Thursday, March 24, 2005
Jesus, the Logos
Jesus said of the devil, “He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is not truth in him. For he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” John 8:44
Another direction from Jesus, “If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31,32
As Schaeffer proposes, “The issue is clear: either this is truth, or not. A line is drawn which cannot be straddled.” This is the dilemma of the postmodern world and more specifically, the post Christian church. “The philosophy of relativism is deleting the word “truth” from man’s understanding,” says the author of Christianity is Jewish. I will add, it has deleted it from far too many sermons. But supposing truth does exist as an objective reality? What, asks Schaeffer, does the word truth mean? She portends, “it means there is something opposite that is not true, and that there can be no clarity of understanding if there is a muddy mixture.”
In the body of Christ, we have a muddy mixture of truth and lies. It can’t be helped, of course! After all, Paul told us, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but one day we will se with crystal clarity.” But we still see something. Thanks to a book we are all blessed to have at least one copy of, we are able to clear the water under God’s guidance. What am I saying? If Christian fellowship and relationships are reliant upon our faith, strong faith is reliant upon understanding, and understanding upon knowledge, the hope of us getting on the same page spiritually seems logical. We are warned, “A house divided against itself will not stand.” Matt. 12:25 Believers are to be of one mind. See memory verse: 1Cor. 1:10. “Do not conform to the patterns of this world…be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you might know God’s perfect and pleasing will.” Rom.12:2
We are different, talent-wise and naturally in different places growth-wise. Also, the Spirit will direct us in various ways…but all for His same, united purpose, the glory of God and His eternal Kingdom. We have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16) Christ is the head of His church, the body. (Eph. 4:15) I believe we can be on the same page…and we should. Sunday morning shepherding from the pastor/priest is key and that puts a lot of pressure on him. On the radio awhile back, I heard a bit. The preacher spoke of six fundamental beliefs that the Church of Christ rests on. I’m no doctor of theology but I could narrow it down to one. The first doctrine was the authority of God’s Word. The others simply are contained in the Holy Scriptures…so if we believe the first, we believe all six. That first one has become a tremendous hump for many churched people, partly because of weak shepherding from the pulpit or otherwise. My hope and prayer is for Christians to get over it and actually become one of those fundamentalist, Bible-believing churchgoers. That means absorbing the lessons of Scripture during the week, however, whenever, alone or with whomever, and accepting them by faith and reason. God’s Word is Logical. Jesus is our Shepherd. LIsten for His voice.
Another direction from Jesus, “If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31,32
As Schaeffer proposes, “The issue is clear: either this is truth, or not. A line is drawn which cannot be straddled.” This is the dilemma of the postmodern world and more specifically, the post Christian church. “The philosophy of relativism is deleting the word “truth” from man’s understanding,” says the author of Christianity is Jewish. I will add, it has deleted it from far too many sermons. But supposing truth does exist as an objective reality? What, asks Schaeffer, does the word truth mean? She portends, “it means there is something opposite that is not true, and that there can be no clarity of understanding if there is a muddy mixture.”
In the body of Christ, we have a muddy mixture of truth and lies. It can’t be helped, of course! After all, Paul told us, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but one day we will se with crystal clarity.” But we still see something. Thanks to a book we are all blessed to have at least one copy of, we are able to clear the water under God’s guidance. What am I saying? If Christian fellowship and relationships are reliant upon our faith, strong faith is reliant upon understanding, and understanding upon knowledge, the hope of us getting on the same page spiritually seems logical. We are warned, “A house divided against itself will not stand.” Matt. 12:25 Believers are to be of one mind. See memory verse: 1Cor. 1:10. “Do not conform to the patterns of this world…be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you might know God’s perfect and pleasing will.” Rom.12:2
We are different, talent-wise and naturally in different places growth-wise. Also, the Spirit will direct us in various ways…but all for His same, united purpose, the glory of God and His eternal Kingdom. We have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16) Christ is the head of His church, the body. (Eph. 4:15) I believe we can be on the same page…and we should. Sunday morning shepherding from the pastor/priest is key and that puts a lot of pressure on him. On the radio awhile back, I heard a bit. The preacher spoke of six fundamental beliefs that the Church of Christ rests on. I’m no doctor of theology but I could narrow it down to one. The first doctrine was the authority of God’s Word. The others simply are contained in the Holy Scriptures…so if we believe the first, we believe all six. That first one has become a tremendous hump for many churched people, partly because of weak shepherding from the pulpit or otherwise. My hope and prayer is for Christians to get over it and actually become one of those fundamentalist, Bible-believing churchgoers. That means absorbing the lessons of Scripture during the week, however, whenever, alone or with whomever, and accepting them by faith and reason. God’s Word is Logical. Jesus is our Shepherd. LIsten for His voice.
