August 03, 2007

Evangelicals as Culture Shapers

One of the reasons why the church in the West has lost its effectiveness is because it largely views itself as the gate-keeper or defender against culture. There was a time when the church was the shaper of culture in the West. Can we return to a more pro-active stance? Some think we can:

These artistic evangelicals, though still relatively small in number, are striving to be creators of culture rather than imitators, said Dick Staub, a Seattle-based radio talk show host and author of "The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture In an Age of Christianity-Lite." There is a desire, he said, to avoid inventing a parallel arts universe with Christian knockoffs for Christian audiences.

"They want to make art that connects to everybody," Staub said. "The call is first and foremost to make good art."

“They want to make art that connects to everybody” That sounds kind of...umm...missional, doesn't it? And yet too many "Christians" would criticize these efforts as not being "Christian" enough. I must to confess, I myself have said of certain Christian bands or singers that I'd wish they would be more open or up-front with their faith. Now I wonder, how Christian must a Christian's art be?

Posted by Bryon Scott at 04:07 PM

July 06, 2007

What is the Gospel?

Yesterday I commented on the Thinklings posting that got me blogging again. I left a comment on that post which essentially asked (in a rambling manner) "What is the Gospel?"

After all, when someone says, "We need to get back to preaching the Gospel," how can a Bible-believing Christ follower argue with that? Yet "preach the gospel" seems so simplistic and/or formulaic.

It's been pretty well established that the gospel covers more--much more--than four-point salvation.

I have to admit, there was a time when the commando-style, in-your-face street-evangelism was exciting. But it didn't take long to realize there had to be more to "sharing the Gospel" than that. It provided a great feeling but the feeling never lasted. Eventually it seemed little more than the Christian version of a one-night stand.

So what is the Gospel? Let's check out what Paul says:

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NIV)

Most scholars agree that the book of 1 Corinthians is probably the earliest document in the New Testament. That would make this reference the first recorded explanation of the Gospel. And Paul makes one thing more than plain: Christ's death and resurrection is the primary central issue of the Gospel.

So if we want to know what the Gospel is, we have to understand that the Gospel and the Atonement are completely inseperable. Again to those who are Bible students, the previous statement is bound to elicit an unimpressed, "NO DUH!" But the challenge comes not in realizing the Good News is that Jesus came to be the atonement for our sin, but in how we communicate the fullness of an Atonement Gospel to people who don't even know what the word "atonement" means.

Face it, there are many Christians and hard-core theologians that cannot sufficiently summarize what the atonement is. Open any introductory theology book and you'll learn there are countless theories about the atonement. There's the penal-substitution theory, there's the redemption theory, there's the judicial view, etc. But start talking about these theories and views to the common lay person and their eyes glaze over and before long they are lost.

Can atonement be simplified? I believe it can. No matter what you believe about the atonement, this much is true: Jesus died so we could become everything God originally intended.

Think about that for a second. If we cannot separate the Gospel from the Atonement that means the good news isn't that we can be saved from hell. The good news is that you, me, everybody and anybody can become exactly what God created us to be.

That's good news indeed.

Posted by Bryon Scott at 09:58 PM

July 05, 2007

How Church Should Be Done

So over at Thinklings they're talking about how church should be done. It's an interesting question and one that pastors, theologians, lay leaders and all too often "Christian consumers" ask frequently.

What makes "how do you do church?" such an interesting question is that when you think about it, the question just doesn't make sense. After all it's me asking "how do I do Bryon?" I can't "do" Bryon. I can only "be" Bryon.

I think what faith geeks like me are really asking is "is the church still 'being' the church?" We start to see the church expressing itself in different ways and it scares us. Fear causes us to condemn. Here's the problem: It's easy to judge from a distance.

You know what scares me? The church condemning the church. "Felt-needs is wrong focus." "The church should be run by the older elders." "Purpose Driven is heretical." "Preaching topically is Satan at work."

Allow me to respond to this theologically: BULL!

Here's what Jesus said:

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:20-23 NIV)

This is Jesus' prayer for the church. Notice He's not praying for the apostles. Neither is He praying any of the other 500-5000 disciples that at one time followed or were currently following Jesus. In this part of the prayer, Jesus is praying for those who "those who will believe...through their message." That's you and me.

What's His prayer? It is that we be unified. He could have prayed anything. He could have prayed that we be accurate, or effective, or perfect or any of a couple-o-dozen concerns. But He chose to pray that we be unified. Us in Him, Him in us and we in each other.

Why did He pray this? It's no mystery, He tells us. He says if we are unified, then "the world will believe that You (the Father) have sent me."

Did you catch that? He didn't pray that we have an awesome outreach program. He didn't pray that we get the Gospel down just right. He says the best way to convince the world that Jesus is the Son of God is for us to be unified. That ought to make us stop and think before we start to rant about how someone else is "doing church" wrong.

What's the measure of church? Again, let's go to Jesus:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NIV)

"This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:8 NIV)

Love and fruit. If we love Jesus we will obey His commandments. If we love Jesus we'll love each other. If we love/abide in Jesus we'll bear fruit. It's that simple.

The question we should be asking isn't so much "how is church done elsewhere?" Instead it should be, "What's the best way to be the church where I am at?" "How do I love those Jesus has put in my community?"

If that means I show middle-class yuppie types that, yes, the only fulfilling purpose in this world is to align with Jesus and the Father then that's what I do. If it means I stand in the gap for the alcoholic father so he can come face-to-face with his destructive habits and finally find true freedom in Christ than that's what I do.

But it never means I look at what God is doing in another church through other methods and judge it as "watered-down" Christianity. Because I'm not there. I'm here. God hasn't given me that population/community/people-group to love. He's given me this one.

And if I don't get this one right...

Posted by Bryon Scott at 10:07 PM