Not Just Faith

Many Sundays ago, in Sunday school, we were having a discussion of what hospitality requires of us. I wish I could remember which scripture we were discussing, but one of the members of the class said that she was relieved by the scripture. Obviously, from these words, Jesus didn't require us to invite people from off the street into our homes.

I said, "But he may require us to give away our homes."

Crickets. Not a popular response. It's a good thing that they like me. ;-)

One of the characteristics of a robust gospel, according to Christianity Today is that a robust gospel demands not just faith, but everything. The article says:

Paul can say that his intent in preaching the gospel is to bring about the "obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5)....A robust gospel summons each of us to respond in repentance, trust, surrender, commitment and obedience....The robust gospel calls for a robust response of a robust person.

I was listening to a sermon by Andy Stanley about prayer. He says that when Jesus teaches us to pray by saying "thy will be done," that what he is teaching us is to surrender all to God.

There are those things which we would like to hold on to. There are those things -- whether it is material objects, goals, grudges, or fears -- that we would rather God would not touch. God understands, though, that he can't have our hearts until we give them to him. And we can't give him our hearts if we hold on to those things which seem to hard to release.

It is a robust gospel that demands the obedience of faith.

Image: The sky on the way home one day.

It's more than the cross

I can't find it now, but sometimes in the history of Sandpiper's Thoughts, there was a discussion going in the comments about the importance of the crucifixion. My point as I wrote the post was that we needed to remember the joy of resurrection in our worship, not just the pain of crucifixion. There was a gentleman who disagreed with me -- his point, if I remember it correctly, was that it was Christ's pain and suffering in his death which saved us, and our worship needs to reflect that.

The fifth characteristic of a robust gospel reminded me of that discussion. A robust gospel "includes the life of Jesus as well as his Resurrection and the gift of the Spirit alongside Good Friday."

Read this quote from Christianity Today:

The robust gospel incorporates us into the life of Jesus Christ, into his death with us, for us and instead of us, into the resurrection that justifies and creates new life, and the Pentecostal spirit that empowers us to live together, as image-bearers of God, in such a way that we glow with the glory of the blessd God.

The crucifixion is not the only event in the story of Jesus which has meaning and impact for us. We need the incarnation; we need the resurrection and we need Pentecost. We are recreated; we are sent out to transform the world. How could we do that without a complete, robust gospel?

More than just for me

We've had some interesting weather here recently. The sky will be blue; fluffy white clouds, and then a thunderstorm will rush in, crashing into the area with thunder and lightning and pouring the rain. The image in the post today is of one of those storms. Standing in the parking lot of the mall, we could see decent weather to the west and these huge thunderclouds to the east, with green light (icky!) and lightning.

As we drove home, there was no rain, and then all of a sudden, we would drive up to the edge of the rain, and get pelted.

Is life ever like that? Are there times when we don't even notice what's happening in the world around us because we are enjoying blue skies and white clouds?

The fourth characteristic of a robust gospel is that it has a grand vision.

Are there times when our faith boils down to a tiny view? Are there times when we see God's work as the salvation of our own soul, and nothing else?

The mission of the United Methodist church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. There is a "so that" to God's work in the world. His vision is grand. His purpose is to have a relationship with each one of us -- one on one -- but he isn't willing to stop there. The truth is robust.

The gospel of Christ should do more than just change our own personal life. The robust gospel of Christ will motivate us to reach out as Christ's hands and feet so that the world may be changed. Anything else is too small.

Is your Gopel large enough?

I went to Sunday school in a different church last Sunday. The teacher (who was also the pastor of the church) talked about the "big picture" of the Bible. He said -- and I love this line -- that the Bible goes from creation to re-creation.

The third mark of a robust gospel from Christianity Today is that "the robust gospel deals with a robust problem." To quote the article:

When Eve, with her husband in tow, chose to eat from the wrong tree, the [God] image was cracked in each of ... four directions: God-alienation, self-shame, other-blame and Eden-expulsion. Sin results not only in alienation from God, which is paramount, but also in shame of the self, blame and antagonism toward others, and banishment from the world as God made it to be.

Our problems are huge -- we are separated from God and from each other. In order to solve these very big problems, we need a very big gospel.

Nothing short of re-creation will solve our problems. We must be transformed. We cannot find the answers to our problems without God, even though we try all the time.

I think that may be why I bristle when someone places a criteria on grace -- when someone insinuates that we can only earn grace through our "good" behavior. We are transformed by grace -- not through our own power, or through our own actions, but through the love and action of God. Unless we realize that, our gospel is not nearly robust enough.

It's personal

The second mark of a robust gospel, as described by Christianity Today, is that the robust gospel places transaction in the context of persons.

Do we reduce the gospel to a transaction between God and us? Do we see it as a trade -- removal of our sin in exchange for our faith?

The gospel is more than that. This is not a WalMart faith. The article reminds us that it is personal -- it is God, it is Jesus, it is the Spirit and it is you or me.

I like the final sentence of this section in the article:

In our proclamation, to the focus of the gospel must be on God as person and our encountering that personal God in the face of Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit.

It's bigger than a trade. It's personal.

The Gospel is a Story

I read an article in Christianity Today called The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel. It's written by Scot McKnight.

Do we settle for a small, weak gospel? Do we miniaturize the gospel?

I may work my way through the 8 Marks discussed in this article, taking them on one at a time.

The robust gospel is a story.

There is a big picture to the Gospel. Jesus' entry into the world as a human wasn't the first mark on a blank slate. There is a big picture to the Bible. His incarnation is a response to a world of sin and brokenness. His presence brings hope in darkness. Light in sin.

The minister who lead communion this evening at the Gathering stood up and kind of squinted at us. He said, "It's very bright in here; we're not used to the light." He meant that the overhead lights were on and that they usually weren't, but what I heard is that the world is made brighter through Christ -- sometimes it seems so bright that we can't deal with the light.

Jesus came to a world of darkness and offers us hope. He leads us into the kingdom of God, knowing that we don't know the way and that we need his leadership.

Image: Santuary at St. John's United Methodist in Teays Valley