There is no way around it; there is no shortcut to escape it unless you want to forsake it, but the Gospel offends. You must drink it straight. For the Christian, the alternative to living out a Gospel that offends is to live as if the Gospel does not matter. We can move through our workday cavalierly playing the nominal Christian game, remaining quiet when you should have stood firm; you can let Uncle Joe splurt his vitriol against the church and be a good girl, not causing offense anywhere, just like the Apostle Paul (II Cor. 11:25), right? Is it or is it not the power of God unto salvation and foolishness to the world (Rom. 1; I Cor. 1)? The way you live is a determiner of one of these two choices.

So, how do we intentionally live a Gospel that touches the core of anthropology? That hits the center of human pride? That strikes at the root of secular practice? The first way to live a Gospel that offends, that is foolishness to the world is to practice those Christian rituals that birthed the Christ-community in the first century. And they were the “foolish” rituals of hospitality, friendship, and sacraments. The Early Church had many failures, but they hosted each other, they loved each other, and they ate the Lord’s Supper with each other. And those practices toppled an empire. How is that for a Gospel offense?!

If the cultural forces continue to move away from the authentic values of the Church, members will have to see the community of Christ as an alternative city fully ready to provide counter-cultural measures that build the Church once again. This is no time to rest or to play nice with anti-christian politicians and lawmakers. We will have to restore our sense of the good by loving one another and surrounding ourselves with a Creed that cannot be torn by the mobs but is embraced by a genuine community of believers. We must return to those principles which formed us into the unstoppable empire that grew from 12 to billions. We need to declare these things loud and clear.

“We believe in God the Father Almighty!” but they will say, “How dare you!”

“Maker of Heaven of Earth!” but they will say, “That’s not science!”

“And in Jesus Christ our Lord!” and they will say, “That’s not diversity.”

“Who shall come to judge the living and the dead!” and they will retort, “Nobody can judge!”

Every time we get together for coffee, eat with our neighbor, talk about the goodness of God, and practice holy habits, we live the Gospel in word and deed. We are embracing a different creed than the world’s rules.

No, there is no way around it. The Gospel offends! It afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted. Any other message is false and has no power or salvation.

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In the revival of conservative politics and theonomic ethics, the danger is that evangelicals eager to see all things made new will capitulate to theological formulations that are more akin to Anabaptist rituals in practice and worship.

But the return to proper rituals and rightly dividing of the Law-Word does not mean a return to a Victorian past but a movement to a vibrant future. We incorporate past habits, styles, and paradigms by rightly absorbing them into our new world; adapting the parapet to protection around the pool (Deut. 22:8).

The Schleitheim Confession of Anabaptist religion should not be a model for those in the Reformed tradition seeking this cultural and political reformation. The attempt to disassociate from the world by forming isolated colonies leaves the church unprepared and naked before our enemies. Instead of providing a strong refuge for people, it serves as an escape world.

James Jordan’s emphasis on historical movement from land to sea; or land to metropolis is the right one. We are called to engage/be with/in the presence of/ the polis. Yet, many have adopted a neo-anabaptist paradigm. Chestertonian localism is good only insofar as the locale becomes the center of ecclesial life rather than an attempt to hide. As Peter Leithart observes: “Jesus doesn’t call us to be copers. We aren’t survivalists. We aren’t to beat a retreat. “

Generally, this plays out in the evangelical tendency towards externalized practices that differentiate Christians from unbelievers, other Christians, and Christians even within our tribes. I am describing a theological formulation that is not content with basic biblical imperatives but rather delves into extra layers of differentiation.

Under worship, this may play out in tendencies against instrumentation or excessive emphasis on preaching to the detriment of the liturgy (identifying liturgical practices as too Roman Catholic; pitting word against sacrament) and a fundamental pursuit of novelty in worship patterns identifying the structure as too cumbersome.

Anabaptism–theologically and historically–is a distancing from good, material things, despising the gifts of God in technology, industry, plentifulness, & McDonald’s (I Tim. 6:17). The solution is not to look different for the sake of looking different but to act differently for the sake of changing society’s rituals.

For an additional follow-up, see my post.

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Many Christians know little about the Church Calendar, which means that many evangelicals will treat this Sunday like any other day. But this Sunday marks the beginning of the “Ordinary Season” (not in the mundane or common sense, but the term comes from the word “ordinal,” which means “counted time”). This season–called the season of Pentecost (or Trinity Season) is composed of 23-28 Sundays, and it fleshes out the mission of the Church. It begins tomorrow and continues all the way to November 26th. To put it simply, Pentecost is the outworking of the mission of Jesus through his people by the power of the Spirit. The Pentecost Season emphasizes the unleashing of the Spirit’s work and power through the Bride of Jesus Christ, the Church.

Liturgically, many congregations wear red as a symbol of the fiery-Spirit that befell the Church (Acts 2). The Season brings with it a renewed emphasis on the Church as the central institution to the fulfillment of God’s plans in history. As such, it brings out the practical nature of Christian theology. Joan Chittister defines Pentecost as “the period of unmitigated joy, of total immersion in the implications of what it means to be a Christian, to live a Christian life” (The Liturgical Year, 171).

The evangelical church has offered a Spiritlessness teaching and worship. We have acted afraid of the mighty rushing wind for fear of its mystical presence. However, Pentecost exhorts us to be spiritual (Spirit-led) while emphasizing the titanic involvement of the Third Person of the Trinity in beautifying the world to reflect the glory of the Father and the Son. We must worship Spirit-led and in truth (Jn. 4:24).

The Spirit is crucial to the forming and re-forming of any environment. It communicates our thoughts, emotions, and prayers to our Meditator. The Third Person of the Trinity emotionalizes rightly and intercedes on our behalf in the midst of our ignorance (Rom. 8:26-30). Further, the Spirit draws individuals (John 6:44) to enter into one baptized community of faith. The Spirit, in the words of James Jordan, is the “divine match-maker.” He brings isolated individuals into a Pentecostalized body, a body that has many parts, but one Head.

So, let us embrace this Season! Let us join this cosmic Pentecostal movement and embrace the mission of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

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