In Chapters 6 and 7 Perkins meets a nice girl, finds fulfilling employment, serves his country and loses his father, but 3 out of 4 ain't bad. Most notably, I think, the man many of us now know as a fervent preacher begins his adult life in pursuit of secular dreams with little interest in Christianity.
"I'd been to religious services as a kid, of course, but I never learned that I could have the power of God in my life; a power that would make a difference in me and in my surroundings. The few times I'd been in church, I had sat and watched everybody else getting emotional. Maybe it's because I always look at things economically, but it was hard for me to see how all that shouting and bench turning I saw in black churches was giving people any kind of incentive to develop. …
"And I did not see white Christianity as meaningful either. To me it was part of that whole system that helped dehumanize and destroy black people; that system which identified me as a nigger. So how could the white church really be concerned about me?" (57).
This perspective on Christian faith is evident today, and one that you'll probably encounter in your work with the Perkins Center this year. Many people view Christianity as at best an abstraction, at worst a club that excludes others while insulating its members. In order to explain why it is that we care about the Christian in Christian Community Development, we'll need a good grasp of the Gospel and what difference it makes in individuals' lives and the world around us.
In your experience,
What is the Gospel message?
What is the importance of the Gospel message for our communities today?
How does the Gospel "make a difference in me and my surroundings"?
The heart of the gospel is a message of love. A message that God wants every single person on earth. He loves us so much that He gave Jesus life for us. God desires that we give Him our love in return and spread this love to others. This love is more than an intellectual acceptance of God; it is more than a feeling; it is avtransformative love. It should change our lives and move us to transform the communities around us.
ReplyDeleteThe gospel: God created man to be in fellowship with Him; man sinned, the penalty/natural result of which is death/separation from a holy God. God in His great compassion set in motion a plan of redemption, and came to earth in the form of a man to die (taking on what we deserve) so that we might be made right with Him. He rose from the dead, exemplifying His victory over sin/death. When we recognize our desperate condition and acknowledge Jesus as Lord, He remembers our sins no more and covers us with His righteousness, offering us abundant life that will last into eternity.
ReplyDeleteI just finished the book "Prodigal God" by Timothy Keller, and was struck by the beauty of the clear gospel message woven into it. Referencing Matt. 25:34-40 ("I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat…‘Truly I say to you, (I)to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’" etc.), Keller comments that Jesus "is not saying that only the social workers get into heaven. Rather, he is saying that the inevitable sign that you know are a sinner saved by sheer, costly grace is a sensitive social conscience and a life poured out in deeds of service to the poor" (112).
Further:
"What makes you faithful or generous is not just a redoubled effort to follow moral rules. Rather, all change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart. Faith in the gospel restructures out motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world" (118).
"If we say 'I believe in Jesus' but it doesn't affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as we haven't truly understood or believed in Jesus at all" (124).
I think Keller does an excellent job of showing how "awed, grateful love" is what makes the difference in the way people live; in response to the deep, core understanding that in and of myself I am weak, unimportant and insufficient, and subsequently of what Christ in His great love has done in order to save me (120). Like Scott said, His love is "transformative"- love that.