I suppose it's established that we can now add PC/Mac commercial parodies to the list of stuff that Christians like. Why? I have no idea. To me they they lack creativity, but they do have one unintended benefit - they represent perfectly, as is the case in the video below, the history of the modern Church. On the one side, you have "Christians," who are so focused on being good people that they, in their moral strivings, they end up seeking to become their own savior. On the other side you have today's "Christ Follower," who, in between taking sips of their venti-sized iced mochas and checking their email, are all about developing their relationship with their pocket-sized pal Jesus.
Christianity isn't fully represented either of these extremes, although the Bible unquestionably includes elements of each within its storyline. Christianity is more accurately described, as John Piper has mentioned, as primarily news:
Christianity isn't primarily religion and Jesus isn't primarily our friend, it's news that comes to us on the front lines of war in which we are battling for our very lives. We make a mistake when we try to be good out of moral obligation and/ or a need to boost our reputation. But we make an equal mistake by making God in our own image and turning Jesus into a pal/ genie who grants our every wish. Most of us today make this second mistake. We focus so much on relationship that we forget we worship a King who, although relates to us through Jesus, is vastly different from us. He is perfect. He are imperfect. He is strong. We are weak. He has infinite understanding. We have the narrowest of perspectives.
Christianity is not about moralism, but Jesus isn't our coffeehouse friend who listens to all of our problems and tells us everything is going to be alright. He's a Savior, fighting a battle, seeking to free us from enemy captivity. And the gospel is the news that He has come and battle is won!
"Christianity is not first and foremost a religion. It is first and foremost news. It's news.
It's like we're in a war, in a concentration camp, and suddenly you're hearing on the smuggled-in radio that the troops of deliverance have landed in helicopters five miles away. They're conquering everything in their path and they're just about to get to the gate and open the doors. And having lived all your life in this concentration camp, you're now going to be set free.
That's Christianity. It's news that God sent rescue troops into the world, namely Jesus Christ, and that at great cost to himself he has conquered our enemy the Devil, opened the gates of the concentration camp, and welcomed us home."
Christianity isn't primarily religion and Jesus isn't primarily our friend, it's news that comes to us on the front lines of war in which we are battling for our very lives. We make a mistake when we try to be good out of moral obligation and/ or a need to boost our reputation. But we make an equal mistake by making God in our own image and turning Jesus into a pal/ genie who grants our every wish. Most of us today make this second mistake. We focus so much on relationship that we forget we worship a King who, although relates to us through Jesus, is vastly different from us. He is perfect. He are imperfect. He is strong. We are weak. He has infinite understanding. We have the narrowest of perspectives.
Christianity is not about moralism, but Jesus isn't our coffeehouse friend who listens to all of our problems and tells us everything is going to be alright. He's a Savior, fighting a battle, seeking to free us from enemy captivity. And the gospel is the news that He has come and battle is won!
No comments:
Post a Comment