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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Encouragement for Sojourners, October 9, 2009
This review is from: Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet (Hardcover)
Should the church change with the whims of culture in an attempt to be relevant? Or, should believers withdraw from and shun the world with all that it has to offer? Jason Stellman says no to both.
In Dual Citizens, Rev. Stellman argues for a pilgrim mindset. Christians live in the context of a "semi-realized eschatology," or between the "already and not yet." They are citizens of the earth and of heaven, and each of these citizenships should be manifested in its proper place.
Dual Citizens has two parts. In part one, "Christian Worship for Dual Citizens," the author says that it is when the followers of Christ come together to worship, rather than in the living of their daily lives, that they should appear the most different. "If ever there were a time for the saints to placard their counter-culturalism and absolute refusal to be identified with the tastes and trends of this passing and evil age, their `coming to Him' on the Lord's Day would be the time...As the saints leave their houses each and every Lord's Day morning and assemble with the rest of God's people...they are making a much louder statement to the world than a fish emblem on their bumper ever will."
Corporate worship belongs entirely to the heavenly kingdom. It is not meant to be the agent of political or cultural change. Likewise, the purpose of the Sabbath is not to strengthen a nation or bring it back to its "golden years." "Our heavenly citizenship transcends even the most powerful worldly allegiances to which we hold." Therefore, church worship should not be influenced by the community, culture, or world.
In part two, "The Christian Life for Dual Citizens," the author argues that outside of worship, Christians are free to take part in and enjoy the culture in which they live. "When God's people are a holy theocracy (and only then), they are commanded to withdraw from pagan religion and pagan culture, but when they are exiles and pilgrims, they are called to separate themselves only religiously, not culturally." Stellman makes it clear that the United States is not a "holy theocracy," nor does it (or any other nation) carry any "redemptive significance." Therefore, believers are free to enjoy God's earthly gifts. "Given our dual citizenship, we must not allow our desire to eat from the heavenly Tree of Life to prevent us from stopping to smell the roses of earth every now and then."
I appreciated Stellman's positions, especially concerning the church's call to be separate from the culture. When corporate worship is no different than a U2 concert, the biblical description of believers as pilgrims and sojourners becomes absurd. At the same time, Christians are permitted to enjoy the world that God created. He made the earth, roses, red wine, music, and art for our benefit. We don't glorify Him by spurning His gifts.
As a whole, Dual Citizens is edifying and enjoyable. Some of Stellman's arguments, however, are complex and hard to follow. And I failed to see a strong connection between some of the chapters--particularly the one titled "The Bragging Calvinist"--and the broader context of the book.
Believers with reformed leanings and an interest in theology will enjoy Dual Citizens most, while believers in the coffee shop of a mega church need it most. It is not your average book on Christian living, and it won't help you live "your best life now." But it is encouraging for pilgrims who are waiting for a better country, and for that reason I recommend it.
Jason Stellman is the pastor of Exile Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Washington State, and is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California. Dual Citizens is his first book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The tension between the already and the not yet, July 30, 2010
This review is from: Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet (Hardcover)
As believers today, we are both citizens of the world and of heaven. This duality creates a tension in our lives as we celebrate what God has already done but expectantly hopes for what He has promised. He captures that dichotomy well on page 175: "In this very Abba-confession, the rock of the `already' meets the hard place of the `not yet,' for it is due to the present awareness of our sonship that we can call God `Father,' but it is because this adoption has yet to be consummated that this bold affirmation comes in the form of a fervent cry." This book isn't a quick read, as it is dense with biblical passages and theological discussions, but it's a worthwhile one. He quotes liberally from Scripture and from those who have gone before him in church history, and there are definitely sections I'll be revisiting for a second (and third and...) read before I can fully digest them.
In the first part, the author discusses how our worship should reflect an otherworldliness as we live as resident aliens in the new covenant church (chapters 2-3); how we live as underdogs because our victory is largely in the future (chapter 4); how we regard the Sabbath, particularly as American Christians (chapter 5); how our national citizenship now does (and doesn't) have redemptive significance (chapter 6); and how the church shapes her members (chapter 7). In the second, he discusses how we consider our lives through the macrocosm of God's divine drama (chapter 8); how our heavenly citizenship renders earth "unworthy of our ultimate affection" (chapter 9); how we are shaped by an innate longing for eternity (chapter 10); how we can enjoy earth's temporal blessings in their proper context (chapter 11); how the Holy Spirit draws the future into the present to help us today (chapter 12); how we grow by giving up our rights and entitlements (chapter 13); and how our dual citizenship "causes us to groan for glory, a groaning that is both soothed and intensified by the indwelling Spirit, who functions as an engagement ring assuring us of the future consummation of our union with our glorified Bridegroom (chapter 14)" (p. xv).
There was only one part that I wasn't nodding my head with or being sharply convicted by: I'm not so sure about the author's division between part one (Christian Worship for the Dual Citizen) and part two (Christian Life for the Dual Citizen). I recently spent a lot of time meditating on Romans 12:1-2 as part of a unit we taught the 9th graders at our church, and it clearly lays out that making ourselves living sacrifices is our spiritual act of worship; in other words, it doesn't separate life from worship. Spellman expects this critique and begins building his case for the distinction in the preface, but I'm still a skeptic. I think he was really trying to have a section for how to live in the world (part two, what he called "Christian life") while not be of this world (part one, what he called "Christian worship"). His separation of worship and life and his explanation for doing so seemed to muddy the waters unnecessarily.
That said, he solidly uses Scripture, tradition, and the writings of other godly folks to explain the importance of the church. His writing challenged my thinking about ministry and personal life (particularly, with respect to the personal, my lack of reverence for or even consideration of the fourth commandment, either in terms of a defined Sabbath day or just times of intentional rest). His writing speaks both to the community of believers as a whole and to the heart of a believer as an individual. For example, on page 18 he calls out the church for being more like "grits than salt--changing in response to her environment rather than having the boldness and courage to stand out and be different." His best one-liner by far comes as he critiques the consumerist approach to church that demands a program for every potential need: "And do you have anything for my green-eyed, left-handed pre-teen daughter who loves ferrets and plays the oboe?" (p. 5).
Meanwhile, on an individual level, he challenges readers with this on pages 121-122: "Let us answer the question with a question: who is more likely to quit smoking during pregnancy, the mother who plans for an abortion or the one who plans to give birth? The answer should be obvious. Roads that actually lead somewhere are usually better maintained than dead-end ones, and likewise, when we see our earthly sojourn as just that--a sojourn on the way to our heavenly home--it is reasonable to assume that we will take this pilgrimage with great seriousness and care."
I consider this a valuable work, and I intend to re-read it again in a few months because I feel like it needs a few readings before I can truly digest it. In lieu of reciting a laundry list of things that make this a book I respect and appreciate, I've made a list below of nuggets from the text. I have no reservations about saying that this is a meaningful book worth being in your library, but you can judge whether or not that's true as you read the author's words below:
* "Stepping back from the trees and beholding the forest, or looking at our own lives as parts of God's story (rather than the other way around), enables us to gain a perspective on our trials and triumphs that is truly theo- rather than egocentric, God-centered instead of me-centered." (p. xiii)
* "Donald Grey Barnhouse, former pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, once mused about what a city would look like if Satan took it over. His conclusion was much different than many might assume. He didn't envision rampant violence and deviant sexual perversion, with Christians being tortured or thrown into prison. Rather, Barnhouse surmised that if the Devil were in charge of a city, the bars and pool halls would close, the streets and neighborhoods would be cleaned up, children would say "Yes, sir" and "No, ma'am," and every Sunday men and women would flock to churches where Christ was not preached." (italics in the original text, p. 65)
* "The real distinction that the Beatitudes illustrate, then, is not between the internal and the external or the physical and the spiritual, but between this age and the age to come, the `already' and the `not yet.' To employ the biblical typology, the Beatitudes set earth against heaven and the old Babylon against the New Jerusalem." (p. 69)
* "But as long as we misdiagnose our Adamic disease as a mere case of the spiritual doldrums, we not only will misconstrue the gospel as therapy and Jesus as part Cheerleader and part Coach, we will never break the vicious cycle of looking within to solve the problem that looking within caused in the first place." (p. 77)
* "...we simply cannot have Jesus without His church, we cannot have the personal without the corporate, and we cannot sever the Head from the body. After all, if physical decapitation is lethal, then it would follow that its spiritual equivalent is infinitely more deadly." (p. 83-84)
* "Since the dawn of Puritanism (at least), we have heard that in order to prescribe a cure for man's spiritual ills, we must first diagnose his disease. `Rubbish,' says Catholic author G. K. Chesterton. In his little book What's Wrong with the World, Chesterton decries what he calls the `medical mistake': `The first great blunder of sociology . . . is stating the disease before we find the cure. But it is the whole definition and dignity of man that in social matters we must actually find the cure before we find the disease.' Chesterton's point is that man can be understood only from the vantage point of the future, after running on ahead, as it were, and then looking back." (p. 113-114)
* "To strike the proper balance between the already of the kingdom's coming and the not yet of its visible fulfillment is to live our lives exactly where God wants them to be." (p. 149)
* "It is not uncommon for pastors to hear from their people in the pews that they need more 'application' from the pulpit. 'Hearing about the cross and resurrection of Christ week in and week out is all well and good,' they say. 'But give us something we can use in the real world. Tell us how to live.' This request is often tantamount to a desire for law instead of gospel, a hunger to be told what we can do for God rather than resting in what He has done for us." (p. 160)
(In keeping with the FTC, I must disclose that I wrote this review in exchange for a free book. However, Reformation Trust (an imprint of Ligonier Ministries) did not request a positive review, only a "serious, substantive, and fair" one. While I like free books, my opinion can't be bought.)
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Start from a Promising Author, November 16, 2009
This review is from: Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet (Hardcover)
"Human beings are supposed to feel restless and unfulfilled because we were not created to continue living a mere earthly and Adamic existence." (pg. 116)
Have you ever noticed just how many Christian fiction books there are out on the market about the Amish? It seems every Christian fiction author has to have a trilogy depicting the life of the Amish. People buy these books too. The reason why is because of how differently the Amish live from the rest of the world. This kind of life style especially draws the evangelical Christian crowd. There are a few reasons why this could be the case, we in general appreciate poor fiction, or we are enthralled by people who are just like us who are living in a very different fashion.
Often times during a reading of one of those Amish type books a Christian may find themselves saying "That is great that they live that way, but how should a Christian live? We have the truth shouldn't our lives be as radical as some of these Amish guys?"
Jason Stellman seeks to address this question in his book Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet.
Stellman's chief concern in the book is to alert Christians of their precarious living situation. Currently we are living in the old world but in reality we are of a completely different nature.
Relevance of Christians attending church
"As the saints leave their houses each and every Lord's Day morning and assemble with the rest of God's people, both on earth and in heaven, they are making a much louder statement to the world than a fish emblem on their bumpers ever will (even one that is swallowing the Darwin fish with legs)." (27)
Enemies on the outside and the inside
"I would humbly suggest that when we paint our nation's domestic and foreign
policies with such a biblical brush, we are confusing our rhetoric as well as
our kingdoms. "The nations" who "trample the holy city" are not Saudis who
fly planes into our skyscrapers but the very aspects of our society (yes, ours) that
turn our churches into strip malls, our worshipers into consumers, and our God
into a commodity beholden to the ebb and flow of the market. (67)
Problems with the text
Stellman's font was difficult to read. If there is a next edition of the book it would be nice to have it in a larger font.
A stylistic error that I had problems with was that he wrote this in the same trendy way that a youth pastor would speak to his teens. The text is full of cultural connections. For example writing about "X-box" "first person shooter." Some might find them to be helpful and engaging I found them to be distracting.
Also some of his arguments were hard to follow. A lot of that can be excused due to this being his first book. We should not expect the same writing ability from him as we would from Poythress or Sproul.
Conclusion
Stellman does a great job of addressing issues that American churches need to answer. Idolatry is definitely infiltrating our churches and we are accepting it with open arms because our residential community is becoming content with having us around. I look forward to reading more from him in the future.
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