I would like to recommend the article “Missional Shift or Drift” from a recent Leadership Magazine. There is a great deal of discernment needed in reading an article like this. A concern that I have in the midst of the excitement that I see about taking discipleship seriously is a loss of a sense of a clear doctrine of the church. Anytime we are discussing “change” in the church we should be shrewd as snakes.
Regarding the proclamation vs. demonstration struggle I kept thinking of Jesus’ statement at the beginning of His ministry in Mark.
“Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out. And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (Mark 1:38-39)
It seems that this statement continued to define His ministry as well as the ministry in which He was training His disciples (and by extension us).
His mission was proclamation, not demonstration. His mission was to preach the good news (see also: Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”). And as he went about His mission of proclamation He demonstrated the power of the good news of the kingdom by casting out demons and other acts of power. The point is not the demonstration(the miracles), and in itself the demonstration is nothing. The demonstration simply points to the power of that which is proclaimed.
Therefore, we preach (share the good news even and especially in personal relationships) the good news of eternal life (and life abundantly) in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus our Lord. As we go about this daily proclamation we also demonstrate the power that this proclamation has had in our own life by demonstrating kindness to others (especially including our love of the body of believers). We also show the power of that which we proclaim to effect a community via food pantries, divorce ministries, prayer for healing, tutoring, crisis pregnancy love and care and so many more opportunities. As we do this we proclaim, “This is the power of the gospel that we proclaim! God has changed our hearts, paid for the debt of our sin, and is destroying our pride so that we therefore demonstrate this love as we endeavor to change the lives of our community in this life and for life eternal.”
Demonstration serves proclamation.
Proclamation serves the kingdom.
The kingdom is eternal life (even life abundantly) in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have worked with youth for about nine years and one comment that I have often noticed is that we should be careful not to go too deep with the kids or it will just go over their heads and they will lose interest.
It seems that by saying that we don’t want to go too deep with our youth group kids means that we are giving them just enough of the gospel to inoculate them. Rather we want to give them the fullness of the gospel so that they can see that they have been given a deep pool of grace, the depths of which will take them the rest of their lives (even eternity) to plumb. Even that in any and every circumstance they will be able to dive into grace and find genuine salve for every wound.
Ask a kid what it means to be saved and he will likely respond, “Jesus forgives me of my sins.” And yet the kid observes that church, and especially youth group, seems to be about what God says to do and what God says not to do. How are these two basic teachings of the church compatible? How is it that God seems to demand so much, but forgives so easily? It almost seems like two different religions are being taught. One says that if we follow God we will avoid destructive behaviors. The other says that it doesn’t matter what you do God will forgive you. All you have to do is ask.
The confusion and lack of depth leads to all kinds of mess for graduates. They realize that they just can’t keep up with all of God’s demands and it seems like everyone has a different take on what those demands are anyway. And God forgives in the end so what does it matter? Christianity as a practiced religion becomes irrelevant. In the end what the youth group has produced is a youth that is morally ambivalent and to whom God has become a contradictory side show. The youth may not be willing to become an atheist due to core convictions that there must be a God; therefore, God is placated by minor religious activity and the youth continues to live in a moral and spiritual tension that stands as wall barring genuine reconciliation and relationship with his creator.
It seems that greater depth of understanding and teaching by leaders among youth is the only antidote to the inoculation above. The leaders must ask questions not only of the morality and forgiven status of the youth, but also of his depth of understanding the workings of redemption. Redemption is purchase of pardon, reconciliation, the righteousness of Christ imputed to the believer, escape from wrath with Christ as the substitute, and so much more. Think of what happens to the tension above if the youth can see salvation does not mean sin is no big deal so God just forgives it, but rather that God has utter wrath and hatred of sin and that the cross is the perfect place to see God’s wrath upon sin.
We must guard against the shallow teaching that the gospel is the launch pad to a positive moral life. The gospel is basis of regeneration. The gospel is the sustenance of our daily life. The gospel our reconciliation to God. The gospel is the depth out of which flows our daily worship. Plumb the gospel for our youth. Plumb the gospel with our youth.
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The best way that I can think of to “plumb the gospel” is to find a passage of scripture that specifically summarizes some aspect of the work of Jesus in either His life, His death, or His reign (and they are all of the whole of scripture) and:
1) Read it
2) Dwell on it.
3) Sing songs that relate to it.
4) Ask questions about exactly how this redemption thing works.
5) Ask how this relates both to the beginning of the Christian life and the sustaining of the Christian life.
6) Let the youth ask questions of the text.
7) Begin to enjoy and appreciate all of what Christ has done.
Just a couple of scriptures: Philippians 2; The various divisions of Hebrews 9-10; John 3; Genesis 12 and many, many more.
August 21, 2008 at 10:50 am · Filed under Blog Response
I can’t say that I care much for the intro part of the video … I’m not sure that the state of the pulpit is RIP, but I do think that Mark Driscoll here does a good job of explaining why the message of Joel Osteen is at odds with not only the message of Jesus, but also the life of Jesus.
Let me first say that in this clip that Mark Driscoll shows of Joel Osteen preaching is the first time that I seem to think that Joel Osteen is trying to point people to God. There is so much that is true about what Osteen preaches. If we are believers in Christ’s work on the cross we are genuinely “children of God”. “We have royal blood flowing through our veins.” But Osteen seems to be confused regarding both:
1) The Center of the Message – The glory of God in the faithful perseverance of His children in the midst of suffering as they are preserved by the power of the Spirit in the hope of the promise that they have received in the work of Jesus of an eternal inheritance.
and
2) His Sense of Timing – The blessing that we have received in the present age is surety of the promise of a future eternal inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is a deposit.
AND YET … Osteen describes “complete victory” as three things that simply are not the key items of the gospel.
1) Healthy Body
2) Good Relationships
3) No Anxiety (especially as it relates to finances)
I would like to mention a few core problems with these three components coming together to be what the gospel describes as complete victory.
1) What does sin have to do with any of this? If there is no discussion of sin when we talk about victory then there is no need for the cross. When Jesus cried out that “It is finished” it was a cry of victory over sin’s curse and a claim of reconciliation between the redeemed and God.
2) This description slanders the thousands of saints and martyrs throughout history that have cried out “How long, Oh Lord,” as they suffered in their body and in their relationships and in their livelihood even to the point of death. Christ’s vindication of their cause is yet to come at the end of time.
3) Where is the need to persevere under trial or to intentionally place ourselves in the way of persecution for the sake of the gospel? It sounds as though I should avoid situations of persecution because I’m royalty after all.
4) And how should I pray for those who face persecution in places like China? Should I pray as they have asked, that they would endure and that the Good News of Jesus’ cross would be held up before even the persecutors? Or should I pray that God would make their bodies healthy, help them to make better friends, and that God would send them money so they wouldn’t have anxiety?
Bottom-line … I pray that I would see in Christ my own joy so that I can wear a smile as genuine as the appearance of Osteen. And yet I pray that God would hold before Osteen and Osteen would begin to hold before his church and the world the only source of eternal hope and present joy; that is, the God’s reconciling with man in the person and work of Jesus Christ. May we all become more holy worshippers of the One True God.
THE GOSPEL IN 6 MINUTES
Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.” No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop. You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel. (John Piper)
WHERE IS THAT RESET BUTTON AGAIN?
Reformissionary has a great article about what he does when he gets into the spiritual doldrums. Wouldn't it be nice if there was just a reset button somewhere on my spiritual forehead?
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DAVID POWLISON ON PERSONAL APPLICATION Internet Monk has an interview with Dr. David Powlison where he speaks about “Reading the Bible For Personal Application”. Dr. Powlison wrote an article on this subject that will be included in the upcoming release of the ESV Study Bible.
DRISCOLL ON THE EMERGENT CHURCH
Look for the audio of "A Pastoral Perspective on the Emergent Church" on this page where Mark Driscoll explains what he sees as the four streams of movement in the church today: Emergent Church (Village), Emerging Evangelicals, House Church Evangelicals, and Emerging Reformers.