That is Then, This is Now

December 4, 2015 ~ Michael Beck ~ Leave a comment

If this is the first time you’re checking in, let me take a second to get you up to speed. I’m spending a few posts talking about the meaning behind my blog title (“Tolerated Sojourner”). However, as already indicated, in explaining the blog title, we’re actually talking about the covenant pilgrimage itself: a crucial part of Christian theology (affecting all matters of both doctrine and praxis). To highlight this, I’ll repeat something that I said in the previous post: to understand the nature of the covenant pilgrimage, is to understand the very rubric through which to both appropriate our cultural engagement, and yet move onwards in a wholehearted pursuit of the kingdom.

Picking it up from this point then, let’s be clear that although there is a legitimacy in our cultural engagement, and indeed a wonderful liberty to be “worldly” Christians (cf. “Where in the World is the Church?” by Michael Horton), this is all under the banner and idea of tolerance (that word again). On the one hand, we are tolerated by the world as a result of common grace; and on the other, we must tolerate (and even pursue ‘common’ relationships with) the world in reciprocation of this grace. And here once again, I would argue that the word “tolerated”, in “tolerated sojourner” is supremely helpful. Why is this? The word is negative, not positive.

Toleration by its very nature, is not ideal. Toleration is irritating. Tolerating and being tolerated means that there is a certain level of awkward concession and inconsistency in this life. And in this regard, there is a very true sense in which every sojourner should long for this time of toleration to be over. So enters a deep and abiding sense of tension for the pilgrim.

We long for a day when we will not have to tolerate. But we know that to disregard the idea will only serve to collapse the journey into a pseudo-destination. This helps no one. In theological terms, this collapse will bring about an over-realized eschatology: an issue that corrodes against the blessed hope itself. And so we press on, in toleration, thankful for the mercies that we have received, and liberated to live in the world as those who are true citizens of it. We console ourselves with this, albeit only partially: as difficult as toleration may be, there is liberty in it as well (a liberty I hope to show again and again as I use this blog to ‘reflect on the secular’). However, no matter how liberating, it is not the ultimate consolation. This world can never be my true home. My heart is somewhere else. My eye is on Canaan, with it’s “fair and happy shores”.

Here is the true hope, and the full consolation: when the people of God arrive in their land, everything will be different. And then, as valuable as the common grace institution has been, it will go up in smoke, never to return. In this sense, we should never forget, that beyond its immediate purpose, it has no abiding value. As Kline says so well:

[Then and forever] “the outward technology, material paraphernalia, and all external expressions of man’s present cultural life. . .will be done away with (cf. 2 Pet 3:10). . .those [common order] arrangements are limited by covenant stipulation to the duration of the present earth (Gen 8:20–9:17, esp. 8:22). The day is coming when the common order ceases and that will spell the end of the present network of nations. . . The current national embodiments of fallen man’s culture must be banished from the scene in the final judgment. For the new heavens and earth will have room for the holy kingdom of God alone.”[1]

This is our glory! This is what enables our long-suffering in toleration. We know that when we arrive we will no longer have to concern ourselves with “toleration and cooperation with the occupants of the land”. At that point, there is no ‘common’. All is holy. God will dwell in the midst of his people, without any separation whatsoever. This is the destination. This is the land. This is what the pilgrim’s heart yearns for. This is why he will always sing a redemption song as he presses forward in the great journey.

Notes:

Kline, M. G. (2006). God, Heaven and Har Magedon: A Covenantal Tale of Cosmos and Telos (p. 23). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers.

Life’s About The Journey AND (!?) The Destination

December 2, 2015 ~ Michael Beck ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we’re currently in the process of unpacking the expression ‘tolerated sojourner’ (my blog title). As I explained last time, this expression serves to summarize a vital biblical-theological concept: something that will affect everything that I write about. Hopefully this is reflected, at least in part, by the blog’s subtitle:

Meditation on the sacred. Reflection on the secular. Another simple journal of the great Christian journey.

The Christian journey is great indeed. In fact, it is more than a journey. It is a covenant pilgrimage. This means that while Canaan is undoubtedly the goal, there is also a legitimacy and purpose in the journey itself. To ignore this reality leads quickly to an eschatology (or, doctrine of the end), that is over-realized. And this is exactly where the word “tolerated” is so helpful.

As we saw in the previous post, the term “sojourner” is understood easily enough. It’s the word, “tolerated” that needs more explanation. Last time, I quoted from Kline to introduce the idea, showing that it is present as early as the time of the patriarchs. Here’s the sentence of that quotation that I want to make sure to underline:

. . . the covenant people must wait in hope and journey in faith. Theirs was a time for the cultivation of common grace relationships, a time for toleration and cooperation with the occupants of the land.[1]

Without the above-described reality, there would be no need for the adjective “tolerated”. Describing the sojourn (and sojourner) would be simple. Life is about the destination, not the journey. So the sojourner simply needs to batten down the hatches, and wait until the storm of this life is over. However, this also means that the sojourner could quite happily look no different from the monks (in their monasteries), or the Amish (in their rural outposts). Yet, this is not the picture of the covenant pilgrimage. As Kline has shown, from the earliest point God’s sojourning people are called to live in the land and “cultivate common grace relationships”. On the way to Canaan, there is a time of necessary toleration involved. This also means that there is a necessary complexity to the journey itself.

There are a few things to say then, as we consider the idea of toleration. On the one hand, it is a true and mysterious reality that the sojourners themselves are tolerated. While danger assails from every side, we note in the biblical narrative that the sojourners are never kept from moving forward. The pilgrims themselves always look to their God to account for this reality. They know that, by the hand of the Great King, there is a purposeful and sovereign restraining of the powers that be, so as to make a legitimate road of travel for all on their way to Canaan. But this said, there is also an important (and necessary) flipside to the arrangement. As Kline serves to highlight, the toleration that is extended to the sojourners must always be reciprocated by the sojourners themselves. This is so because God Himself has ordained, and even covenanted (in common grace), that there be a universal stage upon which the story of redemption plays out. And so, just as there should always be gratitude for God’s restraining grace, there should also always be due consideration of this matter of tolerance and reciprocity.

This means that while on the one hand, it is truly all about the destination; on the other hand, there is something complex and purposeful about the journey itself. Indeed, it is this idea that forms the very rubric of understanding through which the sojourner is enabled to both appropriate his engagement with culture around him, and yet nevertheless move onwards in a wholehearted pursuit of the final kingdom that he yearns for.

In the next post, I’ll comment further on this point. Hopefully, however, it is already a bit clearer as to why I would want this blog (viz., a collection of entries that concern themselves with both the journey and the destination) to keep this biblical rubric front and center.

Notes:

Kline, M. G. (2006). Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview (p. 357). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers.

This World is Not my Home, I’m Just-A-Passing Through

December 2, 2015 ~ Michael Beck ~ Leave a comment

Ok, so in my last post I said that I would make a start at unpacking the expression, ‘tolerated sojourner’. As the keen observer will note, this is the title ascribed to my blog. And this is the case centrally because it is an expression that will have a major effect on every single post that I write. With that said, here’s the the start of a mini-blog-series (haha!) explaining why this is.

First things first. A ‘tolerated sojourner’ is a Christian. No more, no less. At the core, this phrase is intended to describe the New Covenant believer on his way to Heavenly Canaan. At very least then, it serves to remind the pilgrim that this world is not ultimately his home. That said, we note also that this reminder could be achieved with one word alone (sojourner). So then, why “tolerated'”?

The word ‘tolerated’ portrays to us the paradox and complexity inherent in the biblical idea of covenant pilgrimage. As Kline shows, this idea is modelled for us as early on as the time of the patriarchs;

. . . before the descent into Egypt, the patriarchal community had to be content with sojourner status in the land of Canaan, dwelling in the land of promise as in a land not their own. They beheld the kingdom from afar and confessed that for the present they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Heb 11:9, 13; Gen 23:4; 47:9). At the appointed time God would visit his people with redemptive judgment, delivering them from bondage and bringing them in triumph to possess the mountain of God’s inheritance. Then the covenant nation would become a theocratic kingdom. However, until the hour came . . . the covenant people must wait in hope and journey in faith. Theirs was a time for the cultivation of common grace relationships, a time for toleration and cooperation with the occupants of the land.[1]

As New Testament believers, we should experience a powerful resonance with the above description of the patriarchal sojourn. And this, correctly so. But, for the purposes of further understanding the expression “tolerated sojourner”, it is that last sentence in the above quotation that needs further emphasis and development. This then, is exactly what I’ll aim to do in the next post. If you’re interested, stay tuned 🙂

Notes:

Kline, M. G. (2006). Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview (p. 357). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers.