Signposts: Duane W.H. Arnold, PhD
+Michael Ramsey often referred to creeds, liturgies and dogmas as “signposts to the Gospel”. That is, they are not to be isolated or set aside from the biblical narrative, the life of the Church or the central message of the Gospel itself that in the Incarnation, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. When we take any particular aspect of Christian faith and become absolute and/or rigid in our thinking, we run the risk of mistaking the signpost as ultimate, while at the same time ignoring the very Gospel which we are being pointed towards. All this is to say, that creeds, dogma, liturgies and, indeed, daily Christian conduct are to be measured by one thing and one thing only, and that is the Gospel.
If one were looking for a single brief passage that describes the Incarnation that is at the heart of the Gospel, the kenosis passage of the Letter to the Philippians might arguably be the best.
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped after, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”
We are now living through a troubled time in which all that was once normal has been disrupted. This is true of our working lives. It is true of our lives with family and friends. It is also true of our life as the Church. With regard to the Church, we have witnessed the disruption of what we consider to be “normal” church life, especially in regard to gathering for worship. I will readily admit that in a country as large as ours, with churches in many differing locales and situations, there may be arguments which can be made on both sides of the issue. What does concern me, however, is twofold in nature.
Firstly, I am concerned about the politicization of the issue. As you might imagine, I have a number of Bibles on my bookshelves. Some of these Bibles have a section of writings called the Apocrypha placed between the Old Testament and the New Testament. These were deemed valuable for believers, but not necessarily canonical. What I have not found in any of these Bibles, however, is the United States Constitution. Now, as a US citizen, I certainly have rights enshrined in the Constitution. Moreover, one might argue that there are religious rights enshrined in the Constitution. Yet, does the assertion of rights, whether individual or corporate, carry greater weight than the central message of the Gospel as put forward in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians?
Secondly, I am concerned that in the clamor to congregate in larger groups once again, we are confusing the “signpost” nature of the Church with what the Church is to encompass, which is the Gospel. If I have come to one conclusion in my theological studies, it is that the Church owes its existence to the Gospel. The Church is, in the words of +Michael Ramsey, “the extension of the Incarnation”. That is, we are to show those very attributes outlined in the kenosis passage above in our daily and weekly and yearly life. It is not about an assertion of our rights or our demands, especially, I believe in a time such as we are living through at the moment.
Now, I fully recognize that there will be those who disagree with me on this matter. All I can say is that for me this is a matter of Christian conscience. While I may have political opinions, to allow those opinions to hold sway over the Gospel and, indeed, my looking “to the interests of others” is something that I cannot do.
Well, people died so you could make your opinion public.
Yes, and people also died for the sake of the faith…
Duane,
I too have settled on the kenosis passage you noted as the one to focus on in these times.
My personal belief this morning is that it is the only way to the much expected “revival’…which I also believe won’t come because we prefer a Constitutional interpretation of Scripture…
Michael
I agree. I don’t believe it is a matter of “demanding our rights”. Paul made an appeal on the basis of being a Roman citizen once, and then it was to ask that his case would be heard in Rome. 2 Cor. 11 recounts all the times he did not demand his rights. Reading through that chapter, I cannot help but wonder if Christian nationalism is indeed “another gospel”…
Duane,
I might as well cash in my chips. I do believe it has become “another gospel”…and I’ve personally never been more discouraged by the state of the “church” in my lifetime.
May the Lord keep us all from cynicism that would ruin what is left…
Michael
I think there are a lot of people right beside you…
Duane,
Within the context of your article, when Paul wrote, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” there were two things in particular that Paul was driving at: (1) “the same” as in a unified mind within the church, and (2) the mind of Christ Jesus.
On point #1, I think, and am interested in what you and others think, that contemporary American Christianity is biased in favor of individual interpretation rather than seeking a unity of spirit and doctrine.
On point #2, I think the “mind of Christ” (which is readily accessible, especially in the Gospels) is not taught very much or well. I don’t know if that is simple neglect or whether there is a perception that such teaching would not promote the type of church growth that many leaders are after. If you agree with the overall problem, do you or others have any insight into why?
When i pray, “hallowed be Thy Name” i realize that i have a very poor grasp on what i am declaring
I think – dunno – that too few of contemporary church leaders really have a fear (knee knocking respect) for our Triune God.
Are they just egoists who have found a place of what they view as status and power? Is God just their magic feather? Their boogeyman big stick?
Jean
In my reading, I see having the “mind of Christ” is simply the imitatio Christi that we are called to – as individuals and as the church. Paul then very succinctly lays out what we are to imitate. I think the unity, is unity with Christ. As to individual versus corporate, it is interesting that the kenosis passage is actually believed to be a Christian hymn that predated Paul’s writing. If so, he is really saying, “You sing this hymn… now live it!”.
Em
It makes you wonder…
Power, indeed.
I was struck by a very sobering comment from Karen Swallow Prior. She’s an English professor at Liberty University as well as a cultural critic. A writer asked her what’s going on with the Church and its seeming disregard for truth:
“[W]hile Christians rightly feared the crumbling of moral absolutes postmodernity would bring, we did not account or prepare for our own conscription into this worldview in which power replaces truth.”
She continued. “We therefore find ourselves not only being subject to but even using postmodern means—seeking platforms, leveraging power, increasing polarization, and unwittingly sacrificing truth in the process–in order, paradoxically, to achieve our ‘noble’ end of preserving truth. We have become the very thing we warned against,… Nietzsche was right: in the absence of truth, there is only power.”
Sobering, indeed.
bob1
A good observation by Prior. One with which I agree…
DA,
Me, too. I find it explains a lot of what’s been going on in our political, church and shared culture in the last few years.
I posted something similar in another forum, but I think it is useful here:
I am not a liberal, nor a member of the Christian Left, nor a progressive, nor a mainline denominational Christian by any means (far from it actually), but when I see that the Evangelicals sold their birthright for a bowl of political porridge, I have to call BS on that. I see members of the Christian Right buying into conspiracies and checking their reasoning at the door all to follow Trump.
It looks like Evangelical Right in the US was so afraid of losing power and influence in the culture, they hitched their wagons to Trump to avoid that fate. But in doing so, they will only hasten their demise and irrelevance (after all kind of hard to be taken seriously or respected when you sold your birthright and lost your saltiness). As it is, the Christian Left has been irrelevant and toothless for decades now.
I am reminded of a quote by Jean de La Foutaine:
“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.”
I am reminded of a quote by Jean de La Foutaine:
“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.”
Like The Road To Samarra…
3000 churches are opening up in California this Sunday. My church’s encouragement is to stay home or in the parking lot of at risk, and no Sunday school, families together. Other than that, no guidance. I’m going to wait a month to see how things unfold…
NV
“Like The Road To Samarra”
…And that road leads to self-inflicted harm. That may well be what we are witnessing.
CC San Jose made the news. They’re opening despite the tighter county orders. This isn’t really a good witness. https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/24/san-jose-church-pastor-vows-to-fully-reopen-next-week-regardless-of-stay-at-home-orders/
But hey, there’s no such thing as bad publicity right?
I think human life trumps any kind of publicity.
The pastor sounds like a whiny, petulant child.
“Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (I Sam. 21:25b)
NV
It truly is “another gospel”…
The NV and Michael,
No such thing as a bad publicity also applies to the Orange Dear Leader in the White House. I honestly think it would hurt Trump more if he was ignored and none of his insanity is even mentioned. He craves the spotlight so much that if no one paid attention to him, it would like depriving a person of oxygen.
Duane,
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
That is so true but so very hard to do. Our sin nature is so strong that we need to repeat that line every morning at breakfast to overcome our nature. And most days it won’t help, but it is a great goal.
If we ever do get there, we will be ready for heaven………..