The Same Gospel?
If you went to a public university in the south, you know the guy I'm talking about. He stands outside the student center, or maybe the library, and he always wears a tie. He has a Bible but never seems to open it. He yells a lot. He has a good eye for sin - he seems to see it everywhere. Guys with long hair and girls with short skirts, in particular, are on the express train to hell. And if you ask him why he's yelling at people, he'll tell you it's because he loves them.
That guy was at my university. I talked to him a few times. As a Christian, I could not understand how the Gospel of Christ could lead someone to have so much hatred.
At one point, I asked him how he reconciled his judgment of sinners with Matthew 7:1-5: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
He responded angrily, "I have taken the plank out of my own eye - I haven't sinned in 14 years. That's how I can see your sin so clearly." I would have laughed if it wasn't so sad. He was using Scripture to justify a position in clear opposition to the very Scripture he was quoting. Jesus, it seems to me, was pretty clearly saying that we should not judge, because once we withdraw grace from others, we renounce it ourselves. Was he reading the same Bible I was?
So the other day Marty Duren posted a short piece on fundamentalism at SBC Outpost. Like so many discussions these days, it quickly devolved into a debate on alcohol. Some guy was trying to convince everyone that the resolution was a good idea because alcohol is bad, and we shouldn't be a stumbling block. Which reminded me of that guy in the courtyard at my college.
See, if you actually read Romans 14, you'll find it says, in essence, "Some matters are disputable, and so are reserved to the conscience of the individual. Be considerate of your fellow believers, and allow each one to stand on his own convictions." How does one read this Scripture to say, "Some matters are disputable, and so are reserved to the conscience of the individual. Decide for yourself what your fellow believer's conscience should be in those matters, and make that rule a condition for service?" Are they reading the same Bible I am reading?
As I understand the Gospel Jesus came to preach, it's not about making up rules. It's not about strictly defining what it meant to be "righteous" and "godly" so that one could tell at a glance who was righteous and who wasn't. No, see, the Pharisees already had that system down pat. If Jesus just came to offer a few pointers and corrections on the rules the Pharisees had established, He would have done so. And the Pharisees would have loved Him for it.
Instead Jesus offered a Gospel so much more inclusive, but infinitely harder. So hard, in fact, that it is impossible but for the grace of God. Jesus demanded that we repent, not of the concrete actions of our bodies, but of the sin in our hearts. It was easy enough to not murder. Jesus demanded that we stop hating. It's easy to regulate what we eat and drink. Much harder to regulate what we say, and the heart it reveals.
Let us all resolve not to take the easy road. Let's not wash the outside of the bowl and call it good. Let us instead seek the fruit of the Spirit, and be kind, gentle and self-controlled. Let us forgive one another, as we have been forgiven by God. Let us rejoice in our freedom under Christ, and have the grace to let our brothers and sisters in Christ do the same.
Is sin a problem? Absolutely! It entangles and hinders. It separates God's people from one another. It dishonors the One who died to save us from it. Every day of my life I struggle to renounce the dying body of sin from which I have been saved. Can sin be beaten by following the rules? By no means. Sorry, not that easy. Following all the rules will get you just about as far as the Pharisees got. Yeah, the ones Jesus called "sons of Hell."
How then can we be saved? With man it's impossible. With God all things are possible. That's the Gospel I believe.
That guy was at my university. I talked to him a few times. As a Christian, I could not understand how the Gospel of Christ could lead someone to have so much hatred.
At one point, I asked him how he reconciled his judgment of sinners with Matthew 7:1-5: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
He responded angrily, "I have taken the plank out of my own eye - I haven't sinned in 14 years. That's how I can see your sin so clearly." I would have laughed if it wasn't so sad. He was using Scripture to justify a position in clear opposition to the very Scripture he was quoting. Jesus, it seems to me, was pretty clearly saying that we should not judge, because once we withdraw grace from others, we renounce it ourselves. Was he reading the same Bible I was?
So the other day Marty Duren posted a short piece on fundamentalism at SBC Outpost. Like so many discussions these days, it quickly devolved into a debate on alcohol. Some guy was trying to convince everyone that the resolution was a good idea because alcohol is bad, and we shouldn't be a stumbling block. Which reminded me of that guy in the courtyard at my college.
See, if you actually read Romans 14, you'll find it says, in essence, "Some matters are disputable, and so are reserved to the conscience of the individual. Be considerate of your fellow believers, and allow each one to stand on his own convictions." How does one read this Scripture to say, "Some matters are disputable, and so are reserved to the conscience of the individual. Decide for yourself what your fellow believer's conscience should be in those matters, and make that rule a condition for service?" Are they reading the same Bible I am reading?
As I understand the Gospel Jesus came to preach, it's not about making up rules. It's not about strictly defining what it meant to be "righteous" and "godly" so that one could tell at a glance who was righteous and who wasn't. No, see, the Pharisees already had that system down pat. If Jesus just came to offer a few pointers and corrections on the rules the Pharisees had established, He would have done so. And the Pharisees would have loved Him for it.
Instead Jesus offered a Gospel so much more inclusive, but infinitely harder. So hard, in fact, that it is impossible but for the grace of God. Jesus demanded that we repent, not of the concrete actions of our bodies, but of the sin in our hearts. It was easy enough to not murder. Jesus demanded that we stop hating. It's easy to regulate what we eat and drink. Much harder to regulate what we say, and the heart it reveals.
Let us all resolve not to take the easy road. Let's not wash the outside of the bowl and call it good. Let us instead seek the fruit of the Spirit, and be kind, gentle and self-controlled. Let us forgive one another, as we have been forgiven by God. Let us rejoice in our freedom under Christ, and have the grace to let our brothers and sisters in Christ do the same.
Is sin a problem? Absolutely! It entangles and hinders. It separates God's people from one another. It dishonors the One who died to save us from it. Every day of my life I struggle to renounce the dying body of sin from which I have been saved. Can sin be beaten by following the rules? By no means. Sorry, not that easy. Following all the rules will get you just about as far as the Pharisees got. Yeah, the ones Jesus called "sons of Hell."
How then can we be saved? With man it's impossible. With God all things are possible. That's the Gospel I believe.
posted by Publius | 2:38 PM
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