Speaking for God

"The main thing is the GOSPEL. The Gospel is simply the good news that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ's finished work on the cross -- period. We can never earn salvation or add to it. . .only accept it."

The above statement came from a website of a church I came across yesterday. Let me first begin by saying that I do not want this to be derogatory post on a church or churches who would state the same ideas, but more of a reflection on the statement. This statement embodies beliefs and ideas that are deeply rooted in modern thought and are foundational to many churches and individuals. It is a doctrine that distinguishes communities as evangelical and sets itself apart from Roman Catholic belief. This is not unique to the modern Protestant movement. Without a doubt, both Catholic and Protestants have worked hard at providing a set of distinct positions on theological issues in order to provide Christians with a foundation of, "Truth".

William of Ockham

William of Ockham produced a very influential philosophy known as Ockham's razor. The razor basically states, "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." William, who was also a Franciscan friar, carried this philosophy to a host of theological positions. The working out of many of the "Simplest" solutions had yet to be done by the time of his death in the late 14^th century. However, most of these continued to be worked out by the Enlightenment and modern era.

A Simple Gospel

Modern evangelism has sought to explain the story of God to an easy-to-understand method whereby people can either chose to accept or deny God. By boiling down the Gospel to a mere propositional statement (s), we have minimalized large sections of Scripture. We sought to find the truth out of all the stories, miracles, and other odd elements by ascribing them to ways of understanding the truth instead of seeing them as truth. Modern conservatives blame liberals for denying miracles but have failed to see that by their reductionism, they themselves have denied miracles as having any weight. With each theologian, scholar, pastor, professor, and lay person comes the lenses by which one understands value. Each of us has our own set of lenses or presuppositions. Approaching Scripture is a daunting task and perhaps breaking down our presuppositions is impossible. We must acknowledge our presuppositions and be able to think in a historical manner that is able to embody first century eyes.

If the word Gospel is translated to "Good news" than what is the "news" and for who is it "good"? Only too easy can we arrive at an answer to this question and although many books and articles have been written concerning this, I will not attempt to go that route suffice to say this; can the Gospel be simplified to a belief and not include action? Such emphasis placed on faith apart from works was the heart cry of the Protestant Reformation. It is very important to note that the Protestant Reformation was good in many ways, but there were also many failures upon those who did the protesting. In the next blog I will unpack this a little bit more.

 

Jubilee…

To live, to act, and to embody the Divine love shown to us is the call of a voice over generations.  It beckons us as a voice crying out saying, "My way is perfect."  Yet, we turn and search for our own way; a way that is destructive to our very core.  How and why do we ignore this voice?  Our way is failing and was doomed from the beginning.  We believed and were united by our own minds at the conception of Post-Enlightenment ideals like the free market, capitalism, and a new country that promised us freedom.  But our freedom has turned to chains and shackles under the guise of patriotism.  We are united for a purpose that is nonsensical.  We state that we are patriots, but what is patriotism and to what end?  Do we want the globe to fully realize that the Western Empire is glorious or do we just want peace for our own hedonism to thrive?  Either way, it is a path that is diametrically opposed to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

The way to freedom is through Jubilee.

Jubilee

God from the very beginning provided for her to be prevalent in society.  He taught her ways to His people and has wanted them to fully grasp her grandeur ever since.  Jubilee is to provide for the poor, the marginalized, and the sick.  It is to give away what you have to those in need.  Jubilee is to set the prisoners free and to love your enemies.  

The way that was taught by Christ was in essence teaching us to be Jubilee people.  Christ was not calling us to pacifism, for pacifism is idle and he wasn't calling His people to war mongering, for that is destructive.  Jubilee is perhaps the strongest action and it is a continuous fight.  As brother Shane Claiborne once noted, "The command to give up your robe to one who sues you was to expose your nakedness and expose their greed."  It disarms our enemies.  Then again, who is our enemy?

I am not sure that you can have dual citizenship in the kingdom of God, especially when the Kingdom of God flies in the face of our empire. There is rumor that we may be living in the last days of society as we know it. The question is are we ready to start living out Jubilee or are we going to melt down our gold and build a new calf? Many people are saying that it isn't the government's place to enact jubilee but it is for the church to do this. I would agree.

 

Maybe instead of giving the responsibility over to an autonomous body like the government or the church, we should think locally. What am I as a stay at home mom doing to teach my kids about giving to the poor? What am I as a pastor doing to love the "Least of these"? What am I as a businessman doing to reverse the systems of this world? We must give this responsibility a body, a name, and a face. The same is also true of the poor. It isn't enough to know that there are poor people in this world that need help. We must look in our neighborhoods, schools, and churches for the needs. We must know and engage with people and cultivate relationships.

Am I a traitor for praying that the empire falls? I am not sure. Maybe I just long for the world to be put to rights. Maybe there will always be empire that draws me into her, promising the intangible. But her fruit is a lie and we have been deceived to think it is from God. We mark God on all of our money and are disgusted when the government removes symbols that represent our faith. What happens though, when the church uses that same money for her immorality, gluttony, and for systemic injustice?