Transcript
Scott Anderson: Paul, one of the helpful metaphors that you employ in the book to encourage pastors and to help them navigate this dangerous calling is this metaphor of location, location, location, location. Why is location so important and what do you mean by that when you speak of that in the book?
Location, Location, Location
Paul Tripp: Well, if real estate is all about location, location, location, how much more ministry? I think there are these three locations that summarize not only the biblical story, but my need, my hope as someone in ministry.
The first location is, is the garden. There's this dramatic, almost unbelievably sad moment in the in the garden where Adam and Eve, who have been created by God, created for God, made to live and walk with him in an act of outrageous rebellion, turn their backs on God and choose their own way.
And in that moment, a flood of sin and brokenness entered the world. It's internal. It's environmental and the world still groans waiting for redemption. I still struggle with sin. I must never ever forget that. I must never forget this awful dilemma. I must always remember that my biggest, deepest, fullest problem exists inside of me, not outside of me. And although the power of sin has been broken, the presence of sin still remains. I must keep the garden in view.
The Second Location: Calvary
The second location is calvary. There, God addressed the problem. In, again, glorious grace, He harnessed the forces of nature, He controlled the events of human history, so at a certain time, His Son would come, live the life I could have never lived, died the death I should have died, rose again, conquering sin and death, so that every grace I need to be what I'm supposed to be and to do what I'm supposed to do to enjoy eternal relationship with God is provided there. It's an all-sufficient supply at calvary.
So although I hold on to my knowledge of sin, I'm not defeated by it. I'm not afraid by it. I don't run and hide under my desk. I can be shockingly honest and gloriously hopeful at the same time because of the cross of calvary.
The third location is the new heavens and new earth because what is so wonderful to get a hold of is that God's going to complete His job and there will actually be a physical day when the last enemy will be defeated, where there will be no more sin and no more suffering, that grace will win and we'll live forever in a place where all the struggles that are so normal and natural to us everyday will not be there anymore; and we'll be with Him and we'll be like Him forever.
The Third Location: Eternity
Now, what's important about that third location is if God, in grace, has promised me a place in eternity, then by the very nature of that, He's promised me all the grace I need along the way because if I don't get all that grace, I'll never get there.
So the promise of future-grace is a guarantee of present-grace and so, together, I hold on to the garden, the cross, and the new heavens and new earth. Shocking honesty, glorious hope, a future secure. Now, that's what I need to face the archer of the ebb and flow of my own struggle, and the ebb and flow of all the temptations of ministry in the local church.
