John Frame on how the gospel influences culture:
The gospel, you see, is not just a message for individuals, telling them how to avoid God’s wrath. It is also a message about a kingdom, a society, a new community, a new covenant, a new family, a new nation, a new way of life, and therefore, a new culture. God calls us to build a city of God, a New Jerusalem.
Remember the cultural mandate. Sin does not abrogate it..
The gospel creates new people, who are committed to Christ in every area of their lives. People like these will change the world. They will fill and rule the earth for the glory of Jesus. They will plant churches and establish godly families and they will also establish hospitals, schools, arts, and sciences. That is what has happened, by God’s grace. And that is what will continue to happen until Jesus comes. (The Doctrine of the Christian Life, pp.861-862)
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Darryl,
I think that one nuance that N.T. Wright is careful to point out is that it is not us who ‘build’ the kingdom. God is the one who does this in his own mysterious way. However, we are, as he would say, to anticipate the day when God makes all things new by living as kingdom citizens now. It may seem picky but I find it helpful. This is what, I think, the apostles are doing through the ministry of the Spirit in the book of Acts. “You see what were are doing; well it points to the reality that the Messiah has come and is reigning even now!”
mother teresa entreated her nuns not to engage in conversations about christ with the hindus they brought off the street and ministered to. but instead, she said…….. BE CHRIST.
the hundred fold growth of her ministry by the holy spirit, speaks for itself.
this is basically about living the three love commandments, which are the essence of the new covenant.(love god, neighbor as oneself, and one another as christ has loved us.)
John R,
If that is true, then Mother Teresa endorsed a kind of ‘evangelism’ that is quite contrary to that we find in the New Testament. We must BE CHRIST, to be sure, but without words that BEING can be interpreted however people want. We need to explain our actions just as the apostles did in the book of Acts. “Why are you doing this?”…”We are doing this because the crucified and risen Jesus is reigning!”
Hi Nick,
Not looking to pick a fight, just sharing some ideas with you born from my relationship with the Lord through the Holy Spirit and my life experience, in general.
God hasn’t spoken to me in an audible voice. Not even once. It is what he has done for me that has ” sealed the deal.” When I make myself available to Him, humbly, honestly, openly, thinking only that I love Him and trust in Him, He instills in me His Peace. He introduces me to the better side of myself. He introduces me to the man he made me to be. He helps me love myself as He loves me. He helps me love others as He loves me. He Graces my life and inspires me to help bring His Grace to others.
For me, what He does and who He is to me take priority over what others say He is and what they say He does.
As for my own personal story, not unlike many others I suspect, life took and takes turns for the worse when what people do is contradictory to what people have first said they do. Very often, worse than the hypocrisy itself, is our reaction to it. Darkness spreads only more darkness.
Learning to understand and forgive others allows God to open our eyes to the truth of our own hypocrisies. In time, through His Grace our actions and our thought are reconciled. What we do speaks for us in such a powerful way that words become the lesser truth.
Yours In Christ,
Paul.
I like that word “also” in the second sentence of the quote. We humans want so badly to make this an either/or situation. Frankly, could our faith be reduced to one or the other (the truths about Jesus or the ministry of/from Jesus), life would be so much easier. I might even be able to do the work without really needing God to get in the way.
Instead, the whole thing is a big beautiful mess where we’re the ones getting in the way. And yet, when we’re open and humble, I think God looks at the mess and smiles the way a father smiles when his young son tries to “help” in the shop.
It’s about the Kingdom. It’s about you and me. It’s about community. It’s about individuals. It’s about good works. It’s about the person of Jesus and the truth of his victory over sin and death.
As God restores his people to Kingdom life, we will indeed do all the good things that serve and minister to others. And, in the process, we will name the One who has done this good work in us and desires to do this work in all.