The 95 Theses
My husband was in a band. And their purpose and ministry and passion for a long time was to reach "the unreachable" in a way that most were afraid to do. Some people see certain types of music and certain types of clothing or hairstyles to be representative of something "wrong" inside the person. This attitude and mindset is simply not acceptable any longer in our modern culture and world. I have said many times that it is time for the church to have another reformation. We need to get back to Christ. Stop looking at the outside, whatever that may be, and start looking at the heart of the person and the heart of the issue.
I'm reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell right now. I love it. He has such an honest perspective on the church and where it should be. The message doesn't change with time and culture, but the methods do change. He quoted something about Martin Luther and the 95 theses in Germany, which sparked the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It just got me thinking about why the band did what it did and about what I saw in people who interacted, sometimes for the first time, with a group of people who were Christians, but didn't expect nor force anything upon the people they encountered. It's strange how people were sometimes shocked by that, because that is how Jesus meant for it to be.
I'm rambling and I don't think I'm making sense. Here's a quote from Rob Bell:
Around 500 years ago, a man named Martin Luther raised a whole series of questions about the painting the church was presenting to the world. He insisted that God's grace could not be purchased with money or good deeds. He wanted everyone to have their own copy of the Bible in a language they could read. He argued that everyone had a divine calling on their lives to serve God, not just priests who had jobs in churches. This concept was revolutionary for the world at that time. He was articulating earth-shattering ideas for his listeners. And they heard him. And something big, something historic, happened. Things changed. Thousands of people connected with God in ways they hadn't before.
The 95 Theses
2 comments:
Good post. Velvet Elvis is an interesting read, with many perspectives I share. His view of what the Bible is about bothers me, however.
Rob says, “…this is why the Bible loses its power for so many communities. They fall into the trap of thinking that the Bible is just about things that happened a long time ago. / But the Bible is about today. / These stories are our stories. They are alive and active and teaching us about our lives in our world, today.”
Jesus was clear in saying that the entire Bible was about Him (Luke 24:25-26). The intent is for us to know certain facts about things that have happened in the past and their bearing on us today. You see, our salvation; our right standing before God, eternal life, fellowship with God, and everything else that goes with it; was earned for us in the past.
Martin Luther (and I'm glad to see your reference to him above!) was right when he said that our salvation was "extra nos," outside of us. Earned by Christ. Accomplished 2,000 years ago on a hill outside Jerusalem. We add nothing to this work. We through our faith are credited with what Christ did, and He is credited with our sin to suffer for (2 Cor. 5:21). If the Bible is not primarily about what happened in the past, then it is not about what Christ did for us in the past. If the Bible is about our here and now, it is not about those things which earn our salvation.
I'l keep reading your blogg. Good luck.
J. K.
Hey,
I've just posted the first of a multi-part series on Rob's book "Velvet Elvis".
Join me in conversation at:
http://ascenttotruth.blogspot.com/
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