It seems like she makes some good points, especially about conversion versus discipleship,
“How can you know if you’ve saved someone if there’s never follow-up, never counselling, never a progress report? How can you be sure the person hasn’t instantly reverted to his old ways? In other words, aren’t you simply counting the people who prayed the prayer in that instant rather than counting new Christians?… If you’re a sincere Christian you believe all it takes is that instant, as long as you’re sincere. Once you’ve prayed the sinner’s prayer, you’re good to go. God is supposed to abide in you and guide you, but really your ‘ways’ don’t matter. Your name is written forever in the Lamb’s book of life.’ It seemed evident that evangelicals were padding their rosters.”
No question we can be guilty of that, if you pray a prayer at summer camp and then spend the next year of your life living like anyone else chances are nothing changed when you said the prayer and it was all a bit emotional.
But anyway, in this interview with Trevin Wax she says this about what is attractive about Christianity,
“There are plenty of ideas in evangelical Christianity that appeal to me. It would be nice to know that even the most hideous acts of violence and destruction happen for a reason. It would be nice to know that this short life isn’t the end, that there’s something better on the other side, and that when I lose someone it’s only temporary. It would be nice to know what’s expected of me. It would be nice to know when I have dark thoughts or do something I know I shouldn’t it’s because that’s my natural sinful wiring, that I shouldn’t feel guilty about it. I think that’s why evangelical Christianity is such a popular formula–because it answers our common longings.”
So here’s my question, how could she spend two years in an evangelical church and still miss the point? And would the same thing happen if that happened in our church?
First here’s where she misses the point.
I hope that if someone spends two years in our church they’ll know that life is only lived to the full if we seek first the kingdom in all its ways with all of our heart for all of our days and that the starting point to a life of discipleship is the cross of Christ and the empty tomb of the risen Lord. But I shan’t take that for granted.
I also get frustrated by the perception that this is not an important issue or worse still it’s an issue of the left, so being against consumerism makes me automatically a communist. That perception (and I am willing to admit that it might be just me) really bugs me.
So here begins a series on why consumerism is an issue all Christians should be concerned about. I’ll cover topics such as ‘It’s not about the environment’, ‘It’s not about the poor’, ‘It’s not about politics’, ‘It is about the Gospel’
“I no longer need to be sin-infested, guilt-ridden, doubtful, fearful, ashamed, dirty, stained or kept away from the presence of the most Holy One. The blood of Jesus is above the door of my heart and is the banner of my life. I have been cleansed, purified, washed, made white, guilt-free, confident and bold knowing with a clear conscience and a humble and grateful heart that I can come into the presence of God Most High, hear the words ‘let the little children come’ and know that I am allowed to go and embrace my Father.”From the ‘younger pastor’
I read this morning that Josh Harris is a fan of JC Ryle, which in itself is hardly something to get upset about but it did spark this mini-rant. Good for Josh, Ryle is a worthy hero of the faith. But it seems to me that the Yanks get all excited by CS Lewis, CH Spurgeon, JC Ryle, CT Studd and other guys with initials instead of first names. Lewis and Spurgeon in particular are highly exalted, oh and Dr MLJ of course.
On the other hand, if you pay close attention to the names that are bandied around amongst us Limey’s are John Piper, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, Rob Bell and whoever else is leading some very large church.
What you don’t seem to find are Brits talking about dead American Christians of any note and any Americans talking about living Brits of any note (our churches are too small).
What shall we conclude from this completely unsubstantiated observation (although I challenge you to prove me wrong)? Well, the British want to find what works and by works we mean pull in the punters. The Americans speak English and pull in the punters so we should listen to them.
The Americans on the other hand already have the punters and want to give them something solid and reliable, and what could be more reliable than dead British people with that intoxicating air of intelligence, sophistication and links to a long history.
As Brits we forget the massive cultural differences and the fact that the majority of US churches are just as small as ours, we need to stop messing around with management techniques and busy ourselves with the task of proclaiming the Gospel to our nation, to our increasingly dry and thirsty land and with the task of forming lives which stand out a mile from the world around us in the following ways:
There endeth the rant.
The highlight of the day was the evening meeting – hundreds healed, hundreds giving their life to Jesus and hundreds more recommitting themselves to His lead. Three of our young people responded in some way to the Gospel and one that God had healed her back.
Please pray that this would be the start of something lasting and transforming in their lives and not simply a summer festival high. More details to follow (if I remember).
HT: JT
“Hasn’t the individualistic question about personal salvation almost completely left us all? Aren’t we really under the impression that there are more important things than that question (perhaps not more important than the matter itself, but more important than the question!)? I know it sounds pretty monstrous to say that. But fundamentally, isn’t this biblical? Does the question about saving one’s soul appear in the Old Testament at all? Aren’t righteousness and the kingdom of God on earth the focus of everything, and isn’t it true that Romans 3:24ff is not an individualistic doctrine of salvation, but the culmination of the view that God alone is righteous? It is not with the beyond that we are concerned, but with this world as created and preserved, subjected to laws, reconciled and restored. What is above this world is, in the gospel, intended to exist for this world; I mean that, not in the anthropocentric sense of the liberal, mystic, pietistic, ethical theology, but in the biblical sense of the creation and of the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
What I get from this, is a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now, in that when we preach the Gospel we make it about the individual and what God wants to save us from. Therefore essentially the Gospel is about me. This is not the whole story. It’s perhaps more true to say what God wants to save us for! To save us for His glory, to save us for the liberation of creation, to save us for His kingdom to advance amongst the nations and the gospel preached to the poor. None of this can happen while we are still in darkness so he must rescue us and redeem us. It isn’t about us, the Gospel isn’t merely about forgiveness of personal sins (but it certainly isn’t less than that) but about the glory of God and His righteousness. Which is why we seek that first I guess….
I believe Jesus when he said 'life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions'. I believe he offers something better. This blog is mostly about that search.
I'm also a husband, a father, church planter, keen runner, reader, and motorcyclist. These and a few other things make guest appearances from time to time.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Google+
LinkedIn
Picasa
