Christian in the 21st century

One can be forgiven for being confused about Christians, Christ followers, the Emerging Church and other phrases and buzzwords used to describe those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Bible commentators have spotted in 1 John certain tests which one can apply to decide if a person is a true Christian. They can be sorted into three main groups, namely moral (keeping God's commands), social (loving one another) and doctrinal (believing Jesus is the Christ).

There are other Bible passages which back up the claim that God expects his people to have those three traits. Paul wrote that faith, hope and love will remain even after knowledge passes away. (1 Corinthians 13:13) According to John we overcome the world by our faith (1 John 5:4). He links our hope to having good morals (1 John 3:3) and love is at the heart of his letters. Those who are “of the devil” are marked by their evil deeds and lack of love. Liars and antichrists deny that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a human being. (1 John 2:22)

On the one hand John wrote his first letter to encourage Jesus followers that they can know they have eternal life. On the other hand he did not want those who are deceived to be soothed by a false sense of security. Everyone reading it can ask the question: “Do I believe in Jesus, do I keep God's commands and do I love other believers?”

The letter also serves the purpose of recognising false teachers. Those who teach are judged more strictly. (James 3:1) Every believer must ask the question: “Whom do I listen to? Are they walking like Jesus walked?” In a world where information is available at the touch of a screen or keyboard these questions are of the utmost importance.

We were made to have company. Before the second human being was created Adam had only the company of animals. God said Adam was alone until Eve was formed out of his rib. It is God's will that his children love one another. No normal father would enjoy the company of children who are fighting each other.

In the post-modern world bad relationships among members of families have become common. Jesus predicted that it would happen. (Matthew 10:21 & Luke 21:16) Biblical marriage is not the norm in our society. To be self-centred is not regarded as wrong. Paul predicted that that would be typical of the last days. (2 Timothy 3:2) But it is common sense that any two or more self-absorbed people are unlikely to get along well. A person who must always have his/her own way is likely to end up alone. In some cities of Europe more than half the population live in a household of one person.

The gap which arises because of the absence of flesh and blood company is mostly filled by phones and screens. These can be switched on or off so that one's independence is assured. The lack of intimacy is often made up by voyeurism because the human soul longs for companionship. This pastime creates unrealistic expectations which further eat away at relationships.

In stead of changing the prevailing culture many influential leaders are propagating the acceptance of values which mirror this broken community. That is why abortion on demand and same sex marriages have become acceptable, even common place. Morality is regarded as relative to the occasion and the people involved. Absolute values and objective truth are not acceptable to someone who is used to making his/her own rules. 

The popular culture accepts as fact those ideas which can be “scientifically proven”. The rest is regarded as speculation. The leaders of this world are opposed to a Christian world view in which sin and salvation are accepted as objective realities. Against this background John uses two Greek words which are translated “know” 40 times in his 3 short letters.

We know objectively that our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life because of the witness of John and and the thousands of Christians who lived before us. Subjectively we have the witness of the Holy Spirit and have come to know the Father and the Son. We are in a relationship with our Creator. We are responsible for our actions and there are no secrets to attaining power over sin or sickness.

Against the pressure of the dominant culture to compromise our values John urges his readers to love one another. It is not our mission to bash other Christians. (James 4:11-12) If they confess Jesus they are on our side. (Luke 9:49-50) He warns his readers against idolatry, that is loving the pleasure, pretty things and prestige of this world. Idolatry will damage one's faith and make one insensitive to those in need. (Ezekiel 16:49-50)

God's requirements

God's commandments can be summed up in the the words: "Love God and love people". (Luke 10:27) Loving anonymous "people" is often a cop-out because it cannot really be tested. When celebrities say: "We love people", they are probably thinking about their fans. That is why the command refers to a "neighbour"; that is an individual like my husband, wife, colleague or someone who crosses my path. It also takes for granted that I love myself.

According to Micah 6:8 we are merely required to do what is right, have compassion and acknowledge God in our actions. John applied these same criteria to distinguish between real and fake Christians. His letters were written to Christians who experienced challenges to their faith. John encouraged them to apply these tests to themselves and to those who tried to deceive them. Those "antichrists" were perverting the original message by which they were saved:

In the first place genuine believers live righteously. (1 John 2:3-6) Secondly, they love one another. (1 John 3:14) The third characteristic of those who belong to God is that they believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. (1 John 5:1)

Paul wrote that faith, hope and love "remain". (1 Corinthians 13:13) Our faith is in Jesus who saved us. (John 1:12) The hope we have that Jesus is coming soon helps us to live clean lives. (1 John 3:3) By the love we have for one another everyone can see we belong to Jesus. (John 13:35)

Rob Bell's LOVE WINS

I read the book with a mind open to what the author wanted to say. Bell's worldview was not completely foreign to me since I have looked at a number of Nooma DVDs. He is clearly reacting to the "turn or burn" style of evangelism. He does not condemn that style but contends that "love wins" is a better style.

The question orthodox evangelicals have to ask themselves when reading this book is: "Would Jesus evangelise like we do?" Jesus endorsed the orthodox theology of the scribes and Pharisees but warned his followers against the example they set (Matthew 5:20; 23:2-4). When Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in Nazareth, he stopped short of mentioning God's wrath (Luke 4:18-19). Anyone who has assimilated from the gospels the spirit in which Jesus taught the "good news of the Kingdom" (Matthew 4:23) will acknowledge that the "sinners" of the day gladly heard him (Mark 12:37). In his own imperfect way Bell is attempting to make the gospel attractive to those who are, for whatever reason, uncomfortable in the average conservative evangelical church.


In the preface Bell says there are millions of people who find it abhorrent to believe that the majority of human beings will spend eternity in hell. Here he finds himself in good company. Paul was so distraught by the unbelief of his kinsmen, the Jews, that he would change places with them, which would render him an "object of wrath" (Romans 9:1-3; 9:22).


The first chapter deals with those who have never heard the gospel. This question has been asked by enquirers into Christianity from the earliest days of its proclamation. Atheists have been known to say they would crawl over glass to reach everyone with the good news of salvation if only they believed it. We have not been appointed to speculate on the eternal destiny of young children or those who have never heard. But Jesus did pronounce severe judgement on those who heard and rejected the good news (Luke 10:10-12).


I found Bell's chapter on heaven refreshing because of his emphasis on the fact that eternal life starts on earth (John 5:24). He also places the question of the rich young ruler in perspective, taking into account the man's background (Luke 18:18-25). However, as a premillennialist I find his eschatology muddled.


Bell's idea of hell is similar to that of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh Day Adventists. They do not believe that there is a place where evil people will be tormented forever. Bell claims that there is a long tradition of Christians who rejected the idea eternal punishment by a good God, including church fathers like Origen. However, Jesus intimated that some people will be "thrown into hell" and suffer in "eternal fire" (Matthew 5:29; 25:41). When Bell calls everybody a brother or sister, what must we make of John 1:12-13 or of 1 Peter 2:9; 4:18? His political and religious explanations of what Jesus meant by "judgement" are illuminating but they don't tell the whole story. By using passages from the old testament to bolster belief in the reconciliation of all things he reveals more of his bias against the idea of God having a chosen people. Furthermore, if the Greek word "aion" in Matthew 25:46 does not mean "eternal" when referring to punishment, then what does it mean when referring to life?


Bell does not explicitly state that God's desire for all to be saved, as expressed in 1 Timothy 2:4, will come to pass.  But he makes out as if it is ludicrous to believe otherwise. He asks if the image of God in a human being can be so degraded that it "ebbs away" completely. The Bible teaches that people can become like beasts (Matthew 7:6; Jude 1:10; Revelation 19:20). Bell's worst flaw is possibly his conviction of God giving every human being what she wants. A good father will not give his child anything he can harm himself with. Nor will he allow the child to hurt others. God instructed the Israelites to stone a son who who was stubbornly disobedient (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).


Rob Bell's treatment of Jesus as the ultimate Sacrifice is superficial despite its intellectual sophistication. He neglects to mention that Christ died for our sins "according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3). The sacrifices of heathens to their gods was and is idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:20). But John saw in heaven those who were bought and those who overcame their accuser with the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 5:9; 12:11). Maybe we "want to know that the universe is on our side" but Jesus clearly stated that the world hated his followers (John 17:14). The story of the Bible, and Israel in particular, is that people are evil by nature. Jesus does not "save us from God" but from our sins (Matthew 1:21) which would lead us to death if left unattended (James 1:14-15).


No Christian who has read a few missionary stories, or even spread the good news in her own community, will deny that God speaks in all sorts of ways to all sorts of people. Even people like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar heard from God. But to say "none of us have cornered the market on Jesus" is to forget that he gave his apostles power to bind, loose and forgive sins (Matthew 16:19; John 20:23).


When Rob says "the good news is better than that" he gets closer to what dedicated Christians can agree on. We don't want people to become Christians just to escape hell. Jesus deliberately told the good news in parables to exclude those who would jump on the bandwagon and hijack his church (Matthew 13:10-11; 13:15). This did in fact happen. In the Middle ages the official church persecuted true believers in the same way the Jewish religious authorities persecuted Jesus. We have to agree with Bell that serving Jesus is not onerous (Matthew 11:28-30). But to say "we shape our God and then our God shapes us" is to speak like an atheist.

Finally, Rob Bell acknowledges that he prayed a prayer "to get in", as he calls it. Before passing judgement I advise his critics to read Romans 10:12, 1 John 4:2, 15-16 and James 4:11-12. I believe the book is of value to those who have never heard the good news as it can make them interested in finding out more. Mature Christians can also learn from the book but the inexperienced can get confused and/or lulled into a lax lifestyle leading them to destruction. Bible teachers need to be extra careful when expressing their convictions because they affect all those who accept their doctrine as truth (James 3:1). In the early twentieth century Harry Emerson Fosdick propagated his liberal ideas in the USA to the detriment of the true church. Jesus did tell his followers to watch and pray (Luke 21:36).

Friends

When God breathed into Adam, it was not just air molecules that entered him. God's Spirit created a soul (life) in him. When he ate of the forbidden fruit, he became aware of being naked. Something, or rather Someone had left him. God had said he would die on the day he ate of it and that is exactly what happened. Separation from God is spiritual death. For Adam and Eve to be clothed, an animal had to die (Genesis 3:21). The first human being to die physically was Abel who was murdered in cold blood by his brother Cain, the first born (Genesis 4:5-8).

Making man in his own image was very close to God "cloning" himself. If he wanted to go a step further, he would have to become a man himself. Friendship was what he had in mind with humans. It was also Jesus' aim as John clearly describes in chapters 12 to 17 of his gospel, John 15:15 in particular. Enoch and Noah "walked" with God (Genesis 5:24; 6:9), Abraham was called God's friend (James 2:23) and the Lord spoke to Moses as to a friend (Exodus 33:11).

One of the cornerstones of friendship is trust. Adam and Eve did not regard their Creator Friend as completely trustworthy. If they had, they would have believed him when he warned them against eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Peter denied Jesus because he was scared witless. But would Judas betray him if he believed that Jesus had his best interest at heart? Faith is based on trust and all the above-mentioned friends of God are named in Hebrews 11, the "hall of fame of faith heroes".

A lack of trust is probably the most common reason why friendships falter and break up. This is most disturbing in the case of a man and woman who had promised one another whole-hearted faithfulness in marriage. True friendship in a Christian couple is the closest we earthlings can get to the kind of relationship God intends for humans with himself (Ephesians 5:31-32; Revelation 21:1-4).

Throughout the ages God's friends have approached him with animal sacrifices. Jesus commanded his friends to break bread in remembrance of him. Jesus was called a friend of sinners but was, and still is the ultimate example of a true friend (John 15:13).

Meaning and purpose

Consider the fact that the kindest man who ever lived was condemned by the leaders of his own religion. They handed him over to their enemies and insisted that he be executed in the most awful way. That form of execution was designed to scare all opposition into submission.

Either
(1) this man was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or
(2) no-one was not able to save him, or
(3) it happened for a reason.

Believing option (1) could lead one to agree with the philosopher Charles Baudelaire who said "If there is a god, he is the devil". After all, if that could happen to any person, I could one day find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Option (2) would imply that if there is a god, he is not very powerful. Who would want to put their trust in someone who would stand helplessly by if they found themselves in trouble?

To people who desperately want to believe in a God who is fair and powerful option (3) is the one they must arrive at by elimination. For those who accept this option the following question immediately arises: For what purpose did the most righteous man who ever lived die in the most painful and degrading way imaginable? How they answer that question will play a most crucial role in their view of the world.

Autonomy

One of the scariest aspects of existing in the image of God is that we can make decisions about our actions (Philippians 1:27), attitudes (Philippians 2:5; 4:4-5) and thought life (Philippians 4:8).

If I had a friend who had no desires of his own but was always ready to comply with my every request, I would be suspicious of his motives. Even if he had no hidden agenda, but simply hero-worshipped me, I could not regard him as a close friend. Likewise, my marriage would be boring if my wife did not have hopes, dreams and interests of her own. Part of my duty as a spouse is to help her realise them. The relationship would obviously be dysfunctional if her objectives and mine constantly clashed.

In the same way God expects his friends to pursue goals because he puts them in their hearts (Philippians 2:13). Problems arise when their agenda takes precedence over his. Since I carry God's image, I have a responsibility to act in a way which is not contrary to his nature. Sin is to miss one's goal, like a marksman missing his target. God takes a dim view of those who turn his image into that of a monster like some tyrants have done.

To a large extent we have power over what we choose to believe. I want to believe there is a heaven and that I will not be sharing it with Hitler, Stalin or Mao Zedong. That wonderful place will be inhabited by people who have pure hearts (Matthew 5:8). I don't have complete power over what is in my heart (Jeremiah 17:9). By cooperating with my Creator and receiving new heart (Psalm 51:10; Hebrews 10:16) I can overcome my evil tendencies and (Romans 7:24). That is what makes me eligible for a place in heaven (John 1:12).

Reflectors of glory

Courses on evangelism often use Romans 3:23 as proof that we all need forgiveness. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” is one of the first verses many Christians memorise.

Most of us fully agree with the first half of the verse and know that somewhere, sometime we have done wrong. We have done what we knew to be wrong. We knew beforehand that it was wrong and did it anyway. Sure, we need forgiveness.

But how many of us have ever thought that the Almighty is unhappy with the fact that we “fall short of God’s glorious ideal” as the Living New Testament puts it? This can be more confusing when we compare it with the often quoted passage “I will not give my glory to another”? (Isaiah 48:11) If God is not willing to share his glory, then how am I supposed to be “crowned with glory” as Psalm 8:5 describes mankind.

There seems to be a yearning in the human heart to eyeball that which is glorious. The words magnificent, wonderful, splendid, celebrated, superb and famous convey the same idea. Think glossy magazines. They are mostly about people. Why are they so popular? Are we looking to find the perfect human being? There certainly is some glory to be seen in humans, even though it is incomplete.

Have you ever explored the Bible in search of a hero? Someone whose life you could emulate. Most young boys probably agree that David was the kind of hero they would love to be. He solved a whole nation’s problem with one heroic deed. Everyone liked him, except Saul who felt threatened by him. Even God preferred him above his older brothers. But later in his life he proved to have feet of clay. Having a friend killed so that he could marry his wife sounds like about the lowest depths a man can sink to.

Still, every time I meet a new person, I expect to experience something noble. Mostly I am disappointed. Those who meet me don’t find me that impressive either. A recent pop song expresses the despair we have of ever having a relationship with someone perfect. “I saw your face in a crowded place … I knew I’ll never be with you” sums it up. The hope is that somewhere out there is a person who would satisfy my every requirement of perfection. But I know I could never get close to her. Maybe I think that if I got close to her, she would reject me because of my flaws. Yet, the thought of such a living person colours my life with expectation.

Large parts of the books of Leviticus and Numbers deal with the things that make a person ceremonially unclean. In short, anything remotely related to a human being’s birth or death makes the affected parties unclean. That is why the woman who had been subject to bleeding in Luke 8:43-48 was so scared; she dared to touch Jesus when she knew she was unclean. One almost gets the impression that the Lord dislikes us all because most of the time we are unclean by his measure.

Some light can be shed on our uncertainty regarding God’s attitude to us by reading Romans 3:23 in The Message: “We've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us”. But if we are “utterly incapable” of living up to God’s standard, how can he still blame us? Deep inside every Christian knows God to be fair. There must be an answer to this mystery.

One conclusion we can draw from God’s seeming disapproval of us is that he has high expectations of us. We were created in his image. But our father Adam wanted to “like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4). Now we cannot get away from our responsibility to choose what is good and avoid every evil. God is not pleased with his image reflecting anything but perfection.

However, he knows we fail in our striving after perfection all the time. That is why he instituted a system of sacrifices for the Israelites. For every type of uncleanness there was a sacrifice to be offered. Later came the perfect sacrifice who was offered once and for all (Hebrews 9:26-28). By his sacrifice Jesus made us perfect (Hebrews 10:14). Through his blood we have a clear conscience and may approach the living God (Hebrews 9:14; 10:22). He even gave us the right to call God our Father (John 1:12).

As long as our confidence is in Jesus we will reflect God’s glory, even though it may not always be that obvious. Think of someone with a severe disability such as cerebral palsy. How does such a person interpret Jesus’ words: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”? (Matthew 5:48) From the context it is clear that Jesus was talking about an attitude of forgiveness and generosity of spirit. He was concerned about the heart. But with our cooperation God changes our hearts to become perfect (Hebrews 10:16; Romans 5:5). Also, we may ask for forgiveness when we fall short (1 John 1:9).