Sin Boldly (But Believe in Christ More Boldly Still): Thoughts on Evangelism

I regret to inform you of an unfortunate truth: Many Christians attempt to use guilt as an evangelical tool. Notably, UGA's "Tate preachers" stand in the courtyard of the student center and announce to the campus God's hatred of drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and, in some of the more entertaining cases, "weak-kneed pencil-necked men" and educated women.

Many lower-key evangelism styles operate under the same methods. While never explicitly stated, the logical conclusion of this style, even sans-picket-signs, is, "If you have doubt or still sin, then you are obviously not a good enough Christian to earn God's grace."

Which is absolutely ludicrous.

First, we do not "earn God's grace". It is grace because it impossible to earn. Our sins were paid for by the death of the Son of God. You can never earn something bought at so high a cost. Yes, the acceptance of grace costs us our lives, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us. But even this surrender does not "earn" grace, but instead helps us to fully embrace it. Likewise, Bonhoeffer also reminds us of Luther's famous saying, "Sin, and sin boldly; but more boldly still believe in Christ and rejoice in him." Bonhoeffer cautions us, "[D]on't try to become what you are not." For the very second we try to claim that we can achieve perfection on our own accord, we instead claim a state of arrogance and, in this state of arrogance, reject the very grace that makes us perfect.

For example, if I claim that, after becoming a Christian, I ceased to ever give in to angry thoughts, I would be a liar and a braggart. Granted, acceptance of and discipleship to the Risen Christ will lead to a more peaceful state of mind. Over time, as I begin to walk with the Lord and draw more closely to Him, my mindset is changed. But, to be blatantly (and boldly) honest, I still get angry over small things. At my worst, I am an angry person - at my best, I am a sinner redeemed through the blood shed on the Cross.

And I would go so far as to state that only through openness about our shortcomings that Christians will ever shed the image of hypocrisy that so plagues us today.

Secondly, doubt does not negate faith. Only through doubt is faith truly faith. For the very instant you remove all doubt, faith - the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1) – is no longer faith and enters the realm of the empirical. People do not have faith in the existence of coffee cups*; cups are proven daily to exist through direct observation and interaction. God, though, exists beyond our senses and our understanding, known only through faith. To claim a complete understanding and knowledge of God either A) claims the impossible - a finite being understanding an infinite deity, or B) limits God. Christians should do neither. Indeed, doubt strengthens faith. Instead of dismissing doubts as unfounded or false, true faith confronts doubts; it struggles with them and forces the faithful to depend more heavily on God.

In order to encourage and cultivate faith, we must also radically change the field of apologetics, as well as recognize that the sole use of apologetic arguments do not constitute evangelism. As I was once told at an FCA camp, "You cannot argue someone to Christ. If someone is convinced by scientific arguments alone, they can just as easily be convinced by counter-arguments." We can no longer devote ourselves to "proving God". Instead, we should focus on finding Him, walking with Him, and loving Him.

Love - now there's a concept. If instead of making everyone feel guilty about not being perfect, perhaps we could show them God's love. If God is love, then to show love is to show God. If we were to focus on relationships and servanthood, if we were to relate our own stories of God's love...well, wouldn't that be something?

Rock on.

*Even David Hume, the father of modern skepticism, was willing to accept empirical evidence - though he did acknowledge a faith in empiricism. This, though, is better suited for discourse concerning the "New Atheism".

Post Script: I owe a tremendous amount of thanks to my friend Suzanne. Without her editing...well, something about weak verbs, "this" not modifying anything, and comma splices.

Shalom/Saalam

Advent is drawing to a close and this week, and - well, at least according to the devotional book I'm working with this year* - the candle of the Prince of Peace was lit. Oddly enough, I am typing this on a military base in South Korea. I cannot and will not go into detail about precautions taken to secure the base, but let's just say that while the fighting is over, the peninsula is still very tense.

Quickly browsing the news shows that we do not live in a peaceful world. Recent violence and crackdowns in Pakistan and Burma, continuing hostilities in Kosovo and Israel, multiple civil wars in Africa (Sudan and Uganda come to mind), and US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan provide plenty of evidence that we have a long way to go before world peace is achievable. And that peace will, unfortunately, probably be heralded by war.

So how can we say that the Prince of Peace has come? This very same Prince was violently killed by the Romans. For nearly all of its existence, some part of the Church, the Bride of Christ, has used violence to achieve its goals - the Crusades, the Inquisition, anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, and even preaching that God was responsible for 9/11. The leaders of the Church who practice nonviolence are killed - Martin Luther King, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Saint Stephen.

Surely this cannot be the Peace promised in Isaiah.

And it's not.

The peace we hope for, the peace that Christ will bring, will come with his return. Advent is as much about the return of Christ as it is about his birth in Bethlehem. The Prince of Peace, our Wonderful Counselor, God With Us, will come again and usher in a new kingdom, a new age. Tears will be wiped away and swords will be beaten into plows. As Peanuts creator Charles Schultz famously put it, "The beagles and bunnies will lie down together."

Rock on.
*Advent liturgy is weird. Different churches and denominations assign different meanings to the candles and weeks, light them in different orders, and so on. Confusing? Yes. But as long as everyone in the congregation is on the same page and use the time as a period of preparation and looking forward to Christmas, it's all good.
PS: The title of the post comes from Matisyahu's album Youth. "Shalom" and "saalam" are the Hebrew and Arabic words for "peace".

In the Name of Love

Love is one of the most overused words in our culture. Just think about how often it takes the place of "really enjoy" or "like". We use the word Love, but not as it is defined in the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians . Today's "love" is petty and short-lived.
We "love" TV shows, movies, bands, and articles of clothing. We "love" philosophies, stories, and paintings. And we Love people. But are our feelings towards people really the same as they are towards our possessions? Can we "fall" in Love? Can we brush off love as an emotion, the same as being happy or sad?

We are told that God IS Love - can this be just an emotion?

All that Christ our Lord did, he did out of Love. Love is the greatest motivator in the whole of existence.

It was for Love that William Wilberforce had the courage and strength to sand against slavery. It was for Love that Dietrich Bonhoeffer had the courage and stregnth to stand against Hitler. It was for Love that Martin Luther King had the courage and strength to stand for equality. It was for Love that Mother Teresa gave all that she had to spend her life working among the poor.

It was for Love that the Father gave the Son to the world. It was for Love that Christ was born to a working class family under the Roman empire in the town of Bethlehem. It was for Love that Christ taught the coming of the Kingdom of God, where the last will be first. It was for Love that Christ died a sinner's death that we might be forgiven. It was for Love that Christ was resurrected that we might have eternal life. It is for love that Christ will return to establish his Kingdom.

It is Love that Christianity is based on. It is for Love that we spend this week in Advent in meditation. And it is for Love that we should do all things, now and forever.

Love is what will bring about the world we hope for. Love allows us to place others before ourselves and to see value in all people. Love allows us to turn the other cheek. Love is what Christ commands of us. The world will know we are disciples because of our great Love, the Love made possible only by the Sovereign God.

To quote Mother Teresa, "Men do no great things, only small things with great Love."

Rock on.
PS: The title of the post comes from the U2 song "Pride (In the Name of Love)" written about Dr. King.

The Temple

The Lord God promised David that from his lineage would come one who would build the Temple of the Lord. Before this, though, God had told David that only God could build the House of God. Which is why it is so odd that Solomon was allowed to build the temple.

But consider the temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem. It was destroyed twice. Surely the House of the Lord cannot so easily be removed from this world.

Enter a man named Jesus. When asked about the Temple, he said that if it was torn down, he could undo the damage in three days' time. He was crucified, died, and was buried. On the third day, he rose again.

The temple was made to, among other things, make sacrifices as atonement for sins. Christ's body was sacrificed as atonement for the sins of all humanity.

As mentioned in my post "Jewish Views on the Messiah", there were two views on the Anointed One: that it would be God or that it would be a king. I state that Christ fulfilled both of these views. This is further proof of that: Jesus is man in that he is the descendant of David who could build the true Temple and he is God for the very same reason.

This post is inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote, "The temple which the Jews were looking for was the Body of Christ, of which the temple of the Old Testament was but the shadow. Jesus was speaking of his human body. He knows that the temple of his earthly body will be destroyed, like the temple of Jerusalem. But he will rise again, and the new temple, the eternal temple, will be his risen and glorified body."

Rock on.

The Simple Beauty of Salvation

Ephesians 1 and 2

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is my third time (give or take) reading through Ephesians. It's an amazing letter. Every time I read it, I feel "my heart strangely warmed". One of the best parts of this letter is the first two chapters. Paul expresses salvation so simply and beautifly that I can't help but be overcome with joy.

"For it is grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast," (2:8,9).

And what does this salvation include? "In him we have redmption 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," (1:7,8).

While we were sinners, paying with our lives, seperating ourselves from God, Christ came to make us alive. When we die with Christ, we live in God, through the grace of the Cross. And in this new life, we "are no longer foreingers and aliens, but fellow citizens of God's household," (2:19).

As Bonhoeffer phrased it, "Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son....Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us."

Rock on.