by Joel V Webb | Feb 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
A lot of buzz has been going around the Christian internet sphere
about the recent ad campaign from “He Gets Us”. I have seen a lot
of posts from people who are either for or against the campaign. For
myself personally I think they both have valid points.
For the against
crowd their focus is on the lack of a repentance message. Ultimately,
no matter how you parse it the core of the Gospel is that we are to
turn to Christ, repent, and follow Him in the new life He offers. If
we leave this out (even under the guise of pre-evangelism),
people may think that following Jesus can happen without a change.
That change can only truly come from the power of the Holy Spirit
working in our lives. Through prevenient grace, God opens our eyes to
our need for repentance to make the choice to ask Christ to forgive
us, and then we begin to follow Him. Demonstrating our allegiance to
our King in every aspect of our lives. I do also share some of the
political leaning concerns as well. The messaging that is presented
does utilize imagery and hints towards a more progressive liberal
political message that is hard to separate from what they are trying
to do. The definition of “hate” in our modern world really means,
“you don’t agree or accept how I live my life, so you hate me!”
That is not the definition of hate, and utilizing that definition,
then Jesus would be called a hater for calling people out of their
sin. Not making them comfortable in it.
On the other hand,
there is room to agree with some of the heart that this particular
campaign is getting at. From my perspective many in the Evangelical
world have traded gospel witness for political activity. This is not
to say we shouldn’t be involved in politics. We are to be! But it
seems that for some the primary method of bringing about change has
turned to political mechanisms, rather than the Great Commission.
Instead of proclaiming Christ as King and having our hope in Him,
some seem to ascribe messianic power to the presidency of whoever is
their candidate of choice (be it Republican or Democrat). As
Christians our method of impacting the world around us never has
been, and never will be politics…rather transformed hearts. When we
trade God’s Kingdom for setting up our own it leads to tyranny,
injustice and death. Because of much of this many’s discourse has
become very militant and unloving. Rather than presenting the gospel,
we also throw in whichever partisan politics we want to see
established.
So what are we to
do?
Balance and wisdom
are needed. Any gospel preached without repentance is not actually
good news because it does not solve our greatest human need.
Salvation. Likewise, we are to love and be gracious. Jesus didn’t
demand the Zealots or Pharisees to join the others movement, but
rather to follow Him and sin no more. We can and should stand firm on
the truth of the gospel, while at the same time being filled with
love and grace towards those who are hurt and broken, in need of
hearing the transforming message of the gospel. Just like all who now
follow Christ did before coming to a saving knowledge of King Jesus.
The washing takes
place, the washing away of our sins.
by Joel V Webb | Jan 19, 2024 | Uncategorized
I just finished watching The Bible Collection: Jeremiah which is a dramatization of the life and ministry of the weeping prophet Jeremiah. Following his life from a young age, up till just after the destruction of Jerusalem it shows the near impossible situation that he was dealing with. I recommend checking it out as it brings the story to life (Watch The Bible Collection: Jeremiah | Prime Video (amazon.com))
We know Jeremiah was not believed by the leadership of Judah. They had failed to do what they were supposed to. Honor God in all things, and rule justly. The decrepit nature of the nation was becoming more apparent as they were falling into the same behaviors that landed the northern kingdom of Israel into exile. It is from this place that Judah was conquered, and the entire time Jeremiah went unheeded. His calls for repentance and justice fell on deaf ears.
The parallels seem to be deafening to our current day in various ways. While we don’t have the intertwining of faith and politics that existed in the OT period of Judah, there still is influence that has been missing. Since the early 19th century, much of the American Church has gotten so enthralled with “getting out of dodge” when it comes to our eschatology. Why does it matter what goes on here if we are going to be raptured up anyways! That or any other number of variations of the same idea. Instead of being the Kingdom of God on the earth transforming the creation through the spreading of the gospel we become so internalized with ourselves, and this has led to so much rot.
The Church in many places has left our mandate to take care of the orphan and widow to the government. We all can certainly agree this is a less than ideal situation. But as we know history doesn’t always repeat itself, but it certainly does rhyme. This abrogation of our responsibility has led to what we have. A more often than not overbearing government that regularly interacts outside of its Constitutional bounds to “take care of us”. If we are truly desiring justice to prevail, we in the Church must take up the mantle and example of the Early Church.
What would happen if that changed? If the incentives were corrected and people looked to God’s people for what they were supposed to do as part of their mission of restoring creation through the spreading of the gospel.
Jeremiah 3:12-13, “O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the Lord, have spoken!
by Joel V Webb | Jan 18, 2024 | Uncategorized
What does it mean to be orthodox? I don’t really mean part of the Eastern Orthodox churches that came from the Great Schism many centuries ago. What does it mean to be inside of the big tent of acceptable Christian theology?
As a start we know that to be inside of orthodoxy there must be some core things affirmed that are essential to the gospel
The Gospel: An Outline
1. Jesus preexisted with the Father,
2. took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promises to David,
3. died for sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4. was buried,
5. was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
6. appeared to many,
7. is seated at the right hand of God as Lord, and
8. will come again as judge.
By this we know that there are certain groups who fall outside of this definition of the gospel such as Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witness’ who deny key elements of Christ’s divinity and what His work on the cross accomplished. In most parts of the Church these are considered first-tier issues. These are undeniable elements of calling yourself a follower of Christ. Roger Olson makes this point in his book about the variety of Chrisitan beliefs when he says, “If “Christianity” is compatible with any and every truth claim, it is meaningless. It would then be indistinguishable from, say, Buddhism or atheism. Truly it would be chaotic, shapeless and devoid of identity. Christian thinkers and leaders have always recognized this and have sought to identify a core of essential Christian beliefs that all mature, capable Christians must affirm in order to be considered truly Christian. There must be a distinguishing border between what is Chrisitan and what is not. If there is no line, then Christianity means nothing as Olson points out.
But what about those other pesky issues that seem really important as well? This is where things can get really messy. Across the board there are doctrines held dear by many Christians that seem to come into regular conflict. Some of these are things like, are the gifts of the Holy Spirit still in operation, women in ministry, Arminianism vs Calvinism, creation and age of the earth, what do the end times look like, and the list can go on and on.
So how do we handle these issues?
The question we must ask is, does this particular issue strike at the core of not just the gospel, but it’s very foundation. I can look at the Calvinism vs Arminianism debate and see well-made arguments on both sides, and also can understand the possibility of weaknesses in my own position. But in that I am still able to be in fellowship, be encouraged and grow with my brothers and sisters who hold to strong reformed doctrine. There are many pastors and theologians who are ardent Calvinists that I very much appreciate, and I have no issue listening to their sermons or reading their books.
We then have a different category of issues. These are those that strike at not just the core of Chrisitan belief, but the foundation of them. In our day and age, we know that this primary issue is that of sexuality and marriage. Why is this issue so different? We don’t see the difference between man and women, or what marriage is listed directly in any creed or explanation of the gospel. But, in everything that is foundational to that core belief is how God has established them. All throughout Scripture God likens His relationship with His people (physical Israel in the OT, and the Church in the NT) to marriage. He has the groom, and the Church as His Bride. We see in Scripture and in nature how God has instilled different aspects of who He is into both men and women. As a general note, I see both men and women fully equal in the image of God. That being said, there does seem to be general temperamental differences between men and women that do come into play. Men are just as capable as women to be nurturing, though it seems women tend to generally be more predisposed towards this characteristic. The term “motherly instinct” is something seen around the world regardless of culture, so there’s something there.
So, when I hear someone say that “faithful Christians can disagree on sexuality and marriage”, the question that I have heard posed that I will ask is, faithful to what? We can have our disagreements on a whole litany of issues. But when it comes to something as foundational as sexuality and marriage, that is treading into waters that go deep to the heart of the foundations of how God has created all things. Because of this, I see the question of sexuality and marriage within the Church to be something that if not grounded in the classic Christian consensus as something that puts a person outside of Christian orthodoxy. How I interact with a person on this issue then is greatly dependent if they “are a Christian” or if they are not.
For those who are not followers of Jesus you will receive the same love and mercy that Christ showed to all He interacted with in need of a savior, one to redeem the broken lostness all of us were in before Christ. For when we come to Christ, He is our new identity, and source of fulfillment. As we follow and become more like Him, whatever it was we made our concept of who we are should fade away, be it who we are attracted to, the color of our skin or even our favorite hobby.
For those who profess to be followers of Christ, that is a different conversation. No cultural context, or “new understanding” can work its way around the clear distinctions found in the Word. I pray, just as I pray for myself that the light of Christ and the conviction of the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to His way and truth. Holding convictions from Scripture is not unloving. It is truly unloving to say we follow the One who leads us into all truth, but then not do so. His transforming work is effectual to all areas of our life.
May we all have the grace, peace and wisdom of Christ as we move forward.
by Joel V Webb | Jan 17, 2024 | Uncategorized
We look at the world around us and wonder what is going on!? We see so much polarization, conflict and no matter what issue it seems there is either one side or the other.
What do we do? What is our path forward?
The question among most faithful Christians is “do we have the right position?” This is an important question to ask. Is the position we have truly grounded in a faithful interpretation of Scripture. Are we in line with what Christians have believed for most of our history and is it in line with God’s story seen in Scripture.
I don’t think for most of us this is the issue. For many we seem to be inside the big tent of orthodoxy. Yes, we don’t all line up exactly on every single issue, but overall, we are in agreement about the big stuff.
So, then what is the problem? Why is it that in some towns there needs to be 2 pastor’s prayer groups. Not because of schedule, but because some feel they can’t be in the same room praying as others. Why are we so quick to circle the wagons when our issue of choice comes up?
This comes down to not being an issue of position, but of posture. We spend so much time making sure we are thinking the way Jesus wants me to think about this thing (which does have importance), and taking no time to think “how would Jesus have gone about this?”
If we are honest, we realize that in most cases we would be with the group of people who were ready to stone the woman in adultery. How many of us would truly be the ones standing in the way of that. Yes, we are to follow Jesus faithfully in all things. Though we seem to get that confused with living our lives with rigid legalism, that if no one lines up then “TO HECK WITH EM”.
The last couple days I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. This side of new creation we are ALL going to image Christ imperfectly. No matter how hard we try, or how good we think out theology is, it’s going to be imperfect.
Maybe what needs to happen in a world that is rife with conflict, and people going to either side of the spectrum on any given issue to be the person standing in the middle. Yes, having a position that is consistent with a faithful Christian witness, that does not compromise the truth. And a posture that is loving and merciful, being a healing balm to a world that is hurting and in search of something more than the next talking point.
by Joel V Webb | Jan 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
I’m sure most of us have read a lot of books about the gospel, discipleship, getting saved and the like. While a lot of them over the years have been good, more often than not they were either too long, or so short they didn’t cover much in depth that needed to be.
This book hits all the check boxes. I have never read a better book in my life that summarizes the whole point of why we are here (other than the Bible of course!). In this short volume, Michael Heiser summarizes from Scripture why are we even here. If all this, then why.
It can be so easy to look around at everything we understand and ask that question, “but why would God do it all anyways?” It’s been a question that I’ve started wrestling with for the first time in my life. Actually,, seeking out the answer why without just shrugging it off.
That is when I found this book. I already was a fan of Heiser. His deep knowledge and understanding of the Bible and are great expanse of context that has opened up my eyes to so many different nuances I missed before were on full display here. Even though his academic works can be thick, this book is very accessible. It was made for the new Christian and anyone else who wants to get an idea of what does God want.
Between giving a big picture overview of the story we see in the Bible, to the practical steps of how to get saved, and the easy-to-understand elements of discipleship, I now have the book I will recommend to anyone who is wanting to know what it means to follow Jesus…or just needs to have some questions answered no matter how long they have been.
By the end of reading this book (which took around 2 hours start to finish) I have a renewed excitement about my walk with Christ, and I look forward to the same happening for you.
The book can be found for purchase
HERE
