth even the prophets had been silent for some 400 years. It was as if God had turned his back on the nation. I’m told that the rabbis writing in those days wondered what God was doing. They worried that Israel had, at last, exceeded God’s patience.

But in the darkness there was hope. Jesus quietly burst onto the scene to begin a journey that would fulfill God’s promises of blessing to the Jews (Israel) and the Gentiles (the rest of us).

How does this fit with the Matrix?

In the movie, the people living in the Matrix don’t know the back story. What they see is a facade, a mere shadow of the reality behind it. I believe that many of us – Christians and non-Christians alike – look at the Christmas story through Matrix-colored glasses. It’s a nice story. It makes us feel good because it means that God loves us. But we don’t understand the back story. We don’t understand the significance.

In The Matrix, when people finally know the back story, their lives are radically changed. It’s not possible to go back to business as usual. This kind of radical change can be yours, too, when you know Jesus’ back story. Read the Old Testament and the gospels. I believe they will open your eyes to the bigger picture.

Last weekend I attended the National Apologetics Conference in Charlotte, NC. There were many excellent speakers. Among them, Charles Colson, James Dobson, Josh McDowell, and Erwin Lutzer. I have written blog posts about at least three of these men in recent months.

I found the conference refreshing and inspiring. I was impressed by two of the younger speakers – Chad Miller and Sean McDowell. These two men have a real passion to help youth understand the firm foundation for their faith. As someone put it, it is one thing to know the truth; it is much more powerful to know why they are true.