Without This There Is No Church

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church, church planting, conversion, crucifixion, gospel, jesus, new testament, old testament, paul, salvation, theology

In the last post we highlighted the importance of defining the church properly by exploring the claim that what we believe about the church determines how we coordinate its life together. Today we’re going to dig further into the definition of the church rooted in teachings by the fine folks at Missio: The church is a networked family of gospel communities on mission. 

This definition requires further definition if it’s going to be helpful. What is the gospel? What is community? What is mission? Today we start with the gospel.

New Series – Conversion and Christendom (repost)

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America, american culture, christendom, church, conversion, new testament, salvation

[I started this series some time ago but never completed it. I think it is more than worthy of returning to, so I'm going to repost what I posted back then and then pick up where it leaves off.]

Over the next bit, I’ll be blogging through a little book called The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom by Alan Kreider. Here Kreider aims to better understand the changes that took place in the church during the fourth century (when the Christian faith was legalized and standardized by Constantine and his heirs) by examining their practice of conversion. If we look at how the process of becoming a Christian changed throughout early church history, especially with the beginning of the period called “Christendom,” perhaps we will better understand the larger transformation of the church during this time. (And, by extension, we will gain wisdom for our own time of transition back out of a “Christendom” situation.)

In the Introduction, Kreider lays out three goals:

“Political” Musings on the Fiery Furnace (4 of 4)

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America, american culture, christendom, crucifixion, discipleship, gospel, jesus, martyrdom, new testament, old testament, politics, salvation

“They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.” (Daniel 3.28b)

This is my final post offering reflections on the “political lessons” we learn from the very strange story in Daniel 3. See previous posts here,  here and here. So far I have claimed from this story that (1) Politics is a question of idolatry – that is, competing claims for allegiance; (2) Obedience to God sometimes requires disobedience to the government; (3) This “theo-political” showdown is often fought on the battlefield of symbolic ritual; (4) In the ancient world God’s people faced persecution due to their position as a minority outsider in an imperial world; (5) Loyal servants of idolatrous political powers often die needlessly and tragically; (6) Sometimes governments do acknowledge God’s superior power to save; (7) The “political idolatry problem” does not rule out participation in political affairs. Below are the final two of my nine reflections (the last one is my favorite!).

Why Are They Crying? (Revelation 5)

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atonement, gospel, jesus, new testament, Revelation, salvation

Reflecting on the text

Before we get to the book of Revelation, I want you to take a look at a story from the life of Jesus.

Read John 20.1-18

Why do you think Mary is crying?

There’s probably not one specific right answer, but it’s definitely a question worth pondering. Was she crying simply because she felt a deep love for Jesus? Was she crying because she thought his body had been stolen? Was she crying because she didn’t know what else to do? Yes, uh-huh, I’m sure, and probably a few other things as well. I don’t pretend to grasp the depth of her sadness, but I think there is one more thing that we sometimes miss.

She was counting on Jesus.

She was counting on him to rescue Israel, to establish God’s kingdom, to bring the entire world – kicking and screaming if necessary – to faithful worship of the One True God. After all, she was an Israelite living in the first century, and that’s what they wanted. Theirs was a story in search of an ending, and Jesus came along announcing that this story had finally found its climax in him.

And now he was dead.

Stream of Consciousness on “the gospel”

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american culture, church, crucifixion, gospel, jesus, salvation, sin

Sorry it’s been so long! I’m in the middle of crazy season so I may not blog a whole, whole lot over the next bit, but I’ll be sure to get a couple things up a week at least. A while back I wrote “the gospel…” in my journal and then just started letting the words flow. Not saying this is the best way to do theology, but it can be fun (and at times helpful!). The only rule is that I promise not to edit or change anything, for better or worse. Here’s what I wrote next:

Jesus is the Messiah, our Savior and Lord, and in dying and being raised from the dead he has saved us from sin. Jesus is God’s Word made flesh, the culmination of God’s efforts in creation and Israel to build and then restore a world of peace, justice, and love. He is our King and we are his people, called out from among the nations as the peculiar people of a peculiar God, sent to declare his praises, preview his kingdom, and invite all people to join his family. We resist all that is hostile to God and out of line with his purposes as revealed in Jesus. We thus reject imperialism, individualism, secularism, rationalism, militarism, pragmatism, and consumerism, along with pride, anger, envy, lust, gluttony, sloth, and greed.

I’m not sure where I’d draw the line between what I’d call “the gospel” and what comes out of that. Actually, I’m not sure if such a line should be drawn at all.

What is a “Messiah”?

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gospel, jesus, messiah, new testament, politics, resurrection, salvation, sin, tyler stewart

My friend Tyler recently posted on “messianic expectations” in the first century and it got me thinking of a description of what “messiah” means I’d put together for one of my leaders at Real Life. (Of course I’m describing the word through my Jesus-lens.) Here’s how I’d describe it:

“Messiah” (mashiach in Hebrew, christos in Greek) literally means “anointed one” and typically refers to prophets, priests, and especially kings. In Jesus’ day, many Jews hoped God would send a “messiah” – a kingly figure like David – to rescue Israel from her enemies, purify the Temple, and re-gather God’s people so that they might worship faithfully. They were looking for a new exodus with a new Moses – a deliverer to save them from oppression and lead them in the ways of God. They believed this Messiah’s victories would usher in a golden age of justice and peace. To call Jesus “Messiah” is to say that he is God’s appointed King who came to save the world (beginning with Israel) from sin and evil.

But he did so in a surprising way. For one thing, he didn’t mount an attack against the Romans; he staged a deeper confrontation with and defeat of Sin/Death itself. And for another, the coming of God’s golden age (or “kingdom”) didn’t happen all at once – Jesus the Messiah inaugurated this new world and called together a people to continue his work until a future day when he would bring it to full completion. The early Christians would never have made such ridiculous claims – crucified would-be messiahs were by definition failures – were it not for the fact that God raised him from the dead.

Whadd’ya think? Anything you expected to see but didn’t? Anything you didn’t expect to see but did? What would you have put differently?

If Jesus is the only way… (4 of 4)

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american, american culture, apologetics, culture, politics, salvation, truth, world religions

As the finale to this mini-series on the question If Jesus is the only way, what about people of other faiths and those who never hear the gospel? I’m going to look at some common objections to the idea that any one path to God is the “true” or “only” one.

Let me say first of all that I sympathize with anyone who takes seriously the challenge that multi-cultural awareness poses to our beliefs. The answers I offer below may come across dry and uncaring (especially to those of you who don’t know me), but please know that’s not my heart. These questions represent for many a complex journey of learning how to believe in Jesus without appearing hateful towards large groups of people. Nevertheless, we must think clearly and that’s what I’m trying to do here.

1. But this is arrogant and exclusive and no longer works in our diverse world.

(1) Religious diversity and pluralism are not new. Globalization and consumerism have changed things, but this question has always been around. (2) All truth claims are equally “arrogant” and “exclusive.” We make truth claims. So do they: the idea that no religion is 100% right and true is a truth claim. Neither belief system is obvious; both require faith. Both are equally arrogant (I’m right, you’re wrong) and exclusive (I’m right, you’re wrong). (3) Technically, I’d say arrogance is a characteristic of people – even and perhaps especially religious people – but it is not a property of belief systems. I suppose if less people were arrogant (intellectually and otherwise), this would be easier to see. (4) We are conditioned to remove “religion” from the realm of “truth.” Our world is divided into the public realm of (scientific) facts and the private world of personal beliefs/opinions/values. We think religion is a private matter, but this idea of “religion” is unbiblical and intolerant toward most world religions. It is itself based in another “religion.”

2. But all religions are basically the same.

If Jesus is the only way… (3 of 4)

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apologetics, gospel, grace, jesus, missions, new testament, obedience, old testament, salvation, world religions

Thanks for some great discussion on part two of If Jesus is the only way, what about people of other faiths and those who never hear the gospel? The question we’re dealing with is who can be saved and how that happens. Specifically, is it possible for people to be saved apart from Jesus? If not, is it possible for people to be saved through Jesus even if they don’t know he’s the one saving them? More than ever after the discussion on the last entry, I’m convinced that this whole debate gets muddied up because we’re unclear on what “being saved” actually means. I include myself in this, and I admit that whatever answer I offer now probably suffers a bit from this lack of understanding or clarity. Nevertheless, here’s how I’d answer the question:

I do believe that no one can or will be “saved” apart from Jesus. I think he alone broke the stranglehold of sin under which we were all enslaved. But does God save people apart from conscious faith in Jesus? Even if no one can be saved apart from Jesus, can they be saved apart from knowing they are saved by Jesus? I don’t know that God has told us this will happen, so I can’t say yes with great confidence. But based on what God has revealed in Scripture (as laid out in part 2, including some of the comments), I do believe it might happen. I’d even say I think it will happen (IMHO!). I do not think it would contradict the character and ways of God revealed in Scripture’s witness to Jesus Christ.

So does God save people apart from explicit faith in Jesus? We don’t know, but we don’t know for sure that he doesn’t and we wouldn’t be shocked if he did. Most importantly, we believe that God has come to all of us in Jesus, offering salvation in both the next life and this one. Our task is to faithfully respond to what we believe God has revealed.

I also promised to deal with objections to this position (technically called inclusivism), first from Christians and then from non-Christians. There are three primary objections that I’ve heard from Christians against the possibility that God might save people who never identify themselves as Christians in this life.

If Jesus is the only way… (2 of 4)

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apologetics, gospel, grace, hell, jesus, new testament, old testament, salvation, world religions

If Jesus is the only way… what about people of other faiths and those who never hear the gospel? (read part one here)

The Bible witnesses to God’s universal love (Jn 3.16; 1 Tim 2.4; 2 Pet 3.9) as well as a particular path to salvation. How do we resolve this tension? Scripture teaches that this particular path comes to a head in Jesus. But is this unfair to those who never hear of Jesus, or only receive an unfaithful witness, or grow up in a different faith system? What about them?

In part one I shared some preliminary points. Today I’ll offer ten “theses” and follow it up later (today or tomorrow) with a summary conclusion. Enjoy.

1. This debate often rests on and feeds an unbiblical portrait of salvation. See more on this in the last post here.

2. “Judgment” on this level is God’s call and God can be trusted to do the right thing. It’s not our job to figure out who will “go where” at history’s end. It is God’s, and whatever God does will be loving, gracious, and just.

If Jesus is the only way… (1 of 4)

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apologetics, gospel, grace, jesus, salvation, theology, world religion

For the rest of the week I’ll be blogging on a very important question: If Jesus is the only way, what about people of other faiths and those who never hear the gospel? In our world the claims of Christianity seem very exclusive and arrogant. Are they? More importantly, what exactly has God revealed about these issues? I’ll be sharing my thoughts in four posts. For now, two preliminary points:

(1) Salvation is about more than what happens to us after we die.

Our question assumes that God is most concerned about getting individuals into heaven when they die. But is this really biblical? Two quick points: First, salvation is God’s plan for the entire universe – not just human beings. Salvation is about all of God’s creation being rescued from the disastrous effects of sin. Second, even from a human perspective, salvation isn’t just about “where we go” in the end. That is obviously important, but salvation is about freedom from the power of sin and death right here and now. Please understand, I’m not trying to deny the importance of the future, but I am trying to remind us that asking whether a person is “saved” has as much to do with how free they are from sinful ways of thinking and living as it does where they’ll go when they die. As my friend Tyler puts it, “Following Jesus isn’t about getting out of hell and into heaven. It is about joining God in his project to reclaim of all of creation for his kingdom.” This whole debate is fairly thoroughly infused with an unbiblical portrait of salvation. Just keep this in mind.

(2) We must all ask ourselves if we’re willing to submit to God’s authority and trust the witness of Scripture.

Like all hot-button issues, many of us come to this question with our minds already made up. And if they’re not made up, we at least know what we want the answer to be. Some of us sense our culture’s negativity toward “evangelism” (or our own distaste for it) so we look for excuses not to have to share our faith. This is not okay. Others of us feel that Christianity is under attack and we have adopted a posture of defensiveness and closed-mindedness. This is not good either. We will all be tempted to make Scripture say what we want it to say (or set it aside altogether). This is no less true of me than anyone else. Let’s keep this in mind too.

Tomorrow I’ll post ten theses about this topic as well as a summary conclusion. Then I’ll post answers to objections from those who think my position is too strict, and after that I’ll post answers to objections from those who think it’s too loose. Feel free to share any and all thoughts at any point in the discussion. Even disagreement is welcome, but be kind.