Life

In a Nutshell

Way back in seminary I learned from Ecclesiastes that my life would not bring an end or even make a significant change to the darkness of our world. Now that I am in my 50's I have learned the same thing from life. The persistent and pervasive darkness makes me ache.

 

Our lives can turn on the light in a dark room. But the sun awaits the Son.

 

If you boil being a Christian down to it's very essence, it is an experience of God. It is a lot of other things too. But if it is not an experience of God, the other things are man made religion, not Christianity.

 

I was lying in bed the other day pondering these things and I realized that if I put these two conclusions together, it makes a very good framework for exploring “normal” Christian experience. (Helpful, in resolving my personal and corporate lament. ( cf. Earlier blogs)) The Christian life will not be a life free of darkness, and it will not be a life devoid of an experience of God.

 

Christianity is an experience of God in the midst of the darkness!

 

Within that you can have the experience of Stephen whose vision of Christ was had while rocks smashed into his head. Or you can have the experience of Paul, who experienced numerous miraculous rescues, and through whom others experienced many supernatural healings, but who was also stoned, shipwrecked, maligned, hated, bitten by a scorpion, and died in prison. Or you can have the experience of some Christians in World War II, whose normal lives of commerce, and church, and weddings and funerals, were turned upside down by the presence of a Jewish family at the back door, looking for a place to hide.

 

Within that, there is no, “one size fits all.” And we have only limited impact on the size that fits us. Are you the leader or vibrant member of an apostate church; a carpenter or nurse in a church in the midst of a Spiritual awakening; a martyr in a country with hatred towards Christ; a saint with a memory of mystical communion now going through a “dark night of the soul;” or a converted Muslim in a community into which God is breaking?

 

Christian experience can be radically different and still very real.

An Easter Meditation

Expectations Exceeded

 

They expected Him to resist arrest.

    He surrendered without a fight!

 

They expected Him to save Himself.

    He died, and saved everyone but Himself!

 

They expected Him to stay dead.

    If He who raises the dead is dead, who will raise the dead?

        His Father!! Into whose hands He committed His Spirit!

 

They expected His resurrection to bring Him back to normal.

    He walks through walls, moves without walking, and lives, never to die again!

 

They expected His throne – the throne of David -- to be in Jerusalem.

    He took up the crown of David seated on the throne at the right hand of God!

 

They expected Him to rule bodily in Israel.

    He rules through His Spirit in the church and is coming again to Israel!

 

They expected His people to be Jewish.

    He is gathering for Himself a people made up of every tribe and tongue and nation and grafting us in to Israel.

 

What do you expect?

Faithbuilding in Israel

So the eternal God, Creator of the universe, comes down to earth and gets a sixteen year old girl named Mary pregnant. The boy born of this union, though obviously of God, is scorned by his people as an illegitimate bastard, condemned, tortured, crucified, and buried as a criminal. His heavenly Father raises him from the dead, accepting his death as atonement for the sin of his mother's race, and receives him to his right hand side, from whence He pours out the holy Spirit on all who believe, and from whence He will return one day to reign over all humanity.

 

Doesn't that sound far fetched to you!

 

I am a sceptic. And very often, as I go about my life on the Canadian prairies, that story has seemed too far fetched to believe. Leaves, and sunsets, and thunder storms, and the eye of an eagle, make it impossible for me to deny the existence of God, but the incarnation has seemed more like a story book fairy tale.

 

For a while now, I have been asking God to increase my faith. I want the reality of the incarnation to have as much impact on me as do the realities of day to day life. Better yet, I would like the realities of the incarnation to control or give meaning to the realities of day to day life.

 

I have just returned from spending eleven days in Israel.

 

The first full day was the most overwhelming.

 

While it was yet morning we traveled from near Joppa, (where Peter received his vision declaring Gentiles clean, and from which Jonah fled his call to preach to Gentiles) to Caesarea by the Sea. We gathered in an ancient theater, some of the seats, 2000 years old. Perhaps the very place where the infamous Herod was eaten by worms and died for taking the glory due only to God. (cf. Acts 12:21-23) Our worship leader called us to sing. He had chosen many of my favorites, proclaiming the glory and majesty of God.

 

I had trouble singing. While we were being led to sing of His grandeur, I was being overwhelmed with His humility.

 

I am used to connecting with the earth as His creation. And because creation is grand, He can only be more grand. But here for the first time I was connecting with the earth as His dwelling place. This land was the land to which He had given His name. Before Jesus, there was Israel. Here, He had chosen to make Himself known. Here, He had created for Himself a people. Here, He had chosen to make Himself visible, not just in the leaves on the trees, but in the history of His people. Etched into the very ground upon which we walked, are the stories where He went to battle for His people. Places named after Him. Structures built to honor Him. Ruins, where His enemies fought Him and lost, or where His people abandoned Him and suffered the consequence.

 

In Canada you would need to get rid of creation in order to deny God, but in Israel you would need to erase history in order to deny Him. Everywhere He went, He left a trail.

 

Everywhere He went, He left a trail!

 

God became earthy, before He became flesh.

 

Words fail me. As I sat in the theater at Caesarea, I needed a song about His nearness. About His dwelling on the very soil He created. About His relentless pursuit of relationship. First by attaching Himself to Abraham, then to the Israelites, and then to the land of Israel. Israel foreshadows the body of Christ. It's like God said, “This is who I am, and this is the kind of thing I do, in pursuit of you. I get down and dirty, and come to you on your turf. I want you to know me! Majestic I am, but aloof I am not!”

 

Into our humble abode He comes.

 

And His glory shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

The Gospel for Low Lifes, According to Jesus

So far we have seen John the Baptist and Jesus set the stakes way high – surprisingly high -- in response to people who have it together. What will His response be to people who obviously don't have it together?

 

I must confess that I had a hard time letting my title stand. I actually have a harder time loving the self righteous than I do loving the unrighteous, and I really find it distasteful to call anyone a “low life.”

 

Yet the woman featured in today's blog is clearly presented as just that – a known woman of ill repute. Luke leaves her nameless and describes her as, “a woman in the city who was a sinner.” (Lk 7:37) The Pharisee host gave himself permission to reduce his opinion of Christ, because, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” (Lk 7:39) And even Jesus describes her as one whose sins “are many” (vs 47) and who needs much forgiveness in comparison to Simon, His Pharisee host, who needs little. She was society's trash – a low life, whose sins were public and on display.

 

His final word!

 

“Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” (vs 50) And before that, “Your sins have been forgiven.” (vs 48) And before that, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much.” (vs 47)

 

Why is there no, “But.”

 

“But, go clean up your act. “

 

Or

 

“But, make sure you don't return to your previous lifestyle.”

 

Just,

 

“Go in peace!”

 

I can feel it as I write. Her slumped shoulders lifting. Her downcast eyes and tear stained face now cautiously turned up, looking for His eyes. “Could it be true?” The smile breaking forth and the tears, now of joy, flowing again. Release! Release! Release! Blessed sweet release!

 

I am sure she went! In peace – forgiven – rescued by Jesus.

 

How could He? Why did He? What happened here anyways?

 

If you haven't read it by now, you should. We are talking about Luke 7:36-50.

 

There is lots of neat stuff here. Like how Simon thinks in his head, and has Jesus answer him out loud. And how Jesus makes Simon look like the low life in the story. But blog posts are supposed to be short.

 

Why does Jesus forgive her? Because she loves Him much!

 

The house

 

She goes, uninvited, into the home of a well reputed Pharisee who would not so much as touch her clothing. He has guests of his own kind gathered. This is not a safe place for her.

 

The alabaster vial of perfume

 

She hears that He is in there, picks up her perfume, and enters the house. There is nothing happenstance about this. She has heard about Him, recognized who He is, perhaps seen Him minister with compassion and authority to others, and is on a mission to express her love for Him, and seek forgiveness. He has her heart, and is her only hope.

 

The language of her body

 

She is weeping. Too broken to touch His head or His torso, her tears falling on His feet, she keeps wiping them off with her hair, all the while kissing his feet and anointing them with her perfume.

 

She says nothing. She doesn't need to!

 

Why does Jesus forgive her? Because He can forgive whomever He wants.

 

This is what has the Pharisees floored. For the moment they forget about the sinful woman making a public display at Jesus feet. Their murmuring is now not about her, but about Him. “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

 

She knows who He is, but they do not!

 

My Hebrew professor in seminary once said something that so surprised me, I have never forgotten it. “There is no sacrifice for the sin of the high hand.” Premeditated things like murder and adultery are dealt with by stoning and by the absence of an atoning sacrifice.

 

King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah. In Psalm 32, and Psalm 51 and II Samuel 11,12 there is no mention of him taking a lamb or a bull to the tabernacle in search of atonement. Instead he speaks in the Psalms of acknowledging His sin to God and being blessed with forgiveness. It was all he could do.

 

And it is all she can do. If she had taken a lamb to the priest at the temple, the priest would have turned her away. (Assuming that she was an adulteress.) The priest can only offer forgiveness under the law, and there is no provision for her under the law.

 

When Jesus says, “Your sins have been forgiven you,” He is placing Himself above the law (a higher authority than the High Priest) and equal with His Father. He can forgive whomever He wants.

 

For the record, I know that He does that on the basis of His own atoning sacrifice, yet to come! But I see no evidence that she knows that, or needs to know that. There is certainly no evidence that He points her in that direction. And He certainly could have, because He knows exactly where He is going. So He forgives her without pointing her back to the shadow of the atonement (the Old Testament sacrificial system) or pointing her forward to the reality of the atonement (His own sacrifice on the cross). He just forgives her, plain and simple!

 

There is yet another thing, perhaps the more breathtaking.

 

If I meet a stranger, and He tells me how he has sinned against his wife, and I say, “I forgive you,” what is that? Nothing! He will not go away forgiven, and unless he is a fool, he will not go away feeling forgiven. Why not? Because he has not sinned against me. So I can not forgive him.

 

When David is dealing with the guilt of committing adultery with Bathsheba, and murdering her husband, he says to the Lord, “Against You and You only I have sinned!” (Psalm 51:4) That sounds ridiculous. How could it be more clearly not true? He violated the marriage of Uriah, and Bathsheba – a sin against both of them. He took the life of Uriah, a sin against Uriah, and any who loved him or depended on him. Yet he says, “Against you and you only I have sinned!” What can he mean?

 

He means that he gets it! While His sin certainly violated many, first and foremost, it violated their Creator, and the forgiveness that counts has to come from Him! When a vandal sprays paint over a priceless painting, he violates the painting, but his action most importantly expresses contempt for the painter and the owner. God is both the painter and the owner of men and women and their marriages.

 

This woman knows intuitively that to which the Pharisees are blind. Jesus is God. Her sins, which are many, are against Him. Thus, He can forgive her!

 

And He does!

 

And He does without requirement, simply on the basis of her faith or her love! We see a heart, now upside down to the way it used to be. There is no tension between her and John the Baptist or the rich young ruler or lawyer.

 

Eternal life is for those whose hearts belong to Jesus.

A Horse, My daughter, and a Mirror

We have a horse. She's a big horse. My 9 year old daughter whom we affectionately call Bishkybobs loves horses. And I love my 9 year old daughter.

 

I once found a stool from the house out in the pasture. She had taken it there to climb up on Bonnie, our horse. On another day, I happened to look up and saw her with her 4 year old sister hoisted onto Bonnie and her leading. She has attempted to saddle Bonnie without my help, though the saddle is too heavy, the horse too tall, and she too weak to put it on, or to cinch it up. She goes out in the pasture to visit Bonnie often. She feeds her apples and carrots. We have had to make a rule that she can only use blemished apples in order to keep some apples for the family.

 

Bonnie is tame, and well trained, but was once a trail riding horse, and knows that there are humans that she does not have to obey. My daughter is one of those humans. When my daughter rides her, there comes a point where Bonnie has had enough and she just quits, or worse.

 

The ache of my daughter's heart is to have a horse that she can ride.

 

My heart is inclined towards her.

 

One day, a few weeks ago, a neighbor was over, telling us about a man who had died, leaving 17 horses, trained for saddle and harness. His children had no interest and the horses were going to be sold at auction, at prices much below their value.

 

Bishkybobs heard.

 

At first, many times a day, “Daddy, can we get one of those horses?” Then once a day, and now probably once a week.

 

My heart is inclined towards her. I find myself looking for ways to buy her one of those horses.

 

It doesn't make any sense. We already have a horse that is only good for looking at and being petted. With a firm hand, it could be good for much more, but my daughter is too young to be firm enough. I have experience with horses. I know that another horse would likely end up just like the first one. And it costs money to feed a horse.

 

Yet, I look forward to her getting old enough, so that I can get her a horse that she can ride.

 

Bishkybobs brother Bones is only mildly interested in horses. Sometimes -- rarely, he goes along with Bishykbobs to visit Bonnie, but it's just a way to pass the time. If he asks me for a horse, I will just grunt some reason that he can't have one, and know that by tomorrow it will be forgotten.

 

But if he asks me for a rope, or a hammer, or an electric train set, my heart will tilt towards him, same as it does for Bishkybobs. Because I know his heart too!

 

I am a good Dad. But my good-dadness is just a cloudy mirror of my heavenly Father's good-dadness. Jesus says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Mt 7:11)

 

I have been reading the book, “Fasting,” by Scot Mcknight. In it he makes the point that fasting moves the heart of God, not because it's fasting, but because the fasting expresses the wholeheartedness of the seeker. In much the same way, persistence, or sacrifice also shows the heart of the seeker. In other words, there is no formula – “Do this and then that, and God will answer.”-- but rather God's heart is inclined towards His children, when He sees that their heart is in their request. (Cf Jeremiah 29:13) From what I know of my heavenly Father, and from what I see in the mirror of my Father's heart – my own heart – this makes sense to me.

 

A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon on this, entitled, “Does God believe you?” We tend to think that if we are to pray in faith as the Bible instructs, the point of the “in faith” is whether or not we have confidence in God. Perhaps of equal importance is whether He believes us. Halfhearted prayers are not likely to tilt his heart towards us.

 

Sometimes people come and tell me of some need or another. As they leave, I say, “I will pray for you.” Then I have a crisis of integrity. Knowing myself to be scatter brained and forgetful, I pray, right then and there, on the spot, to make sure that I fulfill my word. And then I forget about it. I am not wholeheartedly beseeching my Father on behalf of my friend. I am avoiding feeling guilty.

 

The point of that prayer is to absolve myself of the responsibility to pray. And guess what! My heavenly Father knows it! If I look in the mirror, I am guessing He will answer with a grunt, at best.

 

The beauty of all of this is the realization that my heart impacts my Father's heart, and because His heart is inclined towards me, He grants me the longings of my heart.

 

The challenge is the realization that He can't be manipulated. Mouthed words are meaningless to Him when they come from a cold, lukewarm or disinterested heart. What I ask for may even be a good thing, but He knows when my heart is not in it.

 

The comfort in this is that this does not put me in the drivers seat. Though my heart is inclined towards her, Bishykybobs still does not have a horse that she can ride. She waits on my tenderhearted wisdom. And I wait on His.

 

This view allows prayer to have all the simplicity and complexity of a parent child relationship. If, with all my heart, I ask for poison, He will, with all His heart, deny my request. If I am not ready for it, He will wait. If I am ready but people around me aren't, He will hold off till they are, or just say, “no,” because they won't be, or work in their hearts so that they will be.

 

If you have been reading these blogs, you have read my “Personal Lament,” and my “Communal Lament.” You know that I have been praying for an Acts-like personal and church experience for a quarter of a century. Not praying as a religious duty, but praying out of an aching heart. My prayers have had an ebb and flow to them, but they have never ebbed away, and often the flow is intense. My heavenly Father has never seen me lose interest.

 

But after my sermon, “Does God believe you?” I had been asking that question of my own prayers, and getting frustrated. What could I do to show Him I meant it? I have been learning to fast, but so far a fast is not a natural expression of an intensely heartfelt need, for me.  It was, in the culture of the Bible, but it isn't, yet, for me.

 

I went to a “Desiring God” conference last week. During worship, I was processing that question, and God met me.

 

“What can I do to make my heart obvious to Him? Wait a minute, my heart is obvious to Him. He doesn't need to pay attention to my words, or my actions, or my posture or anything. He knows my heart before I know it and more fully than I know it. If He doesn't believe me, it will be because it is not true of me, not because I didn't make the right display.”

 

And then,

 

“But it is true.”

 

And then,

 

“He knows my heart!”

 

And then,

 

“My son, I believe you!”

 

And then,

 

I wept.

 

And now,

 

I rest and pray!

 

Content in the knowledge that He has heard me and that His heart is tilted towards me, I wait.

 

But I am still pestering Him.

The Gospel for Lawyers, According to Jesus

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25) This time it's an expert in the law asking. He is someone who has given his life to studying the Old Testament Law. Luke tells us that he asked the question to put Jesus to the test.

 

He is certainly not asking as did the rich young ruler. The rich young ruler asked the question because he knew Jesus knew, and he did not. This man asks because he thinks he knows, and wants to see if Jesus does.

 

If we are generous, we could surmise that the right answer from Jesus may lead this expert in the law to become a follower. If cynical, we would assume that he is trying to trip Jesus up. In either case, it is probably not a good idea to hold oneself as the authority and Jesus as the student. Jesus has a way of turning the tables on those who think He needs to answer to them.

 

And so He does. “What is written in the law? How does it read to you?” (Lk 10:26)

 

The expert in the law answers with, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (10:27)

 

In one fell swoop Jesus affirms the validity of his Biblical interpretation and calls into question his obedience. “You have answered correctly; Do this and you will live.” (10:28)

 

Now on the defensive, the expert in the law comes back with, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers with the story of the good Samaritan.

 

But before we get to that, stop and think about what you just heard. The gospel according to Jesus is that people who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and their neighbor as themselves, inherit eternal life!

 

As you will recall (from previous blogs) I was looking for places where Jesus would answer the question of how to gain eternal life. Now here was another one that seemed completely at odds with our current gospel presentations. First the rich young ruler (previous blog) is told that he must sell all his possessions, and now this lawyer is told that he must not only understand the law, but fulfill it!

 

At first sight it would appear that this one is at least easier to explain away. “Perhaps, Jesus knew that no one could keep these two commandments. If the lawyer could, he would inherit eternal life. But he can't, so he will need to trust in the finished work of Christ instead. Only Jesus hasn't died yet, so He can't say that. But that doesn't matter because the question wasn't sincere anyways. The man was testing, not seeking.” Phew! We can hang on to our current gospel presentations!

 

Not so fast. Jesus says, much the same thing in Matthew 5, but there the context does not allow us to side step the fairly obvious connection of a practiced radical righteousness with entering the kingdom of heaven.”

 

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 5:20)

 

Just prior he says the law is valid until heaven and earth pass away. That He came not to abolish, but to fulfill. And that whoever annuls the least of the law will be called least in the kingdom and whoever keeps and teaches it will be called great in the kingdom.

 

But the real kicker follows. Jesus moves from theory to practical illustration. It's here that he tells us that lust is a form of adultery, and that anger is a form of murder. (Mt 5:21-28) Following that He instructs us to gouge out our eye if it causes us to sin because it is better to lose an eye on the way to heaven, than to go fully sighted into hell. (Mt. 5:29,30)

 

While the scribes and Pharisees are accustomed to thinking that they need to stay within the letter of the law, Jesus' teaching is that our practice must fulfill the spirit of the law. The absence of such practice will put us with most of the Pharisees – destined for hell. Jesus is not teaching about the kind of righteousness we would need if we could achieve it, even though we can't. He is unpacking the kind of righteousness the Pharisees can't achieve, but the Holy Spirit can. He is pointing to the need for a Divinely enabled life.

 

It may be helpful to point out that “inherit eternal life,” is not exactly the same as our current evangelical “get saved.” Throughout the NT, “salvation” is often viewed as something we obtain upon our death. The lawyer is asking the question, “What kind of life do I need to live in order to be resurrected to eternal life?” This is not the same as asking what he needs in order to live that life.

 

This is a bit different than Jesus' words about Zacheus – “Today salvation has come to this house” – as a result of his obvious change of heart. It's closer to Jesus' words to the rich young ruler – “Go sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come , follow Me.” For the rich young ruler there was a life changing event (sell it all, and give it away) tied to the promise of eternal life, (treasure in heaven) followed by an upside down earthly life (come, follow me).

 

But if you put all of these together you have Jesus teaching that there is an impossible change of heart that flows into an impossible new earthly way of living, that will usher us into the kingdom of heaven. (see also Mt 7:13-29) With the disciples we ask, “Then who can be saved?” And with the disciples we hear Jesus answer, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mk 10:27)

 

I wrote the above yesterday. And then in preparation for a cell group, I came across a quote from J. I. Packer: “The Christian's life in all its aspects – intellectual and ethical, devotional and relational, upsurging in worship and outgoing in witness – is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate it and sustain it. So apart from him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all.” Amen!

 

Jesus is not embarrassed to tie eternal life to a life lived upside down to the way normal people live. Nor is he shy about calling the absence of that life the absence of life altogether.

 

Let's return to our story.

 

“Do this and you will live,” says Jesus. Trapped by his own brilliance in the Word, the lawyer is looking for an escape. “Who is my neighbor?” he says. Perhaps he was hoping the answer would be, “the house next to yours in any direction.” That would make four to six neighbors at the most. The point is that he wants to limit the amount he has to love. Kind of like us asking if God requires a 10% tithe. At worst the answer will be, “yes,” and we will need to part with 10%. At best the answer will be, “no,” and we can give less without feeling guilty.

 

With both us, and this lawyer, the question is an outsider's question. When the Spirit of the Loving God has entered our hearts we will long to give lavishly and will chafe against stopping at 10%, and we will hope that loving our neighbors as ourselves will not need to stop at the neighbors who live next to us.

 

And so it is that Jesus tells a story where a complete stranger becomes a neighbor, and the least religious, the most righteous. Looking back it is part of the answer to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He makes love for our fellow man a prerequisite for entrance into eternal life. And it's the same kind of love that He expresses towards us in the cross – neither convenient, easy, or without sacrifice!

 

Neither is this unusual. “In as much as you have done it unto the least of these,” (cf Mt. 25:31-46) tells exactly the same tale. And the stakes are exactly the same extreme. He ends with, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (vs 46)

 

Evangelicals are the lawyers of today. We take pride in our passion for the Word, and are ready to stake our eternity on the legal reality that our sins have been covered by the blood of Christ. We point back to the day we “trusted” in the finished work of Christ, as the whole reason for our confidence. Yet many of us do not love our neighbors (defined as Jesus did) as ourselves. And we live in luxury while the brothers and sisters of Christ all over the planet suffer and die.

 

I think there is too much at stake to ignore the words of Jesus. Brilliant we are, but so was the lawyer.

 

One last thing.

 

In our quest for a formula – a neatly defined response to God – that will guarantee our eternity, we have landed on the word, “faith.” I love the word “faith”. We use it with good authority. Jesus uses it, and so do the apostles. I am going to talk about it a lot in future blogs.

 

But notice this.

 

Jesus doesn't use it with the rich young ruler, Zacheus, or this Lawyer. And John the Baptist doesn't use it either. Our quest for a word, gives away our failure to get it. God is looking for a deep change of heart. Lots of words can be used.

 

People who “love” God have eternal life.

 

People who “fear” God have eternal life.

 

People who “seek” God have eternal life.

 

People who “repent” have eternal life.

 

And there are more.

The Gospel for Rich People, According to Jesus

Warning, if you are wealthy, you may not want to read this. But then again, if you have a computer and access to the internet, you are probably wealthy. Just about everyone reading this is wealthy – certainly in the wealthiest 20 % of the world's population. I'll tell you what. I'll call a truce. This will not be a rant about the evils of riches.

 

Twice, we get front seats, as we see Jesus interact with rich people who want to get to heaven. First, in the story usually named, “The Rich Young Ruler.” (Mt. 19:16-30, Mk. 10:17-27, Lk. 18:18-30) And second, in the story of Zacheus. (Lk. 19:1-10)

 

Neither story uses the word, “gospel.” Yet both stories fit the parameters of my study because they carry explicit reference to obtaining eternal life. The rich young ruler asks the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Zaccheus is a conversion story, with Jesus saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

 

The rich young ruler is particularly poignant for me because he baits me right up front. The first time I studied this in depth was in the early days of wanting to take a fresh look at the gospel. When I came to his question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” I thought, “Aha, I've found it! The question can't be clearer than that. What Jesus says here, will settle it for me.”

 

You can imagine my horror, when Jesus says, “You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and Mother.'” (Mark 10:19) Jesus was obviously not trained as an evangelical, because the answer to that question is, “You can't do anything. Salvation is a free gift. All you can do is receive it!”

 

The rich young ruler's response -- “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” What will Jesus do with that?

 

When I was in Bible College we did Field Ed. by going into a small Canadian city and stopping strangers on the street in order to initiate a conversation that we would turn into a gospel presentation. I vividly remember getting to, “You are a sinner and your sin separates you from a Holy God,” only to be stumped. More than once the response at that point was, “No I am not. I am a good person.” I would find myself trying to prove to a stranger whom I did not know, that he was in fact a bad person.

 

I expected Jesus to say, “No you haven't, you just think you have.” “Ever lusted after a woman!” “Ever called someone a fool.” (Cf Mt. 5:21-22, 27-28)

 

Instead, Jesus accepts the sincerity of the man's testimony.

 

I use Mark when I teach this story because he alone gives us a window into the heart of Christ at this point. “Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him.” (10:21)

 

The man's question is sincere. He is not one of the skeptics, looking for proof, or one of the antagonists trying to trip Jesus up. He has been watching and listening and recognizes in Jesus a “good teacher.” His soul is insecure, in spite of spending his entire life zealously obeying the law. He wants to know that he will obtain eternal life. And Jesus loves him.

 

“One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.” There it is! That's the gospel – the good news.

 

Oh, Oh! He is walking away, heart heavy. He owns much, and he loves what he owns. The cost is simply too high. (vs 22)

 

Jesus turns it into a lesson for his future evangelists – the disciples.

 

“How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (vs23)

 

And again:

 

“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

 

I have heard that there was a gate in the wall of Jerusalem, that was a small gate -- so small that to get a camel through it you had to get it to go down on its knees. I don't know if that's true or not, but I know what Jesus meant, because He unpacks it.

 

When the disciples hear this, they are doubly astonished and ask, “Then who can be saved?” (vs 26)

 

Jesus answer: “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (vs 27)

 

The change of heart that's required can't be had by human effort. It takes a work of God!

 

So what do we make of this? Is Jesus really saying that one must become poor – literally sell all your possessions and give the money away, poor – in order to obtain eternal life?

 

Obviously that's what He said to the rich young ruler, but would he say that to every wealthy man or woman? No, He wouldn't. Would He say that to us? Maybe He would.

 

Why aren't Abraham, David, and Solomon told to get rid of all of their wealth?

 

A look at Zaccheus might help.

 

What Zaccheus is famous for, is being short. But he was also very wealthy. Luke tells us that he was “a chief tax collector and he was rich.” (19:2)

 

The story is short on detail. Did Zaccheus climb the tree because he had already had a change of heart, or did he climb the tree just because he was curious? Perhaps news of Jesus healing the blind man (Lk. 18:35-43) had come to him. All we know is that Zaccheus was short, and resourceful, and not too embarrassed to climb a tree, in order to see Jesus. Perhaps it was the shocking generosity of Jesus – “Today I must stay at your house.” (Lk 19:5) Accustomed to being judged a sinner, scorned and avoided, this desire for relationship would come to him like cool water to a parched throat.

 

We can't pinpoint when the change of heart happened, but it's obvious that it did.

 

“Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

 

Jesus could've said, “Half will not do! You must sell it all.” Then we could make a case for a formula for rich people.

 

But He doesn't!

 

Instead: “Today salvation has come to this house...” ( 19:9) It can't be more clear than that! “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (vs 10) Jesus has accomplished what He set out to do. Zaccheus's heart has changed! He is going to live upside down to the way he used to live.

 

The point of both of these stories is that there is a space in the human heart in which Jesus wants to dwell. That is the space of our utmost allegiance. If we have something else in that space,  Jesus can't live there, and He won't live in any other space. Some of us have girlfriends or boyfriends in that space. Others, spouses and children. Still others, businesses, or professions, or even a well ordered life, or a clean and tidy house, or the respect of our fellow man.

 

In order for some rich people to be free of the hold money has on their heart, they will actually have to become poor, in order to receive Jesus. Other's will be able to give their riches to Jesus internally -- removing it from the place of worship in their hearts, becoming stewards of His money instead of being mastered by their own.

 

This also becomes true of all the other loyalties that have a hold on us.

 

It's interesting that the commandments recited by Jesus to the rich young ruler are all the horizontal man to man commandments. Probably because Jesus knew the vertical one that the rich young ruler wasn't following: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me!” His money was his god!

 

In all of this, we discover that the gospel according to John the Baptist, and the gospel according to Jesus are, so far, perfectly consistent. Both call for a changed heart leading to a life lived upside down to what it used to be. John hints at the need for a Holy Spirit baptism, Jesus explicitly says receiving Him is impossible apart from God working.

 

Again it could be that this is an Old Testament gospel, that will change after the cross. But it doesn't change between John and Jesus. It's hard to imagine that Jesus is training His disciples in a gospel that they will need to drop as soon as He dies. And what is the church supposed to do with this, if it's not a paradigm for us to follow?

 

More, next time. Ya'all come back now ya here!

 

(Sorry, I lived in Dallas for 4 years)

The Gospel According to John the Baptist

When the angel of the Lord is telling old man Zacharias that he and his also old and barren wife Elizabeth are about to have a baby boy, he describes John as follows:

 

And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. (Lk 1:16 New Living Translation)

 

Jesus Himself tells us that us that those who “receive” Him get to be children of God, and those who don't, don't. (John 1:12) John is miraculously born, just to prepare the people of Israel to receive Him. For the most part, even with John the Baptist's preparation, they didn't get it. (John 1:11) But perhaps, for those of us who want to get it – to receive Him – starting with John the Baptist would be a good idea.

 

What does it look like to be prepared to receive Christ? What does John actually say and do? What does he call on the people to do?

 

The first hint comes in the angel's announcement before John is even conceived. “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” (Lk 1:17b) Preparation for the coming of Christ involves a change of heart. A change of heart that is characterized by a softness towards children and a love of submission.

 

The second hint comes at his birth through the prophetic words of the Baptist's till then mute dad in Luke 1:76-79:

 

“And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”

 

Here preparation involves news. News of forgiveness. News of a tender hearted and merciful God. News of light for those who live oppressed, in a dark world. And news of the path of peace. So preparation involves receptivity to God. God is breaking in, in the birth of His son, on a rescue mission to save His people from their sins, and to guide them onto a path of peace.

 

This “little son” of Zacharias – John the Baptist, is of course only the messenger. The real news is Christ. The end result of His coming, says Zacharias , is that His people can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness, for as long as they live. (Lk 1:74,75) This little son is coming to announce the way back to God.

 

Before John the Baptist opens his mouth to speak. Before Jesus is born. Already it is clear that what is coming is grand and glorious and absolutely life transforming. But I run ahead of myself.

 

What does John actually say?

 

“You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” (Lk. 3:7b,8a NASB)

 

According to Luke, those were his opening words. And when pressed as to what that repentance should look like, we have the following:

 

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Lk 3:11-14)

 

John's words represent an about face, a radical change of heart.

 

We can assume that we are getting the abbreviated version. What he actually said was probably longer and more involved, but clearly Luke is trying to give us the gist of his preaching. His introduction says that John came, “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Lk 3:3)

 

“A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins!” Boiled down, forgiveness of sins was for those who had a radical change of heart. This change of heart was signified by being baptized by John in the Jordan, and then by going home and living upside down to the way they used to live. And that made them ready for the coming of Christ.

 

The last surprise in Luke's telling of the story comes in Luke 3:18: “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.” “Gospel” means, “good news.” “You brood of vipers,” just does not sound like good news. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” sounds like good news. “Jesus died for you,” sounds like good news. But a “baptism of repentance...” not so much! Yet from Luke's perspective John was preaching the good news.

 

The beloved disciple John, (not the Baptist) highlights the story differently. His interest is not in what the Baptist called for as a response. He is all about who Jesus is. Higher rank, pre-existent Son of God, full of grace and truth, making the Father visible – these are the thoughts that matter to John.

 

The Baptist was the forerunner, the herald, the guy who ran out in front announcing the arrival. Preparing the way at it's essence involved the simple task of pointing to Him and shouting, “He's here!” so what does he actually say when Jesus arrives at the Jordan.

 

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34 NASB)

 

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” is unique to the Gospel of John.

 

Huge sigh of relief! If Matthew, Mark, and Luke had been more sensitive to evangelical sensitivities they would have included it as well, but at least we have it in John. In all that we have of the gospel according to John the Baptist, this one sentence in the gospel of John is the only mention of the Atonement. There is talk of forgiveness of sins, but this is the first we hear of sacrifice.

 

The average Israelite could not hear “Lamb of God who takes away sin” without thinking sacrifice. It points to Him as the fulfillment of their sacrificial system. John is describing Jesus as the atoning sacrifice, who will take away the sins of the world. “Of the world,” was likely a surprise, even a shock to those listening, accustomed as they were to thinking of Yahweh as the God of the Jews, and of the coming Messiah as the Messiah of the Jews. So this is grand too! It's atonement. And for those of us who have reduced the Gospel to forgiveness of sin through the death of Christ, it's comforting to know that the Baptist didn't miss the point altogether.

 

One of my favorite phrases in the New Testament is, “the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” The reason I like it, is because of the meaning of, “of.” It means the same as “of” in the “City of Winnipeg”. That's not the city that belongs to Winnipeg, or the city that comes from Winnipeg. It's the city which is Winnipeg. “City,” is the broad category, and “Winnipeg” narrows it down to only one. So Jesus Christ is the good news! “He's here!” Now that's good news indeed, but I am jumping way ahead.

 

One last thing, before we make some closing remarks.

 

When the people came to John the Baptist they were filled with expectation and wondered if he was the Christ. His answer according to Luke:

 

“As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:17 NASB) In the book of Acts, the same Luke records the words of Peter. He is preaching his first sermon. The occasion is Pentecost. The sound, a mighty rushing wind. The sight, Tongues of fire resting on the apostles heads. Everyone hearing the messengers speaking in their own tongue. Into this, Peter says, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)

 

So the gospel of John the Baptist includes a call to a radical change of heart and a hint at the provision to live out a radical change of heart. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Forgiveness for those whose hearts have changed, and power to live upside down to the way they had lived before. All because they have heard the news, “He's here!” and received Him.

 

Now for some closing remarks.

 

The differences between our gospel (eg. Steps to Peace with God) and the Baptist's gospel are stark. Our's centers on the Atonement, His on the person of Christ. The call in our's is to trust in what Jesus did on the cross, The call in His, to live upside down to the way they had lived.

 

There can be lots of reasons for this. Jesus has not died yet. “This was the gospel for them, but for us it's different.” Their expectation of the Messiah was to deliver them from their enemies, and the whole idea of the cross and the atonement was as of yet quite unclear. For John to announce, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” was itself prophetic. There was no way they could get, “Steps to Peace with God.”

 

Over against this is the fact that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not written for the people on the edge of the Jordan. Each of them writes after Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost. They are written for the church.

 

If the argument is to hold, that the Baptist's gospel is a different gospel because it was for a different time, then we will expect to see the proclamation change. As we move towards the cross and beyond, the focus of the Gospel should change until we see the cross at the center.

 

The temptation is to jump ahead and see what the disciples and Paul said in Acts. But we will restrain ourselves and look next at what Jesus said in the rest of the gospels.

 

PostScript

 

After my last postscript, I nearly apologized. I am not wanting to become purely academic, and I hope my heart will stay transparent in these blogs. If you have found this harder to read, I pray that you will still keep reading. This is way more important than what I've said till now. I believe that what I am saying here has huge implications, and therefore need to keep it very thoroughly Biblical. The downside of constant interaction with the Scriptures is that it reads heavier. But it is not light stuff.

 

I will intersperse these posts, with posts interacting with the perceived irrelevance of our current gospel. Those posts will be lighter and easier to read. So stay tuned!

 

Bombshell

I start by giving you excerpts from four Christian leaders that I have read this past week.

 

By David Wilkerson

 

“The church in America is far from what God envisioned it to be. For the most
part, entire denominations today operate without the Holy Spirit. They are
devoid of the presence of Jesus and bankrupt of all spiritual gifts. They
practice a form of religion without any power, conviction or saving message...

The New Testament church made devils tremble! It drove legions of demons into
the abyss, prayed prison doors open, made rulers cringe in fear. Those early
believers had such faith and power that cripples rose up leaping and beggars
became evangelists. They believed in the supernatural and they opened blind
eyes, unstopped deaf ears and healed all manner of diseases. They even raised
the dead!

I am not saying God’s last-day church will be a repeat or copy of the
first-century church. No—I am saying it will be even greater than that! It
will be mightier, stronger, with an ever greater revelation of Jesus. It will
have greater unction from the Spirit than ever—greater even than at
Pentecost! God always saves His best wine for last!”

 

From: http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/11/26/is-it-time-to-close-our-churches/

 

“As usual, A.W. Tozer had it exactly right: 'If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.'”

 

From: Christianity Today, October 2009, Cover Story

 

“Evangelicals desperately need moral and spiritual renewal – on that everyone agrees.”

 

From: Francis Chan, “Forgotten God,” page 31

 

“I think the worst part is when you get outside the church's walls and interact with believers and nonbelievers in the same sphere. Can you really tell a difference? If you didn't recognize their faces from church, would you know from their actions and lifestyle that they were followers of Jesus? Honestly, sometimes I am embarrassed by some of my “Christian” neighbors because my unbelieving neighbors seem more joyful, welcoming, and at peace. Why does this happen? And how is it even possible?”

 

This paragraph by Francis Chan was published in 2009, but for me, its sentiments are 25 years old. Fresh out of seminary, in my first church, I walked the streets and asked myself exactly that question. Two houses, same street. One house belongs to people from my church, the other to unbelievers. What's different inside the house? What's different about the church going people from the non church going people, apart from the fact that they go to church?

 

25 years has softened me. I know church people in whom God is alive and well, and I know that even in the NT the church was in a mess. (Take a close look at the church in Corinth). It's not all bad, or all good. Nevertheless, if I step back and look at the church as a whole, the question is still valid. The answer still disturbing. There are a lot of people in church, and a lot of churches, in whom God is not alive and well.

 

25 years ago, Chan's question (mine then, his now) launched a study that has become a life work for me. I was very concerned by what I saw, or better, by what I didn't see. I asked, “Why?” My first thought was that it had to be a general failure of Christians to live Christianly. But instead of starting with what the Bible says about Christian living, I started with a study of what the Bible said about becoming a Christian. I suppose it was because I was a keener, fresh out of seminary, and committed to being thorough. I needed to do a review of the one before I could dig into the other. Kind of like, “I better make sure I have this right, before I go into that.”

 

I laid out some ground rules. I would begin with passages of Scripture that were about becoming a Christian, or that would speak explicitly to the essential difference between Christians and non Christians. I was looking for a starting point that was solid. At that point I fully expected to discover that the gospel I had been taught, was the NT gospel, and that the church people who didn't have the heart or values of Christ were Christians who needed a revival.

 

As I read the NT with fresh eyes, I was surprised and frightened to discover that Jesus and the apostles did not preach the gospel like we (evangelicals) do. Try as I might, I could not find a gospel presentation anywhere in the NT that looked remotely similar to the gospel presentations to which I was accustomed. And this wasn't just a subtle thing or a question of style. There were elements deemed essential to us that weren't in the NT presentations. Conversely there were elements consistently in the NT, completely missing from ours.

 

Fearful then, confident now, I concluded that the church failing to manifest Christ was a product of a gospel robbed of most of its power.

 

The word “gospel” is a translation of a Greek word that means “good news.” The disciples were commanded by Christ to “preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

 

Obviously, most of the Bible can be read as good news, but for our purposes here, we are talking about something narrow. We are talking about the message evangelicals proclaim to unbelievers in the hope that they would respond and become Christians. Currently there may be a thousand minor variations of this message, but they are close to identical in their substance. This is true across the evangelical spectrum and into some main line Protestant denominations.

 

This gospel is well illustrated by the brochure, “Steps to Peace with God.” I pulled this off of the Billy Graham Evangelistic association web site. The following link will get you to the full text.

 

http://www.billygraham.ca/spiritual-help/steps-to-peace.aspx

Step 1: God's Purpose: Peace and Life

God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.

Step 2: The Problem: Our Separation

God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice. We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.

Step 3: God's Bridge: The Cross

Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

Step 4: Our Response: Receive Christ

We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.

Where are you?

Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?

Here is how you can receive Christ:

• Admit your need (I am a sinner).

• Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).

• Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.

• Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)

The reason I choose this particular presentation is because it is about the best out there. It's wording is carefully thought through, and some of the excesses of other presentations have been avoided. It includes a kind of repentance, saying we need to be willing to turn from our sins. ( Some leave it out altogether.) It speaks of receiving Christ and giving Him control. (Some speak only of placing our faith in what Jesus did on the cross.) And it mentions that Jesus “rose from the grave.” (a point left out completely by some.)

 

Virtually all evangelicals would ascribe to this basic message in one form or another as “the gospel.” (The one we are called to proclaim to the ends of the earth.) This has been true for at least 50 years, and may even be seen as true in a less refined way, since the Reformation. The church that we grieve over is a product of this message.

 

That doesn't necessarily mean this gospel is flawed. There can be other reasons for the malaise of the church. But at very least we must admit that we hold this gospel in common. A positive response to this message is what gives us our confidence that we belong to God. So, if there is a widespread malaise in the church, at very least, it could be a trajectory that starts here.

 

I don't know of anything more sacred to us than this message. In blogs to come, I am going to say some challenging things – things that are likely to create insecurity and make people angry. It's not that I want to, in fact I will try not to, but I still know that I will. So let me start by making clear what I am not saying.

I believe that God loves us and wants us to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.

I believe that apart from Christ I am a sinner and that my sin separated me from God.

 

I believe that in His death Christ paid the penalty for my sinfulness and removed the offense that separated me from God.

 

I believe that it is my faith in Christ that secures my place in the family of God.

 

So you see, I subscribe to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. I am not trying to deny the cross or it's significance to our salvation.

 

On top of that, when I get to heaven, I expect that there will only be a few others there because of my life and ministry. On the other hand, I expect that there will be untold thousands there because of the ministry of Billy Graham, his association, and other like minded ministries and ministers. This fact almost shuts me down.

 

But then I return to what the church is.

 

That's not what it's supposed to be. If I think I have some idea why, how can I keep silent?

 

So in the next weeks and months I plan to say three things:

 

1. We have the gospel wrong. The gospel message that we preach is not the gospel we are told to preach in the NT.

2. The gospel message that we preach is failing to engage the unbelievers of our world – it's viewed as largely irrelevant.

3. The way we preach the gospel, robs it of much of its beauty and all of its integrity.

 

As to 1: The popular gospel is not untrue, and it's not that it's not good news, it's just that it's not the good news that people need to hear and respond to in order to enter into Christ. (I realize that this sounds like a contradiction. “If it's not what people need to hear, then how are thousands going to be in heaven because of it?” I'll answer this later – probably much later.)

 

As to 2: It's not that relevance trumps anything. If we had it right, and our world viewed it as irrelevant, we would just need to suck it up, and do our best to educate our world as to it's relevance. But I happen to believe that if we were more closely aligned with the NT, our world would find us relevant and engaging. Indeed, we would be as impossible to ignore as Jesus was.

 

As to 3: This one matters the most to me, and is the hardest to explain. For me, what one becomes by responding to the gospel is what one is for the rest of his/her eternity. There is no seam between becoming a Christian and living as a Christian. The gospel has integrity because living is integral to being made alive. Dedication is motivated by essence rather than obligation or gratitude. More later.

 

Postscript

 

I haven't posted anything for more than a month. I have come close to posting an apology a number of times. But I think I am backing away from the intention to post once a week. It will likely be that, or more, going forward, but from time to time it may create an artificial need to write something, when in fact I should be carefully reflective. Such has been the case for the last month. I now have a structure for the next months. What I need is the discipline to stay faithful, but not the pressure to produce.

 

So if you are praying for me, pray that I would be effective and disciplined in the use of my time, and that what I would write would be lifegiving to yourself, the church, and the world.

 

This blog also represents a shift. I sense that what I am now writing of has the potential to make a significant contribution to the theology of the gospel. I don't want to write at a level that average laypeople can't get, but I do want to be scholarly enough to engage and strengthen church leaders. I will probably need to work harder at showing how I arrived at my conclusions. We'll see how this works out, and I covet your comments to let me know how I am doing, particularly if I am unclear.

 

A Confession

 

I am very shy about introducing people to Jesus. Give me a funeral to preach, or a marriage to perform, or a Bible Study to lead and I will be bold and clear and winsome. But put me side by side personally with someone who has never met Christ, and short of him asking me directly, I will not usually speak of Christ. And “not usually,” is being generous to me. “Almost never” may be closer to the truth.

 

Why is that?

 

One of my very first blog posts is on the incarnation (December 31, 2005). In it, I journal the illumination of the doctrine of the incarnation to me. That Jesus is and lives is so incredible that it is nearly incredible to me. i.e. It is so amazing, that I struggle to believe it! It is great news! Glorious news! So great that I should not be able to keep it to myself. Yet I do!

 

Why is that?

 

If I want to excuse myself, I would say that it is because I have a very high respect for human autonomy. I do not want to shove anything down anyone's throat, and I don't want to force my way in, where I am not invited. I believe very strongly that you can't coerce or manipulate someone into believing in Jesus. It's whole hearted faith that moves someone into the Kingdom, and whole hearted faith can't be forced. It's a God thing! So I want to be sure that I am not violating someone's humanity by pushing them to Someone in whom they are not interested.

 

I worked in a welding shop for three plus years and in my shy (only when it comes to the gospel) and respectful way gained the respect of everyone there. During that time a Bible thumper came in. And then I heard them talk about him. His “in their faceness” wasn't doing Christ any favors. In fact I think he was pushing the guys away. So I could say that mine was the better way, but it wasn't really. They didn't meet Jesus through me either. They respected me, but didn't get the connection!

 

I think it's just an excuse. I picked up my respect for human freedom from the Bible. Yet, I read there, of prophets and apostles who were both respectful and bold. One can honor another's right to believe and choose for themselves, and still be significantly in their face. In fact, if one of my non Christian associates would meet Jesus, and then discover that I knew Him all along, I think he would be bewildered. I can just hear him, “Why didn't you tell me? News this good, and you kept it from me. Why?”

 

Tastefully bold, is probably important, and I am not.

 

If I wanted to, I could take comfort in the fact that I am not alone. I know lots of Christians who almost never talk about Jesus with their non Christian associates. As a matter of fact, I would say that the majority of us almost never do. (If you don't like “almost never” try “don't usually.”) But that just adds to the question.

 

Why is that?

 

For me, this is particularly embarrassing. I am a specialist in the theology of the Gospel. It's the thing to which I have chosen to give my life. I actually have a lot to say about Jesus and what He has done, and what it means to be a Christian. In fact, I believe the church often gets it significantly wrong. Yet, I am shy about sharing it myself.

 

Why is that?

 

I don't expect to be let off the hook. I think I am guilty as charged and none of what I write in the posts to come is intended to deny that.

 

Nor did I write this, because I wanted to embarrass myself. I wrote this because integrity demands that I don't put on airs. I couldn't give you the impression that I have this in the bag. I want to write about the Good News of Jesus, but I must own the fact that sharing it in practice is still a work in progress.

 

I think that what I write may be helpful.