The Paradox of Christian Exclusivism

All orthodox Christians: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants, would agree that Christianity is in someway or another exclusive. By communicating that the Christian faith is marked by a level of exclusivity, most Christians are trying to preserve the uniqueness of the gospel- that God has intruded into world history in the person of his Son to reconcile all things to himself.




Christians are not alone in their exclusivity. At a fundamental level, every community (shaped by some set of beliefs and not by others) is exclusive. This includes communties that are "non" religious as well. Let me give a brief example. The Civil Rights organization at the University of Houston stands for the freedom of all citizens. However, if the president of the organization suddenly changed her mind and no longer believed that men (for example) deserved the same rights as women, she would be in violation of the organization's fundamental belief: that all citizens (regardless of gender, race, etc.) deserve equal rights. The civil rights organization might tolerate this from their president for a while, but not for very long. If the president was unwilling to change her beliefs, she would be asked to resign. The idea here is that communities have to be exclusive in one way or another to maintain their uniqueness.

So the question that has to be asked is not, "Why is your community exclusive", but "What are the internal resources within your community that prevents your community's exclusivity from becoming explosive" Although exclusive aspects of the Christian community have been used to promote violence and oppression (Crusades), this has been because members of the community have distorted the exclusive message, not necessarily because the exclusive message automatically leads to violence and oppression.

Tim Keller, in his book The Reason for God talks about the great paradox of Christianity's exclusive message. At the heart of the Christian story is a God who serves and loves his own enemies by dying on a cross. This is radical! Christians should labor to protect the exclusivity of their message --- not to exclude for the sake of exclusion---- but to embrace their enemies and serve them with the powerful love of Jesus Christ.

Buffet Spirituality

N.T. Wright, in his fabulous book Simply Christian, argues that spirituality is a fundamental human longing. Especially in our American culture today, I would say this is true. No matter how secularized we have become, there is still an aching sense that we are not at the center of the universe. There has to be something more.

On one level, I agree with Robert Webber that as Christians we are in a very opportunistic age. There is a flood of individuals in our society seeking for purpose and meaning. Many are wanting to re-connect with something outside of themselves. This is, on one level, very good news. As the church, I think we should be excited about this. At the heart of our story is God's descent into our world to restore humanity and renew the entire cosmos. This is great news for those who are searching for meaning and fulfillment.

But its not that easy. While people are comfortable being categorized as "seekers" and "spiritual" they don't like sticking to one story. What do I mean by this? Many people in our society approach spirituality like they would approach a buffet line. I'll take a little bit of Islam here, some of this Hinduism there, and a few pieces of Christianity. I don't want to oversimplify things, but it seems to me that a lot of people pick and choose what they want to believe (which usually ends up being aspects of a religious tradition or philosophy which are easy to manage and typically uncontroversial). Love, personal fulfillment and material prosperity are popular dishes in our American spiritual buffet line. As Christians, we stick to one dish- one macro-story that shapes and structures not only our individual lives (but as we believe) the entire flow of world history. We stick to one story because we believe this one story communicates to us the richest spirituality imaginable. A spirituality we were designed to experience. Creation- Incarnation-Recreation. This is our story. Herman Bavinck (my favorite theologian!!!) puts it this way:

"The essence of the Christian religion consists therein: that the creation of the Father, destroyed by sin, is again restored in the death of the Son of God and recreated by the grace of the Holy Spirit to a Kingdom of God"


To add to or subtract from this story would really be to throw it away. Christianity is a unified story. You take out one integral part, and the rest of it really doesn't make sense.

We must be charitable with those who feel compelled to run to the buffet line and pick and choose their religion. We must learn to listen to their questions and love them regardless of their answers. But we must also be bold. We must gently (yet confidently) proclaim to them a new diet- a single story that is large enough and beautiful enough to satisfy their hungry souls.

The Reason for God

Finally! Tim Keller's new book, The Reason for God, has arrived.

Keller wrote this book to accomplish two main goals:

1) Show skeptics that their doubts and objections to Christianity are in fact alternative beliefs about the spiritual world, the nature of justice, and even God himself. Keller is challenging skeptics to place their beliefs under the same level of scrutiny that they demand of Christianity. In other words, Keller is asking the skeptic to be skeptical of his own skepticism.

2) Keller also wants this book to be a resource for Christians whose loved ones (family, friends, coworkers, etc.) struggle with honest doubts and objections to Christianity.

I hope everyone buys at least three copies and hands them out to family and friends!

Let's Be Honest

"Religion is orientation toward ultimate reality. Everyone orients their lives to some version of ultimate reality."

William Deming

"We (must) identify and name the idolatries, the false gods that our society worships. I was reading again recently Dennis Munby’s book ‘The Idea of a Secular Society’. Munby in the 1960’s advised us that a secular society was what a Christian ought to work for, and that one of its marks was that ‘there is no publicly accepted image of the good life’. If that is so, ours is certainly not a secular society. How absurd it would be to make such a claim when (according to published statistics) something like 90% of the population spends at least three-quarters of its free time glued to the television screen, hooked inseparably to those pictures of the good life which are being ceaselessly pumped into every living room in the country, the advertisements and the soap operas which provide an image of the good life more powerful than anything Islam or mediaeval Christendom every managed to fasten on an entire population. Ours is not a secular society, but a society which worships false gods"

Lesslie Newbigin

I think it's right to say that everyone is religious- everyone worships something (although many would deny that they do). Being religious does not mean following a strict code of ethics or offering sacrifices to statues- it means committing yourself- giving your entire life over to something/someone. Christians are not "archaic" when they talk about worship. They're just being honest about what everyone else is doing.

The Hermeneutics of Charity

In two years, my wife and I plan to move to St. Louis, MO so that we can attend Covenant Theological Seminary. Covenant is the official seminary of our denomination- The Presbyterian Church of America (PCA).

What stuck out to us most when we visited the campus last month was the faculty's overwhelming sense of charity and graciousness toward individuals and systems of thought that differed from their own. Don't get me wrong, the faculty at Covenant are intellectually honest about their theological distinctives. They would never communicate that all Christians are the same and that any differences are ultimately minor (and thus unimportant). Differences between Methodists and Presbyterians (for example) are important and have to be explored.

What is truly beautiful about the faculty at Covenant is that they are not cavalier or arrogant with their theology. They are very gracious and deeply understand the necessity to be clear and fair when disagreeing with different theological perspectives.

There are many areas in my life where I would like to become more like the faculty at Covenant. But above everything else, I would like to embody their hermeneutics of charity- the way they winsomely and fairly represent those they disagree with.

As a Presbyterian, I want to write about the Methodists' view on sanctification and the Baptists' understanding of the sacraments in such a way that Methodists and Baptists (although disagreeing with my conclusions) are comfortable with my representation of them. Either it be discussing homosexuality and Christianity, sola gratia and the Roman Catholic view of progressive justification, I want those who I disagree with to read my statements about their beliefs and say, "I think you're wrong, but you really do understand what I'm trying to say."

What's Your Set of Words?

There is someone in my life (who will remain unnamed) who thinks I am foolish for embracing Christianity becuase, "We are never supposed to let anything or anyone tell us what to believe!" This statement has always been interesting to me. And it is extremely popular in our culture today. I hear it all the time at UH (University of Houston). Is this statement accurate, or do we need to deconstruct* it?

Philosophically, this statement is self-refuting

A self-refuting statement is a statement that contradicts itself. For example, if I were to tell someone that I did not speak a word of German in German, that would be a self-refuting statement.

On one level, anyone who commuicates the belief that no one/no thing should ever influence our beliefs- is in that very statement trying to influence our beliefs. Practically, I have found this to be the case. Most people that I talk to that believe nothing should influence our beliefs are very passionate and determined to persuade as many people as possible to accept that their reasoning is true. Ironic isn't it?

Everybody is shaped by some set of words

On another level, this view fails to recognize that everyone is shaped by some set of words. The question is not "are you shaped by a set of words" but "which set of words shape you"? The very assumption that we are autonomous human beings able to come to our "own conclusions"- apart from any external influence- is extremely influenced by the philosophical ideas of Rene Descarte.

Many Americans are shaped by the words of materialism. If only I had a nicer car or a bigger house I would be happier. Some are shaped by the words of New Age Spirituality. The world will become a better place when we begin to tap into the "divine" resources within ourselves. Others are shaped by the words of religious pluralism. No one religion can be true- this would be inherently unfair and oppresive.

As Christians, we are primarily shaped by the Word of God

When we think about the "Word of God" we usually think about the Bible. And this is true. The Bible is God's authoratative word. But there is also a sense in which we can think about preaching as the Word of God. The protestant reformes knew this very well. The Second Helvetic confession explains:

"Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe the the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; for even if he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God remains still true and good".

The implications for evangelism and discipleship are massive. We don't want new converts to think that the Christian life is merely about listening to the Christian radio station and becoming a "better" person (a view that I held when I first became a Christian).

No, things are larger and richer than that. Christ invades our minds and our hearts. By his Holy Spirit, he uses the dagger of preaching to penetrate all the "words" that shape our lives- opening up a space for us to be transformed by his Word. Through preaching, he begins to develop a world and life-view in his people. The grand narrative of the Bible- creation, fall, redemption, new-creation- becomes the framework within which the disciple "interprets" their life. A Christian shaped by good preaching will never think about science, politics, art, literature, etc. the same. Intimate issues like suffering, depression and marital struggles are placed in fresh perspective when the disciple is transformed by preaching. Good preaching, as the early church knew so well, is throuroughly Christ-centered. The pastor does not preach himself, he preaches the cross and ressurection of the Lord Jesus Christ. From Genesis-Revelation, the pastor expounds the Scriptures and feeds his people the plump fruit of the gospel.

We are human beings who listen to others. We are usually impacted (in some way or another) by our conversations with people. The Christian life is about hearing the Word of God- by faith- and letting that Word become our word so that we begin to reflect the beauty and glory of the eternal Word- Jesus Christ.

* Deconstruction is a methodoloigcal tool used by postmodern philosophers to challenge and dismantle commonly accepted beliefs.

Transformative Worship

"A person will worship something. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Evangelism is often separated from worship. What really matters, some argue, is that a person "accept Jesus into their life". Worship is important-no doubt about that- but it's not as important as the initial moment of conversion.

This line of thinking stems more from an American understanding of democratic choice and liberty than the portrait given to us in the Scriptures of a disobedient life being radically transformed by the glory of the Lord.

Worship is diluted in many churches (I believe) because of a misunderstanding of its fundamental nature. Worship is not simply singing songs to God (although this is a manifestation of it). Worship is bigger than what most Christians think. Worship really describes the entirety of our lives. What we give ourselves to, what shapes and molds us are all things that we worship.

The Bible is very clear that we will begin to reflect whatever we worship. Worship is transformative. If you worship sex or money, your life will be marked by these things. As Christians, we long to be renovated and transformed by worshiping Christ our King. As we come to know him, and serve him, and give our lives over to him - our fractured and broken lives will begin to reflect his mysterious and penetrating beauty.

This is important for evangelism. Our goal should be to communicate the gospel to others not merely to "save them from hell", but to invite them into a worshiping community so their lives will be genuinely changed. Let's not separate evangelism and worship. Those we encounter in our schools, our jobs and our neighborhoods (who are not believers) are already worshiping something. You have to find out what that is- and help them to see that it is ultimately damaging their lives. Only worshipping the Triune God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit-can bring lasting refreshment and deep transformation into out lives. This is good news. This is our message. This is our hope. Let's be a part of healing the nations through worship.

Diet or Repentance?

We are in what Christians have called the season of Lent. While I am very thankful that many people still take this season seriously, I am suspicious of whether or not many Christians understand what Lent is all about.

I have encountered many individuals in the past few days who have decided to give up some type of food (usually chocolate or sugar). But this is it. I don't want to be reductionistic, but it seems like many people think about Lent as an opportunity to rekindle their New Years resolutions to lose a few pounds. This surface approach is not only dangerous but cheap- when Jesus offers us such rich mercy!

I encourage everyone to think about why we partipcate in Lent- this seasonal journey to the cross. Instead of giving up lattes and Big Macs- let's reflect on how we are marked by Christ. The goal of Lent is not to lose 20 pounds (or even to forsake our favorite foods) but to enable us to experience the freedom of a lifestyle of faith and repentance that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church as "Final Apologetic"

Most people read the word apologetics and think, "a rational defense of the gospel". Although apologetics can mean that, I want to reflect on its broader meaning.

Apologetics for sure has to do with the plausibility and "attractiveness" of the Christian faith. Usually when we think about apologetics, are minds are drawn to philosophical and theological arguments that seek to preserve some of the core propositional teachings of historic Christianity.
As a church, we need winsome philosophical and theological answers to all the various questions that outsiders have about our faith. Although I believe propositional answers to the various cultural objections to Christianity are necessary, our final apologetic (our strongest argument) cannot be propositional arguments. Why? Because we no longer live in a society that believes ultimate truth can be "contacted" via rational argumentation.

In our postmodern environment, truth is "contacted" through submersion in a particular environment or culture. Although propositional statements are not entirely jettisoned in the postmodern world-view, they are no longer considered the primary ways to receive truth. The main idea here is that being submersed into a particular culture/environment will shape and guide the ways we view the world and the ways we live within the world.

This said, in our postmodern* society, evangelism and discipleship must occur in a particular environment/culture. Throughout the history of Christianity, the local church has been the environment where people have been submersed in and thus shaped and formed by the narrative of the gospel.

Robert Webber puts it like this,

"The church communicates through an immersion into its reality. The church lives by a different story and vision. When a new disciple is submerged in the communal life of the church- in its story, its values, its perspective- the countercultural nature of the faith is caught and the disciple begins to be formed by immersion in the ways of the community"
(Ancient-Future Evangelism, pg 75).

I believe that Christianity is both intelligible and "attractive". But I know that many people who are outside the circle of faith would disagree. How can I communicate with those who disagree with me? Although I think I can present reasonable arguments to people, it is going to take an authentic community of faith, the bride of Jesus Christ, embracing those who are opposed to the faith and submersing them in a radical love and performing the beautiful narrative of the gospel in their midst.

*Postmodernism is a philosophical movement after "modernism". Whereas modernism was interested in traditional views of authority/power and the supremacy of human reason- postmodernism has a basic suspicion of human reason and challenges traditional views of authority/power.

The Art of Being Open

Anyone who is seriously thinking about evangelism should read Robert Webber's Ancient-Future Evangelism. I never thought that I would learn so much about evangelism from studying the early church. In what follows, I would like to reflect on one of the marks of the early church that empowered their evangelism.

Openness?

Webber explains that one of the reasons why the early church was so successful in evangelism was that they were open, as a living community, to everyone. Most Christians will read that last sentence and think, "We're Christians. We believe that salvation is exculsive. We could never be open to everyone". On one level this is true. But on another level this attitude is mistaken.

Liberal Christianity

Many Christians today have [supposedly] taken the early church's advice and swung their doors wide open to everybody. But they have done so in a way that actually contradicts another fundamental principle held by the early church. The early church was not only open to everyone, but it was open to everyone with a very specifc message. The message of the early church was that Jesus is Lord. He is the only name that can be invoked to bring salvation. This wasn't seen as an oppresive exclusivism but a liberating particularized universalism. I admire the fact that many liberal Christian churches have embraced different people with the arms of authentic love. I need to learn alot from them! However, I think that many liberal Christian churches have not gone the full nine yards in their love. They have shown compassion and charity, but have not given people the most loving thing- the radical [exclusive-yet-universal] message of the gospel- that in Christ Jesus alone salvation is found.

Fundamentalist Christianity

While most fundamentalist churches have embodied the early church principle of communicating a particular message of salvation- they have failed to be open to their surrounding communities. It is actually quite sad. I often wonder whether or not fundamentalist Christians actually understand the very message they are trying so hard to protect. The reason why the early church was so quick to open their doors to everyone was becuase they were so excited to share the good news of Jesus Christ! Thier exclusive message inspired them to be inclusive.

How open?

Anyone who has "done" evangelism in a post-Christian world knows the tension between genuinely loving people and communicating a message of exclusive salvation. It's very difficult!
But it has to be done. What the early church teaches us is that reflecting more and more on the content of the message (the boundless love of Jesus Christ) will empower and motivate us more and more to be open to our communities. Being open means following Jesus' example of being a friend to sinners. As a larger church, we need to invite people of all walks of life to witness our communication of and participation in the grand-drama of redemption rehearsed in our worship services. As individual Christians, we need to invite different people into our lives to share and enjoy movies, meals, memories. We don't want to see non-Christians hurt by spiritualities and philosophies that lead to despair or moral chaos. The reason why we want to proclaim the exculsive message of the gospel is becuase we passionately believe that in the gospel alone people find true joy and meaning.

Comfort and Support

Psalm 23

The LORD Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me
inthe presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

I know that I was going to spend some time focusing on evangelism- but I've decided to reflect on Psalm 23. I promise to be brief and get back to evangelism on the next post. Psalm 23 is probably the most famous of all the psalms. It is one of my personal favorites. I've been struggling with depression lately and dealing with some identity issues. When I am struggling with these types of things I tend to do one of two things.

1) I become very introspective and fall deeper into a distorted outlook on life.

2) I try to "fix" my problems by turning to other things (books, movies, food, whatever).

This morning my wife and I read Psalm 23 together. It was a breath of fresh air.There are three things that I've been thinking about as I've been reading (and re-reading) Psalm 23.

Everybody walks through the Valley of the Shadow of Death

As Christians we sometimes believe that we are somehow "immune" to suffering or hardship. By suffering and hardship I mean the "big issues" like disease, death and poverty and the "smaller issues" like relational stress, emotional pain, etc.

We are living in what the apostle Paul calls this "present evil age". You and I are constantly comparing ourselves to other people, wondering whether anyone really accepts us, struggling with our self -image, and a wide ocean of other difficult things. I don't care who you are-you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.


We all try to find comfort and support from things

If only I had more money in the bank account everything would be ok. If only I had more friends I wouldn't have such a low view of myself.We believe that a new car will help our self-esteem. We think that a hefty retirement package will assuage the fear and trembling we experience in the present moment. As relational human beings, we were created to relate to something during times of distress. More often than not, we turn to things in this world that seem to give us hope to overcome what is presently taking over us.

Instead of turning to other things, we have to realize that only God can bring us the comfort and support we really need

Verse 6 is beautiful.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

In the midst of walking through the valley of the shadow of death, David realizes that nothing in all creation will be there for him except God. Financial gain, sexual pleasure, material comfort- none of these - can provide the comfort and support that David longs for in the midst of his hectic existence.

As it is for us. We will look for comfort and support in tangible possesions that promise many things. It is not that finances, sex or material possessions are evil in and of themselves. They are actually wonderful things created by God. They can bring us joy and delight, but not the comfort and support that out souls long for.

David knew that the valley of the shadow of death would not ultimately crush him because God was with him. David was referring to God's intimate gospel-presence.No matter what David was experiencing, he knew his life was ultimately framed within the context of God's presence - and this presence would bring him reliable comfort and support.

Like David, let us praise God that he has come to be with us in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ knows our sufferings and hardships far better than we could ever articulate. Not only is Jesus present among us- he is willing and able to comfort and support us.

Evangelism as Process

We live in an instant society. We want something now, or not at all.

As Christians, we have been more heavily influenced by the "separate-all-things" world-view of the Greeks than the "holistic" world-view of the Hebrews. According to the Greek world-view, the world is a collection of component parts. If one is creative, these parts can be roughly assembled alongside one another. But this is not necessarily ideal.

The Hebraic world-view is all about unity- things organically connected. One can make distinctions but never fully separate.

These two world-views have grand implications for soteriology (the doctrine of salvation applied) and evangelism.

Soteriology

Modern American Christianity is obsessed with the theological concept of conversion or new birth (when an individual turns away from a lifestyle of disobedience to God and moves forward by faith to a lifestyle of obedience to God).

There is nothing inherently wrong with valuing conversion. In fact, conversion is an integral part of what it means to be an authentic Christian.

However, we run into problems when we overemphasize conversion at the expense of valuing any other aspect of salvation. Not all American Christians do this, but many have.

The Hebraic world-view helps us to see that although conversion is a necessary component of the Christian life, it can never be divorced from sanctification (the process where a Christian dies more and more to sin and becomes more and more like Jesus Christ).

In this world-view, the experience of conversion is a turning point (not an end in itself) where an individual begins to serve the Lord for the rest of their life.

Evangelism

If we overvalue conversion, we may interpret evangelism as an instant event. Under this assumption, we'll communicate the gospel in such a way that the person listening to us "accepts Jesus in his heart". After this, we may never see the person again. He/she may or may not ever commit themselves to a local church.

But if we see salvation as a process, we will also see evangelism as a process. Seeing evangelism as a process helps us to understand that evangelism is not the bridge toward conversion, but the gateway to discipleship/spiritual formation and worship.

We may be in a relationship with a non-believer for many years before we feel there is an adequate level of trust to winsomely present the gospel. But even this can lead to a misunderstanding of evangelism. At the end of the day, evangelism is not the moments when we tell people about their sin and the salvation offered to them in Christ (although this is a part of evangelism). Instead, evangelism is a lifestyle of continual gospel-communication (both in word and in deed). From the time one spends building trust in a relationship to the moments where we apply the gospel to a friend's desperate need - these are all evangelism.