I'm having great difficulty with this series of articles on my "emergence." The goal I set out to accomplish was to chronicle and explain my shift in thinking about matters of faith and church, first and foremost to help me, and second to help others begin dialogue about the same. However, the very nature of this topic is negative since I am breaking down and de-constructing many of the ideas I have held for decades, and I am having difficulty formulating my thoughts in a constructive manner. In addition, the drafts I am working from were first jotted down when I was wrestling and struggling (more than now) with the disillusionment I was facing. So, I'll continue to write and revise, but with the caveat that at times I may sound overly critical and harsh.
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On My Emergence - coming to grips with my own faith
Part 2: The Gospel and the Kingdom of God
I can’t remember the first time I heard the word “Kingdom” used in a way that made me re-evaluate my entire faith, but it was probably around the time I was reading Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy. It seems so simple and obvious that it couldn’t possibly be profound or faith changing, but to me it was. The notion of God’s Kingdom as the present rule and reign of God made me think about everything in a new light: the way he works, my own calling as a follower of Christ, the way I experience and share his presence. This new definition of “Kingdom” had far-reaching implications in so many parts of my faith, but none more significant than my theology of the gospel. In this, there are two fundamental issues with which I feel the greatest struggle. First, our American gospel seems very self-centered, and second, the gospel as it was taught to me in the evangelical church is missing a truly important part of Jesus’ teaching.
THE ME RELIGION
Much of my disillusionment with the modern American version of Christianity centers around the fact that the Church seems to have become extremely individualistic and consumerist. Aside from all the W.W.J.D./Left Behind/Prayer of Jabez/Purpose Driven marketing that has become such a Christian cash cow and spawned an entire industry of god-related spending, my issues run deeply into the theology of the Gospel. Ask a dozen Christians what the Gospel message is, and 12 of them will describe something close to John 3:16. “God loved you so he sent Jesus to die so you could be forgiven of your sins and have a personal relationship with him and go to heaven when you die.” (That’s not exactly what John 3:16 says, but I believe it is probably close to most people’s understanding of the Gospel.)
The problem is that this understanding is entirely individualistic: God loves me, Jesus died for me, I can have a personal relationship with him, and I can get to heaven. This gospel doesn’t work without the word “me.” To most evangelical Christians, sharing the Gospel with someone means starting with “God loves you and has a plan for your life.” We have become so ideologically dependant on that idea of a personal savior that we are horrified at the thought that God may care more about his Kingdom than our personal salvation (I was uncomfortable myself the first time I came across that idea). As I read the bible, though, I can’t escape the conclusion that God has never been about saving individuals—he has always been about creating a people. His plan is to redeem all people and bring his Kingdom into full force in the world. Of course this involves calling and redeeming individuals, but we have so emphasized the individual that we have forgotten about God’s desire to create a Kingdom.
When I look at our churches, I don’t see organizations deeply committed to creating God’s Kingdom in the world. I see organizations designed primarily to perpetuate their own existence. All our messages, programs and budgets are aimed at people within the organization, not at the world. Our creation of “world missions programs” undermines the idea that each one of us is called to God’s mission by sending a select few to “get the job done” for God’s Kingdom. And, all our outreach programs are designed primarily to recruit more members. All of this might be okay if we were being recruited and trained to go out into the world and take care of the poor, sick, and otherwise marginalized people in our world. In my experience, though, most churches train people in personal spiritual practices, not in corporate mission or Kingdom living. I believe this is the root cause of the Christian ghetto most American Christians live in—a place filled with Christian music, books, seminars, TV shows, and radio programs, but void of any call to go into the world and advance the Kingdom of God. For me, there needs to be a return to the Gospel of helping that Jesus spoke of.
The Gospel message of Jesus wasn’t John 3:16. It was “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Kingdom of God is not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about God being here, being present, and working to redeem the world, making it a better place. The Gospel message isn’t about my personal sin and redemption as much as it is about God working to bring about his Kingdom on the earth. The good news of the Gospel is that God has invited me to join him in his work. I can step into the role of a lifetime—a dream job I don’t even have to interview for—and help him bring healing and reconciliation to all the world. This Kingdom work is about every human being, every animal and plant and all of nature. It is a huge work, but God has a very specific part for me to play, and the Gospel invitation is an invitation to join him and discover it.
A MISSIONAL GOSPEL
In most evangelical churches I came in contact with during my formational years, meeting people’s physical needs came far second to “winning them to the Lord.” There was almost a “guerilla evangelism” mentality in which we were taught to preach the gospel message, convict people of their sin, and lead them in the sinner’s prayer. This tactic was applied universally at home and abroad, from summer youth camp to foreign mission work, and was honestly quite effective at producing “converts” to the Christian faith (or, at least, to church membership). Truthfully, this approach never quite seemed right to me. It was as if someone was missing some very important part of the process, but I didn’t know what it was.
Later, I met some “liberal” evangelicals and witnessed their passion for evangelism coupled with a total commitment to the poor. I realized that you couldn’t just share the message of Christ without meeting the needs of the needy as I had been led to believe. Meeting someone’s “deepest spiritual need” (that is, salvation—as had been explained to me) might be more important than meeting their physical ones, but the truth is that it simply can’t happen in that order. Hungry people need to be fed. Homeless people need shelter. The sick need care. In fact, I came to see helping the needy as a worthy effort in and of itself. If you feed a hungry person you have done the work of Christ, whether you give them a pamphlet on the four spiritual laws or not!
How did I miss this? As I write this, I’m practically quoting James and the Gospels, yet it was such a strange new idea to me that it rattled me for months. Now, I can no longer read the Gospels without unearthing more overwhelming evidence that I missed a huge part of Jesus’ teachings on this subject. We are instructed to help the poor and marginalized in our society, which in America is a pretty big group. Looking beyond our borders, it’s hard to find a people group more affluent than we. The Kingdom of God is so much bigger than America…it’s so much bigger than our social group…it’s so much bigger than we can imagine. To find our place in His Kingdom, we must take up the task of putting an end to human suffering in all forms, all over the world (not to overlook our own backyards). We must get our hands dirty and work to bring about God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Honestly, when I look around at the churches in my area, I don’t see much of this happening. I am sad to see self-serving churches focused on getting “bigger” through attracting healthy, wealthy, middle-class consumers to fill seats in a worship service. I just don’t think that’s what Jesus had in mind.
I recently heard of someone who was devastated by the recent hurricanes on the gulf coast. This person, not a churchgoer, was overwhelmed by the amount of support and help given to those in need by Christians. I was moved to tears, because that is exactly what Jesus is about. This person has heard about Jesus all his life, been “witnessed to” and “shared with,” but the true litmus test of those who follow Christ lies in their willingness to meet the needs of those who are in need, and when we do, the world takes notice. If only those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ would do this all the time, and not just when there is a tsunami or hurricane, imagine what the world might look like!
Ask a dozen Christians what the Gospel message is, and 12 of them will describe something close to John 3:16. “God loved you so he sent Jesus to die so you could be forgiven of your sins and have a personal relationship with him and go to heaven when you die.” (That’s not exactly what John 3:16 says, but I believe it is probably close to most people’s understanding of the Gospel.)
I think you are right in that we Christians don't have a clear understanding of what the "Good News" of the gospel is and therefor fail to articulate and spread this message to others. I think the Good News is Transformation - Jesus shows us we are not hopelessly imprisioned by the person we have already become and that the kingdom of heaven is here on earth for us to experience now. Also, I believe that we "go out" and minister to others in response to the love that God has already given us. The more we heal and transform, the easier it is to minister to others.
Posted by: deanna | 2007.05.18 at 10:03