After an extended history with xanga, I am moving to blogger.com.  Many of my friends have blogs on their site, and I have found I much prefer them to xanga.

I wish my fellow xanga-ers well, and hope that you'll all come visit me at blogspot! 

bethabee

The following is a (rather long) excerpt from Mark Driscoll’s first book, Radical Reformission. 

But first, let me pause to explain the word “reformission”: it is a “radical call to reform the church’s traditionally flawed view of missions as something carried out only in foreign lands and to focus instead on the urgent need in our own neighborhoods, which are filled with diverse cultures of Americans who desperately need the gospel of Jesus and life in His church.  Most significant, they need a gospel and a church that are faithful both to the scriptural texts and to the cultural contexts of America” (Reformission 18).

Second, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Driscoll, let me say a word about him: he’s fabulous. He’s the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle (www.marshillchurch.org).  He is theologically conservative and culturally liberal, seeking to take the gospel into the culture: “…the gospel must be contextualized in a way that is accessible to the culture and faithful to the Scriptures, [and] God’s people must continually review their presentation of the gospel to ensure that the form in which they present it is the most effective one” (Reformission 56). 

And lest you be concerned that contextualizing the gospel to be accessible to a certain culture is a bad thing, let me point out, as Driscoll does, that the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were each written to a different culture.  Matthew was written by a Jewish Christian to Jews. Mark was written by a Jewish Christian to Romans.  Luke was written by a Gentile Christian to Gentiles.  John was written by a Jewish Christian to Greeks.  And while some critics of Scripture point to the differences between the gospels as contradictions, it is clear that each of the four accounts display the same gospel, only presented by different people in different ways.  “It is vital,” Driscoll says, “that we continually look for ways of presenting the gospel that will be best suited for the people we encounter so that they can journey toward Jesus” (Reformission 58).

So below I have copied a part of a chapter in Radical Reformission in hopes that someone will read it and be challenged, as I was.  Let us commit to bringing the gospel into our culture, but let us do it wisely:

…

Reformission therefore begins with a simple return to Jesus,who by grace saves us and sends us into mission.  Jesus has called us to (1) the gospel (loving our Lord), (2) the culture (loving our neighbor), and (3) the church (loving our brother).  But one of the causes of our failure to fulfill our mission in the American church is that the various Christian traditions are faithful on only one or two of these counts.  When we fail to love our Lord, neighbor and brother simultaneously, we bury our mission in one of three holes: the parachurch, liberalism, or fundamentalism.

Gospel + Culture – Church = Parachurch

First, many Christians become so frustrated with the church that they try to bring the gospel into the culture without it.  This is commonly referred to as the parachurch, which includes evangelistic ministries such as Young Life and Campus Crusade for Christ.  The success of these ministries is due in large part to their involvement in culture and in loving people, whereas the church often functions as an irrelevant subculture.  But the failure of such ministries is that they are often disconnected from the local church, connecting unchurched people to Jesus without connecting them to the rest of Jesus’ people.  This can lead to theological immaturity.  Once someone is saved, he or she is encouraged to do little more than get other people saved.

Also, since parachurch ministries are often age-specific,they lack the benefits of a church culture in which all generations are integrated to help people navigate the transitions of life.  This further separates families from each other if mom, dad and kids are each involved in disconnected life-stage ministries outside of their church, rather than in integrated ministries within it.

::The parachurch tends to love the Lord and love its neighbors, but not to love its brothers.

Culture + Church – Gospel = Liberalism

Second, some churches are so concerned with being culturally relevant that, though they are deeply involved in the culture, they neglect the gospel.  They convert people to the church and to good works, but not to Jesus. This is classic liberal Christianity, and it exists largely in the dying mainline churches.  The success of these ministries lies in that they are involved in the social and political fabric of their culture, loving people and doing good works.  Their failure is that they bring to the culture a false gospel of accommodation, rather than confrontation, by seeking to bless people as they are rather than calling them to a repentant faith that transforms them. Often the motive for this is timidity because, as Paul says, the gospel is foolish and a stumbling block to the unrepentant. Liberal Christians are happy to speak of institutional sin but are reticent to speak of personal sin because they will find themselves at odds with sinners in the culture.

::Liberal Christians run the risk of loving their neighbors and their brothers at the expense of loving their Lord.

Church + Gospel – Culture = Fundamentalism

Third, some churches are more into their church and its traditions, buildings, and politics than the gospel.  Though they know the gospel theologically, they rarely take it out of their church.  This is classic fundamentalism Christianity, which flourishes most widely in more independent-minded, Bible-believing churches. The success of these churches lies in that they love the church and often love the people in the church. Their failure is that it is debatable whether they love Jesus and lost people in the culture as much as they love their own church.  Pastors at these churches are prone to speak about the needs of the church, focusing on building up its people and keeping them from sinning.  These churches exist to bring other Christians in, more than to send them out into the culture with the gospel.  Over time, they can become so inwardly focused that the gospel is replaced with rules, legalism, and morality supported with mere prooftexts from the Bible.

::Fundamental Christians are commonly found to love their Lord and their brothers, but not their neighbors.

Reformission is a gather of the best aspects of each of these types of Christianity: living in the tension of being Christians and churches who are culturally liberal yet theologically conservative and who are driven by the gospel of grace to love their Lord, brothers and neighbors.

I was reading an article today by John Piper on alcohol abstinance and church membership.  This is a topic about which I am very interested, especially as of late: our seminary requires us to sign a covenant that requires complete alcohol abstinance while we are students:

Today I found myself reading blogs written by the President of the seminary Wesley and I will attend in the fall.  I came across Dr. R. Albert Mohler's recent controversial article on homosexuality, and spent a long time pondering the final two of ten points he urged Christians to think about:

9. We must stop confusing the issues of moral responsibility and moral choice. We are all responsible for our sexual orientation, but that does not mean that we freely and consciously choose that orientation. We sin against homosexuals by insisting that sexual temptation and attraction are predominately chosen. We do not always (or even generally) choose our temptations. Nevertheless, we are absolutely responsible for what we do with sinful temptations, whatever our so-called sexual orientation.

::I have been guilty of confusing moral responsibility and moral choice, as have about 99.99% of Christians I know and love.  Dr. Mohler challenges our thinking.  The issue is not about choice, it's about action. 

10. Christians must be very careful not to claim that science can never prove a biological basis for sexual orientation. We can and must insist that no scientific finding can change the basic sinfulness of all homosexual behavior. The general trend of the research points to at least some biological factors behind sexual attraction, gender identity, and sexual orientation. This does not alter God's moral verdict on homosexual sin (or heterosexual sin, for that matter), but it does hold some promise that a deeper knowledge of homosexuality and its cause will allow for more effective ministries to those who struggle with this particular pattern of temptation. If such knowledge should ever be discovered, we should embrace it and use it for the greater good of humanity and for the greater glory of God.

::I was once very concerned about a possible "gay gene" and how it might challenge the gospel.  I have come to realize, as Dr. Mohler articulately explains, that this type of genetic causation would only futher defend the Biblical defintion of a marred and fallen creation.  As Dr. Mohler states in a follow-up article to his first (a must-read!), "[If] science were ever to discover a correlation or causation with biological factors, Christians should not be surprised. We believe in the catastrophic and comprehensive effects of the Fall and God's judgment upon sin."

I have many close friends who identify themselves as bisexual or homosexual, and the issue of homosexuality has been one that has tested and tried my Christian faith for years.  It is an issue about which I am extremely passionate.  I maintain that homosexuality is a sin, and I concur with all of Dr. Mohler's expressed beliefs and opinions, as they originate in Scripture.  But I find myself intensely yearning for a compassionate Christian response to this issue that lies close to home for me.  When my pastor announced to our congregation a few months ago that we might expect a visit from Fred Phelps and his crew the next Sunday (which didn't happen, thank God), I had to quietly exit the sanctuary because I could not contain my sorrow.  I ran to the bathroom and sobbed.  Oh Beloved, let us never condemn.  Let us speak truth.  But let us speak it in love.  Let us speak as ones who have been set free from the chains of sin and death!  Let us speak as ones who have been there.  I may not struggle with homosexuality, but I could list for you other areas of sin with which I do struggle--and none of them are pretty.    Despite past, present, or future struggles, all of humanity exited the womb having deeply offended a holy God.  Humbly, as the chief of all sinners, I plead: Let us not be self-righteous.  Let us be humble; let us point to Christ and His free grace.

"Let's remember," Dr. Mohler writes, "that all of us are born with a huge moral defect -- we are sinners from the start. Christians who have responded with claims that God would not allow a person to be born with a bent toward sin miss the clear biblical teaching that all of us are born with a bent toward sin and with a sin nature. We are born marked by Adam's sin and already under God's just condemnation for that sin."  He continues, "The only cure for sin itself is the cross of Christ. No therapy will cleanse us of sin, no treatment will atone. Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ will save, and salvation is found in Him alone."

To all of my homosexual friends: Please accept my deepest apologies if I have ever come across as judgmental, harsh or rude in expressing my Biblical beliefs.  I love you.

To all of my heterosexual friends: Please let Dr. Mohler's words challenge you, and come alongside me in cultivating a compassionate Christian response to this major issue in our culture.

To Jesus: thank You for erasing all of my sin, as offensive as it is to You.  I humbly recognize that there is nothing good in me, and continue to find life in your forgiveness.

...

oh, precious is the flow

that makes me white as snow

no other fount i know

nothing but the blood of Jesus*

Wes and I decided that we wanted to include a "definition" of marriage in our wedding program.  This is what we came up with:

Today is a grand and glorious day for us, and we're so glad that you have joined us! It is a day in which "the two shall become one flesh" (Ephesians 5:31; cf. Genesis 2:24).  It is interesting to ponder what it means to become one flesh, but the Apostle Paul says that "it refers to Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:32).   We believe that marriage is rooted God and His gospel, and we wanted to share a few of our thoughts with you as we prepare to be married today.

While this is an incredibly happy and joyous day, we want you to know that neither happiness nor joy is the ultimate reason why we are to be married today.   We firmly believe that marriage is not chiefly about our happiness.   First and foremost, marriage is a symbol of the relationship between Christ and His church.  In marriage we see the beauty of a husband's Christ-like servant-leadership in providing and protecting for his wife (Ephesians 5:25-30) and a wife's church-like submission and gentility toward her husband (Ephesians 5:22-23; 1 Peter 3:1).  

Today we will embrace a covenant and pledge our faithfulness to one another for the rest of our lives.   Even now, we are thankful that our relationship is not solely based on feelings of love or intention, as even the greatest of intentions may fail.   We recognize that we are entering into a covenant in front of God and our friends and family, and we are prepared to fulfill that commitment to one another.  For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health—we are pledging our absolute faithfulness.   We recognize God's great commitment to the church even when she resists His love, and we are prepared to bend out that kind of grace to one another.

We do realize that marriage won't always be easy.   As the great Protestant reformer Martin Luther said, "The world says of marriage: a short joy and a long displeasure."  This is all too common.   But by the grace of God and guidance from great friends like you, we believe, along with Martin Luther, that "he who understands [marriage] finds in it delight, love, and joy without ceasing."  That is, when we recognize that our relationship is about the glory of God magnificently displayed in the reconciliation of sinners to God and each other, we can most fully and truly find delight, love, and joy in one another and in our marriage.  

All that being said, we are so thankful to God for being so creative and for ordaining such a challenging and exhilarating institution!   Our prayer is that our marriage would portray the Gospel – that the world see and grasp the reality of the relationship of Christ and the church and come to His feet, drinking from His flowing rivers of grace and mercy.

...

I'm getting married  :)