A Christ-Centered Faith

I have just started to read Michael Horton's book, Christless Christianity, and I am captivated by every page.  I have yet to make it past chapter one, "Christless Christianity: the American Captivity of the Church", because what he has written is so important to the state of the American church today.  Here are some of the quotes I have enjoyed:

I think that the church in America today is so obsessed with being practical, relevant, helpful, successful, and perhaps even well-liked that it nearly mirrors the world itself.  Aside from the packaging, there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches today that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups (pp. 16-17).

The focus still seems to be on us and our activity rather than on God and his work in Jesus Christ.  In all of these approaches, there is the tendency to make God a supporting character in our own life movie rather than to be rewritten as new characters in God's drama of redemption.  Assimilating the disruptive, surprising, and disorienting power of the gospel to the felt needs, moral crises, and socio-political headlines of our passing age, we end up saying very little that the world could not hear from Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, or Oprah (p. 18).

My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is minded for "relevant" quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped, and trusted; Jesus Christ is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us; salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God's judgment by God himself; and the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug into for the power we need to be all that we can be (p. 19).

I have witnessed the captivity of the chruch that Dr. Horton speaks of myself; and I confess that I have regretfully participated in it.  I have listened to sermons, and delivered sermons myself, that have read more like the table of contents of a self-help book than the  proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I even heard a sermon delivered by a pastor that didn't mention the name Jesus Christ nor use the word "resurrection" on Easter morning because the pastor didn't want to offend "seekers" or "pre-Christians" who were coming to the church for the first time that morning to "find truth." How can we expect seekers to find truth if Jesus Christ is not proclaimed?  I agree with Dr. Horton, we must return to Christ-centered preaching; we must return to a Christ-centered church; and we must return to a Christ-centered faith.

"Jesus is Boring!"

On Wednesday night I went with a group of kids and parents from New Hope Community Church to an assisted living apartment complex.  About thirty seniors had gathered to hear the kids sing Christmas carols and help the kids with a craft.  The evening began by decorating Christmas door-hangers that the seniors could hang on their doors.  The hangers had the little town of Bethlehem already pre-printed on the background and the kids and the seniors were supposed to add Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the stable.  As one little boy worked with one of the seniors, the elderly woman explained the story of Jesus' birth to him.  The boy became filled with joy and excitement as he seemed to learn of the real meaning of Christmas for the first time.  He was so overjoyed that he wanted to tell someone the good news that he had just realized.  The boy came running over to me and a few other parents with great enthusiasm and excitement in order to tell us the good news.  With a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face he wanted to say, "Jesus is born!", but instead, he blurted out, "Jesus is boring!" 

As I left the assisted living building, I wondered how many times we Christians send out the message that "Jesus is boring" when what we really want to communicate to the world is that "Jesus is born!"  Somehow we've forgotten what good news the birth of Christ is to a dark and lonely world that so desperately needs to hear that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, has been born.  I wish we could all capture the enthusiasm, the joy, and the excitement of this little boy and communicate the message of Christ's birth to the world.  This Christmas let's help the world to believe that Jesus is born; not boring!

From the Refrigerator

Last week my youngest son, Joshua, opened the refrigerator door and said, "Mom, it's time for you to go to the store; I've tasted everything in here!"