Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

Home 2016 Archives for April 2016

Archives for April 2016

Resurrection People

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I read this sentence in Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright and thought I would share it with you.

“Our task in the present . . . is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.”

Resurrection PeopleThere is a challenge at the end of this sentence. The way Christians live should give evidence of the truth of Easter. The way Christians live should also give people a foretaste of what life will be like when Jesus comes back to make everything right.

If Easter really happened (I believe it did), then why do I get upset by the small things in my life. If death is truly conquered, what problem that I face is bigger than death? (Tweet This)

Also, the fact that salvation is only on the basis of God’s grace and the work of Jesus, we can live in the confidence that when the final day takes place, it will be a day of rejoicing. The king will return, depose the usurpers and set everything right. That will be a party and our life right now should reflect that hope.

As N. T. Wright points out, this hope will affect our worship and our mission. It will affect our gatherings and what we do out in the world.

We are to be resurrection people.

So far and no farther

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As part of his prophecy against Babylon, Isaiah writes:

“These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments.” (Isaiah 47:9, ESV)

Line in the sandIt is as if God is saying to Babylon, “I will let you go so far and no farther.” Isaiah tells Babylon that they may think that they have the power to do whatever they please, but they do not.

In 2016, we live in a world that seems to be increasingly chaotic. Hardly a week goes by without a story of a homicide bomber (their intent is homicide after all). Radical Islam is intent on taking over the world. This is clear from their actions and, like Babylon, they think that they have the power to do so.

Thinking about Islamic Jihad is troubling, but I learn from Isaiah that no matter how much power the Jihadists think they have, it is not enough to derail God’s plan.

There are times when evil must by physically opposed and restrained. This is the purpose of government as mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:4. But I am not here calling for a counter-Jihad against the radical Islamists.

What I am calling for is an increased fervor in prayer that God himself will restrain the evil.

It is one thing to force someone into a behavior with which they don’t agree. It is another thing entirely to change the motivation for that behavior. One is externally forced upon a person, the other is internally motivated. Force can be used to  externally restrain the Jihadists but the ultimate solution must come from internal motivation.

Only God can change the hearts of those who perpetrate evil. It is for this that we should be praying.

I am glad that we have security officials working diligently to thwart terrorist activities, but this is not enough.

All of Christendom must rise up in prayer to Almighty God that He intervene. Only God is able to bring about the peace that we so desperately crave. He longs to do so and has promised that eventually he will. For this we should be praying.

Can I remind you of what happened in Nineveh when Jonah preached? Perhaps Jonah and Nineveh would be a good topic for my next post.

On Grace and Mercy Combined

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Grace and MercyI read the following paragraph in Learning Evangelism from Jesus by Jerram Barrs and thought I would share it with you:

“But Jesus was a different kind of holy man and teacher. We have already seen that Jesus did not seek to keep apart from sinners. He also did not turn sinners away. Jesus did not abuse sinners, single them out for condemnation, or avoid them. Rather, he was a teacher who spoke words of comfort and grace to them, a teacher who showed them such respect, honor, and love that many of them responded by happily turning away from their sin. This, of course, was what happened in the life of Zacchaeus. Grace and mercy are far more effective means of creating love and devotion than condemnation. A new affection for Christ has a much greater power to drive out sin and bring lasting repentance than any sermon on moral improvement, or any program for straightening out one’s life.”

The problem with this is that to follow in Jesus’ footsteps in this regard will get a little messy. The lines of demarcation will get a little blurred. People might criticize us for associating with the wrong kind of people.

But messy and blurred are poor excuses for doing what we are called to do. Yes, it is uncomfortable to interact with people that are different from us. But that is what we are called to do.

Perhaps one of the reasons we shy away from interacting with “sinners” is because they remind us of our own failures. In reality we are all sinners, but some of us are better at hiding it than others. We are all just one poor choice away from a moral train wreck.

If we are honest, the fact that we are not moral train wrecks has more to do with God’s grace than our ability (Tweet this) to live out the Christian life. So why not extend that same grace to others?

Grace combined with even a modicum of mercy will have a powerful effect.

Moving beyond the gospel?

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Beyond the GospelIn some churches I have attended, there is a sense that the gospel entails the elementary teaching of Christianity. In those churches, maturity is thought to entail moving beyond the gospel into more “meaty” doctrinal teaching.

I have come to realize that this is wrong headed and leads not to maturity, but to immaturity. The effect of this teaching is the exact opposite of the desired result.

The gospel teaches me that every aspect of my being is in need of redemption by Jesus Christ through his work on the Cross. The first thought of the gospel is that I am more deeply flawed than I ever dared to admit. The second part of the gospel is that I am loved more deeply than I ever dared dream.

If I do not preach this two-pronged gospel to myself every day, I am sure to go off track.

If I forget these two aspects of the gospel, theological knowledge will only serve to make me proud.

If I forget these two aspects of the gospel, any change that I make in my life will come from self-will rather than surrender to God. This will only serve to make me hard hearted.

If I dwell on how loved I am without realizing how unlovable I really am, this will only serve to make me selfish.

If I dwell on how flawed I am without basking in God’s love for me, this will only serve to make me morose and overwhelmed.

I should never think of moving beyond the gospel. I should only think about how more deeply the gospel needs to be applied in every aspect of my life.

The Apostle Paul should be our model in this. The same man who could call himself the chief of sinners, also penned one of the most confident declarations of God’s love in Scripture:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, ESV)

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