Sorry for the lack of 'thoughts' these past couple weeks -- I had 5 funerals in two weeks. Your prayers for the remaining spouses, children, grandchildren and family members would be appreciated, as they deal with the loss of loved ones.
This week's 'thought'
comes to you from John Piper. I picked up a little gem of his at a local
store called, "Jesus - The Only Way To God." This selection,
which comes from the introduction, resonated with my spirit and thus I hope it
speaks to you as well. As the book is only a short hundred
and twenty-three pages in length, it is well worth the expense and time to
read it. Enjoy."I have written this book with a sense of urgency. It seems to me that the very people who have historically been the most joyfully and sacrificially aggressive in world evangelization are losing their nerve. In our shrinking, pluralistic world, the belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation is increasingly called arrogant and even hateful. In the face of this criticism, many shrink back from affirming the global necessity of knowing and believing in Jesus.
There has always been a price to pay to take the good news of Jesus to those who need it and don't want it. The difference today is that those voices are closer to us than ever -- whether in the neighborhood or on the internet. Their nearness makes them seem more numerous (which they aren't) and feel more dangerous (which they are).
These are not days for the
timorous to open their mouths. A thousand bloggers stand ready to echo or condemn
your commendation of Christ to a Jew, or Muslim, or Hindu, or
Buddhist, or anyone else. Once upon a time, there was a safe, private
place to take your controversial stand for Jesus. No more. If you are going to
stand, you will be shot at -- either figuratively or literally.
As I write this, there is
news across the web of fourteen Christians killed in rioting because the other
religion believed their holy book had been desecrated. What if, in
your town, the 'other' religion defined desecration as the public
statement that their holy book is not the infallible guide to God?
If the evangelical
church at large was ever too confrontational in its evangelism, those days are
gone. The pendulum has swung, with a commercialized and psychologized
temperament, in the other direction. The church today leans strongly toward
offering Jesus as appealing or not offering him at all. And what's new about
this temperament is that we are more inclined that we used to be to let the
customer, or the person who is offended, define what is appealing.
The commercialized mindset
moves away from personal conviction toward pragmatic effectiveness. It feels
that if the consumer is unhappy with the presentation, there must be
something wrong with it. When this feeling becomes overriding, it circles
around and redefines the 'truth' being presented so that the presentation can
be made enjoyable. If the claim that Jesus is the only way of salvation offends
people, the commercialized mindset will either not talk about it, or stop
believing it.
The psychologized mindset
defines love as whatever the other person feels is loving. The effect is the
same as with the commercialized mindset. If a person or group finds your
summons to believe on Jesus for salvation to be arrogant instead of humble and
loving, then, if you have the psychologized mindset, you will feel guilty and
apologetic. It must be your fault. If this mindset becomes overriding, it too
will circle around and change not only the presentation, but, if necessary, the
thing presented, so that the other person will not feel unloved.
In this way, the unhappy
consumer and the offended listener take on a power that once belonged only to
the Bible. There is an epidemic fear of man behind these two mindsets. In the
name of marketing savvy or sensitive communication, cowardice capitulates to
the world, and we surrender the offensive truth of Christ's uniqueness and
supremacy."
(Piper then goes on to
share The Seven Things That Are At Stake when we surrender the universal
necessity of believing on Jesus in order to be saved -- but you will need to
pick up a copy to see that those are.)
Though it is true that one
can share the Gospel in a way that is patently offensive, and unloving, there
is also a sense in which even the most humble and loving presentation can also
offend, because there are elements of Gospel truth that are
offensive -- apart from anything we do or don't do.
Human pride does not like
to hear that we are entirely dependent upon the grace of God in Jesus
to be saved. Pluralistic relativism does not like to hear our
belief that all roads do not lead to heaven. Most
are offended at hearing Isaiah tell us that, "all our RIGHTEOUS deeds are as
filthy (unclean) rags in the sight of God" -- stained as they are by the sin that
resides within me. People who believe self-esteem is the cure all
for all of our ills do not like hearing we are sinners who fall short of the
glory of God and thus desperately need a Savior. (Yes, there are some
things we cannot change, or do, even if we believe with all our heart that we
can.)
Thus, as one of my seminary
professors once put it: "There
are elements of the Gospel that are, in and of themselves, offensive to
unbelievers. Just make sure that if offense is taken, it comes from the
Gospel itself, and not the way you present it."
With prayers that we may
all continue to share Jesus in a humble, loving and yet confident and bold
way, Pastor Jeff
