Friday, July 11, 2008
Reaching Out
Justin Holcomb, writing at CGO, recently said:
I think much of that is a result of the fear that if we go "out there" we will fall victim to the various and sundry seductive forces of the world. This is a reasonable fear, but the response is oh so wrong.
"I am afraid I will not win the footrace therefore I shall not compete." That's what it is. Isn't the better response, "I am afraid I will lose the footrace, therefore I will train harder." Do you see?
We fear the seduction of the world because we are insufficiently transformed by that which we claim to hold so dear. If we truly believed in Christ Jesus and the power and glory that HE offers us; if we truly relied on His grace and mercy, as we pretend to call others to do; we could step out into the world BOLDLY and with confidence - knowing that God would hold us fast to His bosom.
God could have stayed in His heaven and continued to invite us to join Him. But He took a very different approach. We are called to do the same. All we have to do to is have the confidence that with His grace we can. That confidence is born of our continuing efforts to rely solely and completely on Him.
How continual are your efforts?
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But, in Jesus, God takes the initiative toward us. Christianity is not mainly about us going toward God and finding him, but rather being found by God in Christ. And Jesus said he is the only way to the Father. By saying this, Jesus is saying that by being the way and the truth and the life, there is open access to God for all through him. This is not a reward for being good or religious enough. In addition to being the way to God, Jesus is also the truth of God. He is the embodiment of God’s self-revelation. In the bible, God showed up. He wasn’t found. God shows up in a bush with Moses, in a pillar of fire and smoke for the Israelites during the Exodus, and in the temple. God isn’t conjured. God arrives. And he arrives most personally in Jesus. Jesus also claims to be the life of God on earth. In John 6, he says he gives his life “for the life of the world.” Christianity is not some type of religious “Where is Waldo?” and everyone has a shot to find God. Rather, in the particularity of Jesus (which sounds so exclusive) God gives his life for the life of the entire world, which is very inclusive.That set me to thinking about how we do church in this day and age, the "If you build it, they will come approach." We invite people into our world, but we rarely go to see them in theirs.
Jesus intends his claim of being the only way to God to be a comfort, not an argument. The desperate person doesn’t fight against there being one way because they are just thankful there is at least a way. The starving person is happy for a person to offer food. The sick person is hoping for A cure. So, if you are desperate and are hoping for a way to get to God, then there is great news—God has come in the person of Jesus, he died for your sins to remove the barrier between you and God, and is now abundantly available and accessible to you now.
I think much of that is a result of the fear that if we go "out there" we will fall victim to the various and sundry seductive forces of the world. This is a reasonable fear, but the response is oh so wrong.
"I am afraid I will not win the footrace therefore I shall not compete." That's what it is. Isn't the better response, "I am afraid I will lose the footrace, therefore I will train harder." Do you see?
We fear the seduction of the world because we are insufficiently transformed by that which we claim to hold so dear. If we truly believed in Christ Jesus and the power and glory that HE offers us; if we truly relied on His grace and mercy, as we pretend to call others to do; we could step out into the world BOLDLY and with confidence - knowing that God would hold us fast to His bosom.
God could have stayed in His heaven and continued to invite us to join Him. But He took a very different approach. We are called to do the same. All we have to do to is have the confidence that with His grace we can. That confidence is born of our continuing efforts to rely solely and completely on Him.
How continual are your efforts?
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