Saturday, May 17, 2008

True Gospel...?

Here me out, but I doubt Christianity as a religion is going to be around much longer. I'm not talking about true Christ followers, Im talking about the social/religious system that has dominated the West and now is fading away. Im talking about "church" as we know it. My faith shifted quite a bit through college years, and I've come to now longer associate myself with what most of the globe understands about "Christianity."


I dont believe in a faith where people struggle to obey rules and fix themselves with a system, that doesnt work. I tried it, failed, and was left disillusioned. That "Christianity" is a form that is actually more Buddhist or Hindu in essence, and not Biblical Christianity.


I believe in a God who came to earth in His Son Jesus, who took upon Himself all sin, and rose again. I believe this Jesus now lives in me, and lives through me through the person of the Holy Spirit, enabling me to not only be in relationship with the Father, but also lives through me as I was created to live, rightly, in the light. Christ living through me is re-ordering my life to Kingdom culture.


I dont believe in social Christianity where people confine their idea of God to western culture and values. (For instance, most Americans idea of "god" is nothing more than their values like benevolence, tolerance, and a false idea of love without justice. This is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.)


I believe in Christ's Kingdom which is most simply illustrated in the sermon on the mount... a kingdom that is fluid through any cultural context...although His Kingdom confronts the false in earthly culture, and can be seen in all that is good and true...


In an age when there is so much disillusionment, people are looking for authenticity, not religious forms. This is why I dont find myself in the faith I grew up in, it was really a system of "fix yourself" legalism that didnt work. It was a social culture that didnt seek to reveal Christ to the world. This is also why I dont resonate with alot of the emmergant church: they noticed the lack of authenticity of western christianity and sort of "abandoned the sinking ship" so to speak, by trying to find ways to appeal to modern culture. I dont think different "appeals" or "forms" are the answer, honestly. I think the church needs to rediscover what the true gospel is, and begin living it, thus trusting the Holy Spirit in them to reveal Christ to the world through them.


Im looking rather to discover the real gospel from the scriptures, and this Christ who lives through me, who will enable me to walk in Kingdom culture and be a part of what God is doing in my generation...

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