(Continued from part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.)

The very act of writing this week’s series has taught me more about its theme.

For months since starting YeHaveHeard, I have had doubts. This site will never be another Challies.com or Gospel Coalition (and in fact, I don’t want it to be like that). Still it’s very difficult to avoid thinking: am I doing enough? Is this site Big enough?

Such a notion is more insidious than I thought. I’ve had it even while writing about how Christians often subtly believe they’re not doing enough Hard Things.

True, God saves His people for the purpose of spreading His Gospel and making disciples from all nations (Matthew 28: 18-20). His gospel is of unearned grace, yet will result in good works (Ephesians 2:10). Still, God’s redeemed saints so often ask more of themselves than He asks.

Millions of Godly Christians are not do-do-do-ing all the obvious Hard Things:

• We may not be sailing around the world, or raising a million dollars for charity before age 17, or publishing books, or being as spiritually impactful as this or that famous missionary.
• We may not be leading huge churches that pack out the pews, blogging to thousands or writing the next bestseller with endorsements from D.A. Carson, Mark Dever or J.I. Packer.
• We may not be charging into politics to Change the Nation and Preserve Societal Morals.
• And we may not have the widest-read blog in the world.

… But God only wants His people to be faithful to what He has given them to do. And He is clear throughout Scripture that any motivation to do, do, do, is in the Gospel, and nothing else.

So I’ve slowly come to realize: maybe I don’t need to turn out some complex and in-depth essay twice a week. Maybe instead I can work to be faithful in the little things — like putting up a short post, or long post, every day. Maybe that is how I can best glorify God in this way, and not keep building up projects in my own mind as if they must be Big, or else I shouldn’t try.

It seems this commitment has actually helped me do actual Big Things this week after all. I’ve not only blogged here every single day, but helped re-launch the co-op blog Speculative Faith, and blogged there four days out of this week. Do I say this to brag? Not at all — only to cross-promote.¹ Yet it also reminds to me, that God will in His own time bring us to do the Big Things, if He has them for us, only when we’re faithful in the small things.

Wrapping up: on ‘radicals’

Much of this series was inspired by Todd Friel’s monologue on Wretched Radio some weeks ago. He finally worked to a close by discussing something that’s been on my mind for weeks: institutionalized Do-do-do-ism. Some Christians, often with very good and even Gospel-based intentions, give direct voice to the notion that if you’re not doing Big Things, you may not be faithful at all. It’s not so much that they oppose small faithfulness. They just forget about it.

I don’t worry about Christians who truly need to hear such a message, or about those who already have solid foundations — about the Gospel and how it affects all of life, not just the obviously spiritual parts. Instead, what about those who could assume that if they are not doing clearly Big Things, such as writing books or being missionaries, they’re not doing enough?

This emphasis these days (is on the notion that everyone must do obviously hard things to be a truly serious Christian) — and it’s sneaky, I’m telling you, it’s sneaky.

There’s another pastor out there — and I want to do a little more research before we get into it a little bit deeper, but I suspect it’s the same thing. “Unless you are living —” well, what a coincidence — “like me, in this crazy radical way, you’re not doing the Big Thing, unless you’re living like me.” Well I’m sorry, sir. That’s a type of yoke and a type of legalism, and do, do, do system, I’m not interested in.

(The Duran Duran song starts up again …)

We are to be faithful where we are.

(“Do-do, do-do-do, do-do-do, do-do-do, doo-doo …”)

And if God calls you someplace, then go, if you’ve fulfilled your responsibilities at home. That’s the Big Thing. That’s the Hard Thing. That’s the difficult thing to do. And when people try to load up stay-at-home moms or pastors with d-do, do, do —

(And) young people has got to be the third group. … Really, it’s all of us, but I think even more on the young group. “Hey —” and it comes a lot from the parents, doesn’t it? “We’re gonna get into sports, we’re gonna get you into athletics, we’re gonna get you into ballet, we’re gonna get you into drama, and you’re gonna do something big!” — as the world defines it.

How’s about this as a Big Thing for a kid? You wake up every single morning, and you make your bed, and you get your room cleaned up, and you come downstairs, and you help with the dishes after you’ve made yourself some food, and then you say to your mom and dad, “Mom and Dad, I’m so grateful to be here. And I’m so grateful that you’ve grown me up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And I would like to show my gratitude to God and to you. How can you plug me in? I would like to do that today.”

And let me tell you something: that’s Big. … That’s harder than becoming a celebrity, or becoming a famous person. We must resist the temptation to do that to each other.

(Another Duran Duran song begins; apparently, “Hungry Like the Wolf” …)

Watch out for the do-do-dos.

Sometimes I wish I were a talk-radio host — a Christian talk-radio host. I’d have the advantage of people expecting me to talk on and on about my favorite topics. I’d get to pontificate ceaselessly. And I’d get to be goofy for money. (Side effects for the Christian host may include crossover of put-on radio persona into real life, and increased susceptibility to un-Biblical pride.)

Perhaps best of all: I’d have access to the Sound Board, a very powerful instrument capable of interjecting fun effects into my vocal performance. Even better, the Sound Board can ascribe fun, possibly memorable ditties to underscore, literally, whatever point I’m making.

Case in point: Todd Friel, host of Wretched Radio. He himself would jovially admit it’s a less-than-perfect show.¹ One thing he does well, however: seeking Biblical balance and infusion of Gospel-based grace into every teaching Christians do. And speaking of do, that’s his new ploy:

“Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do …”

… Playing that frequently, when discussing some Christians’ (real or not) constant refrain to “do, do,” while either not mentioning, minimizing or overtly opposing basing this on the Gospel.

First it was something by The Police(?). Then it was a song by something called Duran Duran.

Either way, now it’s stuck in my head. And I’d like to share this joy. Seriously, it’s helped me remember: some Christian leaders, books, sermons and other teachings only encourage us to Do, Do, Do. And often it’s almost like they intentionally ignore Jesus Christ’s Done, Done, Done.

This isn’t just those darned Emergents, either. I’ve noticed some orthodox Christians falling into this (and should it surprise us that we struggle too?). And in their case, it’s not so much failure to believe the Gospel, but failure to remember it as having higher importance than all the encouragements to Do, Do, Do. The results not from a “lie” of commission, saying “the Gospel doesn’t matter as much as what you do,” but of omission: simply ignoring other Gospel truths.

Todd Friel himself, this past Monday, put this truth together with at least three things I’ve been considering for some time. And yet even his admittedly-often-disorganized mind did this very well. All I can do is quote him, after a laborious (and only slightly edited) transcription.

Why is it these days that in Christendom and in politics and in our society that if we’re doing anything to be considered big and important, it’s got to be something like politics or Hollywood? Or “hey, if you’re gonna be a pastor, if you don’t have a megachurch, or if you don’t have a bestselling book or if you haven’t made a movie — well, I guess you can stay, but you haven’t done something big for God.”

We gotta watch out for that. Faithfulness is what God is asking for. And that is plenty.

And we have got to resist the temptation of thinking that if we’re to be radical Christians, fanatical, sold-out, on-the-narrow-road Christians, that it requires doing something big. That it requires being in politics. Don’t get me wrong — nothing wrong with being in politics. Go ahead and do that. But staying home and taking care of your kids: that’s a big thing too. That’s an important thing. And doing your job, and being faithful at your church, and raising your family.

Continued tomorrow:  Beware turning “do hard things” truths into “do obviously big things.” …

We need a revolution in the Church!

The Church is too (fill in blank) and/or not enough (fill in blank) and we need to be Radical for Christ. Christians are too (select one: Americanized, comfortable, cultural, non-missional, risk-averse) and we must Return to the Ideal Church of Yesteryear. We’re much too used to the way things are; it’s time to abandon that and finally go out and Change the World!

I’ve heard this often. Thought that way often, too. Sometimes I still do. And it’s easy to think so, because a) younger people think they have their ancestors’ sins all figured out, and b) very often we have figured them out, and can see the flaws in those who’ve come before.

This is not limited to “emergent” professing Christians either. I’ve seen this in some “young restless Reformed.” Again, they’re often right. Too few Christians really are “radical” enough.

Yet along with being encouraged to take risks for God and figure out what Christianity really means and finally sell out your life to Jesus and go wherever He takes you — I have begun to wonder, apparently along with many others, if we aren’t becoming a little imbalanced.

Let’s narrow this subject to be about those who truly are Christians, not those who hijack Jesus mostly to promote modern social movements (often with liberal, non-orthodox emphases). The fact is, we’re prone to many of the same errors, and just because we’re concerned about being Biblically correct and orthodox, and read Edwards and Spurgeon, doesn’t mean we’re immune to an imbalanced kind of Radicalism Idolatry.¹

Is it possible that in our haste to be all radical and world-changing, we’re not also prone to:

1) Being unloving to older Christians, even less doctrinally solid ones, even family members without whom we never would have gotten to this spiritually superior point?

I pause and shift in my seat, suddenly uncomfortable. Guilty.

2) Worshiping a more-direct Christian Ministry™, while minimizing the importance of, or even coming to despise, other lines of work — such as business or parenting — that in Christ are just as much “ministry” as a more-overt Radical calling to foreign missions or pastoring a church?

Also guilty, and for months and perhaps years I subconsciously buried my talents in the ground, wondering to myself whether God could really use me in powerful ways even if I was only writing feature stories five days a week for community newspapers, or blogging Christian topics.

3) Doing what author/pastor Kevin DeYoung describes below, and basing our lives on a sort-of Christian-conference high and mostly exhortations to be radical, and as a result despising the “day of small things” when God is working in radical ways, even if we cannot see them?

Guilty times three. At age 17, I was a latecomer to the Christian camp scene, and coming home I felt all so spiritual, a New Stage of Christian living. I haven’t been back to camp since, and the few conferences I have attended were good ones, such as New Attitude (now Next).

In 2006 one of the New Attitude speakers, Josh Harris, directly encouraged his listeners not to fall for the Christian-conference high thing. That often leads to discouragement, Harris said. Once the air of real life becomes thicker, and you fight with your parents or neglect to read the Bible — you forget how God works radically, as DeYoung said, even in “the day of small things.”

And it was just this year that DeYoung incidentally furthered this point, in his May 30 message about “The Church” (download the MP3) about how Christians ought to view local churches.

Today Sovereign Grace head C.J. Mahaney blogged about DeYoung’s closing points. I’ll reproduce his transcript here.² This is so encouraging, and essential when the Next Big Thing/Leader/Cause comes along, from outside or inside true Christianity, and could make us feel unnecessarily guilty for being right where God does want us, being a “plodding visionary” for Him.

It is easy to blast the church for all her failures. It is harder to live in the church day after day, year after year, with all of the ho-hum, hum-drum, and slowly, consistently make a difference[. …]

What we need are fewer revolutionaries and a few more plodding visionaries. So we need to ask the right questions, we need to have the right expectations, and we need to establish the right vision. [… He asks listeners to turn to Zechariah chapter 8.]

Here’s my burden for our generation […] along with all of the necessary pleas we have to be earnest and intense and radical and sold out — with all of that, I just also want to wave the banner from Zechariah 4:10: Do not despise the days of small things.

That’s what I mean by being plodding visionaries.

So if you’re a visionary, you don’t have your head in the sand. You’re going somewhere. You’re looking out, you’re moving in a direction! But you’re a plodder — one foot in front of the other.

Many of us are attracted to a Tasmanian Devil kind of Christianity! You remember, from Looney Tunes, spinning around? I attempted to do the impression, but you know what’s he’s like — rwlrghhkrghh — splattering, spinning around! You get fired up — and praise God for that — you get excited, and you spin out like the Tasmanian Devil, ready to conquer the world for Christ — and you blow up into a tree somewhere.

We need plodding visionaries.

When I wrote the book on the church, I read nine books that called for a revolution. Every other day it seems like I read of a new manifesto. And we may need to just simplify a little: get on the right road, and keep going. Get on the right road, keep going.

Our generation in particular is prone to radicalism without follow-through.

We want to change the world and we’ve never changed a diaper.

You want to make a difference for Christ? Here’s where you can start: this Sunday, volunteer for the nursery. “Here I am, pastor. What can I do to serve?”