God’s grace is an invitation to have relationship. That relationship creates an obligation, which is inherent to any relationship. We should love and honor Him. We belong to His family and so are not independent of other believers. Here is a key objection: a gift that expects reciprocity (some future response) is not free grace. It is more like a down-payment conditioned on our future response. Is Grace Conditional? I have a few answers to this objection. 1. Don’t confuse... Read more
Some people have concerns about the content of my previous post. Building on John Barclay’s Paul and the Gift, I explained that reciprocity is standard feature of grace in the ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish world. As Barclay argues well, the idea that “grace” implies no expectation of return (from the recipient) is a modern Christian emphasis. In this post, I want to briefly list a few biblical passages that illustrate why even God’s grace requires us to respond in some... Read more
Recently, a student generously gave me brewed coffee, to which I said thank you. On cue, he replied “应该的” (i.e. I ought to do it). We were studying Romans in class. So, thinking I’d be clever, I said, 应该的不是恩典, indicating “It’s not grace if it’s what you are supposed to do.” Unfortunately, I was wrong. I didn’t realize it however until I reflected more on John Barclay’s Paul and the Gift. I was once again reminded that Christians have a... Read more
In Romans and Galatians, Paul does not correct views about the merit of one’s works as much as he challenges the measure of one’s worth. This conclusion stems from John Barclay’s recent work Paul and the Gift (which I introduced in part 1 of the series). This post begins to explain Barclay’s distinction and the difference it makes for our message and mission. He forces us to rethink why the Bible contrasts grace and works. Works are not attempts to... Read more
Thanks to Asian Missions Advance, who have published my latest article in its Jan 2016 issue: Does the “Plan of Salvation” Make Disciples?: Why Honor and Shame Are Essential for Christian Ministry The article deals with a few major issues all at once. How might honor and shame reshape our view of Christian discipleship and evangelism? I refer both to one’s being a disciple of Christ and to making disciples. This raises many other questions, like “What are honor and... Read more
On honorshame.com, John Barclay recently wrote an excellent summary about the relationship between honor-shame and grace. With permission, I have reposted his comments below. I think his final paragraph is especially helpful. Paul’s theology of grace was a radical intervention into a culture of honour-acquisition and status-competition. Paul’s gospel announces that God’s definitive gift in Christ does not, as one might expect, follow pre-constituted standards of worth, but is given without regard to worth and grants the only worth that... Read more
In the ancient Roman-Greek and Jewish world, why did people give gifts (grace, χαρις)? And how might this insight help us understand the Bible better? In this series, I am exploring the implications and applications of John Barclay’s recent book Paul and the Gift. (Click here for part 1). As we see today, Barclay helps us use an honor-shame perspective to bring theological and missiology into conversation. In the ancient Greek-Roman world, patronage and gift giving were common practices. Those... Read more
When it comes to leadership in ministry (particularly among missionaries), one sees a few types of leaders. On the one hand, you have the strategist who genuine understands the culture (s)he serves and grasps the interaction between missiology and theology. On the other hand, you have the administrator, who can “do” a lot of things. His or her capacity to handle emails and paperwork impresses everyone. Of course, they would call themselves themselves “strategists.” I came across a post by... Read more
The following few posts typify what I hope this blog will accomplish. I want us to be doing theology while thinking mission. Sadly, there is a large chasm between missiology and theology. An editor once told me bluntly, “Missionaries don’t read theology.” Many would probably say something similar about theologians not reading missiology. In that spirit, I want to introduce and then begin to apply John Barclay’s paradigm-shifting book Paul and the Gift. Barclay is one of the foremost New... Read more
Justin Taylor probably has the most helpful post I’ve seen yet about the Wheaton controversy and whether Christians and Muslims worship the same god. I think Justin’s comments cut through a lot of the word smithing that goes on in this discussion. His post is rather thorough so I’ll highlight what I think is his core contribution. In short, it may be helpful to reframe the conversation around the meaning of “worship”, not the word “god.” Much of this discussion... Read more
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