In Making Sense of the Christian Faith Chapter 6 we are looking at the concept of “atonement.” In other words the question: “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?” It is the question that has been with Christianity ever since the beginning and it was a controversy even before Paul penned these words when writing his 1st letter to the Corinthians: but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:23)”
For many this question is a non-starter to faith. It is just too much to believe that God would become flesh and then (to add to the scandal of it all) die on a cross. And yet, it is at the center of what we believe. We can’t get away from it no matter how many diamonds we put on the crosses that we hang around our necks. Each of the gospel stories has the death and resurrection as its central event.
So the questions become: Does it make sense to you? Does it make enough sense to you to understand why it needed to happen? And… here’s the real question… does it make enough sense to you to be able to try and explain it to your children, your neighbors, your (fill in the blank). If not, read Chapter 6.
I say this because lately I have been looking at the big picture of faith in our culture. Sadly, less and less people know the Christian story these days. A simple reason for this is that less and less people are telling it. One of the reasons for this is because it is a hard story to tell. It takes work. And there is a risk, not everybody is going to believe it. Some might even scoff at us when we tell it. But, and here is the thing, for some it is going to be liberating, life-saving and the best story they have ever heard. This is why it has come to be known as “the gospel” which means “good news.”
Let’s not forget that it is a really beautiful story to know. It gives life. It tells the story of how much God loves us. It helps people to make sense of life. Let’s not forget that it is a story that is meant to be told even if it feels a bit risky or hard to tell. Let’s not forget we have beautiful feet.
Romans 10:15: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you do not know how to leave a comment, please select "comment as" and then either "Name/URL" and type your name and webpage (if you don't have a webpage you can leave "URL" blank). Or you can select "annonymous" if you would like to omit your name. Once you do that you can type your comment in the box. Thanks.