All You Need is ... Christ

Spirituality Column #186
June 1, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

All You Need is … Christ
By Bob Walters

St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians addressed a first-century church community which had its Christian beliefs under fire.

Epaphras (and possibly Philemon) heard Paul preach the Gospel in Ephesus around 55 A.D., and took that message home 100 miles to the west in Colossae, a smallish town in what today is west central Turkey.

The believers at Colossae heard, believed and thrived in their newly-found truth of Jesus Christ. But the converts were confronted with those in their community – and some even in their church – who insisted the Gospel Truth of Christ could not be all they needed.

There were Judaizers who denied the sufficiency of Christ. There were Pagan practices, Greek philosophies, Gnostic “wisdom” and Eastern mystics. Many were drawn to the new church; drawn by the powerful story of Christ’s resurrection, drawn by the message of faith, hope, love and salvation.

How quickly the purity and simplicity of Christ – salvation by faith – was muddled. An NIV Study Bible I looked at listed the likely “heresies” Epaphras reported to Paul, who was under house arrest in Rome.

The heresies – although not named – likely included ceremonialism (strict rules about food, festivals and circumcision, e.g.), asceticism (severe prohibitions and physical denial), angel worship, deprecation of Christ, “secret” knowledge, and reliance on human wisdom and tradition.

Bible scholars have inferred these were the negative problems Paul was addressing, based on the positive specifics of Paul’s letter. And the crux of Paul’s message was this: Christ is pre-eminent, Christ is sufficient, Christ is complete. Paul’s words are strong, but are an encouragement, not a scolding.

Take every bit of “other” religions and philosophies – Paul was saying – and none of it adds up to the hope, life and completeness of Jesus Christ.

Colossians, a succinct, four-chapter book located in the middle of the New Testament, describes Christian doctrine, presents the dangers of heresies, and describes the duties of a believing Christian.

If Epaphras were to look around today – in our towns and churches – what would he report to Paul? What are we worshipping that minimizes or replaces Christ’s truth? Would he see denial of Christ? Idol worship? False doctrine?

He’d see many of the same things Colossae faced 2,000 years ago, with all the amplification of modern communications. We must know the truth, and be the vessel, tool, carrier and sharer of Christ’s love and care … like Paul.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com), recommends Warren Wiersbe’s “Be Complete,” a study on Colossians.

There's a Name for That

Spirituality Column #185
May 25, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

There’s a Name for That
By Bob Walters

Public schools have pesky problems navigating the narrow straits of political correctness at graduation time.

Of course, we celebrate the accomplishment of education. But even though modern society is convulsed by crediting anything other than individual, human achievement, most of us feel a need deep in our souls to be thankful and hopeful in a community, spiritual, meaningful kind of a way.

That leaves us with the problem …

How do we thank the author of all knowledge for our … knowledge?

“Who is that author?” you ask. Well, here it is. And please duck …
The author of all knowledge is Jesus Christ.

Christ is the Way and the Truth and the Life. He is Knowledge. He gave us the Breath of Life. He gave us our Creativity. Genesis, John and a whole bunch of other places in the Bible make that very plain.

Inasmuch as God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit constitute the Godhead, it’s a “technicality” to complain about the absence of the name of Jesus Christ from our public celebrations of knowledge. “God” covers it. But, c’mon. We achieve what it takes to graduate and are still dumb enough to think that we can fool God? Please.

It is plenty tough most places to slip in a nod to “God” in a generic quasi-prayer at a public commencement. In PC-run-amuck settings, a clever student body might sneeze in unison and have the valedictory speaker say, “God bless you!”

In more forgiving settings, like a baccalaureate, we might hear The Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father” and “Lord” are code words for God and Jesus Christ, and “Kingdom” can refer to all kinds of things without cluttering up the ceremony by praying specifically and out loud for “the reign of God.” The Lord’s Prayer is from Jesus (Matthew 6:9-13) but, whew! … you don’t actually have to say “Jesus.”

Or, just sing Christ’s praises in Latin. It’s pretty, and nobody knows.

Fact is there is true, divine, Godly power in the name of Jesus Christ. And the name of Jesus Christ causes trouble and persecution. The world hates Him, and I think that’s because Christ has true power many of us think our knowledge alone provides.

Our graduations teach: “Don’t pray; but if you do, don’t you dare mean it.”

That’s what it means when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. We mean it.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) believes it is natural to thank God. Praying “Thank God school’s over” isn’t really thanking God.

Defining Life in the Spiritual Lane

Spirituality Column #184
May 18, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Defining Life in the Spiritual Lane
By Bob Walters

Our Wednesday night Bible study weathered a lively exchange recently regarding whether human beings were mortal or immortal before “The Fall” of Adam and Eve.

Most of us in the Western church assume that if not for the sin of Adam and Eve, we would physically live for ever. Death, Genesis 3 seems to say, only entered the world after Adam and Eve’s sin of trying to be like God without God: eating from the tree of “God’s knowledge” at Satan’s tempting against God’s strict orders not to.

It turns out there is more than one school of thought on original immortality, even though most of us have heard only the one above. At issue are a couple of fairly major topics:

- God’s intention of Natural life vs. Spiritual life

- God’s intention of death in Creation.

Our teacher – a former Cambridge lecturer, Bible translator, and expert on Eastern Orthodoxy – cited Patristic (Church Fathers) sources suggesting that God created humans as He did all other life, to live a natural life and die a natural death. What makes humans the “image of God” is our spiritual immortality, not our physical immortality. It’s our Spirit life that sin puts to death, and our Spiritual death that Jesus Christ hung on the Cross to defeat.

This our instructor said to a room full of thoughtful Evangelicals, schooled in “Sin Brought Death,” not “Natural Death Happens Anyway.” It was a split, animated discussion. It was Western St. Augustine vs. Eastern St. Athanasius.

Evangelicals like straight, dependable answers, with straight, dependable definitions for faith’s day-to-day questions: What is sin? What is forgiveness? What is grace? What is life? What is death? What is salvation?

Thing is, anyone can learn “about” God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, church history, other religions, meditation, faith systems, theology. For these pursuits, definitions are helpful and can make religion seem easy, if superficial. Defining a relationship – actually knowing someone, like God, for example – defies labels.

God’s goal is not our mastery of definitions or doctrine. God is hungry for our loving, freely-found relationship with Him through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit; and our love for each other.

God gave us a brain to discover Him, and learn. Let’s not sell God, or ourselves, short with narrow definitions. There is a big history of Christianity that precedes modern religious “definitions.” Learn, and love, all you can.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) is going to read “Scandal of the Evangelical Mind” by Mark Noll, and will report back.

Paul: Grace, Peace, Preeminence

Spirituality Column #183
May 11, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Paul: Grace, Peace, Preeminence
By Bob Walters

St. Paul – who we meet in St. Luke’s Book of Acts as “Saul of Tarsus” – wrote 13 of the New Testament’s 27 books.

Really they were letters, or in church language, “Epistles,” that Paul wrote to various towns and people describing the proper doctrine of Jesus Christ: how to worship, how to obey, how to identify heresy, how to defend the faith, and how to interact and function with fellow Christians and non-Christians.

Paul (c. 5 – 67 A.D.) had been a Pharisee, a high-ranking Jew, who disdained Christians and routinely, harshly persecuted them. Within a couple of years after the Crucifixion, Christ appeared to Christian-hating Paul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9, 22, 26) and converted him from an enemy to an Apostle.

Just this bit of preceding information could start enough arguments among modern theologians to make Paul shake his head in bewilderment. Such as:

          - Paul really wrote 14 of the 27 New Testament books, because “Hebrews” was the unsigned work of Paul;

          - Paul really only wrote six epistles, the rest were either co-written or forgeries;

          - Paul’s writings inspired great legalism (codified, enforced obedience) among some Christians;

          - Paul’s writings – especially Romans and Galatians – are Christendom’s greatest arguments against legalism.

Authorship, in my view, is secondary to message. Scripture is scripture. If you want to argue tangent issues, then Paul’s important central point is being missed.

And that point is the preeminence of Christ.

You can’t add to Christ, and you can’t take away from Christ. He’s already the complete, main attraction in our salvation saga. If we add rules, we will worship the rules instead of Christ. If we make Christ – the fully human, fully divine Son of God – less than His promise, we won’t truly know Him and unleash in our lives the awesome spiritual power of faith, hope and love – the core of the Gospel.

Paul’s greeting in each Epistle contains the phrase, “grace and peace.” That’s grace, as in forgiveness of our sins and eternal communion in heaven with God; and peace, as in “Christ is our peace.” God’s grace. God’s peace. Only through Christ.

It was an entirely new way to see and relate to God. We make a huge mistake worshipping anything other than Christ, and waste our time arguing what to add to or take away from His completeness. That was Paul’s message.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) paraphrases Vince Lombardi: “Christ isn’t everything, He is the only thing.”

Rejection of Rejection

Spirituality Column #182
May 4, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Rejection of Rejection
By Bob Walters

Do you worry God has stopped, will stop – or never started – loving you?

Don’t.

Through Christ on the Cross, we know God will not reject any one of us. That was the point of the crucifixion. Christ’s death covered over and forgave our human sins – all of them – restoring our communion with God which we lost at the Fall of Adam and Eve.

That’s “covered over forever,” not “covered over for now.”

Not “covered over until we commit a sin.”

Not “covered over until we do something so disastrously awful we cannot forgive ourselves.”

Not “covered over until we work off our sin debt,” a crazy idea since that debt was already erased, cancelled and voided on the Cross.

Nope … we’re stuck with the love of God. For good.

I find that comforting. In Romans 8:35-39 St. Paul assures us, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God."

Nothing, that is, except ourselves. God cannot forsake us; only we can forsake Him, and in the process, forsake ourselves.

It’s easy to see how it works. God gives each of us free will, with which we can seek God, have faith in God, study God, question God, doubt God, fear God, or give up on God. Or we can do what He wants us to do – but will not force us to do – which is to love God.

God doesn’t coerce. He loves us too much, and wants our love for him to be true. It is only a free heart and mind that can truly love.

We of course are free to reject God, defile Him, curse Him, blame Him, leave Him. A lot of people do today; it’s what most did at the Crucifixion.

Too many Christians fear the loss of God’s love. Too many churches prey on those fears and turn them into a marketing tool: Better get to church or God will not love you! Better not sin or God will condemn you! Give us money and God will favor you!

Nonsense. Christians often reject each other; many people reject God, but suggesting that God rejects anyone is folly. Christ came for all (John 3:16).

Are we saved? Only in Christ. That’s our choice: to believe, or not.

Don’t choose Christ? Reject God? Don’t get on board?

Then the Saved train – when it leaves – leaves the station without you.

Who’s fault is that?

Walters (email rlwcom@aol.com) knows lots of people think God’s mad at them. More likely, they’re mad at God.