Jesus vs. Religion, Part 2
This post is offered as an answer to many responses to my previous blog – Jesus vs. Religion. Many who are sympathetic to Jefferson Bethke’s poem suggested that his message was a reaction to “man-made” religion. Again, I am sympathetic to the poem, and my brother is undoubtedly a very talented and dedicated believer. But I remain troubled by the poem’s contradictions and naïve theological assumptions. So, let’s discuss the essential nature of the Christian faith.
The heart of the Christian faith is the Incarnation – in Jesus Christ God assumed human nature. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). This means that Jesus Christ is the perfect and permanent union of divine essence and human essence. In Christ, God has taken upon Godself all that constitutes human nature – even our sinfulness! (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is the assumption of our sinfulness by Christ that is our salvation. Because he assumed our sinfulness, we may share His righteousness. Divine grace means that God has embraced our humanness. The divine movement towards humanity did not end with the Incarnation. On the day of Pentecost the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed the Virgin and effected the Incarnation, descended upon the disciples of Jesus in the Upper Room and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). My point here is that the Christian message is about God’s interaction with humans.
We often hear someone proclaim, “Let’s get back to the Bible!” Yes, let’s get back to the Bible. Even here we discover God’s interaction with humans. First, the Bible is divinely inspired. But to whom and through who is the Bible divinely inspired? “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:20-21). Let’s take a look at these words. First, how is Scripture inspired? “…men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” Notice the divine-human interaction. How is the Scripture to be understood? “…no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation…” This strongly implies that proper understanding of the Bible must occur in the context of human fellowship. Again, notice the divine-human interaction. Yes, the Scriptures are the Word of God – inspired, orally proclaimed, written down, and transmitted through humans and to humans.
Another proclamation I often hear is “Let’s be the church of the New Testament, free of all ‘man-made’ religion!” Alright, let’s take a brief look at the New Testament church. Ananias and Sapphria lied to the Holy Spirit for the sake of profit. Simon the magician sought to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit. There was considerable contention among the church about the inclusion of Gentiles. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for religious sectarianism, sexual immorality, disorderly worship, false doctrine, and many other sins. James accused the church of the diaspora of being spiritual adulteresses for loving the world, of ignoring the poor, of failing to understand the nature of “pure religion” and other sins. My point is that the church has never been without its problems. The church has many problems because it is filled with humans in need of forgiveness and grace, healing and wholeness. From the beginning, Jesus warned us about the nature of His church.
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” And he said to them, “An enemy has done this!” The slaves said to him, “Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?” But he said, “No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matthew 13:24-30).
God knows that divine interaction with humanity is a messy ordeal. Yes, Christians often misinterpret Scripture. Yes, we sometimes fall into legalism and hypocrisy. Yes, we can be bigoted and hateful. Yes, we can fall into self-righteousness. Let’s take a moment to remember the redemptive nature of the Incarnation: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ is our righteousness! (It seems that Jefferson is eager to make this declaration to individuals, but not to the corporate church!) The Church is the body of Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In this present age, righteousness and sinfulness coexist. We must allow the Spirit to continually convict us of sin so that we can confess and be forgiven. We must come to the Table of the Lord and examine ourselves carefully so that we can be properly judged (1 Corinthians 11:28-29). We must daily pray “…forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…” We must deny ourselves daily, walk in the Spirit, be accountable to each other, and be perfected in love.
In seeking for “pure religion” or the “true church” we often fall into a heresy. Some early Greeks could not believe in the Incarnation because they could not accept the permanent union of humanity and divinity. So, they taught that Jesus only appeared to be flesh. This heresy was soundly rebuked by the apostles. Likewise, there are many who see the failures of the Church and seek to deny the Church as the body of Christ; or try to distinguish between “God-made” and “man-made” religion. The truth is that in this present age the church is comprised of saint and sinner (and even the saints often struggle with sin). Like it or not, the Church is “God-made” and “man-made.” The amazing thing is that we are justified in Christ and God has chosen to call us God’s own. Now, that’s a scandalous grace!
