the difference: God’s word

Whether you read Genesis 1, John 1, or look elsewhere, the difference for the Christian is in God’s word making what is either dark and chaotic, or even nonexistent, good and very good. From creation to new creation, culminated in the Word made flesh. It’s God’s word that makes the needed difference in our lives and out from our lives into the world.

God is personal, and communicates to us through the Bible and the gospel, but does so in a very direct, personal way. God also communicates through nature, and other means, and I’m especially thinking of people who have no access to scripture, or who have not heard the gospel. Scripture tells us that faith comes from hearing the message of Christ. Much to me is in the dark, but I accept what is in the light, and the light and life given to me is through God’s word.

It is important to be in scripture, but equally important to seek to find how it personally speaks to us, or more accurately, how God is speaking to us through it, with the goal of having ears to hear, a heart to listen, and the will to change. Of course it is always and forever by grace, a gift from God, something we could never merit, earn, or deserve, or come up with on our own.

God’s word is what can and will see us through, as we by faith hear and apply it, trusting and obeying God, finding our way through this dark and broken existence in and through Jesus.

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in a world of competing narratives and ideas

All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalm 119:160

It is amazing, the diversity in thought more readily apparent nowadays due to the internet. I’m referring to “movers and shakers”, confining that to those with credentials. And even within the Christian world there is enough divergence, which might not seem that great at first, but can make a big difference.

It is probably good for people to engage all of this, and especially Christians. We all have our niche and calling. But we especially need to major on what we know to be true, the truth as it is in Jesus as found throughout scripture. And especially its fulfillment in the gospels along with the rest of the New Testament.

Of course we must be ready to speak out where need be, even when we know that inevitably we’re not going to see the whole or everything clearly, at least not as much as God does. And that we will make mistakes along the way. Surely even Paul didn’t get everything right. Though what he did write in scripture has God’s breath on it, so that it is absolutely true, along with the rest of scripture.

All of scripture is true to the point for which it is given and written: the gospel of God, the good news in Christ. That is what the Bible is: God’s written word pointing humankind to God’s final Word: Jesus. The fulfillment of all of God’s promises and truth are in Jesus.

That is where I go back to again and again. That does soundly critique all else; it’s not as if it’s on a plane where what it says has nothing to do with the supposed real world. The Bible actually uncovers reality. Even within its own culturally set place, a word for all cultures.

Where I start and must finish. In and through Jesus.

preach the word

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

We in Jesus as Christians and churches are called to preach the word. And to do so with an orthodox understanding of what it means. Creeds have their place in reminding us what is central to the Christian faith, and the point of it all: the gospel. And the Spirit has spoken to the church as to what its meaning is. The Trinity: God is Triune, one God in three Persons; Jesus is fully God and fully human in one person through the Incarnation, God saves and will judge through Christ. Basic essential teaching.

Faithful teaching is required in churches, and should include matters that are often taken for granted with many of us, like the truth cited above. There was a time when the majority of churches did not hold to the Trinity, or Christ’s two natures in one person.

In my life I’ve seen the word preached and taught faithfully, but I’ve also witnessed what I might call preaching the word lite. The passage of scripture is almost treated like an aside, the stress being on what the speaker is making pertaining to one’s life, or felt needs. It is hard to describe, and I’m reticent to make such an observation since I really haven’t been a part of a church which didn’t preach the word. There’s no way I could have remained or participated in such. It’s almost by degree or grade when one can sense a tendency in that direction. But some churches are obviously there. In which scripture and Christian teaching is indeed secondary to what their message or way of approaching people is, week in and week out.

We shouldn’t take any of this for granted. If the Apostle Paul gave the charge to Timothy, and warned him that there would be a time when this wouldn’t be easy, then we need to make sure we shore up, and fulfill the trust we’ve been given. Christian leaders must be held accountable by churches, and Christian leaders must hold churches accountable to this. Until Christ returns. In and through him.

what world do you live in?

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Luke 24:13-27

“What world do you live in?” is kind of a rhetorical question, thus not requiring a definitive answer, but causing us more to reflect on just what we perceive reality to be. And certainly includes myself. I struggle with this myself, I would say, of course.

We are creatures of experience as well as what we have observed to be true. It’s hard to get hold of just why we see life as we do. Certainly experiences from the past, especially in formative childhood times contribute significantly to that.

For me, it’s easy to get down over so many things. But that’s when more than ever, but really as a habit of life, I need to get in and remain in scripture. Scripture takes us through all kinds of worlds in the sense of experience, but lands us where we need to be, and helps us find what is lacking. Scripture as God’s word impacts us in ways we can’t actually completely comprehend. But the difference is unmistakable. It was so after Jesus talked to these two followers.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Luke 24:28-35

The face change here had to become a change of heart and a transformation of life. The world we believers and followers of Jesus inhabit is one marked by God’s word to us in Jesus, and whatever follows that.

We have to learn by faith to more and more live in the world in which Jesus is at the center. And into which God is always speaking. Regardless of what else is going on. The real world in and through Jesus.

the Bible and the news

John R. W. Stott is one of the favorite evangelical writers during my lifetime for good reason. And one of his books, Between Two Worlds, speaks of holding the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other, so to speak. He used to go with friends to films and afterwards discuss them together. The idea is that we need to keep in touch with the world, really try to understand it, even in a sense be immersed in that, while remaining in God’s word day in and day out.

I think this is probably more challenging today, given the polarized world in which we live, in which media outlets give entirely different takes on the same story. It’s not easy to find outlets which give someone a basic understanding of what’s happening without interpretations which add meaning beyond what might really be present. Editorials to give insight have their place. But basic, straightforward reporting, and allowing divergent voices to have their say is essential.

And that’s especially important for me, given my limited time. I rule out medias which shout or sensationalize. I want civil conversation, and discussion of issues, indeed dialog. That is challenging nowadays, since it seems like people gravitate toward the former, and seem bored with the latter. Nevertheless, that is the track especially we Christians should insist on. As we try to sort out what is really going on, and discern what underlies that, and what stakes are involved.

When one remains in the word, and keeps reading all the way through it, one will see that what happens in society is indeed important to God. The Bible isn’t just about me and God, period. But it’s about God and us, me included, God and the world.

So I try to keep tabs on something of what’s going on, and sometimes offer my thoughts on it, though not on this blog, as a rule. From listening and reading myself, and from considering the thoughts and wisdom of others. While all the time wanting to major on God’s word, remaining in that. Knowing that God is at work in my life, in our lives together, and in the life of the world. In and through Jesus.

 

the fresh breath/air of the Protestant Reformation

Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

Psalm 96:1-3

I really don’t care to identify as Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, or whatever, but rather, as Christian. I know that even Christian carries with it some historical baggage which is not helpful, and actually distracts, not to mention, contradicts its true meaning.

But on Spotify today, while trying to scroll down to see the albums playing my favorite music artist, Johann Sebastian Bach, and being blocked from doing so by an add, I either purposefully or inadvertently hit an album which has beautiful singing (likely in German), but I lit on Bach’s chorale music, so beautiful, this album. Bach himself was a Lutheran, in a pietist Lutheran setting, one that had as an emphasis a personal relationship with Christ, or knowing Christ. I was reminded of the beautiful early Lutheran music at the time of that great Reformer and Church Father, Martin Luther.

What I identify with is the emphasis on scripture being the authority to which we appeal, while taking tradition seriously, yet subjecting everything to the test of scripture. For me that’s a breath of a fresh air. And not only lifts one’s spirits, but brings new life, so that a song of praise and thanksgiving to God is indeed appropriate. It is God’s word, scripture, the essence of which is the gospel, God’s good news in Christ, which indeed is transformative. For us and for the world, someday to fill the new earth after the final judgment and salvation, in and through Jesus.

meditation day and night

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1

While the point of the Bible is the gospel, we still need every detail written in it, to best understand the whole, including the gospel. And for the interactive relationship with God we need.

Scripture is challenging, but also encouraging, and everything else we need. While helping us look heavenward, it is down to earth where we live.

We have to be in the word day and night, taking it to heart, and letting it change us through and through from the inside out. And we view all of life in this world through its pages.

God meets us as we do so, with all that we need: the promises, blessings, warnings, etc. In and through Jesus.