Free to Serve

No Resurrection, No Salvation

Years ago I remember asking someone the hypothetical question, "What if Jesus didn't rise from the dead?" He answered, "Well, at least you would have led a good life."

That's not what Paul argued: "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Cor. 15:19). The historical reality of the resurrection is central to the Christian faith. No resurrection, no salvation.

This is going to be the topic of conversation in my Shepherding Group on Sunday morning at MVBC as we continue to think about evangelism with the Matthias Media presentation called 2 Ways 2 Live. What does the resurrection mean for we approach God in worship? What does it mean for how we approach daily life--time, material goods, friendships. 

In preparation for this session, I was helped by reviewing an excellent chapter on the resurrection by apologist/philosopher William Lane Craig. He wrote the essay "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?" in Jesus Under Fire (Zondervan, 1995). 

In the following excerpt, Craig explains one reason why it makes historical sense to believe Jesus rose from the dead:

Whatever they may think of the historical resurrection, even the most skeptical scholars admit that at least the belief that Jesus rose from the dead lay at the very heart of the earliest Christian faith. In fact, the earliest believers pinned nearly everything on it. The resurrection was the sine qua non for their belief in Jesus as Messiah and in his death as the basis for forgiveness of sins.

It is difficult to exaggerate what a devastating effect the crucifixion must have had on the disciples. They had no conception of a dying, much less a rising, Messiah, for the Messiah would reign forever (cf. John 12:34). Without prior belief in the resurrection, belief in Jesus as Messiah would have been impossible in light of his death. The resurrection turned catastrophe into victory. Because God raised Jesus from the dead, he could be proclaimed as Messiah after all (Acts 2:32, 36). Similarly for the significance of the cross—it was his resurrection that enabled Jesus’ shameful death to be interpreted in salvific terms. Without it, Jesus’ death would have meant only humiliation and accursedness by God; but in view of the resurrection it could be seen to be the event by which forgiveness of sins was obtained. Without the resurrection, the Christian Way could never have come into being. Even if the disciples had continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, they could not have believed in him as Messiah, much less deity.

Are You Healthy or Sick?

Some of Jesus' most famous words can be found in Mark 2:17, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

The religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, had been scoffing at Jesus for spending time with those commonly known as sinners. Jesus turned their objection upside down. He pointed out the sensibility of his actions. After all, the sick need a doctor. The sinful need a Savior.

How do we apply a text like this to our lives?

First, we should marvel at Christ who serves the needy, who is merciful to the unrighteous, who saves sinners. Jesus really is remarkable.

Second, we should strive to model Jesus' ministry. Sinners need a savior just as the sick need a doctor. We cannot be the Doctor but we can tell people how to find the doctor.

Third, we should be slow to identify ourselves with Jesus and, instead, identify ourselves with the sick. Our danger is to so quickly identify ourselves as the ones who need to reach out to real sinners that we fail to remember that we need Christ to reach out to us. To put it bluntly, if you think of yourself as righteous--Jesus did not come for you. He came for those who understand that they are sinners. So, which is it? Are you healthy or are you sick?

Authenticity or Truth, You Pick

Seventeen-year-old literary phenom, Helene Hegemann is winning accolades for her book about Berlin's drug culture, Axolotl Roadkill. Nicholas Kulish of the The New York Times reports that while Hegemann has received much praise, she is also taking some heat because numerous lines and even one whole page come directly from a book by another author. 

Why is this plagiarism news? Because Hegemann is not only defending herself, her defense is winning some critics over.  Here is Kulish's take: "Although Ms. Hegemann has apologized for not being more open about her sources, she has also defended herself as the representative of a different generation, one that freely mixes and matches from the whirring flood of information across new and old media, to create something new." And this is where Hegemman offered a stunner of a quote: "There's no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity."

If Hegemman is right, and she isn't, there is no such thing as truth, just different perceptions, all equally valid. To her, and apparently to others, it doesn't matter that she took someone else's words and claimed them to be her own. What matters is that she wove someone else's ideas into a creative project. Call this postmodernizing with a high hand.

Pilate famously asked, "What is truth?" The answer for many in our generation is authenticity. I remember talking to a student who was explaining why she should avoid college. "I don't see why I should go," she said, "these professors don't have anything to teach me anyway." This wasn't the statement of a person who thought she knew everything--she didn't. It is the statement of a young woman who didn't think it was important to know anything. 

In such a world, it doesn't matter if one believes Jesus literally rose from the dead or if one believes accounts of his resurrection are figurative attempts to describe a new beginning. Both are "authentic" ways to say something meaningful.

But authenticity isn't enough. If Jesus truly rose from the dead then he has the right to tell us what is true and what is false. Our claims that we were true to ourselves, that we lived "authentic" lives, will melt away under the heat of his sovereign and eternal reign.

Love, Romance, and Marriage

I'm speaking in a church in North Georgia on Saturday about love, romance, and marriage. Yes, this is in association with February 14. We will look at 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:7. It's a text about the sexual immorality in the church at Corinth and God's answer to it. Keep in mind Corinth had a temple devoted to Aphrodite where cultic prostitution took place. Sexual confusion existed everywhere and this is what Paul addressed head on. This is what we need to address since one of the things that are most damaging to biblical love, romance, and marriage is the reality of sexual immorality. On that topic, here are seven observations:

(1) We can be mastered by sexuality (6:12). Of course, we can be mastered by lots of different things--money, food, praise. But their is something uniquely enslaving about sexual sin. For men, I think this is most often found in an addiction to pornography, whether found in mainline media--think commercials or illicit sites on the web. For women this may mean being mastered by romantic ideals that are fabricated by Hollywood. When sexual sin masters us we are not better off, we are worse off. It never satisfies.

(2) Sexual sins are unusually harmful to the body (6:18). Again, all sin is in some sense harmful to the body, but Paul points out that sexual sin is especially harmful to the body. He doesn't explain why. Perhaps it is because when we sin sexually our ability to think purely is impaired. Moreover, those who have developed patterns of sexual sin find that these patterns adversely affect attempts at pure sexual relationships.

(3) It is wonderful to be single (7:1). Paul called it "good." We don't emphasize this enough. There is something about church life that can be so family oriented those without a spouse or kids can be looked past or looked over. It should not be this way. Those who are single are special blessings to the church. They can serve with a freedom that married Christians cannot. We should be very thankful for our singles and pray that so long as they are single they would use it for God's glory and the church's good.

(4) Marriage is protection against sexual immorality (7:2). That doesn't sound very romantic, but it's true. That's Paul's point in this verse. Because the temptations toward sexual sin are so strong, men and women should pursue marriage and in it find a refuge against the sexual temptations of the heart and the world.

(5) Wives, pursue your husbands sexually (7:5). Paul teaches husbands and wives not to deprive one another. They are not to withhold sex (except for prayer and then only for a little while). After all, a husband is a refuge for his wife as she battles the temptation of sexual sin. A wife is a refuge for her husband as she battles the temptation of sexual sin. Wives should be especially mindful of the visual temptations men face in our sex-crazed culture.

(6) Husbands, pursue your wives emotionally (7:5). Sure, a husband should pursue his wife sexually. But as the pastor and teacher on marriage, C.J. Mahaney says (and I"m paraphrasing), "Husbands, before you touch her body be sure you've touched her heart." Women need spiritual leadership. They need men who care not just about their bodies but about their heart--how they are doing spiritually, how they are doing relationally, how they are doing emotionally. Should wives be concerned about the spiritual, relational, and emotional state of their husbands? Of course. But too often men overlook this and distill romance into something physical.

(7) The gospel is more important than sex. There is no one more romantic than God. There is no one who pursues us as intentionally and passionately as God has in Christ. It is not an erotic pursuit. But it is an example of love and romance that should shape us. For those who are single, it means we do not need another person to fulfill us. Christ is sufficient. For those who are married, it means not only that the pattern of Christ and the church (headship, submission, love, respect, honor) is the pattern for our marriage but that when our spouse lets us down we have One who will never let us down.

Knowing MVBC

Today I wrapped up a talk to give for the relaunch of our membership class. The class is now called, "Knowing MVBC: The Membership Class" and it is for anyone interested in membership. It is also a great way for current members to get a better sense of the expectations of church membership.

I have been teaching membership classes in church since 1996 and I love doing it. What a joy to open up Scripture and see the plan God has for each of us to live together in a community of faith. I'm teaching the first session, "Knowing our Commitments." We are going to dig into MVBC's Church Covenant and unpack the expectations MVBC has always had for her members since her founding in 1959.

The ideas here are revolutionary because the Bible is revolutionary. It calls us to live for his glory by serving others--by caring for their needs; by putting their desires before our own. This is such a countercultural message. 

Membership is a serious issue. I'm going to relate it to the commitment made in a marriage. It should not be entered into lightly. Join with me in praying that the Lord will draw many to Christ and, by implication, to Christ's body, the church.

Our first session is this Sunday morning at 9:15am. The remaining three sessions will be on Friday evening, the 19. You can register online at www.mvbchurch.org.

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