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“The Church must be free to be poor in order to minister among the poor. The Church must trust the Gospel enough to come among the poor with nothing to offer the poor except the Gospel, except the power to discern and the courage to expose the Gospel as it is already mediated in the life of the poor…When the Church has the freedom itself to be poor among the poor, it will know how to use what riches it has. When the Church has that freedom, it will know also how to minister among the rich and powerful. When the Church has that freedom, it will be a missionary people again in all the world. When the Church has the freedom to go out into the world with merely the Gospel to offer the world, then it will know how to use whatever else it has–money and talent and buildings and tapestries and power in politics–as sacraments of its gift of its own life to the world, as tokens of the ministry of Christ.” -William Stringfellow (HT to Nate Spencer)

September 29, 2006

Is it time for an attempt at a both/and?

I don’t know that there really has to be an argument here on the whole sanctification/assurance thing. I think JS pointed to this by contrasting his and Michale’s experience. Instead of having to advocate for one extreme or the other, though I don’t believe anyone is intending to do it so strongly, we need to be comfortable with the fact that the Bible has verses laying out both the need to put our hope in Jesus the Christ plus NOTHING, and the need to desire to be better than we are simply because the one who made us is perfect, even though we are 100% certain to fail.

If you’re talking of assurance, then I’m going to point you in Michael’s direction. A few months ago, I posed a question on this forum because someone important to me was having assurance issues. These issues were the result listening too much to someone who is so wrapped up in puritans, Spurgeon and MacArthur that they will flat out tell you that if you aren’t more Christlike than you were a year ago, then you probably are not a Christian. As Michael has said of himself, this kind of thinking drives one to despair. To that person, preach grace, preach Christ crucified and risen, preach the fact that all we do is dung but thanks be to God for sending His Son to pay our debt.

If you’re talking of sanctification, then I’ll point you to JS. All the commands to be holy and perfect are there for a reason. Since the grace that saves us is so amazing, it’s easy to sit back and do nothing but wait for the return of our Lord. To these, be careful not to drive someone to despair, but challenge them. Listen to Paul when he asks his rhetorical questions. Should I go on sinning that grace may increase? By no means! Or listen to Jesus: Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Where is the straight path? Is it not in the middle of these two seemingly opposite ideas? Maybe, just maybe, the scriptures are not saying these things to make us legalists or libertines. Rather, they could be the rails on which the straight path runs.

Am I reading everyone right, or am I just crazy?

In the end, I say let’s find a way to be at peace over it, and I’ll spring for a keg of the bar’s finest for all to enjoy.

Posted by: Jason Blair @ 1:02 pm | Trackback | Permalink

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On February 7th, 2002, a diverse group of Christians started a wide-ranging weblog conversation. Today, that conversation continues and you're invited to pull up a chair. Welcome to the Boar's Head Tavern.

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September 29, 2006

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