The writers do a good job of tying together the scriptures from John 14 and also John 5. The focus of Jesus promise of doing greater works has been very confusing for many Christians. I deeply appreciated the authors focus on exalting the miracle of salvation above the temporal issue of healing or even raising the dead. As I have stated many times every person Jesus ever healed is dead today and even those he raised from the dead eventually died from something. The eternal is so much weightier than any supernatural event. The eternal is all and forever supernatural (other than natural) while the temporal only has occasional glimpses of the supernatural. Oh that our hearts hungered and exalted as much over one soul who finds Jesus as we would be to witness a physical miracle. Page 24 paragraph 1 "The greater work is to bring people to eternal life through our proclamation of the gospel." We have an opportunity to do something that Jesus never did! He could proclaim the coming redemption, but we can proclaim the redemption that has come. On the bottom of page 27 they make a statement concerning faith that I found myself reflecting through, I am not sure yet whether I completely agree with the idea of a different kind of faith that comes from witnessing miracles or whether it is simply a shallow faith versus a deeper more enduring faith that is founded in His words. I really wrestle with the charismatic obsession with seeing miracles. Is it because our faith is even shallower than a miracle witnessing faith and if it is true that an even deeper faith comes from believing His words alone, then where are we? The Pharisees demanded miracles in order to believe, are we no better? As the authors continue their thought to page 28 the challenge really hits home. After all, isn't relationship with Jesus what we really aspire to? If faith only founded on miraculous persuasions leaves us without a foundation of trust with Christ then where are we? Faith in the sign is not the same as faith in the person of Christ.
On page 24, under the heading "God Rules Through His Word", the authors state, "Christianity is word-centered because God rules through His gospel word." The authors then go on to give a brief history of the rejection of God's ruling word. On the bottom of page 26, the last sentence of the last paragraph, I appreciate the summary of God's judgment of Israel, "God's word sets in motion events that cannot be altered." Yet even after Israel's rejection of God and the resulting judgment, God has not given up on His plan for mercy to triumph over death. I am moved by the authors understanding and value of the message of the gospel. By beginning with this emphasis my mind is set as ease so that their declarations later in the book for radical change in doing church, do not send me into a defensive mode.
The next major point in the chapter is on page 28, "God Extends His Rule Through His Word". The opening sentence in this section is, "Christianity is mission-centered because God extends His rule through his gospel word." The message we have been given automatically implies mission responsibility, besides the command of Matthew 28:19. The authors' comparison of word-centered versus spirit-centered is handled well. I am not sure I completely agree with the issue of revelation as they dealt with it, but I think I understand their intention to exalt our focus on revelation through His word versus equating subjective revelation to the level of His revealed words.
I would love to see us actually take the exercise that they describe on page 33 and do it in our community groups. The bullet points raise good issues in our hearts and certainly I would love for us to see ourselves truly as missionaries on our jobs and in our neighborhoods. This also includes the bullet points on page 35. I also marked all of the first paragraph on page 35 and the first sentence on page 36 which starts with the quote at the bottom of page 35 is very challenging and I think pivotal, "Jesus has a train and release strategy, while overall we have a convert and retain strategy." Paul entrusted brand new churches with brand new converts into the Lord's care when he went out planting. In Acts on his first journey they go and come back and then decide to return in what was probably more than a year later to see how the churches are doing. It might be that the conversions were deeper and more life changing, but that would be a sad commentary on today's church. It seems likely that there was a trust in the Lord to finish what He and not man had begun that perhaps we lack faith in today. I like the idea of train and release over convert and retain. Both quotes on page 36 are challenging. And lastly, on page 37 the last paragraph also challenges my heart deeply and a real amen rises in my spirit.
I really want to hear from you all concerning this chapter. It lays the foundation for most of the rest of the book. Let me know what you think.
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I agree that one of the most encouraging components of this first chapter comes not in the minimizing of the works of the Spirit but rather creating a condition upon which a true work of the Spirit relies....that is reliance upon the Word of God. I am always encouraged by the move of God through the miraculous, and, it definitely raises my faith. But, nothing raises my faith like a changed life. My favorite quote of the 1st Chapter is on page 31, "Spiritual experience that does not arise from God's Word is not Christian experience." I found that really true. I have met so many people that have what they would call spiritual experience but there is no sign of Jesus Christ in any of it. I remember my friend Becky who really did a lot of experimenting in American Indian culture and spirituality. She loved it because it took her to another place spiritually that gave her hope of answers. She couldn't find answers here and found hope in the spirit world. The Hope however has to be in Christ. The Spirit and Jesus are inseparable. You cannot have a move of the Spirit without it lining up with the Word of God and the Word is God and was with God in the beginning. They all have to be in alignment.
ReplyDeleteFinally, in the last chapter of Chapter 1, on page 37, he states, "We need non-full time leaders who can model whole-life, gospel-centered, missional living. It means thinking of our workplaces, homes and neighborhoods as the location of mission." This ties it all into the next chapter and the rest of the book. I like it that he pulls together the Word, the Spirit, and now mission and community. Building a really good framework for church. It's healthy.
The authors discussion under "God Rules Through His Word" (pg 24) was wonderful. I feel as though their presentation gave a good explanation of why this is true. I especially appreciated the focus and significance of the "promise" of God (this is in part due to the fact that I hold to Walter Kaizer's "Promise Plan of God" when it comes to Biblical Theology). The authors asked a question in the introduction that I thought was very important for readers to understand - Do we view the gospel "simply as the story of God saving individuals or as the story of God creating a new humanity?" Understanding the promise of God is vital since it is the promise (to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc) that drives the story of the Bible. God rules through his word, and the word of promise governs His people's actions. As I made mention in my first post, it is important that we navigate our way as a church on the foundation of the biblical narrative that has been set before us, and that we are not merely applying fragments of it to our lives.
ReplyDeleteThe bullet points that are stated on page 35 are great questions that are beneficial to gage different decisions we make -individually, or as a church body. WE so easily become the focal point of the "story." Once again, not to beat a dead horse, but when we do not understand the narrative of God and His kingdom, it naturally becomes about US. It becomes about God fitting into MY story, what is MY purpose, how does God's word apply to MY life. Along with these bullet points, the authors do a good job within this chapter in simply explaining "Why Gospel?"