Saint Francis of Assisi

There have been numerous books written about the life and times of John Bernardone (better known to the world as Saint Francis of Assisi), and most of them probably have done a great job at presenting his life and character. Among those biographies, Saint Francis of Assisi by Gilbert Keith Chesterton rises to the top level of biographies. Chesterton chose to go a different route with examining the famed Italian who is credited with starting three orders of Christian monkhood. Of course, he mentions in his book some of the famous stories attached to the name of Saint Francis, but Chesterton digs much deeper and gives the history and philosophy that surrounded the monk. However, the purpose of this essay is to describe, summarize, and critique Saint Francis’ life and effectiveness in ministry so that the reader may glean important characteristics that define a Christian leader, and employ them in his or her life. The writer of this essay has identified fourteen characteristics that are worth mentioning.

Saint Francis was a bold and brave man. Chesterton said that there is “a great deal to be said about the man who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracen or who interceded with the Emperor for the birds” (2). He had “courage of heart” (32) because he willingly tried to be a soldier in his youth. Even though that did not work out for him, his brave heart remained nonetheless. Christian leaders have to have a brave heart as well in order to take a stand in this present world and time.

Saint Francis was a “lover of God and he was really and truly a lover of men” (7). Chesterton quipped, “As Saint Francis did not love humanity but men, so he did not love Christianity but Christ” (7). He adored and imitated Christ. Christ was the “pattern on which Saint Francis sought to fashion himself” (108). Chesterton also said that Saint Francis’ “religion was not a thing like a theory but a thing like a love-affair” (8). Some Christian leaders seem to have missed the point of it all. A love relationship with Christ should be sought above all others.

Saint Francis was “one of those people who are popular with everybody in any case” (30). He was a man with an excellent reputation—a man above reproach. Christian leaders should not drag their names, and especially the name of Christ, through the mud, and thus weakening or destroying their witness to a lost world and a confused body of believers.

Saint Francis was a generous giver because “he threw money about both in extravagance and benevolence” (31). He really strove to help out in any way he could by running on “errands of mercy” (34), especially to those “people who had been put hopelessly in the wrong” (31). Saint Francis likely “swore before God that he would never all his life refuse to help a poor man” (33). Chesterton said, “Saint Francis really meant what he said when he said he had found the secret of life in being the servant and the secondary figure” (62). Not only did he give to others, but also he always gave thanks to God for His blessings. He was the giver who gave thanks. Christian leaders should never forget where they came from, whom they belong to, and who provides for their every need.

Saint Francis was a polite, gentle, and kind man. In fact, “all agreed that politeness flowed from him” (32). Chesterton said, “If there was one thing of which so humble a man could be said to be proud, he was proud of his good manners” (32). Chesterton also said that “he seems to have liked everybody” (38), even those who might be viewed as his enemies. When people called him a coward, a thief, or a fool, Saint Francis never lost his cool. A little politeness can go a long way in dealing with people.

Saint Francis was a man strictly concerned with the details, even the smallest of particulars of form in action and conduct. It could be said that he was even punctilious about his punctiliousness. A good leader has to know the big picture and the individual pixels that make up that picture.

Saint Francis was a “man of action” and the “very reverse of a dreamer” (34). He did not sit around lazily like some leaders today. He had a strong work ethic that allowed him to take immediate action when a particular situation arose. When a something tough came along, he did not waver and look incompetent. A good Christian leader will be known as a man of action.

Saint Francis was a positive man. On one occasion, he and several others were thrown in prison during his soldiering days. He “moved among his captive companions…resolved to keep up their spirits and his own” (37). A good leader will inspire his followers and friends. People will not generally follow a negative person. They will grow tired of negativity in a hurry. A good leader realizes this and is careful not to be a glum, downtrodden, defeated person.

Saint Francis was a man of prayer and he was “in the habit of praying” (46). He occasionally sought refuge in solitude, where he attended to prayer and fasting. In those times, he did not even want his close friends around for fear that they would distract him. Where would a Christian leader be with prayer? Prayer is the power source on which leaders run. Without it, churches and Christian organizations would assuredly be in a world of trouble.

Saint Francis was dependant on God his Father. He knew who he was, and he did not rely on his merchant dad for help. On one dramatic occasion before a large crowd, Saint Francis declared, “Up to this time I have called Pietro Bernardone father, but now I am the servant of God” (48). Christian leaders must have this resolve, not to the point of not allowing others to help, but to really depend chiefly on God.

Saint Francis was a hard worker. When he was in charge of rebuilding a house for worship, he jumped in and helped out with his own hands. A good Christian leader will display this same willingness to jump in with both feet and work until Jesus comes back, despite any difficulty that may come along. A good leader will pour his energies into doing whatever it is the Lord has led him or her to do.

Saint Francis had a “passion for simplicity” (51). When he spoke, he desired that his message to be simple enough in so that “the village idiot could understand it” (142). A Christian leader must know his people to be able to effectively lead. There has to be a base level of understanding. Some of the smartest people on earth have the ability to present material in a way that even a child can understand it. That makes a good leader and communicator.

Saint Francis could work well with others. He was a team player. He partnered up with Saint Clare to form an order for women. On another occasion, he met with Saint Dominic, his Spanish opposite. They both sought to end the Crusades, one by conquest and the other by conversion—one by the sword and the other by the Gospel.

Saint Francis had a genuine concern for the lost. He lived by the idea that it was “better to create Christians than to destroy Moslems” (114). Imagine the difference in the world if the Christian church always had that focus in evangelism.

Those are the fourteen main characteristics learned from reading Saint Francis of Assisi. When one thinks of a good Christian leader, each of these will undoubtedly come to mind. Billy Graham, perhaps one of the greatest Christian leaders of our generation, lives out each of these characteristics. May God help leaders all over the world to exhibit and resemble the life that made Saint Francis a man of outstanding character for Christ!

The Sufficiency of Scripture

This year’s theme for the regional Evangelical Theological Society meeting was The Sufficiency of Scripture. Al Mohler, this year’s Day-Higginbotham lecturer, said that the Sufficiency of Scripture is the major issue of this generation. One would be hard-pressed to argue against that point. As young theologians, learning from the wiser and older ones, students have been given a great opportunity to stand up and affirm this necessary doctrine of the faith.

When affirming this doctrine, one is in effect saying that the Scriptures are not lacking in any way. What exactly does that mean, though? Is Scripture sufficient for helping to decide which shirt to wear, which car to drive, or giving instructions on how to sew? No, that’s silly. What is meant by the Sufficiency of Scripture is this, the Bible is sufficient is everyway for salvation. Paul in Romans 10:17 sums this up, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of Christ.”

There is not a robust affirmation in Christianity today of this doctrine. The Roman Catholics, for example, will teach that Scripture is not sufficient. They have a whole system of tradition that holds to a works-based salvation. It seems way too often, even in Baptist circles (the people of the Book) that one will acknowledge it with his lips as a formality, but then in practice disregard God’s Word almost totally. As Mohler pointed out in his chapel address at Southwestern Seminary, there are too many books in Christian bookstores that are merely proclaiming the world’s wisdom with Bible verse tacked on. Christians today will try to “baptize” anything and deem it Christian.

The Bible itself teaches an absolute sufficiency. This means that Christians should be teaching both the New Testament and the Old Testament. Preach the Word! Do not preach any other garbage! Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 writes, “All Scripture is inspired (God-breathed) by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Notice that Paul did not add anything to that. If the Bible is not preached, then what is? This is a scary question when considered in light of the urgency of preaching the Gospel. There are people sitting in pews today that are dying and on their way to Hell, and what is being preached but that which will tickle their ears or make them feel good about themselves?

Jesus teaches the doctrine of the Sufficiency of Scripture in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31. When the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, Abraham responded, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them” (v. 29). The rich man then begged, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!” (v. 30). Abraham, in the parable, then says these words, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets (The Word of God), they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (v. 31). Jesus, the very person, who spoke the words of this parable, indeed rose from the dead. The very ones who rejected His message also rejected his Resurrection. Their hearts were hardened. A person either will or will not trust the Word of God. All too often, many follow the logic of the rich man in Jesus’ parable.

Mohler asked those in attendance in Chapel, “Do you think you can reach someone where the Word of God cannot reach them?” The rich man’s logic is not sufficient, the Bible is. Abraham’s logic must be followed. The Word (working with the Spirit of God) must be trusted to accomplish the changing of hearts. When Martin Luther addressed his zealous students concerning private altars in the homes of certain people where mass was being observed, he told them that they (poor sinners) could not change the people. He said, “The Word of God must accomplish this thing.”

Mohler, in his second address, said that Evangelicalism must be committed to some theological method, and that method is the Sufficiency of Scripture. He asked, “Does it really matter in the 21st Century about sola scriptura?" It absolutely matters. Every major issue that the church faces today is tied in with this doctrine. One example of this is the roles of men and women. Others include the sanctity of human life and evolution.

The Bible also sets forth an absolute and enduring morality. The Bible is not only sufficient for leading one to salvation, but it is also sufficient for moral and ethical teaching. Aristotle taught that a person could become virtuous in two ways: watching others that are virtuous and listening to stories that teach virtues. The Word of God must be preached in the Church today!

All too often in Christians’ lives, textbooks supersede the Bible in their practice. One will even say, “I know the Bible says this, but….” That is the problem; there are too many buts in Christianity today. By affirming the Bible’s sufficiency, one must also affirm its authority. Likewise, the Bible’s authority cannot be affirmed without the Bible being sufficient. One is dependant on the other. When Luther’s authority was challenged, he replied that he had to be convicted by Scripture and plain reason. He had to stand on the Word of God for his authority. As Mohler put it, all other norms must be normed by the Holy Scripture. Scripture is the norm of norms that cannot be normed.

The Church is always accountable to the Word of God. As alluded to earlier, Luther said that the Word and the Spirit would reform the Church. The reformers staked their lives and liberties on the affirmation of the doctrine of the Sufficiency of Scripture. They chose to defy the authority of Rome and stick with Scripture’s plain teachings. Mohler said that the Word of God norms Rome, Princeton, Dallas, and Louisville. All will be held accountable.

The Sufficiency of Scripture must be affirmed in order for one to remain evangelical. However, there are those today within evangelicalism who are trying their best to deny it. Mohler stated that human sexuality would be the test case of this generation. Was Paul right concerning sexuality in Romans 1, or was he mistaken? People are doing all sorts of things with the Bible dealing with homosexuality. Some will ignore it altogether. Others try to discredit the passages that speak against it. Still others do not allow the Bible to have the final word. They merely see it as one voice in a room of competing voices. The Bible’s words on homosexuality are clear; it condemns it. However, some say that those words are no longer living; they are dead to the present world.

Overall, the Day-Higginbotham lectures by Al Mohler were both interesting and informative. The Sufficiency of Scripture is crucial in evangelical theology. It always has been, and it always will be. It must be taught and affirmed continually. One would do well to believe Moses and the Prophets!

Words From The French Weasel

I recently finished reading The Words, an autobiography by Jean-Paul Sartre, the French Existentialist philosopher. I would like to point out that Mr. Sartre admitted that he did not believe in God, at least at the time of the writing of this book in 1964. There is no real evidence in his autobiography that he ever believed. The following are some quotes that I have selected for your education and enjoyment. I have even added some personal commentary on a few of them.

"Dying isn't everything: one must die in time."

"Truth flows from the mouth of babes and sucklings."

"I have no rights, since love heaps blessings upon me; I have no duties, since I give out of love."

"Whatever their poverty, they will never suffer as much as my grandfather did: when he was little, he would get up before dawn and dress in the dark; in winter, he had to break the ice in the water jug in order to wash." (Sartre's grandfather was Charles Schweitzer, the brother of the famed liberal theologian, Albert Schweitzer.)

"I never tilled the soil or hunted for nests. I did not gather herbs or throw stones at birds. But books were my birds and my nests, my household pets, my barn and my countryside. The library was the world caught in a mirror. It had the world's infinite thickness, its variety." (As a kid, his whole world was books. He began early by just looking at the words. It wasn't long before he was reading, much sooner than his friends. By age 8, he was already filling notebooks with his own novels. I do respect his love for books though. Libraries are great. I seem to be amassing my own.)

"In our bustling societies, delays sometimes give a head start." (We could all benefit from slowing down. I mean seriously, everything has to be instant these days. In the old days, letters were written and there was plenty of time for thinking in order to give a response. Now, with email and instant messaging, responses are expected right away. People want answers now, and not a second later.)

"The tribulations of my friends convinced me that I was their equal." (We all suffer. We call have troubles. Jesus said that in this world we would have troubles, but we should cheer up because He has overcome this world.)

"All children are inspired; they have nothing to envy poets, who are just children."

"Even now I still have that minor vice, familiarity."

"God would have managed things for me. I would have been signed a masterpiece. Assured of playing my part in the universal concert, I would have patiently waited for Him to reveal His purposes and my necessity. I reached out for religion, I longed for it, it was remedy. Had it been denied me, I would have invented it myself. It was not denied me. Raised in the Catholic faith, I learned that the Almighty had made me for His glory. That was more than I dared dream. But later, I did not recognize in the fashionable God in whom I was taught to believe the one whom my soul was awaiting. I needed a Creator; I was given a Big Boss. The two were one and the same, but I did not realize it. I was serving, without zeal, the Idol of the Pharisees, and the official doctrine put me off seeking my own faith. What luck! Confidence and sorrow made my soul a choice soil for sowing the seeds of heaven. Were it not for that mistake, I would now be a monk. But my family had been affected by the slow movement of dechristianization that started among the Voltairian upper bourgeoisie and took a century to spread to all levels of society. Without that general weakening of faith, Louise Guillemin, a Catholic young lady from the provinces, would have made a show of greater reluctance to marry a Lutheran. Of course, our whole family believed in God, as a matter of discretion. Seven or eight years after the Combes cabinet, declared disbelief had the violence and raucousness of passion. An atheist was a 'character,' a wildman whom one did not invite to dinner lest he 'lash out,' a fanatic encumbered with taboos who refused the right to kneel in church, to weep sweetly there, to give his daughters a religious wedding, who took it upon himself to prove the truth of his doctrine by the purity of his morals, who hounded himself and his happiness to the point of depriving himself of the means of dying comforted, a God-obsessed crank who saw His absence everywhere and who could not open his mouth without uttering His name; in short, a gentleman who had religious convictions. The believer had none." (Legalists, let this be a warning to you! Christians, how are you going to fair against the raging storm of our culture? I also find Sartre's ironies of the atheist to be quite humorous.)

"Another me, my grim brother, would languidly challenge all the articles of faith. I was a Catholic and a Protestant; I united the critical spirit and the spirit of submission. At bottom, the whole business bored me. I was led to disbelief not by the conflict of dogmas, but by my grandparents' indifference." ("Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil...which we must fear most, and that is the indifference...of good men!")

"Whenever anyone speaks to me about God today, I say, with the easy amusement of an old beau who meets a former belle: 'Fifty years ago, had it not been for that misunderstanding, that mistake, the accident that separated us, there might have been something between us.'" (That's really sad...what a pity!)

"Suddenly there was an opportunity to shine: 'What is your fondest wish?' I replied without hesitation: 'To be a soldier and avenge the dead.'" (Jean-Paul was so bad that the French army kicked him out in a time of war. Not that's pathetic!)

"I was seven and knew how to read; it was twelve and did not know how to talk." (Here he is referring to movies, which were still silent in those days.)

"One speaks in one's own language, one writes in a foreign language."

"Wanting to be a hero is not enough. Neither courage nor the gift suffices; there must be hydras and dragons." (There must be a testing to see what you are made of.)

"As a rhetorician, I cared only for words: I would set up cathedrals of words beneath the blue eyes of the word sky."

"My grandfather thought I was tiny, and he was upset about it. 'He'll be short, like the Sartres,' my grandmother would say, just to annoy him. He would pretend not to hear, he would stand in front of me and look me up and down: 'He's growing!' he would say, without much conviction. I shared neither his anxieties nor his hopes: weeds also grow, which was proof that one could become tall and still be bad." (I found Sartre's comment to be funny!)

"I was often told that the past drives us forward, but I was convinced that I was being drawn by the future."

"As for me, I don't hold grudges and I obligingly admit everything; I'm always ready to criticize myself, provided I'm not forced to." (I don't like to be forced to do things either. I prefer to do things out of love and commitment. I love to read, but when school forces me to read something, it just isn't enjoyable.)

Evil Empire?

N.Y. Yankees aid burglarized SBC church
Published March 16, 2006
The Christian Index

NEW YORK (BP) — The New York Yankees, though just in spring training, stepped up to the plate to assist a Bronx church and its soup kitchen after a break-in.

The Yankees, whose stadium also is in the Bronx, presented a check for $20,000 to Daniel Dupree and Greater Universal Baptist Church on Feb. 23 to cover losses the church sustained during the Feb. 7 burglary.

The Yankees “are truly a blessing,” said Dupree, who has served as Greater Universal’s pastor for 10 of the Southern Baptist church’s 52 years. “We believe God placed it on their hearts to come through for us.”

When Dupree arrived at the church on the morning of Feb. 8, the building had been ransacked; the church’s safe, a television camera and various office supplies were missing. Dupree estimates less than $5,000 was stolen from the safe, but the total loss to the church was around $20,000. There was no sign of a break-in and a police investigation continues.

The team was made aware of Greater Universal’s situation through Bronx Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo.

“When we heard what had happened to our neighbor, we wanted to reach out and enable them to continue their much-needed community service,” said Lonn Trost, the Yankees’ chief operating officer, in a press release issued by the team.