A Fresh Perspective - 02/01/08
C. S. Lewis in his classic, "Mere Christianity" describes the Christian life as a "good infection." He contends that if we draw close enough to Christ we can "catch" the kind of life he has. The Jesus kind of life is what John's Gospel calls "eternal life." Eternal life, in John's Gospel, does not put the emphasis on quantity (life forever), but quality (a particular kind of life). Jesus, of course, embodied this life - a life of integrity, truthfulness, compassion and grace. Lewis writes, "Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian who led the Confessing Church and was hanged by the Nazis in April of 1945, understood discipleship to Christ to be the heart of the Christian gospel. In "The Cost of Discipleship" he says that "there is only one way of believing on Jesus Christ, and that is by leaving all and going with the incarnate Son of God." He writes, "Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience." Both Bonhoeffer and Lewis understood that the call to discipleship to Christ is an invitation to receive/accept the gospel.
Unfortunately, in many versions of the gospel in American Christianity, discipleship is tagged on as something extra. It is for those serious-minded folk who want to take their faith to the next level, but it's not actually necessary. The gospel, it is believed, is primarily about believing in Jesus' death as a substitute for our sins (an atonement theory) and securing a place in heaven when we die. Never mind that Jesus, in the Gospels, emphasizes neither. Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God on earth and called disciples to pray for it and live in it now.
Because of the way the gospel has been understood and fashioned in American Christianity, there are a lot of people who identify themselves as Christians who have no intention at all of learning how to love God and love others like Jesus of Nazareth. They do not connect obedience to Jesus' teaching and appropriation of his life ("catching" his kind of life) with the gospel.
In the Jesus movement of the first century the primary threat the first disciples encountered was persecution. For American Christians the threat is not persecution at all, but rather, cultural conformity - to exchange the way of the cross for the way of success, popularity and power. The threat is not primarily from secular forces outside Christianity, but the threat arises from Christianity itself - the American version of Christianity that makes the gospel compatible with the American dream. The sad result is that the dream of Jesus of Nazareth for God's kingdom of peace and righteousness on earth is completely lost.
Chuck Queen is Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (CBF affiliated). You can access his sermons and past articles at www.ibcfrankfort.com. He welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net