Saturday, February 10, 2007
What is the gospel?
In our discussion regarding the essentials of our faith we explored the gospel as we continued our survey of Acts in chapter 17 -- one of my favorites. The Bereans are my heroes and I can really relate to the people of Athens who were into good art, good food, living a good life, and hearing the latest ideas.
Paul's response to the pleasure seeking Epicureans and ascetic Stoics at the end of the chapter is a perfect example of Paul becoming 'all things to all people.' I just noticed this past week that Jesus name and divinity never come up in the segments of the address to the Areopagus that Luke records. We discussed some possible reasons for this: Paul was getting there but got cut off when they jumped on his resurrection statements, Paul was addressing a polytheistic audience and bringing Jesus into the discussion at that point as the "Son of God" might have introduced confusion rather than bringing clarity, Paul recognized that a discussion of Jesus as Messiah would hold no common ground with his listeners, etc... I mention it here because I found it intriguing that Paul's presentation of the gospel changed based on his listeners.
This leads back into the question above. What is the gospel? We discussed in class that the gospel is very simple. Jesus died for our sins and if we accept the gift of salvation we are saved or something like that, right? That's simple enough. Except when Jesus talked about the good news (gospel) He proclaimed the revolutionary perspective that the Kingdom of God is here. Then, Paul translated that into his proclamation of radical inclusiveness -- Jesus Christ is Lord (implying not the Roman Caesar) and everyone is now invited to be a part of God's elect (not just the Jews). Things are becoming a bit more complex. I think it is really cool that there are all sorts of levels and perspectives to this theology stuff with many different ways to explore who God is and what God is doing.
Yet, regardless of how deeply one mines the riches of the gospel if intellectual stimulation is the only result we will be left, "having a form of godliness but denying its power.... always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." My own understanding of the gospel is often dangerously similar to the gnostic assumption that knowledge is pure and better than experience which is tainted by the 'evil flesh'. This eviscerated gospel is a detached 'it' which one can know, explain, and accept so that salvation is primarily based on intellectual assent.
If knowledge was truly all sufficient, the incarnation of Jesus would not have been necessary. God knows what it is like on this earth and could simply have told us what God is like. But, knowledge is not everything. Experience is necessary. So, Jesus came and experienced this earth and showed us what God is like. (For an interesting discussion on the implications of the incarnation for community see Ryan Bell's article Pitching Our Tents.)
This invasion of the Kingdom of God into the world was the gospel Jesus showed through loving, healing, forgiving, exhorting, and story telling -- each at the right time and place. The gospel just isn't good news unless it is re-incarnated in practical ways in every community. This means the gospel experience will invariably change from one community to the next and leads us back to Paul's dialogue with the Athenians. A different gospel? Never. Different presentations, applications, experiences, and results? Every time.
Now, the question for us is how is the gospel playing out in our community? Or as Ryan Bell puts it in his post The Gospel is not an "it" What is God asking us to be and do as the people of God in Birmingham?
Paul's response to the pleasure seeking Epicureans and ascetic Stoics at the end of the chapter is a perfect example of Paul becoming 'all things to all people.' I just noticed this past week that Jesus name and divinity never come up in the segments of the address to the Areopagus that Luke records. We discussed some possible reasons for this: Paul was getting there but got cut off when they jumped on his resurrection statements, Paul was addressing a polytheistic audience and bringing Jesus into the discussion at that point as the "Son of God" might have introduced confusion rather than bringing clarity, Paul recognized that a discussion of Jesus as Messiah would hold no common ground with his listeners, etc... I mention it here because I found it intriguing that Paul's presentation of the gospel changed based on his listeners.
This leads back into the question above. What is the gospel? We discussed in class that the gospel is very simple. Jesus died for our sins and if we accept the gift of salvation we are saved or something like that, right? That's simple enough. Except when Jesus talked about the good news (gospel) He proclaimed the revolutionary perspective that the Kingdom of God is here. Then, Paul translated that into his proclamation of radical inclusiveness -- Jesus Christ is Lord (implying not the Roman Caesar) and everyone is now invited to be a part of God's elect (not just the Jews). Things are becoming a bit more complex. I think it is really cool that there are all sorts of levels and perspectives to this theology stuff with many different ways to explore who God is and what God is doing.
Yet, regardless of how deeply one mines the riches of the gospel if intellectual stimulation is the only result we will be left, "having a form of godliness but denying its power.... always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." My own understanding of the gospel is often dangerously similar to the gnostic assumption that knowledge is pure and better than experience which is tainted by the 'evil flesh'. This eviscerated gospel is a detached 'it' which one can know, explain, and accept so that salvation is primarily based on intellectual assent.
If knowledge was truly all sufficient, the incarnation of Jesus would not have been necessary. God knows what it is like on this earth and could simply have told us what God is like. But, knowledge is not everything. Experience is necessary. So, Jesus came and experienced this earth and showed us what God is like. (For an interesting discussion on the implications of the incarnation for community see Ryan Bell's article Pitching Our Tents.)
This invasion of the Kingdom of God into the world was the gospel Jesus showed through loving, healing, forgiving, exhorting, and story telling -- each at the right time and place. The gospel just isn't good news unless it is re-incarnated in practical ways in every community. This means the gospel experience will invariably change from one community to the next and leads us back to Paul's dialogue with the Athenians. A different gospel? Never. Different presentations, applications, experiences, and results? Every time.
Now, the question for us is how is the gospel playing out in our community? Or as Ryan Bell puts it in his post The Gospel is not an "it" What is God asking us to be and do as the people of God in Birmingham?
Comments:
<< Home
On Saturday the Birmingham News ran a story on a group of local leaders seeking to tackle some of the area's chronic problems -- such as transportation, education, and access to health care. The article is available online here.
The thing that caught my eye was a list of top priorities for our area from a United Way survey. Several of them are issues that I feel we as a church are in a position to address.
The number one issue was transportation. Nearly 30 percent of households interviewed said obtaining transportation to get medical care for an elderly or disabled person was a challenge. The public transportation system here in Birmingham is notoriously bad and it doesn't sound like it will get better soon. What if we as a church contacted the other Adventist churches in the area and pooled our resources? Could we purchase a few vans (perhaps under the Adventist Community Services umbrella) and obtain a few volunteers to meet this pressing need?
I look through some of the other needs and I am reminded of a dream I have had since I visited Hope and Healing, a beautiful facility in Memphis, TN operated by the Church Health Center. This facility offers a state of the art health club, cooking classes, health clinics, physical therapy, smoking cessation classes, child care, and a host of other community services. I was asked to help with their smoking cessation classes and I would have done it in a heartbeat except it was right when we were moving here to Birmingham.
So, my dream has been to be a part of a group effort making a difference in the community. If we could contact our friends in other denominations and other faiths and pool our resources we could purchase a city block (or more!) in the downtown area and set up a similar facility focusing on preventative health care and wellness. We could also renovate buildings to create low cost housing to help individuals and families going through hard times get back on their feet. We could open a theater/gallery to display local artists and present thought provoking movies, plays, and artwork. We could open a restaurant serving local gourmet vegetarian food which thanks to the current focus on the environment and health would probably do very well. Together we could make a huge step toward addressing our pressing local issues of education, employment, health care, and preventative medicine. If I had a million dollars (OK probably more) and just a bit more free time...
Okay, enough dreaming for now. The reality is that there are a lot of people addressing local issues right now within our church. I am personally planning to help Rex and Sheri Abbott with a smoking cessation seminar that they have put all the work into arranging at the end of this month. Luke and Rose have been doing Bible studies with people in their area and now there is a new believers class meeting (appropriately enough) in the nursery. There is a group that has been going regularly to First Light Women's and Children's Shelter to serve meals. (We as a class have been collecting personal care items for them as well but I have not kept that going like I should have. Is there still any interest in this?)
I know there are more things going on that I am unaware of. There was a recent SWAT team meeting at our church to bring all these community outreach projects together. Perhaps one of you who was there could tell us what else is going on. If we can get the word out it may inspire others to get involved or discover their own way to continue the story of the Kingdom of God right here in Birmingham.
The thing that caught my eye was a list of top priorities for our area from a United Way survey. Several of them are issues that I feel we as a church are in a position to address.
The number one issue was transportation. Nearly 30 percent of households interviewed said obtaining transportation to get medical care for an elderly or disabled person was a challenge. The public transportation system here in Birmingham is notoriously bad and it doesn't sound like it will get better soon. What if we as a church contacted the other Adventist churches in the area and pooled our resources? Could we purchase a few vans (perhaps under the Adventist Community Services umbrella) and obtain a few volunteers to meet this pressing need?
I look through some of the other needs and I am reminded of a dream I have had since I visited Hope and Healing, a beautiful facility in Memphis, TN operated by the Church Health Center. This facility offers a state of the art health club, cooking classes, health clinics, physical therapy, smoking cessation classes, child care, and a host of other community services. I was asked to help with their smoking cessation classes and I would have done it in a heartbeat except it was right when we were moving here to Birmingham.
So, my dream has been to be a part of a group effort making a difference in the community. If we could contact our friends in other denominations and other faiths and pool our resources we could purchase a city block (or more!) in the downtown area and set up a similar facility focusing on preventative health care and wellness. We could also renovate buildings to create low cost housing to help individuals and families going through hard times get back on their feet. We could open a theater/gallery to display local artists and present thought provoking movies, plays, and artwork. We could open a restaurant serving local gourmet vegetarian food which thanks to the current focus on the environment and health would probably do very well. Together we could make a huge step toward addressing our pressing local issues of education, employment, health care, and preventative medicine. If I had a million dollars (OK probably more) and just a bit more free time...
Okay, enough dreaming for now. The reality is that there are a lot of people addressing local issues right now within our church. I am personally planning to help Rex and Sheri Abbott with a smoking cessation seminar that they have put all the work into arranging at the end of this month. Luke and Rose have been doing Bible studies with people in their area and now there is a new believers class meeting (appropriately enough) in the nursery. There is a group that has been going regularly to First Light Women's and Children's Shelter to serve meals. (We as a class have been collecting personal care items for them as well but I have not kept that going like I should have. Is there still any interest in this?)
I know there are more things going on that I am unaware of. There was a recent SWAT team meeting at our church to bring all these community outreach projects together. Perhaps one of you who was there could tell us what else is going on. If we can get the word out it may inspire others to get involved or discover their own way to continue the story of the Kingdom of God right here in Birmingham.
One more link I meant to include. Julius Nam has a series of fascinating interviews on his blog with some very interesting Adventists. His most recent 'interlogue' is with Sung Kwon, director of Adventist Community Services.
Although there is a tendency to link Jesus and Paul, Paul never actually knew the incarnate Jesus and Paul doesn't recount any of Jesus' teachings in the epistles.
So, the gospel means different things to different people depending on the often narrow Biblical orientation of the person.
This is not to say there is more than one gospel, only that points of emphasis can be very different.
Alden Thompson from Walla Walla penned an article entitled The Adventist Church at Corinth that used the Paul/Apollas/Cephas-Peter divide at the Corinthian church as a model of sorts for divisions within Adventism regarding the gospel. It could be said that most differences of style or attitude are at heart the product of differences in how the gospel is understood and how God is understood.
Anyway, in dialoging with former Adventists turned Calvinist evangelicals, there is a heavy reliance on the writings of Paul, the letter to the Romans and Galations in particular, and an emphasis on full justification and immediate and total assurance of eternal salvation. Of the gospels, these former SDA's are very partial to John.
Historic SDA's tend to like Matthew, with its frequent allusions to the importance of both deeds and words to one's salvation. And of course for historic SDA's, the old testament including the books of the law provide an important foundation for gospel. Apocalyptic prophecies in Daniel and Revelation are ultimately used as central elements of the gospel.
My own preference is to the no-frills style, even abrupt style of Mark and the forgiving God found in the parables and stories of Luke. I've also come to appreciate the prophets, Psalms and Job, for demonstrating both the passion of God as well as the sovereignty of God.
Glenn
So, the gospel means different things to different people depending on the often narrow Biblical orientation of the person.
This is not to say there is more than one gospel, only that points of emphasis can be very different.
Alden Thompson from Walla Walla penned an article entitled The Adventist Church at Corinth that used the Paul/Apollas/Cephas-Peter divide at the Corinthian church as a model of sorts for divisions within Adventism regarding the gospel. It could be said that most differences of style or attitude are at heart the product of differences in how the gospel is understood and how God is understood.
Anyway, in dialoging with former Adventists turned Calvinist evangelicals, there is a heavy reliance on the writings of Paul, the letter to the Romans and Galations in particular, and an emphasis on full justification and immediate and total assurance of eternal salvation. Of the gospels, these former SDA's are very partial to John.
Historic SDA's tend to like Matthew, with its frequent allusions to the importance of both deeds and words to one's salvation. And of course for historic SDA's, the old testament including the books of the law provide an important foundation for gospel. Apocalyptic prophecies in Daniel and Revelation are ultimately used as central elements of the gospel.
My own preference is to the no-frills style, even abrupt style of Mark and the forgiving God found in the parables and stories of Luke. I've also come to appreciate the prophets, Psalms and Job, for demonstrating both the passion of God as well as the sovereignty of God.
Glenn
# posted by 
: 10:45 AM
: 10:45 AM
I like the way you have analyzed why people may leave the SDA church, Glenn. The gospel relayed in a particular way via a particular book of the Bible may or may not meet a person's needs.
I think our distinct message is the truth about God as revealed in all 66 books of the Bible. I like to consider the diverse ways that God has revealed Himself via various authors of the canon. I also like that our denomination uses the entire Bible, thus I would like more preaching/Bible study that would emphasize this particular niche.
I guess that would involve some analysis/education as to our view of inspiration.....
I think our distinct message is the truth about God as revealed in all 66 books of the Bible. I like to consider the diverse ways that God has revealed Himself via various authors of the canon. I also like that our denomination uses the entire Bible, thus I would like more preaching/Bible study that would emphasize this particular niche.
I guess that would involve some analysis/education as to our view of inspiration.....
# posted by : 1:59 PM
: 1:59 PM
Glenn,
Thanks for including that reference to Alden Thompson's sermon. We just looked at Acts 19 in our class this weekend and with the introduction of Apollos it was the perfect time to discuss the 'Adventist Church at Corinth.'
I agree that depending on our interpretation/preference of scripture we can land at varying opinions regarding what the gospel is and even what God is like.
However, you said, "Although there is a tendency to link Jesus and Paul, Paul never actually knew the incarnate Jesus and Paul doesn't recount any of Jesus' teachings in the epistles." While I agree that there is a different emphasis in the recorded ministry of Jesus and that of Paul. I see a great deal of continuity between the two. We are studying Luke/Acts and while there is a dramatic shift from Jesus' theme summed up in the phrase, "The Kingdom of God is here" in Luke to the Spirit led application of that reality in Acts, the current application necessarily builds on the reality of the former proclamation.
My thinking on this is influenced by N.T. Wright. One of many ideas I got from his book, Paul: Fresh Perspectives is that the differences between Jesus and Paul are only natural as their mission and circumstances were very different. Yet, Paul's ministry is grounded in his radical message that Jesus is the messiah and the incarnate God as revealed in Moses and the Prophets. Therefore, we gain a valuable perspective on what Paul is all about if we look for continuity and start with what Jesus said and did in light of Moses and the Prophets.
Therefore, I also agree with Carmen that the trajectory of all 66 books of the Bible is important in understanding the 'good news'.
Post a Comment
Thanks for including that reference to Alden Thompson's sermon. We just looked at Acts 19 in our class this weekend and with the introduction of Apollos it was the perfect time to discuss the 'Adventist Church at Corinth.'
I agree that depending on our interpretation/preference of scripture we can land at varying opinions regarding what the gospel is and even what God is like.
However, you said, "Although there is a tendency to link Jesus and Paul, Paul never actually knew the incarnate Jesus and Paul doesn't recount any of Jesus' teachings in the epistles." While I agree that there is a different emphasis in the recorded ministry of Jesus and that of Paul. I see a great deal of continuity between the two. We are studying Luke/Acts and while there is a dramatic shift from Jesus' theme summed up in the phrase, "The Kingdom of God is here" in Luke to the Spirit led application of that reality in Acts, the current application necessarily builds on the reality of the former proclamation.
My thinking on this is influenced by N.T. Wright. One of many ideas I got from his book, Paul: Fresh Perspectives is that the differences between Jesus and Paul are only natural as their mission and circumstances were very different. Yet, Paul's ministry is grounded in his radical message that Jesus is the messiah and the incarnate God as revealed in Moses and the Prophets. Therefore, we gain a valuable perspective on what Paul is all about if we look for continuity and start with what Jesus said and did in light of Moses and the Prophets.
Therefore, I also agree with Carmen that the trajectory of all 66 books of the Bible is important in understanding the 'good news'.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]