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GUEST POST: MIssing Half the Gospel

Posted by Reimagine Curator on September 3, 2024 at 18:18

Missing Half the Gospel

Dennis Wiens

Unconventional Ministry News

 

More than half of Americans have read little or none of the Bible. Less than a quarter of those who have read the Bible have a systematic plan for reading the Christian scriptures daily. And a third of Americans have yet to pick it up on their own, according to a new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research.

The American Bible Society’s annual report, “State of the Bible USA,” found a precipitous drop in Bible reading after the pandemic ended. ABS defines Bible users as people “who use the Bible at least 3–4 times each year on their own, outside of a church setting”—a low standard.

Small wonder many church leaders worry about biblical illiteracy, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

Research has shown that Americans struggle to name:

  • The four Gospels
  • More than two or three of Jesus' disciples.
  • Even half of the Ten Commandments

Dr. Matt O'Reilly (www.theologyproject.online, Author of "Free To Be Holy" and pastor of Christ Church Birmingham) reflects on his experiences as a church-going teenager who felt deep frustration with his Christian faith. Despite his active participation in church activities, he felt something essential was lacking.

He began to question whether there was more to Christianity than the rituals and teachings he had grown accustomed to. This experience led him on a journey of discovery, during which he realized that he had only understood part of the Gospel—something he feels many others in the American Church are also missing.

I invited Dr. Matt O'Reilly to my Unconventional Ministry Podcast to explain.

 

Dr. O'Reilly is the Lead Pastor of Christ Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and Director of Research at Wesley Biblical Seminary. A two-time recipient of the John Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement, Matt is the author of Free to Be Holy: A Biblical Theology of Sanctification (forthcoming) and Paul and the Resurrected Body: Social Identity and Ethical Practice.

An interesting article in Outreach Media Group Magazine, "Missing Half the Gospel," by Robby Gallaty, sheds perspective on our topic.

“For many years, we have preached half the gospel by encouraging people to be saved from something—namely sin, wrath, damnation, and eternal punishment—and neglected the fact that we’re saved for something.” Robby Gallaty

According to the American Bible Society, almost nine out of 10 households (87 percent) own a Bible, and the average household has three. Yet, research has shown that Americans struggle to name:

  • The four gospels
  • More than two or three of Jesus' disciples.
  • Even half of the Ten Commandments
“No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time,” pollster George Barna said. “They don’t know what they are.”

How about your own experience? Have you felt something essential needed to be added to your Christian experience? Were you able to identify what was lacking?

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GUEST POST: #ReimagineHEAVEN...when the curtain is drawn back

Posted by Reimagine Curator on September 3, 2024 at 16:57

 GUEST POST: #ReimagineHEAVEN...when the curtain is drawn back

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September 2024

I have worked my way through the Gospel of Matthew over the last six weeks. Now I am doing the same with the Gospel of Mark. Several things have encouraged this daily Gospel reading and prayer. First, I have a profound sense that I did not pay enough attention to the four Gospels over the course of my long life. (In my background we didn't even know what a lectionary was so we rarely read a Gospel text each Lord’s Day. (However, for the last eighteen years I have experienced this discipline by being part of a good Lutheran church.) I truly wish someone had told me that reading and contemplating the person and events in the life of the Messiah was central to a robust life of faith and prayer. It was through my journey to ecumenical practice and theology that I saw how central this practice really was to the whole story of the church itself. 

My companion is this present reading has been N.T. Wright. In his seventeen-volume series, The Bible for Everyone, Wright unpacks the material of the New Testament in ways that reveal the depth of the text but always in a manner that is for “everyone.” He believes, as I do, that this material is for every Christian, not just scholars. While these readings are quite simple they often reveal the obvious more clearly. 

Over the Labor Day weekend I read the first chapter of Mark. In Mark 1:9-13 the Gospel writer tells the reader of the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus is baptized by John a voice from heaven says “You are my wonderful son; you make me very glad” (Wright’s translation). Then Wright makes a simple but startling point: “The whole Christian gospel can be summed up in this point: that the living God looks at us, every baptized and believing Christian, he says to us what he said to Jesus on that day. He sees us, not as we are in ourselves, but as we are in Jesus Christ. It sometimes seems impossible, especially to people who have never had that kind of support from their earthly parents, but it’s true: God looks at us, and says, ‘You are my dear, dear child; I’m delighted with you.’”

Mark says Jesus “saw the heavens open, and the Spirit coming down like a dove.” We often miss this because we have so many wrong notions about the word heaven. “Heaven, in the Bible often means God’s dimension beyond the ordinary reality.” Heaven here is more like a curtain being drawn back so that instead of seeing trees and flowers, or in Jesus’ case the river . .  we are standing in the presence of a different reality altogether.”

Many Christians, perhaps most, have a wrong idea about this word heaven. In the Bible heaven is God’s dimension of the created order, whereas earth is the world of space, time  and matter. Sometimes heaven stands for God ( as in “the kingdom of heaven,” in Matthew). This means heaven in the New Testament is not where we go when we die. “Entering the kingdom of heaven does not mean ‘going to heaven after death,’ but rather belonging in the present to the people who presently steer their life’s course by the standards of God. (Consider Mathew 6:10, “on earth as in heaven” which means we steer our earthly life by the standards and purposes of heaven itself, or God’s reign. We live in this heaven right now when we experience the Spirit working in us. 

If you ask me what happens at death I answer, “We go to be with Jesus in paradise.” Heaven finally comes when the new heavens and new earth come ofter the return of Jesus. Try thinking this way and then speak this way regularly. I promise this will powerfully impact your life. 

In the love of Jesus Christ alone,

John

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GUEST POST: 10 Principles For Reading The Bible Missionally

Posted by Reimagine Curator on May 6, 2024 at 13:58
GUEST POST: 10 Principles For Reading The Bible Missionally
 
BY BRAD VAUGHN on Patheos.com
 

 

This semester, I’ve been teaching students about how to read Scripture missionally. Reading the Bible missionally involves approaching the Scriptures with a focus on God’s overarching mission to redeem and restore the world through Christ. This perspective emphasizes the narrative of salvation history and God’s intent to bless all nations, as seen throughout the biblical text. Here are some key principles for reading the Bible with a missional hermeneutic:

 

1. The Metanarrative of Scripture

Understand the Bible as the story of God’s mission. This includes creation, fall, the election of Israel, the redemption of the church, its mission, and new creation. The narrative begins with God’s intention for humanity, moves through the dramatic story of Israel, and culminates in the life, death, resurrection, and future return of Jesus Christ, extending to the church’s role today.

2. Christocentric Interpretation

Interpret all of Scripture in light of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ is the climax of the biblical narrative and the ultimate revelation of God’s mission. Reading the Bible missionally means seeing Christ not only in the explicit messianic prophecies but also as the fulfillment and embodiment of the whole redemptive story. Christ’s own ministry shapes and motivates our mission

3. The Missional Nature of God

Recognize the missio Dei (mission of God) as a central theme. God is a sending God, who has a heart for the lost, desiring reconciliation and redemption. We can trace this theme from Genesis to Revelation, and it should be the lens through which the Bible is read.

4. The Church’s Role in Mission

See the church as the primary instrument of God’s mission. The New Testament, in particular, should be read with an understanding that the church is called to participate in God’s mission, continuing the work started by Israel and Jesus to be a light to the nations.

5. Cultural and Historical Context

Interpret the Bible with an awareness of the cultural and historical context of both the text and the reader. Recognize that while the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. Understanding the context of the original audience helps us to discern how to live out the Bible’s teachings missionally in our own cultural context.

6. The Missional Impulse of the Biblical Authors

Appreciate the intention of the biblical authors to address not only their immediate context but also to speak to God’s broader mission. This involves recognizing how the text challenges cultural norms and calls for a transformative response from the reader.

7. Integrative and Interdisciplinary Approach

Incorporate insights from theology, history, sociology, anthropology, and other disciplines to enrich one’s understanding of the Bible and its implications for mission. We all have things to learn from one another, yet I’m grieved to see how little this principle of humility impacts how we train others and ourselves.

8. Ethical and Practical Application

Apply the biblical text to contemporary life in a way that is consistent with the missional heart of God. This involves discerning ethical principles and practical directives for living out the mission of God in today’s world. We should ask ourselves, “What would life look like if Jesus were reigning in this area of our life?”

9. Narrative and Inductive Study Methods

Use narrative and inductive Bible study methods that allow for the themes of mission to emerge from the text. This means allowing the story of the Bible to unfold on its own terms, leading to a deeper understanding of its message. Prioritize biblical theology (i.e., NT and OT scholarship) first before the work of systematic theology.

10. The Bible’s Transformative Purpose

Approach the Bible missionally, not just as a document to be studied but as a transformative tool that God uses to shape individuals and communities in line with His mission. This can be so difficult when the Bible becomes too familiar.

By integrating these principles, we can cultivate a missional reading of the Bible that informs and empowers their participation in God’s redemptive work in the world. This approach moves beyond personal piety and ethical instruction, framing the entire Christian life as a response to God’s call to be part of His global mission.

 

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