The Cross and the Arch

Above is the cover from the upcoming issue of the New Yorker. It is poignant. It is well crafted. It is all too true. Not just of St. Louis and our current challenges, but true all across the nation. When I first saw it posted on Twitter, I enlarge the picture and stared at it for a few seconds (which in Twitter-time is the equivalent to hours). I appreciated it and I was saddened by its accuracy.

Below is a revised version of the picture I saw the next day. I reacted similarly to it.

When viewing this image, there are a couple of possible reactions.

One is the view the picture and want to dismiss it as trite and overly simplistic. I think this is false.

The cross of Jesus Christ isn’t a mere symbol of religious devotion or Polyanna, kum-ba-yah optimism. The cross is an instrument of death. It is a tool of capital punishment. It is an artifact of the actual, historical killing of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Cross isn’t weak or trite, it is costly. Specifically the cost of death and shed blood.

The Cross, in its brutality, in its savagery, in its torturous death-bearing, is about much more than convenient “solutions” and upbeat worship songs. It’s about much more than man being brought close to God (though this is essential!). It’s even about much more than the fact that, as Tim Keller puts it, I’m far worse than I’d ever imagined and far more loved than I ever dared hoped.

The Cross is about the tearing down of walls. The tearing down of the wall of separation between man and God. The tearing down of the wall of our guilty status before a righteous God. The tearing down of the wall of hurt and pain and brokenness from our past. And the tearing down of the walls between ethnic and racial groups.

Hear Paul in Ephesians 2:11-22:

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Without launching into a full exegesis that would fill dozens (hundreds?) of pages, I can say this, the Cross is about healing ethic and racial divides.

Is that all it is about? No.

But that is exactly and primarily what the above text is talking about. Two groups of people. Separated ethnically, culturally, religiously, and socially being brought together under the headship of and by the blood of Jesus Christ to become one, unified people.

A humanity that strives together. That mourns together. That prays together. That worships together. That considers the other better than oneself. That sacrifices for one another. That listens to one another.

The Cross is the answer. The costly Cross where Jesus died so that the dividing wall of hostility would be torn down.

But there’s one other way this image could be interpreted. Another way to interpret it is indeed simplistic. Too simplistic. It looks at the bridge of the Cross and it relates, “Yes! Jesus is the answer. Now let’s host a joint worship service with a church that doesn’t look like ours. Let’s get lunch with someone of another race once a month and pursue genuine friendship. Let’s buy Lecrae’s latest album.”

And you should do ALL of those things. All of them. Seriously, go do them!

But, as you do them, don’t believe that will “fix” it. In Divided By Faith, a book I have discussed extensively here, the authors refer to a belief many Christians cite that the authors call “the miracle motif”, which simply is that if everyone became a Christian, all racial and ethnic problems would cease.

Once again, to limit this to paragraphs rather than dozens (hundreds?) of pages, I will only touch on the main points here, but personal relationships and church fellowships won’t erase the problem. The problem didn’t develop overnight, nor will it be healed overnight.

There are hundreds of years of history to reckon with first. There is the reality of systemic injustice to be wrestled with and ultimately deconstructed. There is the fact that the relationships and friendships I recommended above are really, really hard.

The solution isn’t just around the corner, but it is present with us. Jesus Christ cares about injustice. Jesus Christ cares about tension. Jesus Christ cares about division.

And He died to heal it.

Race, Grace, and Michael Dunn

In truth, I did not want to write this post. I intentionally gave myself some time to calm down, so I did not go public with some words inspired more so by emotion than the Spirit. But, it is worth broaching the topic, so here I go.

If you are not familiar with the Michael Dunn case, Google it and pick a reliable news source (Hint: Nothing with its own 24 hour channel) and read up a little. Or read my quick summary here.

On Black Friday 2012, Jordan Davis and three friends, all black teens (if you don’t feel this is an important detail, stick with me, because I promise you it is all-important), pulled up to a Gate gas station on the Southside of Jacksonville. Moments later Michael Dunn and his fiancé pulled up next to them. The young men's rap music was playing loudly and Dunn asked them to turn it down. The driver complied. Jordan Davis was sitting in the back seat, he cursed at Dunn and said to turn the music back up.

At this point the stories diverge. One is told by Dunn. The other is told by the young men, witnesses at the gas station, and interestingly enough, Dunn’s own fiancé. Dunn’s account says he saw a shotgun in the car and that Davis threatened to kill him. He feared for his life . . . and in his fear (naturally) chose to get out of his own car and continue escalating the argument.

The other account says that Dunn and Davis argued back and forth and at a certain point Dunn reached in his glove compartment pulled out and gun and began firing. 

No one disputes the following however. 

Ten shots were fired. 

Nine entered the car. 

Three struck Jordan Davis. 

He was killed.

Dunn was tried in Jacksonville last month for one count of 1^st degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, and a lesser gun charge. He was convicted of the four less serious charges and the jury was deadlocked on the murder charge leading to a mistrial on that count.

He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

So, three observations about this case:

1. He got life, so let’s just drop it?
2. Two different worlds
3. Ultimate reality

The first actually mirrors my very first reaction to the verdict. I was unsurprised. When you spend time in communities like mine, you learn to not put too much hope in the legal system acting like a justice system. But, my very first thought was, “Three attempted murders, 20 years per, served consecutively, he’s done for. That works for me.”

But, as I thought about it, that answer no longer made sense. Because this trial and this case is much bigger than how much time Michael Dunn will serve and whether or not he dies in prison.

This is a case about whether or not young black men can go to gas stations, get into arguments, and not get killed. Plain and simple. This is the single biggest issue on the table here.

Because if you honestly believe that if Jordan Davis was white, the music was country, and Michael Dunn claimed his same story; that the case’s outcome would be the same, you’re living in a fantasy. Jordan Davis’ race was the primary factor in why he was shot.

I don’t care if he swore at Dunn. I don’t care if he initiated the disagreement (which he didn’t). I don’t care if he escalated the situation. I don’t care about any of that.

None of it gives you the right to shoot and kill him.

But in the city of Jacksonville, in America, in 2014, this is currently what this case is about. And this is why it must be retried. And this is why Dunn must be found guilty.

If Dunn is not guilty on the murder charge the suggestion is this: “Killing black people in Jacksonville is ok (as long as you felt threatened first).”

You may think I’m coming on too strong here. But I assure you, that am holding back. To me, that is a conservative reading of this case.

And let me add this. A significant minority of white folks (but more than just outliers) feel threatened by ALL black people. So, if this case is not retried with a different result, we could have an even bigger problem on our hands.

Jelani Greenridge put it better than I can on his blog: 

“You know what makes me uncomfortable? The idea that I might get shot at a gas station if I’m listening to Lecrae, Trip Lee, or any other artist that sounds like someone else’s idea of ‘thug music’ . . . When we’re talking about a systemic racial bias that subtly provides a veneer to the legal justification—not just figurative, but literal targeting—of young Black males by gun-carrying White people, and you say, ‘let’s not bring race into this,’ what you’re unintentionally declaring is that your desire to be comfortable in the conversation is more important that our desire to not get shot.”

This case is about whether or not black males can be shot at in public.

Second, this case revealed to me the reality of two different worlds that I straddle, but many are unaware of even existing. The way people in my community reacted to this verdict compared to the way people on the other side of Jacksonville reacted is starkly different. In my neighborhood, every pastor sat down the night of Saturday February 15^th and began re-working the sermon for the coming morning. On the other side of the river, most pastors probably saw this was the top story on the news, probably said a well-meaning, heartfelt prayer, went to bed, and forgot the case by Tuesday.

This difference may reveal why my “interpretation” seen above could seem extreme to your worldview. I would challenge you to trade eyes with me some time.

Over the last few weeks, I cannot pull into a gas station without imagining one of these middle school boys I work with . . . lying on the ground . . . dead . . . because he said the wrong thing to the wrong person . . . or maybe for no reason at all.

I walk into the room of our after school program and look at this third grade boy I have known since he was five. Today, I gave him a fist bump and as I type this, I imagine him shot down. Dead. Because he is a black male.

America is a vastly diverse country. But we are not melting pot. We are a salad bar. The experiences of Black Americans and White Americans and Latino Americans and Asian Americans and Native Americans and Arab Americans are vastly different. If you are white, I challenge you to look up this word: microaggression (or here).

The sooner we can see and can admit our experience is different, the sooner we can move towards actual understanding. But as it stands now, these are different worlds.

(Side note, but let me throw it in. These worlds are so divergent . . . I can't hang out with a group of all white people for more than two days. Because at some point, someone will say something . . . and I’ll just have to leave the room. Maybe not physically, but I will completely conversationally and emotionally check out of the situation. White folks, it’s not that you are trying to be racist. You just don’t know any better. You’re ignorant. It’s not your fault. It’s a system you’re stuck in. But, now that I’m letting you know, you should seek to get out of the system. In fact, it’s a moral imperative.)

Third and finally, there is an ultimate reality at play here.

One day, either Michael Dunn will claim not guilty to a much Higher Judge and be found utterly guilty of much more than murder in the first . . . 

or

. . . he will encounter the true and living Christ and on that day, when he enters his plea of not guilty, the Higher Judge will pronounce him cleared of all charges and welcome him with open arms and without hesitation into His Kingdom.

And the same is true of all of us.

We may not have murdered. But we are all racist. We have all insulted and defamed the image of God in one way or another and all of us need an Advocate to speak a better word for us than our own righteousness can.

Thank the Lord Jesus Christ that I am not counting on my own good works, morality, or ethical stamina to get me by, but that I and millions around the world can, on that day, point to Jesus, and say, “I am not guilty because he already took the charge for me. I stand in grace. I stand in righteousness. I stand under a banner that reads ‘It is finished’”

Oh, Lord, I pray that we would learn. I pray that Michael Dunn would encounter You. You are a God who chose a terrorist to be your greatest Apostle. You are a God who chose a murderer to lead his nation of Israel. You are a God who redeemed a man who spent 13 years in prison to be my pastor. Surely, you can save Michael Dunn and I ask that you would.

Honestly, that was hard to pray. But it was right.

We will point to Jesus or we will point at ourselves. I pray we would all know the Savior, who is greater than us. 

Grace Bombing #9

At the cross, Jesus became dead to sin. At the Resurrection, He rose again, neither the penalty of sin nor the power of sin had any claim on Him. We are in Christ, meaning we have been united in His death to sin and resurrection to new life. We have been fully forgiven of sin's penalty, but also fully freed of sin's power. Just as we must not add to the finished work of justification, nor should we add to the finished work of emancipation. The old man has no claim on you! None! Let us live in the finished work of the Savior.

Sources: The meat of this argument is found in Romans chapters 6-8 consider 6:2, 4-14, 7:24-8:4, 8:9-11,13-15. Further, Colossians 2:12, 3:3-10, Galatians 2:20, 5:24. 6:14, 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Peter 1:3,4,9.

DBF: The Whole Gospel

(This post is part of a series exploring Michael Emerson and Christian Smith’s excellent book Divided By Faith)

Last post, I explained the concept of a toolkit: a collection of assumptions, beliefs, and views shared by a group. I explained that all groups have toolkits and that the white evangelical toolkit specifically impacts the way this group views race. Further, a toolkit limits a group or individual in the possible explanations or conclusions they can draw, so therefore a toolkit may close off an entire set of realities, simply because the beholder cannot fathom something outside of their group’s viewpoint.

In specific, white evangelicals have a strong attachment to accountable free will individualism, anti-structuralism, and relationalism. I argue that this toolkit is the greatest factor causing white evangelicals to actually do more harm than good when approaching race and will be looking at those reasons in the upcoming posts.

In specific, there is a significant theological error embedded within this standard toolkit. It is found in the value of anti-structuralism.

The helpful framework of Matt Chandler’s book The Explicit Gospel opens up a clear path to see this error. Chandler states that there is one Gospel of Christ, but that for it to be fully understood it must be seen from multiple vantage points. He calls these the Gospel on the Ground and the Gospel in the Air.

First, the Gospel on the Ground. Chandler labels this in four components: God. Man. Christ. Response. In brief, God made everything, owns everything, knows everything, and desires it all to reflect his goodness and glory, but man’s condition is a fallen one. Mankind has rebelled against God and twisted the goodness he gave us. We have chosen sin and self over him. This requires a response by a holy and just God, and ultimately if we will be made into worshippers who do give God the glory that he deserves, we must be made right with him and our sin atoned for. Thankfully, Christ was sent as this redemptive substitute, lived the righteous life we couldn’t and died the death we deserved. All of this calls mankind to a response, whereby each of us must either turn to God in repentance and faith or refuse and continue on our path of rebellion, sin, and self.

Looking at this, do you see the white evangelical toolkit?

It’s everywhere. Accountable free will individualism and relationalism are all over the the paragraph above. We can see them in every element. God is relational. Our relationship with him has been broken. We are going to be held accountable. This accountability will be for free will choices we made. This accountability will be applied to us as individuals. Jesus will not accept your religious aunt’s faith as yours, you need to have faith individually! In fact, the whole would not even make sense if not for those elements from the toolkit.

To me it seems that the white evangelical toolkit is largely drawn from looking at the Gospel on the Ground in a vacuum and then drawing implications out from it. 

However, I believe these implications go too far. For example, when Emerson and Smith performed interviews and asked if there are structural or institutional forms of racism or discrimination, many of their evangelical respondents replied that, "Racism only exists insofar as an institution is simply a group of individuals and if the individuals make sinful choices, then those sinful individual decisions will lead to institutions that do harm. So, no, institutions aren't a problem, individual human hearts are."

I disagree with this line of reasoning. In fact, while fully assenting to the Gospel on the Ground (I believe it and would “die on that hill” for every part of the framing above), I believe that this Gospel is too small. Further, I believe many evangelicals view the Gospel on the Ground as the totality of the Gospel. To do so robs God of glory, misrepresents the message of the Bible, and edges on heresy.

Because the Gospel is not only on the ground! It is in the air as well!

Chandler frames the Gospel in the Air in four components as well: Creation, Fall, Reconciliation, Consummation. In brief, God created the whole world, every person, plant, relationship, system, and mind. But, sin has horribly marred every person, plant, relationship, system, and mind. Sin means people hurt one another, plants get diseases, relationships end in divorce, systems propagate injustice, and minds are plagued by anxiety, depression, and insecurity. This is just the smallest sampling of the effects of the Fall. But, there is good news, Colossians 1:20 tells us Jesus is reconciling all things by the cross! All of this is being restored and made new. In fact, if we belong to Christ we are called ambassadors of reconciliation and are invited to join him in his mission. The final element is our hope for the consummation of all these things. That one day, Christ will return and he will set all things right. The world will be complete shalom, justice, and righteousness. Everything in creation will function and flourish as it was intended.

This is the Gospel in the Air! It does not and need not conflict with the Gospel on the Ground. They are simply two vantage points to look upon the same good news.

The Gospel is both! It is individual. It is cosmic. We need to understand, preach, and apply both!

Sadly, the white evangelical toolkit cannot assent to all of the Gospel in the Air. 

From the air, we see that the Fall broke everything. Not just individual hearts, but literally everything would no longer function as it ought to after the Fall. In the Fall, our social systems and institutions broke. Not just the people within them, but the systems themselves. Our economic system is marked by the Fall. Our educational system is marked by the Fall. Our legal system is marked by the Fall.

However, the white evangelical toolkit’s emphasis on anti-structuralism precludes the possibility that intuitions and systems could be broken. Anti-structuralism says that systems are never to blame. The Gospel in the Air says, "Yes, they are! They are broken. But they are being redeemed and Christ will reconcile all things, including structural, societal elements!"

If we hold strongly to the white, evangelical toolkit however, we will never see this. But if we dare to look at the complete story and the whole Gospel, it will be clear as day.

This was illustrated recently, by the incident and discussion that lead me to finally decide it was time to start blogging about race. The Trayvon Martin verdict.

The morning after the verdict, Christian spoken word/hip hop artist Propaganda (who is an absolute beast) weighed in on this very issue via Twitter saying:

2. I'm Disillusioned by the amount of folks (specially fellow Christians) that are CLUELESS to systemic injustices.
— propaganda (@prophiphop) July 14, 2013

If you can get your mind around depravity, as in inherited sin, you should get systemic issues
— propaganda (@prophiphop) July 14, 2013

I honestly don't think most are racist. I think their just unaware. Which is understandable.you don't know what you don't know
— propaganda (@prophiphop) July 14, 2013

Last 1. The gospel has fa show replaced the blood in my veins. I just see christ thru Black American male eyes, Lets trade eyes sometime.
— propaganda (@prophiphop) July 14, 2013

These statements capture the exact sentiment that the white evangelical toolkit stands in opposition to. If you want to be consistent theologically (rather than picking and choosing what parts of theology you believe, which is theological liberalism by definition) you must see the connection between sin and the systemic. To deny it is to misunderstand the Fall and in doing so to misunderstand the fullness of the Gospel.

Propaganda also hits on another key point in the last tweet I copied here, he's aware that he too has a toolkit ("Black American male eyes"). The reality however is most white folks are unaware of their toolkit and assume the way they see the world is normative and even moral. When one is in the majority they have the luxury of not having to consider such questions, but I assure you there are very few black Christian crowds in America that would object to a theology of systemic injustice and sin. White Christians however are both blinded and protected from having to consider such things. 

We cannot afford to miss this because the systemic impacts of race in America are pervasive. The failure to acknowledge them (or even see them) will only result in continual talking past one another, no matter how many individualistic approaches are attempted. 

The Gospel is personal. The Gospel is cosmic. To make it only one or the other is to misrepresent it. It is both. It needs to be both.

Grace Bombing #6

Do you believe the Bible when it says two men were crucified next to Jesus? The very same Bible declares authoritatively that your old self too was crucified there with him. Do we trust that with equal confidence? Take hold of it by faith. To make God half-a-Savior is to belittle Him. Yes (hallelujah!), he saves you from the penalty of sin and beyond that he saves from the power of sin as well!

Sources: Mark 15:27, Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 6:22

Grace Bombing #5

#5
Hear this! Your old self has been crucified. Killed. Dead. Death and sin don't just lack the 'last word' in your life, they don't get a word at all. They have been crucified with Christ. What is more? You are raised all the more to live in and with and into Christ under the rule of grace.

Source: Romans 6:6-11, 14, 18, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 2:22, Colossians 3:1

Grace Bombing #4

#4


(Source: Principles of Spiritual Growth (Miles Stanford) also Colossians 3:3, Romans 6:6)

Grace Bombing #3

#3
Psalm 46 tells us to "cease striving and know that I am God." This is good advice. Because you are in Christ there is nothing you can add to Christ's righteousness. His is complete and perfect. But what you can do, is to cease and to know. The less you try to impress Him, the more you can know the facts of his righteousness and that it has already been fully imputed to you by no merit of your own. You can look at Him and know Him and know that He is God. It is already done! This gives us the freedom to cease striving and rest in His (HIS!) righteousness. You're righteous!

(Source: Psalm 46:10, Colossians 1:22, Philippians 1:11, Galatians 2:15-16, 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Grace Bombing #2

#2
No voice of accusation or condemnation internal or external has any power or truth over your life. For your life is hid with Christ in God. He is overjoyed with you. He speaks in your defense against any and all charges. You can approach him with confidence and righteousness. That's crazy. It doesn't sound true, but by faith it is.

(Source: Romans 8:1, Colossians 3:3, Hebrews 12:2, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 4:16, Ephesians 2:8)

Grace Bombing #1

I am fully convinced that the Christian's greatest need is to remember. To be reminded. To be reset.

The promises already true of those who follow Christ are staggering.

Adoption. Identification. Redemption. Sanctification. Co-crucifixion. And on and on.

In Christ, we already have everything we will ever need. So, why do things feel so hard, so often? Because we forget. We live as if those promises were not . . . promises.

So, over the past two months I've taken to a practice I call "grace bombing". When I am alerted to one of these truths myself, I swoop in from above and via text message drops these "bombs" on friends of mine all across the country and the world, so they too may be reminded.

I'm going to start sharing them regularly here as well. I pray that you (and I!) would be rooted in these truth. That we would acknowledge them as facts by faith and live into them. So, without further pontification.

#1
As you go into this week: Take the gospel seriously, you aren't just covered by Jesus, you're changed. You have a new identity. You are a new creation. You don't wear a robe of righteousness that merely hides your sinfulness, your sinfulness has been changed. In Christ, you're righteous.

(Source: Romans 5:1, Romans 5:10, Romans 6:18, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:10, Hebrews 2:11) 

Lavished

Brennan Manning died this weekend. I paged through his most well-known work, The Ragamuffin Gospel, late Saturday night and was reminded how hugely influential this man was on my faith early on.

The book shows marks of wear. My copy is stained, water-damaged, and marked up on every page. Mostly because I carried it around in my backpack for the better part of a year in college. Not because it took me a long time to read it (I devoured it), but because I wanted to always have the book on hand to share, encourage, and remind myself of the message.

Brennan was my earliest teacher of the nature of the Christian life. Namely, that we grow by realizing God's greatness and holiness is far greater than we ever dared imagine and that our sinfulness and depravity is far worse than we ever feared, but that His grace and love has made the way. And further, that this way is not just a door we walk through or a prayer we pray, but it is the way and the path we are called to pursue with our entire life.

Brennan imagined a situation where we might flippantly come before Jesus, thinking we know the answers, and ask him to "Lay a new word on me. I know the old one.":

And God answers, That's what you don't know. You don't know how much I love you. The moment you think you understand is the moment you do not understand. I am God, not man. You tell others about Me--that I am a loving God. Your words are glib. My words are written in the blood of My only Son. The next time you preach about My love with such obnoxious familiarity, I may come and blow your whole prayer meeting apart. When you come at Me with studied professionalism, I will expose you as a rank amateur. When you try to convince others that you understand what you are talking about, I will tell you to shut up and fall flat on your face. You claim you know I love you.
Did you know that every time you tell Me you love Me, I say thank you?
When your son comes to you asking, "Do you like Susan more 'cause she skates better and she's a girl?" are you grieved and saddened over your child's lack of trust? Do you know that you do the same thing to Me?
Do you claim to know what we shared when Jesus withdrew to a deserted place or spent the night on a hillside alone with Me? Do you know from where the inspiration to wash the feet of the Twelve came? Do you understand that, motivated by love alone, your God became your slave in the Upper Room?
Were you grieved by the divine command to Abraham that he slay his only begotten Isaac on Mount Moriah? Were you relieved when the angel intervened, Abraham's hand was stayed, and the sacrifice was not carried out? Have you forgotten that on Good Friday no angel intervened? That sacrifice was carried out, and it was My heart that was broken.
Are you aware that I had to raise Jesus from the dead on Easter morning because My love is everlasting? Are you serenely confident that I will raise you, too, My adopted child?

Ephesians 1:7-8
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Praise God that our brother Brennan is right now in the very presence of Christ, fully experiencing his adoption, security, and belonging to his Father in a way that far surpassed any experienced of this lavished love he knew here. Praise God for a life redeemed. I pray that we would press in and experience ever-deeper this God who is unspeakably, head-over-heels in love with these created beings who can't do anything to fix our estate.

Verse 2

"By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain."

I want to focus on the phrase "this gospel" today. It is the phrase that holds this entire verse together.

Paul is in a fight. Generally, this was the pattern of Paul's life:

1. Go to a city.

2. Tell them the news about Jesus.

3. Get beat and chased out.

4. Hear to news that others have come to that city and are telling the believers there false things about Jesus and about you.

5. Write them a letter.

And this is the story of Paul's time in Corinth. Paul is defending not just himself and his message, he is defending the Gospel! Not Paul's Gospel! Not something he made up, not some set of philosophical thoughts Paul deduced, but the very truth of God that was revealed to Paul by Christ himself (Galatians 1:11-12).

It is important that we get the Gospel right.

It is the most important thing in the world.

I mean that.

Paul says, that believing any other Gospel is to have "believed in vain". To believe in any other Gospel is to believe in something that is impotent, ineffectual, and hopeless. All Gospels other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ are not just rivaling ideas but are lies from the pit of Hell (Galatians 1:6-9).

And there are so many other Gospels. So many other answers, solutions, promises, and saviors:

There's the postmodern gospel (I will be saved when I seek my own truth/reality and keep it to myself).

The social justice gospel (I will be saved when I make the world a better place).

The self-help gospel (I will be saved when I make a better me).

The prosperity gospel (I will be saved because God wants me to be healthy, wealthy, and have a perfectly manicured front yard).

There's an innumerable number of other man-created (or worse) gospels. But let's not focus on that, let's turn to the true gospel.

What is the true Gospel, the good news that Christ himself revealed to Paul?

The Good News was summed up in eight words by a man named Will Campbell as "We're all bastards, but God loves us anyways." I think that's I pretty good summation or at least a good start.

The Gospel starts with the fact that God loves us, but we suck.

God loves us. He is faithful to us. He is righteous.

I don't love him back. I am incredibly unfaithful. I am unrighteous. (Remember God is not comparing us to one another, but to perfection and he knows not just our outward actions but also all our thoughts, motives and the depths of our hearts.)

But . . .

But, he loves us anyways.

And because he loves us, God himself comes to the Earth. Jesus, God as a man, lives a perfect life on Earth. And he never errs, he is never unfaithful, and he remains righteous and because of that he is qualified and able to step in, to take our place, and the die, thereby removing all of our guilt.

But not just removing it, not just giving us a clean slate, but replacing our mess with God's perfection. Replacing our unfaithfulness with faithfulness and our unrighteousness with his righteousness.

And all of this is just scratching the surface of "this gospel." "This gospel" has the power to save and "this gospel" promises that our belief in it will not be in vain.

And there's more to come.

Verse 1

"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."

Since October of 2008 the words "remind you of the gospel" have been central in my life. The single most valuable lesson from spending a year overseas to "share the gospel" with others was that I need the gospel just as much as that person I'm sharing it with.

Not an hour goes by in my life where the Gospel of Christ is not the primary reminder I need.

So, it's fitting that Paul, the author, opens this chapter reminding the Corinthians of that Gospel.

We need to be reminded of the Gospel.

Because our tendency and nature will be to forget it.

The gospel is not merely the door by which we enter God's family, it is the path that we must walk on every day. It is our growth. It is our hope. It is our present and our future.

And it's also God's fully accomplished, completed work on our behalf.

I forget the Gospel.

I forget it all the time. And when I do, things do not go well for me.

Writing on "the truth of the Gospel" Martin Luther said, "Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads consistently."

Paul is reminding some nasty, rebellious people 2000 years ago and we need to be reminded too.

So, remember the True, effective Gospel that has been preached to you, that which you have received, that which you have taken your stand upon. And when you have done that . . . beat it into your head, remind yourself of the Gospel.

The Gospel: The Irony of Good Charlotte

(This post once again draws on ideas from a talk by Tullian Tchividjian. I take no credit for 70% of this.)

I have multiple New Found Glory and Good Charlotte CDs in my iTunes.

Ahhh! That doesn't feel good to type.

I desperately want you to believe that I have good taste in music. I don't know who "you" are. "You" could be someone who stumbled upon this site that I will never in any possible scenario meet, but still, I want your approval.

. . .

I also have a Dido album . . . and I want badly to inform you that its not mine.

What does this reveal?

Regret?

Yes, but also it reveals a non-Gospel-centered mindset.

_________________

I wrote last time that Christians live under a banner.

A banner that reads "It is finished."

If this is true, then there is room no more for fear, for hiding, for secrets. Not even about topics as trivial as 90s pop punk. If my banner reads "Adopted Son of God" no other label can carry weight. This is absolute, positional truth, but whether or not we experience this truth is another issue.

_________________

Obviously, I'm not just talking about musical preferences here. All people have things by which they do not want to be labeled.

That stupid decision.

That nagging sin.

That accusing internal voice.

That personality flaw.

That insecurity.

That physical imperfection.

And because of these things, we are stuck pretending (I am stuck pretending). I pretend everything is all right, that I have it all together, and that tomorrow will be a better day because I hold to a belief that "The world needs to see that I am strong."

However, this is false.

The world needs to see that God is strong.

The world also needs to see the reality that I am weak and frail and pretty messed up (And you are too!). And I feel uncomfortable just admitting that, because everything in me wants you to believe that I am not weak, am not frail, and am not messed up.

So let me set the precedent and say that this will be a place of honesty. I hesitate to type this, as I think through the implications of this statement, but, I want to be honest here. To be weak, frail, and messed up on this blog. I want to go first so that others have freedom to go second (check out the link if you have time).

And this is why: though all people are weak and frail and pretty messed up, those people are in two groups: those who know it and those who don't.

And those who know it are in two groups: those who can admit it and those who are too insecure to admit it so they mask it.

I am definitely in the latter group. Strongly. Obsessively.

And I want to be counted amongst those who can admit it. I want to be able to admit freely what I know to be true, that the closer I look into and examine my own heart and my own motives and my own life the uglier, darker, and more disordered it gets.

But here's the kicker.

The value is not in being able to admit it. No. Not at all. This isn't some idea that transperancy and confession and sincerity somehow cover over sin. Not at all.

Not. at. all.

Sin has already been covered over.

In full.

The Lord, Yahweh, God himself, came to the Earth as a man, lived a perfect life, in our place, died a substitutionary death, in our place, and provided for an already accomplised, already offered, already obtained forgiveness of all sin past, present, future, personal, corporate, omission, and commission. Already paid in full.

Don't get it twisted.

Shoot, the reason I want to be counted amongst those who can admit their depravity (big word) is this: Those who know it and can admit are those who know the Irony of Gospel Growth. That being, most all people want to change, but those who want change and are simultaneously aware that God will not love them any less if they do not change are the ones that actually will see life transformation.

Again, the irony is that when we set out to change ourselves, we undertake a "morbid introspection" where we focus on ourselves, our sin, our issues and our need to get better and when we do this . . . sadly, there is no better way to get worse.

But, those who admit their profound, deep shortcomings yet know with certainty that God loves them in it and that he has already proclaimed "It is finished", these are the people that actually will see change.

God's love for me and for you does not get bigger when you or I obey. Nor does it get smaller if we disobey.

When you imagine God's feelings about you right now, of what do you think?

No matter what you think. The truth is this, if you are in Christ, God is deeply satisfied, even overjoyed, with you.

Christian growth does not happen first by behaving better, but by believing better what God has already secured for us.

Christians live under the banner of "It is finished."

"It is finished."

How does God look at you right now?

What would prevent you from radical honesty with yourself? with God? with others?

What had God already secured for you?

The Gospel: Technicolor

(The following is very, very, very strongly influenced and adapted from a talk given by Tullian Tchividjian at the 1st Baptist Church of Jacksonville Pastor's Conference on January 29th 2011, so much so, that you should not attribute a single thought here to me, though, he stole a lot of it from Tim Keller . . . who stole it from Martin Luther and the Bible. Unless noted all quotations are Tchividjian.)

All Christians believe the Gospel.

Most of us think about it frequently.

But when we think about it, how are we looking at it.

Is it the Door by which we get in? The igniting spark that brings us into the Kingdom? A response to an incredible offer from the King and Ruler of the Universe?

Yes.

But it is also, much, much more. So much more, that when we think of it simply as the igniting spark or the message we need to share with non-believers we do a great disservice to others and ourselves.

Seeing the Gospel as an entryway alone is to see the Gospel in black and white rather than technicolor.

Seeing the Gospel as a one-time choice is to see the Gospel theologically rather than functionally.

"The Gospel doesn't simply ignite the Christian life, it is the fuel that keeps it going. Its the whole thing."

This Gospel states that the determining factor in my relationship with God is:

His Work . . .

. . . not mine.

His Performance . . .

. . . not mine.

His Obedience . . .

. . . not mine.

His Faithfulness . . .

. . . not mine.

And we need to hear this not just one time, not just at the doorway, but every day. Every moment.

Because all of our hearts bend towards performance mode. All of us are tempted to believe that good behavior, good productivity, good works, good thoughts, and our being good will keep us in God's favor, or (if we have our minds theologically trained enough to not fear God's abandonment) we will be tempted to believe that doing these things will give us a little extra value, make God a little more proud of us, or will get us what we've always dreamed of.

But these are utter, hell-spoken lies.

They have zero reality.

The Gospel tells us the God's acceptance of us is based on His Work, not ours.

The Gospel does not say, "If I obey, I will be accepted" but "I am accepted, therefore I obey." (Keller)

The fact of the matter is that God's love for you and approval of you does not get bigger when you obey.

Nor does it get smaller when you disobey. Not at all.

Stop.

Right now, ask yourself this question: When God thinks of you right now, what is the look on his face?

Stop. Think about it. Don't go on until you have an answer.

What do you picture? What does He say? Is he confused? Upset? Disappointed? Too busy to care? Does he say, "If only you would . . ." or "Why do you . . . ?"

If you imagined God as anything but overjoyed with you, you're Gospel is not technicolor. Because the truth is: in Christ, God is deeply satisfied with you.

When God looks at you, he sees His Son. He sees His Son's life of perfect obedience, in your stead.

"Christians live under the banner of 'It is finished.'"

The Gospel is a real, ongoing, functional, sufficient, efficient, technicolor Truth.

Let's step out from under the black and white and into the full color (we can even skip that 70s phase where the colors were all a little faded). The Gospel is Techinicolor. We live under a banner.

It is finished.

How do you generally think of the Gospel?

Where do you find yourself trusting in a performance mindset?

What would it look like to better believe the Gospel today?