Author: Wes White

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The Genealogies of the Bible

“The Bible is boring.” Let’s be honest. We all feel that way sometimes.

More than anything in the Bible, people get bored reading the long list of names in its genealogies.

I believe that all of the Bible is profitable (see 2 Tim. 3:16), but it’s sometimes hard to see the profit in some passages like the genealogies. A long list of names? Profitable? How?

My view of genealogies in general has recently changed. It’s changed because I’ve begun doing some genealogical research (you can read about it here and here), and I’ve really enjoyed it.

I didn’t really connect this with the Bible until I began reading the book of Matthew with my family and doing a small group study on this book. And how does the Gospel according to Matthew start out? With a genealogy.

In the past, I might have slogged through it.

But now, having studied and thought about genealogy, this genealogy actually really piqued my interest.

Here are a few of the things I thought about as I contemplated Matthew’s genealogy.

First, the Bible genealogies demonstrate that family is important. In our nation in particular, we tend to downplay the importance of the family. However, family shapes us. We carry it with us wherever we go whether we think so or not. Genealogies are one perspective on what has shaped us.

Second, we are family people. We are human beings, but we are not “abstract human beings.” We are all particular human beings with particular ancestors from particular places speaking particular languages shaped by particular cultures. We all have our limits and unique perspective.

Third, our family connects us to the world story. Our family is a significant part of what makes us unique human beings, but the story of our family connects us with the world story.

I have always loved history, but genealogical research has made me feel more a part of it. I feel much more connected to the Revolutionary War knowing that one of my ancestors died at Valley Forge. I’ll never hear the name Mohammed Ali the same way again knowing that a second cousin was in a boxing match with him when my cousin was 14 years old (the cousin lost and never boxed again, by the way).

Our family connects us to the rest of humanity. Trace it back far enough, and all our family trees intersect.

Fourth, our family matters to God. The fact that God put genealogies in the Bible shows that He cares about our families.

I have had quite a few conversations with people about my genealogical research. It’s an easy topic of conversation because everyone has some sort of genealogical understanding, but sometimes their eyes glaze over when I talk about my 3rd great grandfather or 1st cousin twice removed. But God’s eyes don’t glaze over. God is interested in our genealogy. He cares who our cousins are and who are 3rd great grandfathers are (you have 16 of them by the way!).

Fifth, our families connect us to the brokenness and fallenness of the world. In Jesus’ genealogy, there was a prostitute, a murderer, the wife of the man who was murdered, and other unsavory characters. Sometimes in studying genealogy (or your own immediate family!), you may say, “I wish I hadn’t learned that!” But like it or not, fallenness and brokenness are part of who we are. We can’t change that fact by running away from it.

Sixth, there is hope for our families. At the end of the genealogy in Matthew is Jesus. He comes right into the middle of the mess. He’s literally born into it. He comes into the middle of it to save it. Our families don’t have to follow the same old patterns. There is One who comes who brings new hope, restoration, forgiveness, and renewal for all the families of the human race.

For me, genealogies are no longer boring.

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The Goal of the Church Is Not the Church

Why did God establish the church? To glorify God and bless the world.

The interesting thing is that the particular individuals who make up the church don’t need to be very good at all at doing that to be part of the church.

First, the church is designed to be a place where anyone, believer or unbeliever, can come, make connections, and learn about God at their own pace (see a fuller explanation of this point here).

Second, anyone who professes faith in Jesus and promises by God’s grace to seek to follow Him is accepted as a brother and sister in Jesus Christ (see “Theses on Church Membership” for more on this here).

This means the door to the church and the kingdom of God is wide open. “Whosoever will may come.”

It is important for us to see, however, that we don’t want to leave people there. We want to help people become what they were made to be. “Therefore, let us make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Rom. 14:19). Edification–we keep building one another up.

Ultimately, our goal is to raise up leaders who will glorify God in the church in the world and bless themselves and others.

This doesn’t mean that everyone has to become a Pastor. We can and should be leaders where we are. This may mean that you seek to become a better parent (Eph. 6:1–4). It may mean that you find those who are in need and make clothes for them like Tabitha (Acts 9:36–39). It may mean that you reach out to someone and encourage them like Barnabas (Acts 9:26–27). It may mean you come alongside someone like Philip (Acts 8:26–40). It may mean you take a step across the aisle to love those you consider to be your enemies (Mt. 5:43–45). It may mean you start a business that will give people employment and honest labor, which in itself is glorifying to God (cf. Col. 3:22–4:1).

When you go to church this Sunday, think: everything we do in here is designed to be taken out there. We build one another up so we are better equipped to live in the world. We worship God together to be reminded that all things are for His glory. We build community in the church to make us better prepared to be a part of the larger world community.

That is the goal of the church, to glorify God and bless the world. Freely you have received. Freely give, not only to those in the church but to all (Gal. 6:9–10).

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Where We All Agree

Sometimes doctrine seems to divide.

However, when you read the various statements of faith of the variety of Protestant denominations, you will find that there is remarkable unity on the key points of doctrine.

You will find that this list includes the most important doctrines of the Christian faith. I believe that these teachings are the ones that should be most central to the life of every church, whatever their other differences may be.

I have listed here eight points of doctrine on which we all agree. Under each point, I have provided citations from a variety of statements of faith that illustrate the particular point.

Here are the areas where all evangelical, Protestant Christians agree.

1. The Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God and is the supreme judge of all controversies and opinions.

Westminster Confession of Faith: The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. . . . . The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

Methodist Articles: The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

Wesleyan Articles: We believe that the books of the Old and New Testaments constitute the Holy Scriptures. They are the inspired and infallibly written Word of God, fully inerrant in their original manuscripts and superior to all human authority, and have been transmitted to the present without corruption of any essential doctrine. We believe that they contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man or woman that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. Continue reading “Where We All Agree”

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Living with Diversity

Families are designed to help us learn to live with people who are different than us.

My 3rd child has started going to public school. That means that she is getting up earlier. What does she want to do in the morning? Talk. My wife and I like to quietly read and meditate in the morning, if possible. There’s nothing wrong with either preference. We’re just different.

But how are we going to deal with it? Can we tolerate the differences, live with them, and even thrive with them?

Sadly, many families don’t prepare people well for living with differences. Instead, they do one of three things. They either seek to suppress the differences, continually fight about them, or eventually flee from them.

The church is also designed to be a place where a diversity of people come together. A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus as the one who saves us from our predicament in sin and brings us to forgiveness and new life. Anyone can hear the message about Jesus, accept it, and become a Christian that very moment. Ideally, they also become a part of a particular community (i.e., the church) at that time.

When this happens, you have people who have a lot of different ideas, a lot of different backgrounds, and a lot of different experiences coming together to try and make the community work. Romans 14 describes the situation in the early Christian communities. The Christian teacher named Paul wrote to the Christian community in Rome describing this situation, “One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. . . . One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike” (Rom. 14:2, 5).

So, what are we to do with this diversity? The church has often tried the same things that families try: suppress the differences or continually fight about them. They also do what families sometimes do when these becomes too difficult. The differences are so hard to deal with that they just separate (which leaves them just as ill-equipped to deal with differences as before).

In the same letter, Paul gives some helpful instructions on how to live together in diversity. Here’s what he proposed:

  1. Receive or accept each other. “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters” (Rom. 14:1). What if our basic stance toward others was to accept and receive them whatever their differences?
  2. Do not have contempt for others. “The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them” (Rom. 14:3).

    3. Continue reading “Living with Diversity”

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White Evangelicals & Race

Christian rapper LeCrae. LeCrae decided that he was going to distance himself from white evangelicalism. This saddened me. I’m not judging what LeCrae has done. I know that he is far from the only person who feels this way. This reminds me of the sad reality that white evangelicals and evangelicals of color in the United States are not as close as they could and should be.

That said, I do understand it. I can understand particularly why African-American evangelicals would feel like they don’t belong in white evangelicalism.

This has led me to think about my behavior as a white evangelical. Do I do things that make white evangelicalism unwelcome for my brothers and sisters of color?

But this issue seems so big. What can I do? Especially, what can I do concretely? I came up with a few ideas. Here are a few things that I think I should do in regard to the race issue. I’d be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on this issue and what white evangelicals should do.

  1. Listen. James 1:19 says, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” For example, when my brothers and sisters speak about racial injustice, I want my first reaction to be to listen rather than to speak or react emotionally.
  2. Be honest about the history of the relationship of African-Americans and Whites in this country. A lot of it is very bad. I want to try to understand how this has worked out in my own area, family, and church and be honest and open about it.

    3. Continue reading “White Evangelicals & Race”

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