The Cosmic Gospel

One of the symptoms of living in a culture where the individual is emphasized as much as it is here in the west is that everything tends to be reduced to an individual level.  Marriage has been reduced to an institution that is intended to make the individual happy instead of an institution intended to reflect the glory of Christ.  Other areas of life that were once thought of in terms of how they benefited society (such as marriage, raising children, education, etc.) have been redefined to find their worth in how they benefit the individual.  I dare say the idea of making a significant decision today using a rationale primarily focused on others rather than yourself is just as likely to bring scorn and ridicule as it is praise and admiration.

Nowhere is this trend more damaging than as in the individualizing of the gospel message.

Now before the outcry and denunciations begin let me emphatically state something:  I wholeheartedly agree that the gospel saves individual sinners.  Praise God that it does since I am an individual sinner myself.  The problem is that in our zeal to convince people that the gospel saves individual sinners we have inadvertently taught a gospel that stops at saving individual sinners.

The truth is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is much more glorious than that.

Beyond reconciling individual sinners to God (Romans 5:18), the gospel also breaks down all barriers and reconciles us to one another as a body (Galatians 3:28).

But as glorious as those things are (and they are glorious indeed!) the wonder and glory of the gospel doesn’t stop there.  As a matter of fact, the glory of the gospel extends beyond this earth.  It truly is, as John Piper calls it, a cosmic gospel.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, — Ephesians 3:8-11

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. — 1 Peter 1:10-12

In both these passages we get a glimpse of how the majesty and wonder of the gospel extends beyond beyond the individual and beyond even this Earth.  Paul tells us in Ephesians that the church, formed by the gospel, is meant to display the wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.  Peter tells us that the gospel and the salvation it brings are matters into which angels long to look.

I find this truth staggering.  Not only have I been reconciled to God, not only have I been reconciled to my brothers and sisters in Christ, but together as the church we are being held up as a display of the wisdom of God to those in the heavenly realms.  God is in effect saying to the angels, “You want to see my wisdom, look at this people I have created through the gospel.”  Not only that, but this salvation that has been given to us is something the angels actually long to know more about.

The gospel is more than just a means to save us.  It is bigger than that.  It is bigger than us. It is a grand story of God demonstrating His nature and character and reconciling to Himself a people for His glory.  And this people is not just for His glory on Earth but is meant to bring Him praise among the inhabitants of the heavenly realms as well.

This is the gospel we have been redeemed by.

This is the gospel we have been called to proclaim.

Let us not shortchange the majesty of the gospel by reducing it to merely a means to keep sinners from hell.  As wonderful as that truth is, the gospel doesn’t stop there.

Through the gospel, we are part of a  plan to lift high the name of Jesus Christ across the entire cosmos.

Why we follow pastors and teachers

A well-known scene from the movie Cool Hand Luke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnO9Jyz82Ps
http://www.samefacts.com/2013/01/popular-culture/film-popular-culture/special-guest-star-weekend-film-recommendation-cool-hand-luke/

Have you ever pondered the question – why do we follow pastors and spiritual leaders? I don’t mean “follow” as on Twitter, but why do we allow these people to have such an influence on our lives?If you mention Billy Graham or Joel Osteen or Rick Warren, you’ll get various head-nods from just about everyone.Why do we follow these nationally-known men (and women)?

There may be a variety of reasons, but at the core we should be looking to these people for a deeper understanding of God and our relationship to Him. That is their specialty after all. I wouldn’t expect one of them to fix my leaky plumbing, but I should expect spiritual wisdom and direction from them.

That’s why a recent text from Rick Warren is so frustrating.

Failure is not disqualification. Everybody fails.

— Rick Warren (@RickWarren) February 16, 2013

Huh?

Okay, I get that it is supposed to be motivational. I’m supposed to pause and consider a recent failure, pull my boots up and get back on that horse. The problem is, I could get that advice from just about any of today’s self-help gurus.

Deepak Chopra said failure contains the “seeds of success.”

Ben Franklin said something about failing to plan is planning to fail.

William Faulkner said “No man is a failure who is enjoying life.”

Mike Ditka said “failure isn’t fatal.”

Maybe I expect too much from pastors. Or maybe, as a nation, we expect too little from them these days.

Warren’s trite little saying may make us feel good, but it holds little spiritual meat to it – it doesn’t guide us back to an understanding of God. If anything, it puts more emphasis on us and our own works. Failure can have deeply spiritual context and consequences, yet Warren leads us to none of that.

Sure, 140 characters doesn’t give you much room for explanation, but at least give me a link to a sermon or text. Hey, even just a hashtag and Bible verse. Maybe Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Now, doesn’t that convey so much more than “Failure is not disqualification…”?

There’s even greater context of what the Bible says about failure – such as God causes some people to fail. Or how failing to live up to God’s standard (the law) is sin.

Going past that, consider the heretical statement of Warren’s second sentence – “Everybody fails.”

Uhh, even Jesus?

We know Jesus was tempted but did not sin. He accomplished what He came to earth to do. He lived a perfect, sinless life so He could pay the ransom-price for my condemned soul and yours. Far from being a failure.

If Warren had said “There is only One who never failed,” I could almost give him a pass on this vague, feel-good statement. But, he didn’t.

Is it enough that we could argue Warren only meant to encourage, and not imply that Jesus was also a failure? No, because remember Warren’s purpose. He’s supposed to be a shepherd, leading us to a closer understanding of God and our relationship to Him.

Warren’s statement certainly doesn’t do that. His comment reads more like a Fortune Cookie than God-inspired words.

Instead of pointing us to the failure of our own efforts, Warren should be pointing out that even though we are failures, Christ lived that perfect life for us. By Him, we are made wholly perfect. Only in Christ can we find that absence of failure that all of us seek.

Yet, instead of seeing statements like Warren’s for what it really is (useless babble), millions embrace it and soak in the folly of it like it’s a hot tub. Today’s Christians need to wise up, so we can see how unwise men like this really are. We need to wise up, or we’ll continue to let men like Warren keep us from enjoying the depths of God. We need to wise up so we can hold men like Warren accountable for their role as shepherd. Until we start demanding more, we’ll continue to get less – and that’s pithy enough to Tweet. #2Peter2:17-19.

I missed an opportunity to witness

Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Varallo Sesia (VC), Italy

I must confess, I blew an opportunity to witness to someone.In all fairness, it was on my wife’s birthday, and it was getting late.Oh, did I mention I never actually talked to the person – they were across the room. I was, well, eavesdropping on their conversation.

It’s an old habit, picked up during 20-plus years as a journalist.

It’s sort of awkward to listen for awhile and then walk up and say, “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear – you’re worried about going to hell?”

I should’ve done it anyway. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to be ready to give a reason for the reason of the hope that is in us. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 tells us to be ready in season and out.

I knew I wasn’t really prepared for this level of discussion  – right at the moment. I didn’t even have my tablet. A smartphone just wouldn’t be enough for this encounter. I needed quick access to MacArthur and Sproul for goodness sakes. I might even need a laptop and German Bible (Luther, ya know).

A thousand thoughts ran through my head as my bat-hearing picked up strains of the conversation across the restaurant. I could only hear bits and pieces as a server cleared off a table nearby.

“…I can’t just go along with it…”

“…the Bible was written by men…”

“If God wanted…”

“A Creator should want to keep that message pure” floated from across the room.

The problem was, I missed the context of the discussion. Was this a personal story by the man at the other table? Was it a re-telling of an encounter he had? Was it an article or fictional story he was reading?

I just didn’t know enough.

So, I just listened as he kept talking about books he had read, and people he had talked to about God, Satan, the Bible and more.

“I think most Christians sit there each Sunday in their pews and don’t really know what they believe,” he pontificated.

He talked about how Christians proclaim love, but don’t show it. We claim to have the truth, but we don’t know how to share it.

Like an old fuzzy AM radio station, the conversation volume waxed and waned.

I thought he said he would love for someone to take up the challenge to show him, with an unbiased opinion, what God and life are all about.

“Here I am, Lord. Send me,” I thought, even though I knew my opinion was biased.

I think it is not difficult to understand the Bible. I don’t have a problem reconciling it to the truth – contrary to what the world believes. The Bible is proven daily. An honest study of the Bible reveals the truth of Christ and God. We can know how the whole system works. Sure, it takes discernment and a willingness to take time to study the Bible in context and in unification of thoughts from chapter to chapter, book to book.

Since that almost-encounter, I’ve felt bad about the missed opportunity. He’s at-risk for going to hell, and I was too shy to cross the room to talk to him?

I’m praying that God lets our paths cross again, in such a way that I can bring up the conversation. It’s a small town, so the likelihood is great. I would love to talk with him. I’m not so naïve as to expect a pat on the back as he kneels to repeat the Sinner’s Prayer. Sometimes it takes long discussions with a person holding a stubborn viewpoint.

That’s good though. It also helps us clarify what we believe – and makes sure we aren’t holding some false beliefs, too.

The Seven 2.12.13

Seven great blog posts (and two great videos) from this past week that you don’t want to miss

1) Yesterday’s biggest news was the pope stepping down from his position as the “Vicar of Christ”, the first pope to do so since before the Protestant Reformation. As I have pointed out here before, the Roman Catholic Church is far removed from Biblical Christianity. Here are two blog posts further explaining why. The first is from Sinclair Ferguson. What is the Greatest of All Protestant “Heresies”? 

2) This blog post is an excerpt from JC Ryle Should Christians Confess Sins to An Earthly Priest?

3) My oldest daughter turns 12 tomorrow, if I were able to put together all the words I wanted to say to her it may sound something like this: A Father’s Letter to His Daughters…

4) Have you read The Explicit Gospel from Matt Chandler? I haven’t yet, but my friend Julia has and she gives her review of the book here: We Need an Explicit Gospel, but Chandler’s Isn’t Perfect

The Seven 01.29.13

Here are seven more great blog posts and articles from this past week that you shouldn’t miss.

1) What do you think of when you think of the Ice Age? Probably the three movies that Dreamworks has released, at least that’s what I think of. However, the ice Age was a real period of time on the earth, and not millions of years ago either. Ken Ham from AiG talks about this in his post Where Does the Ice Age Fit?

2) In related news this week, kind of, in my mind anyway, NASA scientist have disclosed that ‘There is no convincing physical evidence to support the man-made climate change hypothesis’  And then they were defunded by the government.

3) I was talking this week to some high school students about the test they had just taken over the subject of evolution (I always pronounce it EVIL-lution, but that’s just me) I asked them if the creation view was presented at all, he answered “briefly and only as a theory” how briefly? “The teacher mentioned it was a theory, that’s it” Was evolution presented as a theory? “not really” responded the teenager. Are you concerned that your kids may be indoctrinated in the same way? Do you want to tell the government to stick it? Homeschool your kids, is a great article by Forbes magazine on the subject.