There have been many open letters recently. Letters that I hope have good intentions. But the judgment that I see in many of the comments and responses, of those who call themselves Christians, to those opening their hearts, is astounding and disheartening. And in some capacity, it all seems surreal.
I was at the TGC MLK 50 Conference 2018. I am a white male. And many of the messages were uncomfortable. But as I began to listen I could understand the heart of these men and women who voiced their frustrations, their hearts, their fears, their trepidations, their hurts, their viewpoints, their past, and their wisdom. Did I understand and agree with everything said?... I don’t know. I’m still processing. But as a Christian, it should motivate me to view things differently and act differently. Often, the truth will be uncomfortable. And I think a nerve has been struck.
Maybe we think that everything should be rosy and easy when we encounter truth and hard topics. The reality is that it is hard, it’s messy, it’s complicated and thus we should respond not with an equal or greater harshness, but a gentleness of a loving brother. We shouldn’t respond with quick single thoughts that compress everything down to hard concepts with no process of understanding what we might unknowingly see as minutiae. I think a nerve has been struck.
I think we should compose ourselves and listen before we interject our knee-jerk reactions to things that sound possibly counter to our cultural Christianity. Because the truth is that somewhere in our belief systems are ingrained ideas that are still counter to the Gospel. We might think and claim that we have it all figured out, but sadly we don’t. None of us has attained the unity of the body of Christ or the maturity of he who calls us. I think a nerve has been struck.
The Apostle Paul said that we are to submit to one another and focus on the unity of the body. Christ said that the world would know that we are his disciples by how we love one another. Someone has to be silent while another speaks. How long has the majority asked those on the other side of the unseen racial divide to be silent and let time work it out? Shouldn’t they also have a time to voice their hearts to the family of God? Each has to love one another before we even think of beginning to poke holes or find an error in another’s heartfelt communication. And in reality, we have to be as Christ and take the blows that we receive from a Brother or Sister in Christ. Hurt people tend to hurt people and if you haven’t noticed – there is a lot of hurt in this world. And we also need to realize that we might be the ones hurting others and not even know it. I think a nerve has been struck.
Recently, a white, leading, Gospel-oriented, Christian leader proposed that he has missed out on part of the Gospel. He lamented his unbalanced Gospel. I gathered from it that he was openly repenting of not giving equal action to social concerns and justice – his reorientation to racial reconciliation. That his view of the Gospel was limited. There has been a backlash towards him and also TGC– a virtual or actual mob of men and women seem eager to cast word stones at his supposed “heretical” Gospel and TGC’s supposed “liberal agenda” and new racial divide. But I wonder if the chastisement by these pundits seeks unity or seeks division–even if they say the other is causing the division. Where is the heart of this response? And was he really saying a different Gospel? I think a nerve has been struck.
This leader didn’t say that the Gospel wasn’t only through Faith in Jesus Christ. His life and teachings run counter to that. But there is also a living and physical process of activity that is lived out in the believer. This Gospel, when translated into Gospel living, is to be lived in a Gospel balance. It is probably James’ point, in his letter, when he redirects our vision of a life lived in faith of having a visible language of works– a form of a justified faith that isn’t alone. It is a balanced Gospel that is also a form of social and economic focus. These works aren’t concepts, they aren’t theological constructs, instead they are physical manifestations of the Gospel lived out. A Gospel that is lived out speaks and works out itself in spiritual and physical caring. The spiritual is always primary, but the physical is not absent. To say that we have a mind and heart of Christ and at the same time say that we can’t be concerned about voices crying out for social and economic justice is the heretical voice. I think a nerve has been struck.
God’s concern for the poor and justice and commands to do something for them is littered throughout the Old and New Testament. Maybe it is just that we haven’t noticed it because we have an unbalanced Gospel viewpoint. Maybe the Gospel with a so-called Faith in Christ isn’t really faith when it has no hands and feet in that it unknowingly avoids the calls to die to self, to sacrifice, to give up my goods for the poor, to share what I have, and to have compassion for the oppressed. I think a nerve has been struck.
Yes, we have to be careful with what and who we are yoked to, but we can also listen and come alongside other human beings and try to hear their voices and realize that our ears just might be clogged. The actual people we aren’t supposed to hang with are so-called brothers that are immoral, covetous, idolaters, revilers, railers, and swindlers. I think these charges could be leveled against American Christendom of the past and even today. I think a nerve has been struck.
Now in writing this, I might be labeled a “liberal”. The Gospel I purport might be re-examined and called a “social” Gospel. My motives might be tested and scrutinized. And I might even suffer for this. But then again, this also happened to Christ. And as Ligon Duncan said, at the 2018 T4G Conference, “This is a 2nd Commandment issue.” I think, no, I know a nerve has been struck. An idol is being exposed and it will hurt for awhile. Because there are always rumbles and shrapnel when an idol comes crashing down.
I was at the TGC MLK 50 Conference 2018. I am a white male. And many of the messages were uncomfortable. But as I began to listen I could understand the heart of these men and women who voiced their frustrations, their hearts, their fears, their trepidations, their hurts, their viewpoints, their past, and their wisdom. Did I understand and agree with everything said?... I don’t know. I’m still processing. But as a Christian, it should motivate me to view things differently and act differently. Often, the truth will be uncomfortable. And I think a nerve has been struck.
Maybe we think that everything should be rosy and easy when we encounter truth and hard topics. The reality is that it is hard, it’s messy, it’s complicated and thus we should respond not with an equal or greater harshness, but a gentleness of a loving brother. We shouldn’t respond with quick single thoughts that compress everything down to hard concepts with no process of understanding what we might unknowingly see as minutiae. I think a nerve has been struck.
I think we should compose ourselves and listen before we interject our knee-jerk reactions to things that sound possibly counter to our cultural Christianity. Because the truth is that somewhere in our belief systems are ingrained ideas that are still counter to the Gospel. We might think and claim that we have it all figured out, but sadly we don’t. None of us has attained the unity of the body of Christ or the maturity of he who calls us. I think a nerve has been struck.
The Apostle Paul said that we are to submit to one another and focus on the unity of the body. Christ said that the world would know that we are his disciples by how we love one another. Someone has to be silent while another speaks. How long has the majority asked those on the other side of the unseen racial divide to be silent and let time work it out? Shouldn’t they also have a time to voice their hearts to the family of God? Each has to love one another before we even think of beginning to poke holes or find an error in another’s heartfelt communication. And in reality, we have to be as Christ and take the blows that we receive from a Brother or Sister in Christ. Hurt people tend to hurt people and if you haven’t noticed – there is a lot of hurt in this world. And we also need to realize that we might be the ones hurting others and not even know it. I think a nerve has been struck.
Recently, a white, leading, Gospel-oriented, Christian leader proposed that he has missed out on part of the Gospel. He lamented his unbalanced Gospel. I gathered from it that he was openly repenting of not giving equal action to social concerns and justice – his reorientation to racial reconciliation. That his view of the Gospel was limited. There has been a backlash towards him and also TGC– a virtual or actual mob of men and women seem eager to cast word stones at his supposed “heretical” Gospel and TGC’s supposed “liberal agenda” and new racial divide. But I wonder if the chastisement by these pundits seeks unity or seeks division–even if they say the other is causing the division. Where is the heart of this response? And was he really saying a different Gospel? I think a nerve has been struck.
This leader didn’t say that the Gospel wasn’t only through Faith in Jesus Christ. His life and teachings run counter to that. But there is also a living and physical process of activity that is lived out in the believer. This Gospel, when translated into Gospel living, is to be lived in a Gospel balance. It is probably James’ point, in his letter, when he redirects our vision of a life lived in faith of having a visible language of works– a form of a justified faith that isn’t alone. It is a balanced Gospel that is also a form of social and economic focus. These works aren’t concepts, they aren’t theological constructs, instead they are physical manifestations of the Gospel lived out. A Gospel that is lived out speaks and works out itself in spiritual and physical caring. The spiritual is always primary, but the physical is not absent. To say that we have a mind and heart of Christ and at the same time say that we can’t be concerned about voices crying out for social and economic justice is the heretical voice. I think a nerve has been struck.
God’s concern for the poor and justice and commands to do something for them is littered throughout the Old and New Testament. Maybe it is just that we haven’t noticed it because we have an unbalanced Gospel viewpoint. Maybe the Gospel with a so-called Faith in Christ isn’t really faith when it has no hands and feet in that it unknowingly avoids the calls to die to self, to sacrifice, to give up my goods for the poor, to share what I have, and to have compassion for the oppressed. I think a nerve has been struck.
Yes, we have to be careful with what and who we are yoked to, but we can also listen and come alongside other human beings and try to hear their voices and realize that our ears just might be clogged. The actual people we aren’t supposed to hang with are so-called brothers that are immoral, covetous, idolaters, revilers, railers, and swindlers. I think these charges could be leveled against American Christendom of the past and even today. I think a nerve has been struck.
Now in writing this, I might be labeled a “liberal”. The Gospel I purport might be re-examined and called a “social” Gospel. My motives might be tested and scrutinized. And I might even suffer for this. But then again, this also happened to Christ. And as Ligon Duncan said, at the 2018 T4G Conference, “This is a 2nd Commandment issue.” I think, no, I know a nerve has been struck. An idol is being exposed and it will hurt for awhile. Because there are always rumbles and shrapnel when an idol comes crashing down.
