Josh Benner

Category: Faith

  • Not exchanging the gospel for another to-do list.

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    Many people in our society don’t understand the gospel because they don’t understand the cost of sin. We can do nothing to earn forgiveness because of our sin. The only hope humanity has is the grace of God, freely given to anyone who trusts in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

    Many don’t understand that, don’t appreciate that, think that they’re basically good enough on their own.

    On the other side of the coin, a person can come to faith and have an appreciation for the magnitude of their own sin.

    One of the great struggles that Christians can face is making life about performance, even after you acknowledge that the grace is freely given by Jesus.

    But we’ll never be good enough on our own. That’s why we needed a savior!

    It’s a difficult balance to strike. Because I’m certainly not suggesting that we should just live however we want. We should live for God. But that must be done while also understanding that his love is not based on our goodness or obedience.

    When a person places faith in Jesus, you are saved from the sins you have committed and the ones you will commit. Jesus doesn’t just save you from the sins of your past and leave it up to you to figure it out in the future. Jesus saves you entirely, when you place your faith in him.

    We can know the forgiveness that we have though the gospel but still fall into the trap of making our relationship with God about our performance. Or acting like God has forgiven you, but like you have to earn his love. That’s not the gospel.

    That’s a good way to set a person up for a life that lacks joy and leads to an exhausting (and impossible) cycle of legalism and works based righteousness.

    For a Christian, you are adopted as God’s child. You’re his. God loves with an everlasting love. No matter how good you are, you can never make God love you more. Nor can any sin make him love you less.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Focus on being the right person, not finding the right person

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    We live in a soulmate focused society. We love the idea of finding the one.

    As a millennial, perhaps it’s because our generation grew up with VHS and we were able to watch and rewatch and rewatch the same Disney movies over and over again, seeing the happily ever after. But in fairytales, we never actually see the day to day of what the “ever after” ends up looking like.

    You don’t have a perfect person because YOU’RE not a perfect person. And a relationship takes two people. And since a relationship includes you, it’ll have problems. Now multiply that by two as you find someone who is also imperfect.

    The problem with trying to find the right person is that it’s inherently self-centered. It implies you can find one person who completes you, who builds you up, who makes you whole.

    That’s not how God designed us.

    It is God who makes us whole. It is in God that we find purpose and life.

    If we have the mentality that another person will be what completes us, we’re viewing the relationship as a taker. Thinking that a significant other or spouse’s sole job in life is to support you and build you up will lead to an unbalanced and unhealthy relationship. Too many relationships are made up of two takers.

    But that’s what we want. Instead of looking for that person, you need to be that person. You need to be a giver, you need to want to support and honor another person.

    “The doesn’t seem fair!”

    But it seems fair to look for someone who’s going to do that for you?

    Both people need to be focused on giving, being selfless, and serving the other. We’re imperfect and so we’ll do that imperfectly, but when people work to build that relationship, it’s a beautiful thing.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Tim Keller Tweets about the incarnation: disagreement ensues

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    Pastor and theologian Tim Keller made a Tweet in regards to the incarnation of Jesus this week. Keller said: “The God of the universe became a wiggling baby in order to get close to you.”

    James White, another theologian, was critical of Keller’s comment: “No sir, the second person of the Trinity took on a perfect human nature first and foremost to bring glory to the Triune God in the redemption of a completely unworthy people upon whom the Triune God had decreed mercy and grace in eternity past. That’s not getting ‘close to you.”

    I’m a huge fan of Keller, but I also really enjoy White’s work, but I disagree with the criticism that White is raising here. Both men are in the Reformed camp, and one of the great strengths of Reformed theology is its emphasis on the glory of God. As part of this idea, everything that God does is for his own glory. I affirm that belief.

    However I do think that people in the Reformed camp can sometimes emphasize the glory of God to the point where I feel that it can also undermine the love of God and that God is relational. It’s because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (John 3:16). Yes, God is glorious and we need to live to glorify God.

    I feel like we can treat glory almost like a utilitarian idea, that glory is the only thing that matters to God, and we act like the things that God does which happen to benefit humanity have nothing to do with God’s love for humanity. But we can’t reduce the attributes of God. Everything that the Lord is, the Lord is always, and to the superlative decree. So it’s not that God is sometimes glorious, sometimes loving, sometimes more or less loving, sometimes powerful. But it’s that everything God is, God always is.

    I’m not suggesting that White has a low view of the love of God.

    I do think that staunchly Reformed Evangelicals can communicate theological ideas which very much give that impression.

    Yes, Jesus came into the world to bring glory to God. But he also came so that everyone who believes in him can be with him. That’s the heart of the gospel. The God who created the world came into the world to save the world.

    Why go to theological battle over that?

    It’s not an either/or. It’s both/and.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • 9 great quotes about life, service, and meaning from Mister Rogers

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    Who doesn’t love Mister Rogers? In trying times such as these, I know our society could use his wisdom. So much disagreement, polarization, and anger in our society today.

    Fred Rogers died in 2003. There is a new documentary about Rogers, appropriately titled “Won’t you be my neighbor?”

    I thought it would be worth taking a look at this man’s own words. Here’s a little taste of the Philosophy of Mister Rogers.

    Community

    When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.

    The meaning of life 

    At the center of the Universe is a loving heart that continues to beat and that wants the best for every person. Anything that we can do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional growth of our fellow human beings, that is our job. Those of us who have this particular vision must continue against all odds. Life is for service.

    The uniqueness of you

    You are a very special person. There is only one like you in the whole world. There’s never been anyone exactly like you before, and there will never be again. Only you. And people can like you exactly as you are.

    Making a difference 

    If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.

    Choices 

    You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.

    Service

    I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.

    Compromise

    It’s very dramatic when two people come together to work something out. It’s easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect each other.

    Happiness 

    The thing I remember best about successful people I’ve met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they’re doing and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they’re doing, and they love it in front of others.

    Identity 

    What’s been important in my understanding of myself and others is the fact that each one of us is so much more than any one thing. A sick child is much more than his or her sickness. A person with a disability is much, much more than a handicap. A pediatrician is more than a medical doctor. You’re MUCH more than your job description or your age or your income or your output.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

     

  • The Church: serving together in the Mission of God

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    What this is saying is that we have one body but our body has many parts to it.
    In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul gives a fantastic illustration for the church. It functions like a human body. Everyone in the church is part of the body and has a purpose within the body. If a part of the body is unhealthy or is not functioning properly, that effects the rest of the body.
    The church exists to spread the gospel, to make disciples, and to support each other as the body of Christ on earth.
    The church is called to work together for the mission of God.
    I love the practicality of Paul’s illustration.
    For the body does not consist of one member but of many.If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body
    -1 Corinthians 12:14-16
    If the foot should say, “because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
     Feet.
    Kind of smelly.
    Often times out of sight. The foot isn’t nearly as glamorous as a hand.
    A hand brings pizza closer to your mouth.
    And so Mr. Foot might be tempted to feel like he’s not contributing much.
    But he helps you keep balance and to walk. The foot matters.
    “And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.”
    The ear.
    Might be tempting for the ear to also be insecure.
    It’s not an eye.
    People get complimented for their eyes. “Oh you have such pretty eyes.”
    If someone has ears that are worth mentioning, it’s not for a good reason….
    But ears are important. They’re part of the body. They funnel sound in. They hold on our glasses.
    Everyone in the church has a place, has a role. You have an area where you fit. You’re part of the body. You have a way to serve that is valuable for the church.
    Verse 17 gets at the idea that it’s necessary for there to be differences of parts within the body.
    If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
    -1 Corinthians 12:17
     Imagine that.
    Just a big eye rolling around.
    Not only are there different parts, but there need to be different parts.
    We don’t all need the same gifts. We don’t need everyone to be a preacher.
    What a nightmare that would be!
    God equips us with gifts for his own glory. And the church flourishes when people are living on a mission and committed to living lives to serve God.
    Verse 20 is somewhat of a summary verse to this entire passage: “As it is, there are any parts, yet one body.”
    Verse 21 is affirmation from the passage how every part of the body needs every other part of the body.
    The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
    -1 Corinthians 12:21 
    Every part matters.
    In the world of theater, they have a saying “there are no small parts, just small actors” and the point is that everyone ni a production is still important to the story.
    Or I think about when I would play football with my friends as a kid. My friends and I always wanted to be the quarterback or running back or receiver. We never had dreams of being the kicker.
    But a kicker is still part of the team.
    Kickers are important.
    A kicker can win you a Super Bowl
    There’s no reason to be jealous of gifts that you don’t have. Because again, everything is part of serving God’s purposes. And those are eternal purposes. Because of his goodness and grace, God allows his people to be part of his mission in the world.
    Are you serving your church for the Mission of God today?
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.