“I sense that once again, it will take persecution to scatter the saints for the spread of the true gospel.”–Charles Newbold, The Crucified Ones, 17 (his emphasis)

Who’s in the house?

Effectivity vs. Feeling good about ourselves…

One more for the road:

“The search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where [God] wants him to be a pupil.”

- C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters, ch.16, p.73)

We have been talking about theology lately…how much God knows, how little, whether it is important that we know how much he knows, and so on and so forth. It’s all very interesting, time consuming and, to an extent, tiresome. Fact is, the Bible is silent on some issues, speaks loudly on others, and is rather ambiguous about still others (such as whether or not Jesus had long hair). All jesting aside, I don’t think it is unreasonable to believe that there are some things that simply cannot be known by us about God.

But that doesn’t mean it is unhealthy to talk about such things and debate them.

Many years ago I read this book by John Sanders called The God Who Risks. I was too young at the time to fully grasp what I was reading, but in light of recent conversations (among others), I have been thinking about the book’s contents and arguments (it seems even back then, more than 10 years ago, John Piper was on the radar in these conversations). One interesting thing I noted about the book is that I didn’t mark it up like I normally do a book I am reading. Seriously, not one ink mark on any page. Strange. Although I do vaguely recall disagreeing with quite a lot of it (what I understood at the time).

So, here’s Sanders on salvation, what he calls the Relational Model of Salvation:

God takes risks with enabling grace in that people are not forced to believe. God does not believe in himself through us. The love of Christ and the prompting of the Spirit create the context in which we may respond in penitence and faith to God’s gracious gift. God is the initiator and provider of salvation, yet he does not want a relationship without our consent. (246)

I believe this conversation is meaningful enough that I will post some more of Sanders’ thoughts later this week and next. For now, though, I am curious. Do you think God takes risks? I remember one time, when I was but a young preacher, preaching a sermon that expounded a point that went something like this: God is courageous. I remember one of the elders questioning me closely after the sermon and then informing me, in no uncertain terms, that God doesn’t need to be courageous.

Years later, I wonder…

The theme of my song 
The cry of my heart
A place to belong
No longer apart
To be close to you
Closer than skin
Restored and renewed
True peace within

You and I 
Bound by blood 
You and I 
Falling in love 
You and I 
Bound by grace 
You and I 
One embrace  

My soul is consumed 
By this love I found
Like spring flowers bloom
Sweet fragrance abound
You delight in me
And call me your son
Your mercy sets free 
We dance with abandon

You and I 
Bound by blood 
You and I 
Falling in love 
You and I 
Bound by grace 
You and I 
One embrace

The renewal of the human being in the divine image is profoundly personal, and embraces the human person in his or her totality.  This means that (trans)formation is fully embodied within a nest of relationships, a community.  From Scripture we receive an all-encompassing perspective on human health in the cosmos and in relation to God, but also well-developed ways of identifying the sickness that spreads like a cancer througout the human family, even eating away at the world that humans call home.  The term generally given this sickness in the Christian tradition is “sin”, a multivalent term that points to the myriad ways in which humans – individually, collectively, and systematically – neglect, deny, and refuse simply to be human – that is, to embrace and live out their vocation as creatures made in the image of God.  Accordingly, a Christian conception of human transformation does not allow the categorization of either the person or his or her salvation into “parts,” as though inner and outer life could be separated.  Angst among Christians in recent decades over how to prioritize ministries of “evangelism” and “social witness” is simply wrongheaded, therefore, since the gospel, the “evangel” of “evangelism,” cannot but concern itself with human need in all its aspects.  Only an erroneous body-soul dualism could allow – indeed, require – “ministry” to become segregated by its relative concern for “spiritual” versus “material” matters.  Nor does a Christian conception of human transformation allow us to think of the restoration of individuals, as it were, one at a time, but pushes our categories always to account for the human community and, beyond humanity, the cosmos.  Persons are not saved in isolation from the world around them.  Restoration to the likeness of God is the work of the Spirit within the community of God’s people, the fellowship of Christ-followers set on maturation in Christ.  From this vantage point, “image of God” points ultimately to the transformation of believers in resurrection, a transformation already at work in the creation of new humanity through the dissolution of barriers dividing human beings from one another along gender, social, or ethnic lines (Col 3:10-11; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Gal 3:28).

Joel B. Green, from Body, Soul, and Humanity, pp. 69-70

“One thing is absolutely certain, namely, that victory will never be found by taking the line of least resistance.”–Winston Churchill, The Second World War: The Gathering Storm, 436

All that conversation about Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 11 got my wheels turning and my head spinning and my heart all a-flutter with exegetical ambitions and sermons. So I broke out my Greek NT, a couple of commentaries, and my trusty Mouton and Geden concordance to the Greek NT.

Good times.

Anyhow…while doing some research I came across some thoughtful words in Prior’s commentary on 1 Corinthians in the Bible Speaks Today series of NT Commentaries. I have always liked and enjoyed Prior’s commentary because he cuts to the heart of the matter and in so doing he forces us to cut to the heart of our own matters as well. Here’s what Prior wrote, concerning divisions, differences, and theological orthodoxy in 1 Corinthians 11:

Paul expected schism, because he was a realist, but he deplored it and sought to remove it. One of the incidental results of heresy (selectivity) in a local Christian community is that it provides an acid test of genuine commitment to Christ and to the body of Christ, as distinct from religious bigotry or simply love of theological debate. Paul had to constantly warn young church leaders like Timothy and Titus about such professing Christians. When those who claim to be Christians love nothing better than empty and profitless arguments about theological niceties, that indicates their real spiritual condition. Such folk are not genuine (dokimoi), they have not passed the test, and their loud claims about theological ’soundness’ will not impress the Lord on that crucial day when our Christian service is scrutinized. (186-187)

This gives me a lot to think about because it, again, cuts to the heart of the matter: why do I have the conversation in the first place? What is my own spiritual condition? What am I doing that will ‘impress’ the Lord on that day?

Church, we are plan A and there is no plan B.
~Platt in an interview