A Question to Spur some Dialogue

Which of the following statements concerning Jesus and the Church is/are true? (and why?)

Democracy is a model of government taught in the Bible.

Jesus Christ was rich.

He was fair skinned.

He taught his followers to be democratic.

Christians seem to have practiced some form of socialism in the 1^st century church.

Jesus Christ taught that men and women should fight for their property rights under the law.

He taught that we must not associate with homosexuals.

Jesus taught that we must not drink alcohol.

He taught that we have the right to kill. (open ended, I did not specify any particular circumstances)

Jesus preached a gospel of peace (shalom) while he was on earth.

Jesus’ Kingdom has not yet begun.

Jesus’ Kingdom was established at the resurrection.

Jesus wants his followers to be rich.

Jesus wants his followers to be happy.

Jesus would vote for Mike Huckabee.

Jesus would vote for Barack Obama.

Party like the redeemed

Toward A Missional Worldview: Understanding Redemption Should Mean More Partying
Author: Anthony Bradley

I write this while just returning from an amazing trip to Central America hanging out with friends living there. I haven't had that much fun in years. Since my return, I've been wondering why many Christians are such boring people to be around if redemption is true. If Christ's mission was truly accomplished and if the Kingdom of God is alive then Christians ought to be the most celebrative people on the planet throwing the best parties and social events. If the Gospel is true one would think that Christians would be the best at "getting their party on."

David got buck-naked and started dancing because of the grace of God. Why don't we celebrate like this (fully clothed, of course)?

Look, redemption is huge. It's more than personal salvation. The redemption achieved by Jesus Christ is cosmic and is directed at all of life, including creation. Men and women are saved by grace so that they may fulfill their role in the kingdom as God's managers of the earth. In a fallen world, this managing function takes on even greater importance as it relates to being 'salt and light.' God has planned to "reconcile to himself all things" (Col. 1:20) through the work and person of Jesus Christ. His church shares and displays this truth in all of life.

The scope of redemption is as great as the scope of the fall. It embraces creation as a whole. Being a Jesus follower is personal renewal and walking away from sin but it also means that Jesus followers are about the business of promoting renewal and shalom in every aspect of creation. Jesus followers have been called into a "ministry of reconciliation" on his behalf (2 Cor. 5:8).

In the name of Jesus all distortions and perversions must be opposed everywhere-at the club, in a bar, at school, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, at work, on the radio, on the canvas, on the internet, in the factory, and so on. God's people bring Christ's victory, in his defeat of sin and the recovery of creation, in all aspects of culture. All of it!

Jesus' miracles provide us a picture of the full scope of redemption, says Al Wolters. The miracles are "a freeing of creation from the shackles of sin and evil and a reinstatement of creaturely living as God intended." Since his ascension Jesus has been actively extending the implications of the kingdom all over the world (Luke 19:11-27).

Only the atonement deals with sin and evil effectively at the root. The gospel, then, is preached to all creation (Mark 16:15) because there is a need of cosmic liberation from sin everywhere. It is worth celebrating here and now that being united to the Kingdom through Jesus Christ destines his people to an eternity with him in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21). No pain, no tears, no worries, no stress, no IRS.

It makes sense, then, that celebration is also part of the Christian tradition: from the feasts and celebrations in the Torah, the celebration in the Psalms, various celebrations of God's people renewing their fidelity to Him in Old Testament, to the story of Jesus ministry, and beyond...

It makes sense that one of the first "signs" of the Kingdom was Jesus turning water into wine (real wine) at a wedding celebration. This was not a lame, hour-long modern evangelical reception with people sitting around drinking watered-down punch, eating peanuts, only waiting around to say "congratulations" so they can jet home to play a board game. Nope, hours and hours of laughing, dancing, eating good food, and drinking. They drank so much that they ran out and Jesus kept the celebration going by demonstrating his lordship over cosmic reasons to celebrate.

So if the kingdom is real, if creation is all good, if life is not suppose to suck, if God is renewing all things to himself through Christ, if you are united to Jesus and standing before God forgiven, then why is your social life so boring? Why are you not either at a party or throwing a party every weekend? Why are you not inviting people into your community of celebration?

Wouldn't it be awesome if Christians were such a celebrative group of people that our non-Christians friends and neighbors would get introduced to Christianity by wanting to come to our parties? Here's a great question for someone to ask you: "why are you Christians always partying so much? Missional living pursues not only shalom but celebration. Jesus followers should party now like they will in heaven.

White Evangelicalism

**Warning: This post may contain explicit content, (especially if you are White, middle class and/or Republican).**

I am sick and tired of f***ing racism.
As we ponder the emerging nature of Christianity in our culture, it is amazing to me the number of racists in our churches. As I browsed the evangelical blogosphere, I saw no less than three different "Christian" bloggers, using racist slang and speaking out against people of different races. One blogger in particular, spoke of an Evangelical, Conservative black thinker as "vulgar, perverse and unworthy of the name of Christ" because he was black. This sickened me. As I am posting some of Anthony's thoughts on the blog, it was especially relevant for me now.
Colossians 3:11 says:
"9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all."

We who are called out of God, we must lead the way in reconciling different races, cultures and subcultures. Those of you who know me personally know my heart for the hardcore music culture. As a whole, the American church is miserably failing to reach out across the boundaries of culture, race and class. We must embrace the power of the cross to reconcile each and every class, race and culture to a saving knowledge of Christ. Only when we recognize that Jesus Christ came to redeem people from all races, and that he was in fact not a white guy with shiny brown hair, can we truly reach out to other people.
Anthony made a good point over at his blog.

"The last time I checked (and I'm no expert) Jesus was a Jew from Palestine. This Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, fully revealed the plan of God, defeated Satan, liberated his people, gave them the Holy Spirit and continues to make intercession for them. The Jesus from Nazareth brings his people into his redemptive mission to redeem the whole creation. So are we to think of Jesus as the man that we want him to be or the man that he actually is?"

This is my challenge for you today: How are you reaching out to people who are different from you? How are you expressing the love of Christ to those for whom Jesus died, even if they are different than you?

The blog will be picking up with Anthony's next talk soon.

A New Series on the Blog

Today We are beginning a series of Articles by Anthony Bradley Toward a Missional Worldview. This guy's perspective is extremely helpful for those of us dealing with the many problems of American christianity.

Toward A Missional Worldview: Remembering the Kingdom

Author: Anthony Bradley

POSTED ON: 06.07.06

The Kingdom of God is a central theme in the preaching of Jesus and, by extension, the preaching and teaching of the apostles. Liberalism has emphasized the kingdom but has left behind Jesus' commission and call to obedience and discipleship. Many evangelicals have a great passion for the church and missions but have often lost the full implications of the gospel into their local culture. A missional worldview orients all of one's life toward the kingdom (Matt 6:33) and ignites Jesus followers into radical living here and now.

Jesus came as king to reign over his kingdom and gather his church to join him in bringing redemption to the world. John the Baptist and Jesus open the New Testament by announcing the coming of the kingdom of God. The time has come, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the good news (Matt 3:2, Mk 1:15)!

George Ladd rightly stresses the importance of the kingdom this way:

"The kingdom of God is the redemptive reign of God dynamically active to establish his rule among men, and that this Kingdom, which will appear as an apocalyptic act at the end of the age, has already come into human history in the person and mission of Jesus to overcome evil, to deliver men from its power, and to bring them into the blessings of God's reign. The Kingdom involves two great moments: fulfillment within history, and consummation at the end of history."

The kingdom implies more than the salvation of individuals, or the reign of God in people's hearts. It means nothing less than the reign of God over his entire created universe. Colossians 1:9-23 reminds us that Jesus as Lord rescues people from darkness, brings them into the Kingdom (vs. 13), confirms his Lordship over all creation (vs. 15-17), establishes his role as sole head of the Church (vs. 18), announces his work to reconcile all things in heaven and earth (vs. 20), and pronounces victory for his people in the great battle between kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of God's son (vs. 21-23) first announced in Gen 3:15.

As the biblical story unfolds-creation, fall, redemption, restoration(heaven)-we find ourselves living in a dynamic yet difficult tension. Jesus teaches that the kingdom is already present in his ongoing ministry (Matt 12:28, Lk 17:20-21) but he also teaches that the Kingdom of God is still future as we look forward to heaven and lament the fact of hell (Matt 7:21-23, Matt 8:11-12, Matt 25, 2 Timothy 4:18, Rev. 21, 22)-the "already, not yet." The mission of the kingdom has begun and will be finalized completely at the return of Jesus.

What are Jesus followers to do in the meantime? Press the "pause" button and sit on their butts, huddled up on their 60-acre compounds waiting on Jesus to return? Nope! Jesus followers are called to "go!" That is, to "go" be witnesses and testifiers of the Kingdom of Jesus everywhere in the world and in all areas of life empowered by the Spirit of God himself (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). This means teaching the nations about the Kingdom of Jesus, calling them to repentance and faith, living out the good news in their midst, and engaging all areas of life and culture as a picture of what God intends for his world (Col 3:23).

God has chosen his church as his means of proclaiming and advancing the Kingdom. Every follower of Christ has a job in the mission of God (1 Cor. 12). God entrusts his church to bring his grace to a broken world in love, preaching the Scriptures, practicing the sacraments, in prayer, fellowship, worship, evangelism, and missions.

Having a Kingdom-oriented worldview is also a call to a Spirit-filled mission orienting all of life toward Jesus the King and the Father's purposes for the world. God's people, sent out from the church, bring the kingdom of Jesus to all areas of life mired in sin and brokenness. Jesus followers are the world's agents of redemption and restoration (Isaiah 61:1-4) showing the world what it looks like to live a life reflecting the glory of God in all things: repentance and faith, arts and media, business, education, social life, marriage and family, social justice, caring for the environment, and so on.

For more check out these books: Far As the Curse Is Found, by Michael D. Williams; Truth In All Its Glory, by William Edgar; A Theology of the New Testament, by George E. Ladd; The Bible and the Future, by Anthony Hoekema.