Gospel Archives
The kingdom of God enters the world without fireworks and fanfare. It exists in spite of (and indeed, alongside) various evils. Though it seems hardly perceptible to the world, its power is unstoppable.
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If death is the end of every story then all our efforts are ultimately
meaningless. Metallica is right, "Nothing really matters!" No matter how good, noble, or courageous one's life, it is ultimately futile, vain, and absurd. This is true even for the story of Jesus!
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It is from the cross – after six hours of public humiliation, mental anguish, emotional turmoil, and excruciating physical pain – that Jesus declares his victory: "It is finished!" This is certainly a strange victory revealed in a strange place and at a strange time. How could it possibly be that the Crucified One is triumphant – even victorious?
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In the midst of the horror and madness of Jesus’ crucifixion, one lone voice of sanity arises from a completely unexpected source: a convicted death-row criminal. Somehow, in a startling turn of events, the last person anyone would expect to speak truth and sanity – a violent criminal, an evil terrorist – witnessed of the truth concerning Jesus.
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In a way without precedent -- in a way that could only
be described as miraculous -- the Holy Spirit brought new life into a cursed
creation in the Person of Christ.
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It is important that we not only believe
in God, but that we live
before God. The former without the latter is irrelevant to our daily lives – it is religion without relationship. Even worse, it is empty of any meaning whatsoever. Simply consider how many people believe in God, and yet, this belief has absolutely no significance in shaping any aspect of their lives.
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The universal overtones of the gospel message are often ignored or reduced to secondary significance for fear of being labeled a universalist. Yet the Bible clearly speaks of the universal restoration of all things. Is it possible to affirm universal salvation without embracing universalism?
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Once the gospel is accepted within a culture it quickly becomes
domesticated. It supports the status quo. Most contemporary gospels allow us to embrace Jesus as our "personal Lord and Savior" while continuing to embrace rugged individualism, narcissism,
rationalism, nationalism, anti-institutionalism, and violence.
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Had Jesus desired to do so, he could have satisfied his physical thirst. However, Jesus’ desire for water, for relief from his pain, was not as great as his desire to redeem humankind. In other words, Jesus’ thirst for us trumped his thirst for water. “I thirst” is not simply identification with human pain, but an expression of God's passion for humanity's redemption.
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Refusing to accept other Christians because of the timing or mode of their baptism is offensive to unity
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Western Christians, following Augustine's lead, assume that death is God's doing - God's punishment for sin - and therefore, God's will. In Eastern perspective, death is God's enemy, a great evil, a perversion, a corrupting parasite on God's good creation. The fear of death is used by evil powers to deceptively destroy the works of God. Only resurrection is the remedy!
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The truth is that we are objects of God’s chase. We are being furiously pursued by none other than the living God. We no longer have to feverishly fight to maintain perfect faith. Instead, we can
rest in God’s faithfulness.
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Faith does not come without a fight. Hope is empty apart from hardships. Love without lament is superficial. We should never imagine that we can have a deep intimate relationship with God without all the doubts, frustrations, and complaints that accompany an authentic relationship – substituting "pious froth" for "fighting the good fight of faith."
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The Eastern tradition has much to commend it. Because it begins with different questions, it has much to offer those willing to wrestle with its answers. In my opinion, we need both lungs of the church – the Western and the Eastern – in order to possess the fullness of the Christian tradition. The treasures of Orthodoxy are for all Christians.
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The full-orbed Christian teaching on humanity
involves explaining both humankind's essential dignity as
well as its tragic depravity.
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Religious differences should always be communicated in the context of mutual respect, love, and dignity. Our Christian faith demands this high regard for others, regardless of who they are or what they believe.
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Simon had just enough religion to hate, but not enough to love. He had received just enough grace to taste God's goodness, but not enough to reflect it to others. He had experienced just enough forgiveness to remain judgmental of others. The odor that disgusted him was, to Jesus, a sweet savor of love!
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In order to understand Jesus' gospel - the gospel of the Kingdom - we must hear it from within the world of first-century Judaism
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Contrary to expectations, confession of sin opens us up to grace. Refusing to own our sin closes us to grace. Put simply: we resist grace by denying our sinful state; we experience grace by admitting it. Confession takes sin and grace seriously. We cannot possess the
latter without admitting the former.
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Mary can't cling to Jesus because - in light of the resurrection - she must now learn to know him in a new way. Something extraordinary has occurred. This is the start of a new beginning - a new creation. Mary's relationship with Jesus cannot be resumed on old terms. Easter is not a return to the past, but the opening up of a new future.
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The Bible's accurate portrayal of a good-but-flawed humanity clearly demonstrates that redemption comes not through human initiative but through divine faithfulness. The story of the Bible is the story of a God who is active in human history, bringing blessing in the midst of a fallen world. The good news begins in Genesis and climaxes in Christ!
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The problem with agnosticism is that it is empty of any real significance to human life. It is incapable of realization and can neither be embodied nor practiced. It offers an intangible solution to a very substantive problem. It attempts to avoid the unavoidable by abstention. But only a firm “yes” or “no” to the question of God has any real practical significance.
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Whether you like it or not, the fingerprint of God is imprinted on your soul. Like countless other human beings who have come before you, you yearn for intimacy, for meaning, and for a sense of destiny. These longings cannot be fully and adequately explained by
naturalistic philosophy. They send us in the direction of the Divine.
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Contrary to everyone's expectations, Jesus declares that the blessed ones of the kingdom are the "spiritual zeroes," the "beautiful losers," the "peaceful revolutionaries." The "little flock" to whom God gladly chooses to give the kingdom is filled with "children," "babes," the "last" and the "least". These are definitely not the kind of people you want leading a revolution - unless your revolution is unlike any other!
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In conservative circles, the story of Jesus turning the water into wine never fails to raise eyebrows. They cannot quite grasp why Jesus would actually keep the party going – especially by bringing more wine… lots of it! You can almost hear their conscience pleading, “Jesus, please turn it back to water before someone gets hurt. Or, even worse… drunk!”
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Peace is the goal
and the means through which God's kingdom arrives. This is shocking, unrealistic, and silly to most "reasonable" people. It is not "common sense." If you can't laugh at its utter absurdity, then you havent quite "got it." This kind of revolution is the crazy dream of poets and artists, not the strategy of generals and politicians.
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The God of
The Shack is not a generic God, but soundly Trinitarian. This allows the theology presented to be deeply relational, rooted in intratrinitarian love. As such, it provides some of the most profound reflections on God that I’ve come across in Christian fiction. Because the essence of God
is love, God
cannot act apart from love!
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What's "good" about Good Friday? To the casual observer it seems odd. The adjective "good" hardly seems fitting to describe a day full of injustice, beatings, whippings, abuse, scorn, and the torture of crucifixion.
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We are all on a spiritual journey, whether we realize it or not. Where are you at the moment? This short essay is intended to be a small help along the way.
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