CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
May 2, 2004
LIFTING UP TO GOD:
Our congregation Our nation, military and leaders
Our college students David and Leon in the Navy
The Stolte’s in Germany various friends, relatives and co-workers
Yevette’s dad is home after heart surgery Ben Oller is ill
Ruby and Mick are sharing a sinus infection
EVENTS COMING UP:
May 6 - National Day of Prayer
May 9 - Mother’s Day pot luck
June 6-12 - Encounter
MAY BIRTHDAYS: Jason King (2nd), Nona King (2nd), Jolene Mearns (7th), Shalaina Cruthirds (23rd)
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13).
I have been reading a book called American Jesus by Stephen Prothero (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003). It is a historical look at how Americans have seen Jesus over our history. For instance, the Puritans and Pilgrims were Calvinists who talked more about the sovereignty and wrath of God with sermons reflecting this. One was entitled like this: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Thomas Jefferson following the enlightenment and rational thought of his day did not believe in any supernatural aspects of the Bible, the gospels in particular. In the nineteenth century, Jesus as friend and Savior became more prominent in the sermons as people moved away from Calvinism and the enlightenment. Yet there were those who also emphasized going back to the Bible and following it alone. Following Charlotte Allen’s The Human Christ (Free Press), by the twentieth century, people were making Jesus in their own image rather than scripture.
Having said that, I began wondering about how churches of Christ view Jesus and how did we got to where we are today in our views and reactions. I am no Restoration historian but have done some reading and reflecting on this idea. For instance, K.C. Moser wrote several articles reacting on the idea of the five points of salvation so often emphasized in sermons by asking, is it about the plan or the Man? He was ridiculed for bringing up such an idea. This year a new book came out in the Heart of the Restoration series from ACU Press called Unveiling Glory, about how we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus through humility and relationship. It too has been ridiculed as dangerous to ones spiritual health. Why such reactions?
In my opinion, we have emphasized us (the church) over God. We admit that it is God’s church, the body of Christ, but then spend our time organizing and defending us (the church). We forget that the word “church’ means assembly and that means us. In defending us, we have spent time debating those we do not agree with in the assembly. Those who think differently we ridicule. There is only one way and no one is allowed to question it. Elders have been turned from servants to rulers who dictate to the rest of us. And we speak with our lips the idea of honoring God in Christ, yet act more like the world in far too many areas.
All of this boils down to how we see God. We have followed the early Puritans in their view of God as one who is Supreme but unapproachable, one who is Father but Judge. As such, we fear Him because if we miss something, or make a mistake in forms, He will severely judge us. There is a place for fear in God; one aspect being that of awe and another because He is the Judge. But there is much more to God than that. God has always wanted a relationship with His creation (see Genesis 1). And when humanity sinned, He was prepared to restore a relationship with us through His Son. We call it redemptive relationship. God is more than Judge, He is gracious and merciful, seeking what is best for us. There are glimpses of this in the Hebrew scriptures. In Exodus 24, Moses, Aaron and seventy elders went up on the mountain, saw God (said twice in the text), did not die, and ate with Him. David was a man after God’s own heart, an indication of how the relationship develops. We have attempted to figure God out, trying to put Him in a box called a church building. The Psalmist makes it clear that God is in heaven and does whatever He wants (115:3). God is not impersonal. We need to take another look at how we view Him as His people.
Then there is Jesus. Some have suggested that when we talk about God’s plan of salvation, we assume that most know about Jesus. The two books above certainly will cause one to think about how people see Jesus. We have not emphasized the Christ but rather the forms or plan of salvation with hardly an explanation of the Savior, and the organization of the church with hardly an idea of relationship. Hence we have become very intolerant of anything that is different from traditions we have built and the way we have stated things. If we are going to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus through humility and relationship, then we are going to be changing our attitudes toward others, both in and out of the church. That is frightening to some. To be a humble servant rather than in control seems contrary to human nature, and it is. But that is God’s way (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-31). It is not what I want or getting my way but what is best for others. Instead of beginning with Acts 2, we need to go back to Matthew 1 and take a good, long, hard look at Jesus the Christ. It will change our lives and yes the church as well.
Finally, there is the Holy Spirit. There has been much debate on this third member of the Godhead. God has not left us alone. He sent His Spirit to aid, comfort and lead us (see Galatians 5:16-25 and Romans 8). Yet some have chosen to limit the Spirit’s work to the word of God and that He is no longer involved in the lives of His people, whether individually or as a group. And we live and talk like He is not. We have developed an attitude that simply states that God has given us minds to reason, and so we will make up our minds on how to do things. In praying about such plans, we are merely putting God’s stamp of approval on those plans. We have no idea of waiting on the Lord to answer, no God-talk in the sense of saying things looking what God has done or prevented us from doing (see the life of David in 1 Samuel). Rather we just do it on our own. Then we do not understand why we divide, offend, and drive away people. We do a good job of passing the blame to others but never accepting responsibilities for our own actions.
Our culture influences us and the two books on Jesus clearly reveal this. There are any number of reasons why we view God as we do. Now is the time to begin taking another look at this subject. Uncomfortable that this might be, it will certainly strengthen us spiritually. There will be challenges to our understandings of leadership, relationships, and God Himself, but it will be worth it if we become more like Jesus. Will you join me on the journey?
George B. Mearns