Faith Works Wonders
25OCTColumbus discovered America because he believed that there was another continent beyond the ocean, and the Pilgrim Fathers colonized it because they believed that God would be with them on those rocky shores. Most grand deeds have been born of faith; for good or for evil, faith works wonders by the man in him it dwells.
Kingdom Colonies
Christians should work harder toward establishing colonies of the kingdom that point to our true home. All too often the church holds up a mirror reflecting back the society around it, rather than a window revealing a different way. If the world despises a notorious sinner, the church will love her. If the world cuts off aid to the poor and the suffering, the church will offer food and healing. If the world oppresses, the church will raise up the oppressed. If the world shames a social outcast, the church will proclaim God's reconciling love. If the world seeks profit and self-fulfillment, the church seeks sacrifice and service. If the world demands retribution, the church dispenses grace. If the world splinters into factions, the church joins together in unity. If the world destroys its enemies, the church loves them.
That, at least, is the vision of the church in the New Testament: a colony of heaven in a hostile world.
The Cathedral of Christianity
In our reckless attempt to make Christianity popular by making it "practical," we invariably vandalize it by stripping it of its inherent beauty and mystery… We make it practical by adapting it to the assumed values of the wider culture. We figure out what people want, and then offer them a Christianized version of it. We do it in the name of church growth, but it is really the betrayal of a sacred trust. It would be like turning Saint Paul's Cathedral into a shopping mall to increase traffic…
Christianity is a vast and enormous cathedral built around the astonishing and seminal confession that Jesus is Lord. But most of us worship in particular chapels – whether Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as we don't confuse the chapel for the cathedral.
Nature, not Behavior
Just like a lost person's good actions cannot change their sin nature, neither can a born-again believer's sinful actions change their righteous nature. Many Christians have accepted one side of this truth, but not the other… Your nature doesn't become corrupted every time you sin any more than your nature became righteous every time you did something holy before you were born again.
Don't Mix the Covenants
God makes it very clear that the two covenants are not to be mixed: "Cast out the bondwoman and her son" (Gal 4:30)… The old covenant operated by principles, the new covenant by promise… The distinction between principles and promise also explains why the Apostle Paul chose not to preach anything to the Corinthians other than "Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). That puzzled me somewhat as I thought of all the wonderful Old Testament truths that were readily available to Paul. He could easily have preached Proverbs with all its wisdom. He could have preached Psalms with its varied and creative expressions of intimacy. Or he could have explored the many lessons learned from the history of Israel. Yet he focused completely on his message on Christ crucified. Why? Because Christ's death and resurrection represent the highest and most climactic revelation of God's entire design. It is God's bringing life out of death and something out of nothing according to his purpose. That really is gospel!
