As far as the ordinary man in the pew is concerned, God is dead. His daily life runs its predictable, gilt-edged, humdrum course without reference to God. He would of course be scandalised by the suggestion that God is dead, but if it were true it would make no practical difference to his life. His work, his home, his sport, his politics, yes, and even his church life would all run on very much the same. They have no place for God; not practically, at any rate.
Rev. Dr R.T. France, 1970
These sober words were written almost forty years ago, and yet the “ordinary man on the pew” today would surely feel their conviction if he was honest with himself. As one such ordinary man, I can only utter a regretful “Amen” to France’s diagnosis.
As he says, we would be aghast and outraged at the mere suggestion that God is dead, and rightly so. Yet our surprise and anger would be founded on semi-believed theological propositions, and so would hold little weight with those making the provocative suggestion, and even with ourselves. We are trying to live in a world without gravity while simultaneously holding to Newton’s universal law of gravitation when debates about gravity emerge. We float to meetings about gravity every Sunday where we affirm its authority over our lives, and then float back home, further steeped in the theoretical knowledge of gravity (or perhaps not), but with its reality all but lost to us.
God is no theory to be proved. He is a reality to be experienced. The reality. “In Him we live and move and have our being” said Paul to the philosophers of Athens. The apostle to the Gentiles was under illusions about the necessity of God for all of life. Suggest to Paul that God is dead, and he would not have entertained the notion, as we wouldn’t either. But if one took a look at his life, it would be extremely difficult to even make such a suggestion - the dramatic conversion from violent opponent of the church to chief church-planter, the miracles, the Christian communities formed under his apostleship, the power of the Spirit in his life and ministry -- all of these things speak of a living God, active in the church for the sake of the world.
I recently co-lead a discussion at the youth group in our church where the topic was “Christianity; or, What have we gotten ourselves into and why should we stay in?” One of the questions was simply “What reason(s) did you have for becoming a Christian?” There were numerous answers given, but one in particular struck me: Seeing God work.
Note the present tense.
In giving due priority to the historical work of Jesus (or work of God through Jesus), we have surely been faithful to those first witnesses. But I think that in doing so we have neglected the present power of the living God in ways that were never intended by those who placed such great weight on the cross of Christ.
Without intending it to, this post ties in with those undeveloped thoughts on the gospel from a few days ago. We have in some circles a gospel of the past and the future: Jesus died for my sins, and so I get to go to heaven when I die. This is perhaps why that Southern Baptist panel was so dismissive of Tom Wright’s gospel summary that Jesus is Lord. It’s a present tense statement!
God as a living, present, active reality makes us uncomfortable. We can handle knowing that Christ died for our sins. That’s good news that talks directly about us, and we like that very much. But Jesus is Lord? Well, that focuses on Jesus, and so the good news of such a reality is already lost to us since we are not the centre of attention.
Does seeing God work now fit into our gospel? Or are we willing to neglect this reality to the point where God, for all intents and purposes, is dead? The ordinary man or woman sitting in church needs to hear of the Lamb who was crucified. But they also need to hear of and experience the power the resurrected Lord whose reign has already commenced, and who exhorts us to bring every aspect of our lives -- our home, our sport, our politics, and yes, even our church life -- under His kingship.
“A God to be reckoned with”, says R.T. France. A “Transcendental Interferer”, says C.S. Lewis. What do we say?
As he says, we would be aghast and outraged at the mere suggestion that God is dead, and rightly so. Yet our surprise and anger would be founded on semi-believed theological propositions, and so would hold little weight with those making the provocative suggestion, and even with ourselves. We are trying to live in a world without gravity while simultaneously holding to Newton’s universal law of gravitation when debates about gravity emerge. We float to meetings about gravity every Sunday where we affirm its authority over our lives, and then float back home, further steeped in the theoretical knowledge of gravity (or perhaps not), but with its reality all but lost to us.
God is no theory to be proved. He is a reality to be experienced. The reality. “In Him we live and move and have our being” said Paul to the philosophers of Athens. The apostle to the Gentiles was under illusions about the necessity of God for all of life. Suggest to Paul that God is dead, and he would not have entertained the notion, as we wouldn’t either. But if one took a look at his life, it would be extremely difficult to even make such a suggestion - the dramatic conversion from violent opponent of the church to chief church-planter, the miracles, the Christian communities formed under his apostleship, the power of the Spirit in his life and ministry -- all of these things speak of a living God, active in the church for the sake of the world.
I recently co-lead a discussion at the youth group in our church where the topic was “Christianity; or, What have we gotten ourselves into and why should we stay in?” One of the questions was simply “What reason(s) did you have for becoming a Christian?” There were numerous answers given, but one in particular struck me: Seeing God work.
Note the present tense.
In giving due priority to the historical work of Jesus (or work of God through Jesus), we have surely been faithful to those first witnesses. But I think that in doing so we have neglected the present power of the living God in ways that were never intended by those who placed such great weight on the cross of Christ.
Without intending it to, this post ties in with those undeveloped thoughts on the gospel from a few days ago. We have in some circles a gospel of the past and the future: Jesus died for my sins, and so I get to go to heaven when I die. This is perhaps why that Southern Baptist panel was so dismissive of Tom Wright’s gospel summary that Jesus is Lord. It’s a present tense statement!
God as a living, present, active reality makes us uncomfortable. We can handle knowing that Christ died for our sins. That’s good news that talks directly about us, and we like that very much. But Jesus is Lord? Well, that focuses on Jesus, and so the good news of such a reality is already lost to us since we are not the centre of attention.
Does seeing God work now fit into our gospel? Or are we willing to neglect this reality to the point where God, for all intents and purposes, is dead? The ordinary man or woman sitting in church needs to hear of the Lamb who was crucified. But they also need to hear of and experience the power the resurrected Lord whose reign has already commenced, and who exhorts us to bring every aspect of our lives -- our home, our sport, our politics, and yes, even our church life -- under His kingship.
“A God to be reckoned with”, says R.T. France. A “Transcendental Interferer”, says C.S. Lewis. What do we say?
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