I couldn’t sleep last night. I had been sick most of the day and had to leave the conference in the afternoon to go home to sleep off my nausea, getting up in time to return to the church at 3:45 pm for the late afternoon and evening sessions.
I was wide awake at 1:15 am. I reached over to the nightstand, turned on the light. and picked up Michael Horton’s God of Promise and among other words read these:
The kingdom of God does not advance through cultural achievement but through divine rescue.
What does this truth mean for how you and I will be laborers together with God in the rescue of the culture? What are the implications for how we do missions and send missionaries? How does it impact our water cooler conversations and what we listen to on our commutes to and from work?
How does this truth impact your understanding of “the gospel”?
“And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.”
I would be blessed just to be this basket maker, or the one who wove the rope. If that were the case, when I got there, I would testify, He allowed to weave the basket.
(I shall know Him, by the prints of the nails in His hands.)
It is Him who matters.
Oh, that is an interesting concept, so you actually read their books instead of taking a side and reading what the opposing views has to say about them? That is WAY too open minded.
Jeff – as if… I’m not emergent, but I’m at least willing to try to understand their point. But you know that…
b/Bo,
I am a wall start talking….;-) ‘er maybe because you are an emergent it would be better if you try to nail jello to me.
Steven, I’m tired of re-stating stuff for people who should be able to read with understanding. I’m not going to defend against the caricatures and straw men you, Colin, etc. create anymore – if you don’t want to understand what we’re really saying, it’s your loss (even though you won’t think you lost out on anything).
b/Bo,
You are somewhat correct in saying that the Pharisees thought that they had the only true interpretation, and Jesus does take them to task in their interpretation and shows them why they are wrong (“You have heard that it was said to those of old” vs. “but I say to you” in Matt. 5:13-48). You are wrong, however, that that was their chief characteristic. Their chief characteristic was hypocrisy. Paul Groder (#8) shows that quite well, as you seem to acknowledge. Hypocrisy was a result of their legalism. They made many rules (traditions of men) to keep the finer points of the law, yet they missed the important details of doing justice and loving mercy (Mic. 6:8). Legalism will always degenerate into hypocrisy because though we naturally are law keepers by relation to Adam, we are law-breakers according to our sinful nature. Knowing then that we cannot keep the law, we look for ways to “cheat”. If we can make it look like we are meeting the requirements of the law without actually doing the hard (and I’ll say impossible) task of keeping the law as perfectly as God requires.
That is why Paul (the Apostle) says so adamantly that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who sheweth mercy (Rom. 9:16), and that we are not justified by our works but by faith alone (see Rom. 4:4-5).
Colin is quite correct in saying that emergents confuse Law and Gospel and create a religion of do, do, do. Christianity is properly a religion of everything is already DONE in Christ, now go do according to the Spirit of Christ. I have been to Mars Hill to see Rob Bell talk about how we can’t even know for sure what the gospel is–we only have “hints and guesses”. How sad! If we cannot say for sure what the good tidings of great joy really is, we are among the most miserable people.
I agree with Horton’s quote whole-heartedly. The kingdom of God is advanced through the preaching of the gospel. If we simply do social justice without the preaching of the gospel we have done nothing to advance the kingdom. Preaching the gospel, however, should never be separated from do justice and loving mercy–even though Christ has kept the law for our sakes, we are not exempt from doing what is required of us as subjects of God (Rom. 6). Preaching the love of God in Christ Jesus without showing it is also hypocrisy; it is even worse than hypocrisy, for it gives God a bad name. I think Horton would agree with all of this.
Jeff,
I agree with you that we are at times more concerned with justifying our political favorites rather than filtering everything through God’s eyes. Lincoln was right: “The question is not whether God is on our side. The question is whether we are on God’s side.”
That being said, CS Lewis had it spot on. The solution is not “aim at earth”. Rather, the solution is to “aim at heaven”. What does that mean?
Paul said that “if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men”. A 17th century Puritan prayer states “Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal.”
It is only when one gets the big picture, the eternal picture, that he/she understands the eternal impact of every action/thought has here on this temporal world. So, the problem is not “too much focus on the personal”. It is rather a lost of the true gospel. The true gospel produces true disciples.
Here is a poem written by Cheryl Stephens:
“Remember me not for who I was
But for who Jesus was in me.
Remember me not for the things I’ve done
But for the things Jesus did through me.
Remember me not as one who loved
Without remembering that ‘He first loved me.’
Remember me not as one who gave
But one to whom much was given.
Remember me not as one who spoke of God
But as one who knew God through His Son, Jesus.
Remember me not as one who prayed
But remember the One to whom I prayed.
Remember me not as one who was strong
But as one who cried out to God to be my strength.
Remember me not as one who died
But as one who lives forever because I have believed.
Remember not my life and death
For they will profit you nothing.
But please… please remember the life and death of Jesus.
For He gave His life that we might live.
He died that we might never have to and He rose again
That we might have eternal life.
Remember not me, but do remember Jesus.”
And Paul said the same thing when he said:
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. “
Benjamin,
That is a great quote by Lewis, I think we have lost that in our faith. I have contended many times that politics is a major culprit in that loss of thinking. We are more concerned with who we side with politically than what is right and just in the eyes of the Lord. It is a shame when we christians justify inhumane acts such as torture because “our” administration administered it, as opposed to standing up against it no matter what the circumstance. Our faith, and the political conservative movement sold their souls to the devil when they married each other 30 years ago. There is a personal and a social gospel in scripture, too much focus is on the personal at the ignoring of the social.
C.S. Lewis said it best: “If you read history, you will find that Christians who did most for the present world, were those who thought the most about the next. The apostles themselves who went about the conversion of the Roman empire … all left their own lives as their minds were preoccupied with the things of heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they become ineffective in this one. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither”
Paul, that’s definitely one aspect of Jesus’ condemnation – their self-righteousness and self-assuredness (especially about their interpretation of things) combined with hypocrisy and a heart that wasn’t really for God as much as it was for themselves. But Jesus adds a few more clarifying condemnations as well…
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
(Mat 23:13 ESV)
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
(Mat 23:15 ESV)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
(Mat 23:23 ESV)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
(Mat 23:29 ESV)
Very sobering words to the religious “establishment”. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear…
I would say “The kingdom of God does not advance through cultural achievement but through the sacrificial love of it’s members…”
B/Bo,
Jesus Himself said what the error was on the part of the Pharisees: ““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
What matters to God most, is that which He alone knows, the heart of a man.
In Christ,
Paul
Colin,
I disagree with your interpretation of that passage both in light of its own clear meaning and in light of other teachings of Jesus in that same gospel:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your GOOD WORKS and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Mat 5:13-16 ESV)
Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the EVIL and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the UNJUST. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mat 5:42-48 ESV)
The thing I’m learning more and more is that the chief characteristic of the Pharisees was not “legalism” (i.e., trusting that their good works would earn them entrance into the afterlife). Good deeds were encouraged by the law, and these people were very zealous to honor God in that respect. No, the problem with the Pharisees is that insisted their interpretation and application of the Torah was the only correct one. Yes, they had the scholars and the rabbis and the tradition and the passion on their side, but they were simply dead wrong as to how they interpreted scripture. They missed the point, and when Jesus corrected them on it they were mad enough to kill him.
Evangelicals on the whole have been missing the point for generations. The emergents/emerging/missional folks are asking valid questions and coming up with some (not all) valid answers, but their supposed brothers rail on them as “heretics” and spew much angry venom their way. It’s not to difficult to map that onto Jesus’ own times, and not too hard to see who really aligns with who.
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23 ESV) Even so, come quickly Lord!
Colin,
I appreciate responses like yours as it only confirms that my recent emergent leanings are more true than ever.
B/bo you said “as much as you did it to the least of these you did it to me”…
Please stop taking that parable out of context. It is clearly talking about ones love for the brethren not poor people or oppressed people in general. What it is talking about is the same concept God told to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you”. Paralell that with the fact that the church is the body of Christ (“you did it to me…”), John’s repeated assertions in 1 John that if we are saved we will love the brethren, and Christ’s statement to Paul, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me (speaking of the church”. Of course we should be concerned for the widow, the orphan, and in spreading mercy and compassion as it is commanded in the LAW. That’s my problem with emergents is they confuse law and gospel, and create a religion of do, do, do for temporal things. But the Bible DOES NOT state that our job here is to “redeem” cultures, the environment, or gas powered vehicles. When one is sensitive to the Law of God upon conversion, or even through common grace, they do not “redeem” anything they make it a little better… I agree with Michael Horton and what he says (for the most part)… There are two kingdoms in this world and they need not be confused by the church. When they are we end up with a Christless, CROSSLESS, Christianity that is about me “redeeming” everything including my poop…
In working together to build the kingdom of God, we would of course need to meet the physical needs of the populace being rescued. If however, after meeting the immediate physical needs there was nothing to follow… no education in the knowledge of God, our efforts would soon come to naught. The populace would transfer their neediness to the entity providing the source of comfort not the source of life. For indeed, ministering physical comforts only does not lead to life! To be rescued, the populace must be translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light, by the action of the Living Word made effective by the Holy Spirit.
If the life and light of the Word of God are not infused into any area of culture…it will continue on it’s downward spiral of sin and death leading ultimately to total destruction. Complete change of heart…enacted by the Holy Spirit is the ONLY solution to the sin problem which is the root of death.
Darkness and death are the ultimate enemies of life…and the target of Jesus’ ministry…redeeming the elect, who lost their relationship with God and His creation through the sin of Adam.
Mortal wounds cannot be healed by merely mortal means…
Great quote, Paul!
Ravi Zacharias points out the same solution: “ Immorality is always preceded by impiety; people are immoral because they’re first impious and not the other way around. Immorality in our streets is because there is irreverence in our hearts before God; If morality is merely symptomatic, then how can we solve it symptomatically by just changing our laws? We have got to change the heart of the individual, and only God is big enough to do that.” (Let my people think- A Fish Out of Water-part2)
Sorry to hear you were sick – that must have been disappointing and distracting with the event being held at your church and all. And sorry you had to be up at the same time as me.
I have to say that while it might be an interesting thought to contemplate (though I’m lacking Horton’s context), and though it carries a certain “truthiness”, I’m not so sure that quote is actually “truth”.
I’m more concerned about how the gospel impacts my understanding of the truthfulness of Horton’s quote. The body of Christ (aka the Church aka the Kingdom of God) is God’s hands, feet, etc. in this world, and when he attempts “divine rescue” it’s very likely that he intends for this “body” to do the rescuing.
So are we trying to rescue what God wants rescued? Are we doing what Jesus did? Is our focus on the political process and the moral climate the same focus that Jesus had? And are these the questions he will be asking when we come before him on “that day”? “As much as you did it unto the least of these, you did it unto me…”
There are two operatives in the world for the advancement of the kingdom of God…the Living Word and the Holy Spirit…We are containers for the Holy Spirit…to be effective in the great commission, we must gain knowledge of the Living Word (through Bible study and reading) and speak it under the unction of the Holy Spirit.
Bible translation ministries and ministries that distribute Bibles should be top priority in our missionary efforts.
Isaiah 11:9 NIV
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
I would say this verse speaks of a complete culture change…God rescuing us with the knowledge of His way of doing things.