Being a Godly Man

Many times I have asked myself, “what kind of man do I want to be?” I continually come back to the attribute of godliness. I want to be a godly man. In my flesh I want to be the center of attention, I want to be esteemed. The reality is that I want to esteem God.

I have had the pleasure and at times curse of having been around a lot of pastors. I quit going to pastor’s conferences because I got tired of the egos. Sadly, pastors can be major egomaniacs. I desperately pray to God that I am not a prideful pastor, but a faithful godly man.

Dr. Roy Fish has been a Professor of Evangelism at one of my seminaries (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) for over 40 years. I was not able to get him for Evangelism 101 during my MDiv studies, but have had the privilege to be around him twice now. My wife and I did a study tour in England two summers ago and got to know Dr. and Mrs. Fish. Dr. Fish is the interim president of the North American Mission Board and thus we got to be around Dr. and Mrs. Fish again at our commissioning weekend.

I am not trying to “name drop” with this piece and in reality I would not know Dr. and Mrs. Fish if it were not for my wife. Kristen came to know the Lord during a revival service led by Dr. Fish and because my wife is the friendliest person I have ever met she ended up chumming with the Fish’s in England.

Dr. Fish has the type of reputation and resume to be an egomaniac. An ego for me would be foolishness, but an ego for him would be understood.

However, Dr. Fish is a godly man. I have learned to genuinely care about people from watching him deal gently with a bunch of awkward seminarians. I have learned to focus upon evangelism by feeling his passion for the gospel and for the lost in his sermons. I have learned to respect the sanctity of the pulpit by watching him sneak down to pray to God prior to preaching. I have learned to walk humbly by watching him both interact with this fun wife and by laughing at himself. Finally I have learned to seek godliness by seeing him continue to faithfully preach God’s Word without scandal for over four decades.

By the way, all of this is from only being around the guy a couple of times. Pray for me as I seek to esteem the Lord in all that I do.

BOOK REVIEW: Religious Nuts Political Fanatics

This work was a blessing to me in January. Through Vagacs’ insights, U2 ended up really ministering to me. U2 has always been my favorite band and I feel they are the key identifiable group of my generation. My parents had The Beatles and Elvis, we have U2.

Brain Walsh in the foreword says that the “world needs describing, yes; but more importantly, this world needs healing and hope” (pgxiii). This statement grabs what U2 is all about as well as what Christian art should be all about.

Bono famously wrote to his father “It is our ambition to make more than good music” (pg3). From the very beginning U2 had a special mission. Ironically this mission was protected by the fact that U2 was not overly influenced by the evangelical subculture. I think this says much about how evangelicalism has tried (and failed) to influence the world.

Vargacs positions Bono as a psalmist and a prophet. Bono’s lyrics are filled with references to the psalms and he is even quoted as saying, “Words and music did for me what solid, even rigorous, religious argument could never do, they introduced me to God, not belief in God, more an experiential sense of GOD.” (pg9).

The really great aspect of the book is Vagacs’ interpretations of songs and albums from a theological perspective. He opens up these lyrics and themes for us to see the soul behind them. My favorite album is “Joshua Tree” which Vagacs addresses in chapter three. Even though I disagree with how Vagacs discounts the end time hope of most evangelicals (pg38), and some of U2’s views on America’s role in Central America; I do love that U2 embraces social justice and a hope in an eschatological reality.

My second favorite album is U2’s latest (“How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb”) where Vargacs highlights the theme of humility during our journey through life. During the vertigo of life, Yahweh teaches us how to kneel. Yahweh’s love is how we get through vertigo. Yahweh is the center of life. He is the abundant life (John 10:10) that Jesus promised.

U2 is the pinnacle of what artists are to be. They create true, lasting, and life-changing art. As I said above, this book really ministered to me and has enabled U2 to minister to me further and deeper. I recommend this book to professors, ministers, and laymen. I also highly recommend this work to seekers who want to get a glimpse of beautiful spirituality.

The special nugget that I discovered in this work was the song “40.” If you don’t know what they are talking about then figure it out. If you haven’t heard it then buy it. Make sure you buy the live version.

“I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He lifts me up out of the pits, out of the miry clay
I will sing, sing a new song”