Travelers theological conversation for the journey

An Unedited Gospel

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 13:29:42 -0600

Someone recently told me that for years in his preaching he edited the Gospel because the people who wrote his check didn’t want to hear what he understood the Gospel to be. Now he hopes to start a Christian community in which such editing won’t be necessary. He does not want to stand before Christ without having tried to preach and live an unedited Gospel.
Christianity today is languishing because the Gospel has been edited in many different ways and according to varying agendas. It has been edited to support consumerism by proclaiming that God wills for us all to be wealthy. It has been edited for a safety and security-minded population to be what provides a sterile and risk-free environment in which to raise our families. It has been edited to conform with agendas as diverse as political initiatives, prejudice, economic theory, personal self-improvement, and even hate and violence. It has been tailored to individual sensibilities and preferences. Tangential matters have been proclaimed to be its very heart and core.
This is nothing new. All editing of the Gospel makes it serve our needs and desires, and produces something palatable and appealing to us. The unedited Gospel, which we seek to hear afresh, cannot be bent to suit our longings, but is what reshapes us into the people of God who are called according to his will and purpose.
When the Gospel changes us rather than we changing it, missional communities are produced. In other words, what results are bodies of Christ-followers who are missionary outposts of the Kingdom of God, whose interaction with the world is hopeful, redemptive, and incarnational. Missional communities are changed by the Gospel and in turn change the world by being squarely within it.
There is no fleeing into self-preserving isolation. No ministering with self-righteous superiority to others. No praises are lifted up thanking God that we are not like “the sinners.” Christians are salt and light in redeeming and cleansing, touching and healing, and being (w)holy present to the world.
We don’t have everything figured out, but I think we are oriented in the direction of this Gospel. I do not have all the answers. And yet, by God’s grace, we dare not deny what he has revealed - that throughout the history of the church and from the very beginning, of whom Simon is the archetype, men have wanted to alter the Gospel for their own means.
We do not have perfect knowledge or understanding, but we must seek continually the One who does. What has been revealed to us is not for us, but for the church and the world. If we proclaim that the church does not exist as a lifeboat into which we flee to escape a drowning world, but rather the boat we put at risk by entering into dangerous waters to join in God’s redemption of the world, we speak what God has revealed. Parts of the body that have lost their way, their missional identity, and so is lost the hope of the world. Well-intentioned Christians are saving themselves rather than the world.
May God lead us into being the incarnation of all the Christ is.

Advent Tension

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:42:55 -0600

Advent makes us face the tension between being eager and waiting. To be expectant is to long and hope for the coming of Jesus, but the waiting requires patience. If we truly long for Christ’s coming we don’t want to wait, we want him to appear now! We are asked to anticipate his appearing over an indefinite period of time. This is difficult.

I find it easy to be excited about anything for short periods of time. When the object of our longing is close we are naturally eager. When whatever we desire is far away, we usually find our anticipation begin to fade.

Advent calls us to be constant in our anticipation of Christ’s coming, and yet to do this without any indication that his appearing is near. Effort is required to be truly expectant daily even though we know his advent may be far away

Mission

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:40:11 -0600

God says:
“Come, change the world with me.
Don’t worry if you can’t see it changing. It is. I always succeed at what I do.
I could recreate everything without you, but I want you to have this experience.
You need to know what it is to create good out of evil, because you’ve made evil out of good.
Everything has to be reversed. You’ll be changed as well. I want that too.
The only measure of life that matters is how you shared in this recreation. Forget the rest.
Oppose every evil with goodness, injustice with justice, hurt with healing, and despair with hope.
I don’t ask for “great” acts as much as many small ones. Pursuing “greatness” is the old way.
Give cups of cold water. Love those who hate. Bless those who curse. Accept those who reject you.
Trust me . . . love is the most powerful force that exists, because it’s me.
Don’t get tired and stop. I count what others discount.
Wait for the change. Hope for the new. It is coming. I am coming.
My child, come change the world with me.”

Friday Prayer

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:07:40 -0600

When I am fearful, Lord, be faithful.
In whom should I trust, but You alone?
My strength, wisdom, and worldly wealth make a poor god.

May I risk all in gratitude,
confident in your perfect care.
If I hold back, what do I gain?

Let me not demand your appearing,
but see you only as You reveal.
May my faith be simple,
my hope singular,
my devotion unending,
and my life Yours.

Setting Others “Straight”

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:04:02 -0600

Here’s my question: Did Jesus ever correct those who weren’t asking for his opinion, people who had not already engaged him in discussion? Did Jesus approach others in an uninvited way in order to “set them straight”?

I just read a news article about a Christian who felt compelled by God to tell another person who was only a casual acquaintance that what that person was doing was wrong, though that person wasn’t asking for advice. That got me to thinking, is this Christ-like behavior to correct others when they are not seeking our input? When there is no relationship? No mutual commitment to following Christ? I think it is different with one another when we together have committed to follow Jesus, I am implicitly submitting to instruction. Jesus certainly corrected his disciples when they were not specifically seeking his advice. However, being a disciple automatically means you accept correction. I am talking about Jesus approaching strangers to “straighten them out”.

Jesus certainly “set others straight” when they came and asked him, but did he ever go up to others who weren’t asking and try to correct them? I am having trouble thinking of an occasion when he did that. Sometimes he spoke generally to the crowds about morals, ethical behavior, or cited examples of ungodly action or attitude. I see that as different. He certainly preached in the Sermon on the Mount about not lusting, or returning evil for evil, and such. But again, those people came to him to listen. Did he see someone doing wrong and go up to that person and set him or her straight?

He criticizes the arrogant and disdainful prayer of the pharisee, which may have been based on observing an actual rather than hypothetical event. My question is whether Jesus ever went up to someone like that pharisee when hearing his arrogant prayer and attempt to correct him. Certainly if such a pharisee were to come to Jesus and ask “what do I need to do?” Jesus would reply “humble yourself and pray for God to have mercy on you because you are no better than those you despise.” But would he go up and say that uninvited?

It is easy to think of examples of others doing this: the pharisees approach Jesus’ disciples about their “harvesting” on the sabbath, and others confront the man Jesus heals in John 5 because he’s carrying his mat. They are acting like moral police whose duty is to stop others from doing wrong. Even Jesus’ disciples act this way regarding a person who is driving out demons in Jesus’ name (Luke 9:49).

Maybe I am missing an example of Jesus doing this, but right now I can’t think of one. Can anyone think of an example?

Note: I’ve thought about the cleansing of the temple which seems to me to be a symbolic prophetic act, a visual parable pronouncing the destruction of the temple, rather than an attempt to make the merchants stop their activities.