I’ve been trying to read more lately. But, the problem with most of what I have been reading is that most of it is dry and is not engaging. And it is hard for a dry book to keep my attention when there is so much else out there that is begging for it. This, however, is not the case for Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll. So far it has been a great read; challenging my faith and making me laugh at the same time. I have been reading it for the past few nights and came upon a paragraph that I had to share.
Sadly it is too common for churches not to speak of Jesus, which is a tragedy akin to a wife rarely uttering the name of her own husband. In our day when there are innumerable contradictory beliefs about who God is, Christians must be clear that their God is Jesus Christ alone so as to communicate the same central truth that scripture does. No matter how many verses are used, the Bible has not been rightly understood or proclaimed unless Jesus is the central focus and hero.
Mark Driscoll
Vintage Jesus, pp. 66
Exactly. I think that Christians in general and many churches (if not most) have such a low view of Jesus and the gospel that we loose the power of our faith for powerless religion. I wish all Christian leaders had the same attitude that is extolled in this paragraph (and in the book as a whole), about their savior.
I would highly recommend that all Christians read this book, it would give us all a much better understanding of our hero. You can buy a copy of the book at amazon.com.
What would you do if you found a treasure so valuable that the loss of everything else to gain it would be gladly accepted? Wouldn’t you live your life in such a way that everything you did, and thought about would be centered around that treasure? Wouldn’t it cause you do do crazy things to gain it and to show it off once it was gained? I think so. And it’s my belief that that treasure which is more valuable, more life giving and sustaining, and more worthy of all of our dreams and affections is none other than Jesus Christ.
I think the issue with so many people, including many Christians that I know (and myself from time to time), is that they can get so caught up in the great things that God has done and the things that He has created, and their affections end up terminating on those things. And when they end there it makes it really difficult to see the treasure of who He is because they are blinded by what He made.
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“Breaking Now: Pope holds prayer service at national shrine in DC” “Fox News Alert” “Stop Everything you are doing” “Super Mega Important”
Just a thought here. As I sit working on some website stuff, I have Fox News running in the background, and it sounds like all of the anchors and guests are falling out of their seats with their excitement over the visit from the pope. I can’t even remember how many times today I have heard the phrase “holy father” in reference to the pope, and each time I cringe a little at the idea of anyone other than God being holy. We have one and only Holy Father and His name is not Benedict XVI.
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I don’t often get the chance to respond to comments that people make about my posts, quite honestly because it is rare that anyone leaves a comment. So I truly enjoy these kinds of opportunities for dialogue about where I am and what I believe about Christ.
A few days ago I put up a post that I entitled “We Exist…“. If you have not read that one yet you should probably do that first so that you can better understand the conversation, and in reading it, read the comment by my friend Jon at the bottom of the page. You might also want to read a mini poem that I wrote during the month of December (it’s very short), called “The Reason for the Season” because he references it.
I normally would have left another comment below his to answer what he said, but I quickly realized my opportunity to clarify and expound upon my position to everyone and not just respond to one comment, and the little space that a comment allows would not be enough. So, here goes…
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I was reading from a book by John Piper entitled, “Don’t Waste Your Life”, and I was struck by the idea that so many people who call themselves Christians, and so many “Christian” organizations and institutions totally miss the point.
Life is not about moralism or religion. Life is about Jesus. A Christian isn’t someone who is good, he is someone who glorifies Christ. I believe that if Christ is not central in your life, and that He is only the means to the end of Heaven, that you don’t really understand the gospel. The gospel is not about creation, it is about the creator. The gospel isn’t even about Heaven (which Jesus created), but about Jesus Himself. The gospel begins and ends with Christ. And if our lives don’t reflect that, we show a great ignorance of the greatness of Christ.
Jesus is everything. He is our sustainer and our life, and without Him all of life is a waste. And when we live like the rest of the world and act like being good is good enough we belittle the glory of Christ.
If Christ is not made much of in our lives, they are wasted. We exist to make Him appear in the world as what He really is – magnificent. If our life and death do not show the worth and wonder of Jesus, they are wasted.
John Piper
from “Don’t Waste Your Life” p. 64
Jesus didn’t come to earth to make us good Christian people, He came to change our lives so that we might bring Him glory. The gospel is more than living morally and believing the facts about Jesus. It is more than being good and doing good, it is about the glory of Christ.
We exist to show His glory to everyone we can. We exist to be Christ to others because of Christ in us. But more than anything, we exist to make His name famous, to proclaim His excellence, and to live for His glory, and not our own.
These past couple of weeks have been a great time of relaxation for me as my job has allowed me to have them off. Or, I believe, more accurately, there hasn’t been any work scheduled to do. So I’ve had loads of time to myself, the kind of time I haven’t had since I was in high school, and I’m not so convinced that not having to work is the holy grail that people think it is.
The first week was really nice, but this week is starting to overstay its welcome. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had all of this time off, but haven’t had anything to do, or anyone to do it with that’s getting to me. I used to see myself as a loner, someone who didn’t need any friends or contact to be happy, but now I can’t stand being alone with myself.
