Tag Archives: Bible

Feb 8 2010

“Gospel” Up Close and Personal #2


The “gospel” is the story of Christ’s work on behalf of sinful people like you and me. I have been immersed in Bible language all of my life and for perhaps now over a half century have studied the scriptures, so this is very familiar language. And, I assume it is to almost all of my readers. But, it isn’t to everyone.

Let’s suppose I find myself conversing with a guy with no church background, who didn’t grow up in the South as I did, and was unfamiliar with biblical lingo. Who is Christ to that man? Who is he to you? Was he just another of the dozens of colorful characters whom we find on the pages of our Bibles? Was he only one of many teachers, rabbi’s,  or religious leaders of the first century in the middle east?

“Christ” died. He was the Messiah of God foretold by the prophets of old, the One who would come to save the people from their sins. He was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world of whom John the Baptist preached. He was the One whose birth announcement said “God with us!”. He had no human father, he was conceived in a young virgin’s womb by the Holy Spirit of God. He was both man and God.

He is the Creator of all that is and by His power every molecule keeps it’s assigned place. He  is the exact representation of the Godhead and the fullness of His glory. Before the earth was formed He is. He humbled himself and took the lowly place of a man, perfectly kept all of God’s laws, and though tempted as we are, never sinned even once.

His life on earth was one of doing only good. He went about healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, raising the dead, loving the most unlovely, and reaching out to the untouchables. He alone has all power in heaven and in earth. His name is above every named that can be named and one day every creature will bow admitting his Lordship over all creation. Every man, woman, and child will one day be judged by this one man, The God-man Jesus Christ our Lord. It was this man who died, and he did it for you.

Royce

Feb 6 2010

“GOSPEL” Up close and personal


I am a Church of Christ guy and in our tradition the word “gospel” is heard often. The context in part is “gospel preacher”, an often used term on a preacher’s resume’, many of our churches have annual “gospel meetings”, and perhaps one of the most heard in our circle of friends is “obey the gospel”, meaning responding to the gospel by being baptized.

In my reader I have perhaps two dozen blogs and other sites and I read all of them from time to time and more. And, I often comment and read comments on some of my favorite blogs.

It has become more and more apparent to me recently that at least some of those who write blog posts and make comments do not know what the “gospel” of Christ is and, or, what it means for us today. (I claim only to be an expert on my own opinion. I am a flawed individual prone to mistakes. I insist that you should check very carefully what I say before you believe it.) The purpose of this post is to lay out what I believe are some important truths concerning the “gospel” that seemingly are routinely overlooked.

One of the most concise statements about the gospel and it’s importance is the familiar passage in 1 Corinthians 15.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)

These inspired words written by the Apostle Paul are a snapshot of the gospel. It’s like one of those professional pictures you might see in a magazine of a beautiful cake or pie. It is wonderful to behold but what are the ingredients?

Unfortunately many of our friends seem unconcerned with the “ingredients” of the “gospel”. The above passage is not just a set of facts to be acknowledged. It is rather God’s redemptive story crammed into two verses. While it is factual and historical, it is far more.

Right away we learn an important truth, one completely missed by many of our friends, that is, Nothing is more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ! I cannot over emphasize this. Every subject, every work,  and every program of every church must take a back seat to the good news about Jesus! It is FIRST! There can be only one thing first and Paul says the gospel is it!

In the next post let’s see what the ingredients are, one at a time.

Agape’

Royce

Jan 12 2010

Is Caring for the Poor Optional?


In his letter to the churches of Galatia the Apostle Paul records an abbreviated story of a meeting he had with Peter, James, and John in the early days of the church. The conclusion of the meeting was that Peter, James, and John would go to the Jews with the gospel and because of their recognition of Paul’s gift of “grace” that he and Barnabas should go to the Gentiles. They shook hands signifying their brotherhood in Christ and those ancient pillars of the early church simply asked them “to remember the poor“. (Galatians 2:9-11)

This would have been a great time to have given a sweeping theological discourse on the doctrine of justification or the biblical model for missions but their only request as they sent these two gifted men to evangelize the pagan masses was “Remember the poor“.

Another consideration along this line of thought is our practice of taking up a collection on the first day of the week (Sunday) in our churches. We do it because it is biblical and after all we do want to be guided by the Bible in all that we do don’t we? A careful reading of the text we base our practice on follows.

“Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem” (1 Corinthians 16:1-3)

Now, to be people of the Bible we must be honest about this passage. It was not that people should bring tithes into the store house. It was not to pay for the church plant and it’s employees. It was simply a collection for the poor.

It was to be done, not only in Corinth but in the churches of Galatia as well, to provide funds for the poor saints in Jerusalem. And, it was to be temporary. Paul instructed that they should do it ahead of time so there would be no need to try to gather up the collection after he arrived.

Sorry to disappoint you but that is exactly the case. Do I think it is wrong for our churches to take a collection each Sunday. Absolutely not, but I do believe we have missed the main purpose of doing so, “the poor“.

I suggest we look closely at the ministry of Jesus. He was truly a holistic healer. He healed and he taught. He fed and he taught. And, it is clear that his early followers did the same. The first outpouring of Christian love by the newly born again folks in Jerusalem not many days after Pentecost is recorded in Acts 2.

“And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:43-35)

The first observable proof of a new found faith was not evangelical zeal, or fascinating manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but rather their common concern and care for the needy among them.

In light of this clear teaching in the Bible I am astonished that some people are complaining that too much emphasis is being placed on helping the poor by churches and para church mission groups. I am saddened that so many are misguided and only see the need to preach the gospel while largely ignoring the poor they are preaching to.

May I explain my theological position on this matter by illustration? I love my wife Carol Jane. She is a bright, vibrant, talented, driven, godly woman. How do I love her? Do I love her by sitting in my recliner with a warm fuzzy feeling about her in my heart? Is that what love is? Certainly not!

I love her by doing the dishes, by complimenting her on a new outfit or hair style, by seeing to her needs when she is sick, by giving her pleasure, by honoring her, by seeing to every need possible for me to fulfill. That is how love works. Love is a verb!

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15,16)

You see, caring about one’s soul and having nice warm feelings and mushy thoughts doesn’t put food on the table or clothes on the bodies of the poor. Only providing for their needs in tangible ways counts in the end.

In conclusion, one way we love God is by caring for the poor, loving our neighbors, and the household of faith. We cannot honestly claim devotion to God and ignore the less fortunate around us and in the world at large. It is good to have reasons to love God based on solid truths from the Bible, and it is good that those truths evoke strong emotions at times and feelings of joy and satisfaction and result in praise. However, you can’t love God and not at the same time love others, and love is much more than an emotion.

Our missionary outreach should always and forever be a telling of the good news about Christ by any method or means available to every person possible. But, as we go we must care for the poor or our message will more likely than not fall on deaf ears. A fellow with a good meal in his belly will care more about what you tell him about a God who loves him than one who is hungry.

Agape’

Royce

Jan 5 2010

Church of Christ? What is it?


Church? What is it to you?

I ask these questions and challenge our thinking in the context of the churches of Christ, a fellowship I have enjoyed for almost a decade now. I have come to know and appreciate some of the most dedicated, humble servants of Jesus Christ I have known anywhere, and as in every group, some folks not so desirable.

It is common to hear someone say to another of a mutual acquaintance “He is a member of the church” or “She was not a member of the church”. This is not uncommon phrases but it takes on a different meaning than if spoken by a Baptist or a Methodist. In the circles in which I travel it almost always means not the body of Christ but more narrowly, the Church of Christ. And to make things more complicated many CoC people believe the body of Christ and the Church of Christ are one and the same.

Many of our folks will add the words “The Lord’s…” before church. This way of conveying the same thought makes it more definite what is intended, at least to other CoC people.

The inevitable end of this line of logic is that every other group on earth who claim to be followers of Jesus are not a part of “The Lord’s church” or the “True church” and are something other than genuine Christians.

Ideas about what others who claim to be Christians are ranges from “false prophets”, “lost sinners” to a kinder and gentler “in error” and “seekers”. And, there is the rather odd and completely unscriptural idea that some people are sort of saved, but not completely. You can never get anyone to say it this clearly but it is certainly what is implied. The truth is, one either has eternal life or he doesn’t. You know, either Becky is pregnant or she isn’t. Or a better illustration is either Uncle John is dead or he is alive, there is no in between.

Followers of Jesus are called in the Bible “disciples”, “the way”, “believers”, and as a group “the church”, “the church of God”, “the assembly of God”, “the church of the firstborn,  “the body of Christ”, and “the Bride of Christ”. These terms all are descriptions of the sum total of all believers in most cases.

There are also references to the earthly representations of the one body, local churches. They are mentioned as being tied to geographical areas or cities. Then there are those identified by the person who owned the house where they met.

I think it would be good if we (Church of Christ people) agreed on these facts.

Church of Christ, and other Restoration Movement groups are not the only ones saved. Remember the old phrase “We are only Christians but not the only Christians“? The RM fathers ideal was to unify ALL believers into one church. How could that have been a worthy goal if all the others were lost?

Every member of every Church of Christ is not saved. EVERY member of EVERY church would need to be saved for some of our outrageous statements to be true. I recently read a blog where the author was trying to make the case that only Church of Christ members are saved. That is a tough assignment!

The “church”, the universal body of Christ which includes all redeemed people from every age, is not the same as the local churches. The exact reason is that there are tares growing with the wheat. There are impostors who are no more than actors. Only believers are in the body of Christ, not make believers!

Perhaps the most odd, and the most compelling, evidence that people who embrace the sectarian idea that only their group is saved comes to us courtesy of many of our most “conservative” Church of Christ preachers.

They will quickly tell you that only those in “the Lord’s Church”, (the churches of Christ) are going to heaven. These same men will then insist that so and so Church of Christ is lost because they have musical instruments accompany singing on Sunday morning. And, there are perhaps dozens of other sins that will send a whole congregation of “The Lord’s Church” to hell, like raising your hands in worship, women speaking in church, serving communion from the rear of the auditorium rather than the front, having a kitchen, and teaching anything that brother Holier-than-thou disagrees with.

How can Church of Christ people be the only ones saved and at the same time some of them be lost? It is rather confusing isn’t it. The glaring problem for the people who teach such nonsense is that it cannot be defended in any coherent way.

What so you think?

Agape,

Royce