Monday, December 7, 2009

I.D. CRISIS--Series 3 of 20--Christianity, nice people, and the real world

BACKGROUND:
The book I.D. CRISIS by Kurt Koppetsch deals with the spiritual, intellectual, and social conflict of people in modern times. Confusion about the past and uncertainties in the present prevent us from knowing our true nature. As a direct consequence of such confusion, visions of the future are clouded. Some of the diversions that prevent us from realizing our true identity as children of God are philosophies, politics, economics, and falsehood such as religious cults. The solution is remembering that human beings are dependent creatures God.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE:
Each series of the book I.D. CRISIS will conclude with the poem "Rays of Hope and Freedom" to assure readers that God cares about our lives and we are his children of hope. Hope is the From/to process at work in the modern Era of Faith repairing life and circumstance. Hope is making the impossible come true.

This week's topic:
CHRISTIANITY, NICE PEOPLE, AND THE REAL WORLD


Christianity provides a working relationship between God and people.

Only within this framework is Christianity of value in the affairs of daily life. Christianity represents the new covenant, whose foundation is God's grace and righteousness.

This covenant takes on substance when, by the power of God, faith moves people to share with God the opportunity of restored fellowship. Spiritual newsness of life is then experienced as togetherness with Christ.

All groups of believers will be successful whenever Jesus Christ is at the center of activities. With their confession of faith, believers acknowledge God's concern for people. The public creed proclaims Jesus Christ as God's appointed Savior.

Christianity represents the new form of life where God's gift of grace is openly welcomed. At the same time, restored fellowship with God is also faithfully practiced.

As confessing Christians, we actively respond to God's offer of life. We do this by dedicating the total self to bring glory to God. Our whole being must become a demonstration that God's plan of salvation applies to all humanity.

According to God's plan, Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. On Christ we build; and together we grow in faith. The authority of Jesus Christ over our lives is ordained by God. Christ's life has been established as the model of the godly life. As the living Word of God, Christ is the teacher of truth. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in us as the source of revelation for the truth about God.

Christianity is not an invention of the human mind. It was by the Holy Spirit of God moving among the people of the ancient Church that Christianity's meaning was established. As a fellowship of believers, we live out the powerful interaction of a righteous God and sinful people.

The purpose of Christianity--as ordained by God--is described by Christ in terms of eternal life: "And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

The vehicle available to God for bringing this point across is then the fellowship of believers, better known as the Church of Christ.

Though God uses people in this work of witness on behalf of God's Kingdom, the propagation of truth remains definitely a matter of the Holy Spirit. This is not at all the activity of the human mind.

Human intellect is prone to manipulate truth through interpretation--even the truth of the Word of God. Therefore, God does not select people to become witnesses to the good news about the Kingdom according to cleverness and charisma. God chooses and calls believers on the basis of faith. Faithful and obedient people already have dedicated themselves for service to God. Only then can the Holy Spirit work God's will through them.

Saint Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, defined the authority of Christ's Church and exemplified its mission: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified ... And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 2:36, 4:12)

In a historic sense, Christianity traces its roots to a specific event in time and place, as God has chosen to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came, died, and was raised back to life for the purpose of redeeming sinners. God intervened in human creation to give all people the hope of eternal life.

But full appreciation of the Gospel demands spiritual comprehension of our total heritage. Divine truth in Old Testament and New Testament alike is God's blessing for each day. Biblical literature, like the Book of Genesis, therefore, must be read and understood in terms of the Gospel. Similar considerations apply also to the prophetic writings and the Psalms.

Our status as redeemed people is sustained by God's grace through Jesus Christ. Believers in Christ can claim this blessing because of God's righteousness. As part of God's steadfastness, grace is constantly renewing sinful people.

This universal truth is captured in Christ's answer to Peter's question whether seven times seven is a good limit to forgive those who wrong us. Christ's reply, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22), points to the limitless love of God. Christ now wants believers to share this truth with other people. As we forgive those who have wronged us, in like manner will God forgive us our sins.

But there are problems with this truth in the world. The act of God's grace is being tied to human performance. The merciless sarcasm of non-believers wants to indict God's chosen people as not being worthy of their calling because the fellowship of believers should consist only of "nice people".

This is nothing but an evil diversion. It dilutes all effectiveness of the grace of God. It ridicules the love of God that is constantly working the spiritual regeneration of sinful people.

As Christians, we must not feel intimidated by worldly opinions of people who are outside the fellowshiip of believers. Yet, it is a Christian's duty to witness to these people, even though they may reject our witness to God's truth by showing greater interest in the frailty of our human nature than for God's message in the Gospel.

The evil in humanism surfaces when specific shortcomings among Christians are singled out as the reason for rejecting God's message of the Gospel and ultimately rejecting God.

Christians live in the world to be "like light for the whole world" and not for satisfying worldly intellectual concepts or personal ambitions. Christ's teaching is clear on this subject. The charge is precisely stated that a Christian's "light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16) Thus, commission for Christian witness originates from God through Christ.

Only uncommitted people, like those with a totally humanistic view of life, will want to shy away from making the necessary commitment of dedication to God. So they will select only those priorities that are to their liking.

Jesus has told us that "each tree is known by its own fruit." (Luke 6:44). This message helps in identifying true believers, for Christians are set apart--even in the jungle of life that is the real world--as children of God.

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)

Out of a fellowship of a few believers has grown the largest religion in the world. This was possible because the early Church served God in the unity of the Spirit. The Apostolic Church overcame "isms" and overwhelmed religious cults because it relied on Jesus Christ as its Lord and submitted to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Different isms and even more sinister cults challenge Chrstianity now. Indeed this has been the case throughout the ages ever since the days at Antioch, for "in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians." (Acts 11:26) As confessing followers we have no choice in the matter of faith.

God has ordained spiritual salvation and restored fellowship for all mankind. With it a love relationship has been established between God and people in its most perfect and simplest form.

But what had started out to be perfect and simple soon turned out to be very complicated. People started intellectualizing Christianity. Soon sophistication permeated the affairs of daily life. Concepts of "true philosophy", "correct way of life", "humanism", and more recently "fundamentalism" became like a non-functional appendix in the relationship of God and people.

The present dilemma is frightening but definitely not hopeless. God already has acted. As believers, let us therefore refresh our memory as to whose we truly are. Then let us find refuge in the divine promise that Christ is with us. This is the only way we can learn to rely on God's message of hope.

Ecclesiastical religion--acting strictly on the authority of its own doctrines and dogmas--has constantly been more eager to denounce and condemn rather than to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel. Even quite recently a theology professor from a major Christian tradition discussed the problem of fundamentalism in a way that focuses on exposure of the wrong instead of englightening people in the truth. (Fundamentalism: A Pastoral Concern. Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere, S.S.S. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1983) But the overriding issue in Christian witness is truth. Only truth can enlighten people.

For example, ecclesiastical theology teaches human wisdom. It makes people appear wise and pious in the eyes of the world. But in divine wisdom God says, "Know that I am God and have faith. Faith makes a believer act to bring glory to God.

Faith--the human response to God's grace--has been neglected for centuries as church doctrine placed greater emphasis on worldly accomplishments of good works. This and numerous other religious decrees--by the authority of councils or boards--had as their objective the control of the membership instead of concern for the Kingdom of God. Faith is a timeless relationship of trust with the living God.

In other instances the church, as an ecclesiastical institution, has dictated scientific truth. And even today there are Christian groups who insist on teaching creation according to the Genesis account, despite best available knowledge that the planet earth has existed for 4 1/2 billion years.

People are conditioned not to question anything declared sacred by the church. Because the general membership further assumes that its clergy have greater knowledge about church precepts, they dare not question what is being taught. History has shown that ecclesiastical rules have favord the church as an institution instead of addressing the needs of people and their relationship to God.

Smoke screens conceal decisive issues. The world is full of programs that water down the truth. Somehow "nice people" do not wish to show their own true colors, as this declaration may demand a commitment of consequence. People prefer to hide behind a superficial image of neutrality with regard to their own affairs.

But these very same people will manipulate and pull strings, as long as they don't have to show themselves during the process of exposing others. The "modus operandi" is to bring the point across by thoroughly exploring the other point of view. Subsequently it will be discussed in ways that generate confusion and doubt. Such behavior is typical of people who suffer spiritual agony.


Genuine search for truth respects other points of view. This is how foundations for deeper understanding are built. But at the same time we must beware of presumptuous teaching and claims which lack reality and evidence. This warning also applies to religion, where issues must be examined in light of Scripture and reason. Therefore, let us discuss new concepts, like fundamentalism, and not fear proliferation or division in Christianity because of them.

God constantly reveals Himself through the activity of the Holy Spirit who, Christ says, "will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (John 16:14) Thus, the truth about God is a daily revelation.

In this revelation of the truth about God, the Bible is a tool of the Holy Spirit. In its true spiritual sense, the Bible is a God-and-people book that relates the interaction of a righteous God and sinful people.

The truth of the Word of God is so important that its purpose is made known by the Holy Spirit for any specific need at hand. This precludes all human ambition to manipulate Biblical literature for speculative purposes. Nor should it become a mechanism to control faith in people.

Quite often, the sacred term "Word of God" is used interchangeably for Biblical literature. This substitution is wrong. The Word, or Logos, is the creative and sustaining Spirit of God as revealed in Jesus Christ (John 1). The Word of God is supreme. Within the doctrine of the Word, Biblical literature has a fourth-place position after the reality of God, Jesus Christ, and the revealed and spoken Word. For example, the Word of God demands faithfulness and obedience of people; Biblical literature tells about the results and God's intent in future dealings because of humanity's disobedience.

Minor ecclesiastical problems--like fundamentalism--only point to the much bigger problem that affects the personal relationship between God and people. The overriding issue at hand is an identity crisis. This is a spiritual problem.

We cannot hide from it by clouding the issue. Individuals, families, and even society as a whole have been reluctant or afraid for too long to find out the purpose of existence in light of whose we truly are.

As long as people choose to live in a state of aimless drift, confusion will persist. This becomes further complicated when groups within the Christian confession fail to stand up and declare their faith in Christ or, worse yet, do not live up to what they confess.

The relationship of God and people is not an issue of lofty philosophical precepts, but is a way of life for all people, as God has ordained it in creation and confirmed in redemption.


RAYS OF HOPE AND FREEDOM

My life was in chaos.
Darkness clouded my senses,
My heart trembled in fear.

I prayed to God:
"Father, help me!"
And God transformed my life.

The world is still the same.
But I am now secure:
Christ is my Savior!

His love fills my heart,
His faith is my faith.
Rays of hope now light up my soul.

Rays of hope and freedom
Show me the way to God,
And where Christ lives I too will live.


NEXT, December 14:
Life in the world despite the other person.



(Excerpt from the book I.D. CRISIS by Kurt Koppetsch, published by Shepherd News Trust, Inc.--www.shepherdnewstrust.com)

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