sin

Last week I ran across this article, an interview with Tim Keller, in Christianity Today. This week in my blog I decided to look at the questions he was asked, pull a quote from his answers, and share some thoughts.

Q: The recent Pew study talked about changing patterns of belief in America. Has that affected your apologetics ministry?

A: Evangelicalism has been so identified with conservative Republican values that a lot of people who might be more moderate have decided they are not religious. I've seen that happen in New York. They're moderate or liberal politically, and they feel like orthodox Christianity is so identified with conservative Republican politics that they have actually distanced themselves from the faith.

For me, the corrective to this problem becomes the church focusing on a broader set of issues. Over the past number of years, Christianity has essentially become, at least in the public sphere, about a select few moral issues. Since those few issues match up with the agenda of the Republican party, Christians have in turn adopted other values held by Republicans and made them Christian issues. In other words, something that should have remained non-reciprocal, became reciprocal (yes, for all you Sem educated folks, that language is intention and I am thinking of the second genus).

But what if churches, rather than holding onto just a few select issues pulled out everything Scripture offers ... social justice, creation stewardship, just war, etc. Suddenly you have issues that, at least at some level, gel with both parties and, if nothing else, people who are more concerned about those oft ignored issues can at least feel as if they aren't excluded from the church on the basis of their political party.

It also allows you to have a whole lot more fun with election day, aka, national sin boldly day.

Last week I ran across this article, an interview with Tim Keller, in Christianity Today. This week in my blog I decided to look at the questions he was asked, pull a quote from his answers, and share some thoughts.

Q: Are the doubts that believers face the same as the doubts that unbelievers face?

A: I do think a lot of Christians — because they don't understand the grace narrative — get out into the world and find it very tough to navigate. I think it's because they don't understand the gospel, not because they can't answer all the theological questions.

This comment really summarizes two of my posts last week on the first and second levels of religions, and how at a certain level, all religions are the same (which is what most Americans see according to the recent Pew study), but, at a second level, Christianity is radically different. That second level is the gospel and if people don't get they Gospel, then the uniqueness of Christianity is lost and, honestly, we're no different than anyone else.

Of course, the real challenge with this is that the Gospel is completely contrary to our sinful human nature, because our natural desire is to contribute something to the faith equation, be it good works, choosing God, or whatever else. In the end, because we add these pieces on to what God does, we end up with an understanding of the Gospel that is lacking and, as a result, we regularly find ourselves in places of doubt.

For the Christian then, the key to overcoming doubt and finding ourselves capable of navigating the world, is to come to understand the fullness of the Gospel. For me, the book that really helped in this struggle was Martin Luther's, "Bondage of the Will" (you can read it for free here).

So, how much Gospel is in your understanding of the Gospel?

I just booked plane tickets for Anita, Robbie, and I to head back to Windsor, CA where I used to serve as a Director of Christian Education. While the primary purpose behind the trip is to attend my brother-in-laws wedding, it's also fairly standard for me to preach at the church where I used to serve when I'm in town and, since the eLife is now out, I'm also going to do a book signing.

In the past, preaching there has always been odd because I've changed a lot since I left town 6 years ago. As a result, I always feel like my sermon there has been one huge, "I'm really sorry for most of the crap I taught back then." I typically don't put it that way, but it's certainly what is going through my mind the whole time.

You see, at the time, I was really buying into a pop-evangelical theology that could be summarized with the "My Heart, Christ's Home" mentality. I taught that Jesus has saved you and now you better get your crap together and make him the Lord of your life. This was combined with seeing the Bible as an instruction book for living out the Christian life.

The problem with this is that, beyond making grace something like a fast cash store where it's free now but you're going to get slammed with exorbitant payments later, is that it puts the impetus for spiritual growth on the person (as opposed to the work of the Spirit) and, as a result, anybody who isn't growing must not be trying hard enough. This leads to all kinds of judgment within the church. In addition, as we've seen with so many spiritual leaders who have fallen, this really encourages those who are Christian to hide their sin and put on a whole stigma of self-righteousness (something I haven't been immune to in my lifetime).

Of course, this time, things are even more odd because of the eLife and the introduction to the book where I talk about my engagement to Anita, some of the choices we made in an attempt to live out my theology at the time, and how it gave us a rough foundation for our marriage ... something we're still reworking almost 7 years later. I mean, I've always felt like I've been apologizing before, but now, there it is, in print, for whomever to read.

Of course, I'm sure I'll say the same thing about something I wrote in the eLife in another 6 years.