You and Me
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Gospel, Perichoresis, Trinity |
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The gospel isn’t just about you. And the gospel isn’t just about me. It’s about you and me, together, included in the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We live in a world that likes to divide people up: insiders and outsiders, good and evil, friend and enemy. Against the fallen system of this world Jesus speaks of one, new, undivided humanity (Eph. 2:15) in which everyone is reconciled (Col. 1:20) and everyone is included in Jesus’ redeeming work (Rom 5:18).
Jesus speaks a very strong word to us about this new humanity that exists in him. He says we should love our enemies (Matt. 5:44) give to those who ask for our help (Matt. 5:42) and take care of those who are strangers among us (Heb. 13:2). When we understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is about all of us – you and me together – we can no longer participate in this world’s system of division, exclusion, and hatefulness.
Here in the United States we are entering into a year of political debate as we prepare to elect new leaders. As you listen to our politicians over the coming year I challenge you to pay attention to who is talking about life as we know it to be in Jesus. Who is talking about inclusion? Who is talking about helping those in need and caring for the strangers among us? Who is calling our society to be a place of unity, inclusion, and care for others? Those are the politicians we should be supporting because they are the ones who are speaking out of the truth of who we all are in Christ.
We should support them because life itself, lived out in human society in the light of the gospel of Christ, is not just about you and what’s good for you. And it’s not just about me and what’s good for me. Life is about you and me, together, included in the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Sermon: We Believe in the Body of Christ, Part 11B
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Christian Living, Church, Evangelism, Perichoresis, Trinity |
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In this second part of the final message in the Series “Contending for the Apostolic, Christ-centered, Trinitarian Faith!” Pastor Tim proclaims how the Life of the Church is practically transformed as Christ lives in and through His Body and out toward the larger world also included in His embrace!
Hard-Wired for Connection and Community
Filed under: By Nan Kuhlman, Christian Living, Love, Relationships | Tags: community, connection, I Am, interconnection of all living things, Tom Shadyac
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My hope is that I AM is a window into Truth, a glimpse into the miracle, the mystery and magic of who we really are, and of the basic nature of the connection and unity of all things~ Tom Shadyac
The documentary I Am (http://www.iamthedoc.com/) is the brainchild of director Tom Shadyac, whose film credits include hits like Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty, and Liar, Liar. Shadyac decided to make this documentary after a serious biking accident made him reevaluate his priorities and share publicly what he had been thinking about for years. Once he had recovered, he set out with a camera crew to interview the great thinkers and scientists of our time, asking them what is wrong with our world and what we can do about it.
Interestingly enough, Shadyac found out instead what was right with the world. One thing he discovered was that science has proven every human being is hard-wired for a compassionate response to the troubles of others, and that there is a measurable magnetic field given off by every human heart which can have a physiological effect on other living beings around us.
This “hard-wiring” comes in the form of the vagus nerve, which gives us the physiological response (the tearing of the eyes, the tension in the stomach) when we see others suffering. One unexpected proponent of this was Charles Darwin, who said in his book The Descent of Man, “Sympathy is our strongest instinct.” We are equipped, at the most basic level, to empathize with others.
At one point in the documentary, Shadyac was in a scientific lab where electrodes had been connected to a Petri dish filled with yogurt containing live bacteria cultures. Whenever Shadyac was shown a gruesome photo or asked a stress-filled question, the electrical charge in the yogurt increased, showing the bacteria’s response to his stress. Researchers at the Institute of Noetic Sciences verified that this response reveals how every living thing is connected.
This interconnection of all living things should come as no surprise. After all, the Triune God permeates all of creation:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men (John 1:1-4, NIV).
Shadyac’s documentary I Am provides more confirmation that the life that pulses through each one of us, through all living things, has its origin in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because “…in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), we are all part of a greater whole and hard-wired for connection and community. Once we finally embrace this, we will never feel separated, never alone.
~by Nan Kuhlman
Sermon: Your Servant is Listening
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Perichoresis, Prayer, Sermons, Trinity |
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Two stories of Epiphany help us understand how to listen for the Father to speak to us in Jesus and through the Holy Spirit.
Sermon: We Believe in the Body of Christ, Part 11A
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Church, Gospel, Perichoresis, Sermons, Trinity |
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In this first part of the final message in the Series “Contending for the Apostolic, Christ-centered, Trinitarian Faith!” Pastor Tim proclaims how the Life of the Church is practically transformed as Christ lives in and through His Body and out toward the larger world also included in His embrace!
Trinitarian Church Governance
Filed under: By Jonathan Stepp, Christian Living, Church, Perichoresis, Trinity |
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In my post earlier this week, and the connected essay, I explained my ecclesiological reasons for deciding to enter the Episcopal Church. I also believe that there are foundational theological issues at stake in church governance and that these issues are rooted in God’s Trinitarian existence.
I would suggest that whatever form of church governance we choose – episcopal, congregational, or otherwise – there are certain principles of the Triune life that apply to the way we do church. Among these principles are:
Inclusion. The Father, Son, and Spirit are one God because they are fully included in each other’s life. We call this perichoresis, the mutually indwelling and inclusive life of the Father in the Son, the Son in the Father, and the Spirit in the Father and the Son.
Based on this Trinitarian principle of inclusion, church governance should include everyone in the church. For example: however your congregation is structured with pastors, elders, councils, etc., everyone in the congregation should be allowed to participate in making decisions on big issues such as how to do ministry and the way money is spent. Likewise, even in an hierarchical denomination, everyone should participate in denominational decision making. For example, the churches and their pastors should have formal methods of input and consent as to who their district, regional, national, and international leaders will be. They should be kept informed of how the money they donate to the denomination is being used, including the salaries of their leaders. The Episcopal Church, for example, is hierarchical but representatives of the clergy and laity are included in its denominational life through diocesan and national conventions.
Mutual accountability. God’s inclusive life as Father, Son, and Spirit means that the Father never does anything apart from the Son, or the Son apart from the Father, or the Spirit apart from each of them.
So, for example, congregations need to be held accountable to one another – either through a bishop, a presbytery, or an association. No congregation should be acting on its own, without connection or accountability to the larger Body of Christ. It is also important that bishops, prebyteries, and associations be accountable to the congregations whom they serve. This is one reason I prefer the Episcopal Church over other episcopally organized denominations. An Episcopal bishop is not only accountable to other bishops but also to the clergy and laity of the diocese.
Transparency. A life of inclusive mutual accountability naturally leads to transparency. T.F. Torrance is famous for saying that there is no God hiding behind the back of Jesus. In Jesus we have been given a transparent, full revelation of what God the Father, Son, and Spirit is really like.
In church I think this means that we don’t keep any more secrets than are absolutely necessary. For example, as a pastor I need to keep people’s confession and counseling issues secret, but my salary should be an open book to the people who pay it. Issues of leadership, ministry, or finances – whether within the congregation or the denomination – should be anticipated, talked about openly, and planned for through open discussion. Big issues like these shouldn’t be kept secret among a small group of insiders until circumstances force a public acknowledgment of them.
Even though I prefer episcopal church governance, for the reasons outlined in my essay, I think these principles of inclusion, mutual accountability, and transparency apply to any church organization of any structure or size. In fact, I would suggest that it is impossible for a church to be healthy and successful in its mission unless these basic principles of the Triune life of God are embraced, formally enshrined into the structure of the church, and consistently revisited over time as the church grows, changes, and faces new challenges.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Sermon: We Believe in the Body of Christ, Part 10B
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Church, Gospel, Perichoresis, Sermons, Trinity |
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This message continues to reflect on the difference between the Church and the World even though Everyone is already Included in the Love and Life of God the Father, Son and Spirit, through Jesus and by Grace. Particularly, the Truth of the Body of Christ as a Person is clarified and contrasted against tendencies we have in the Church toward consumerism, religiosity and success thinking; things that lie behind the incongruency and deadness of our personal and collective lives.
A New Chapter in Ministry
This post is a departure from the kind I usually write because I want all of you who read Trinity and Humanity to know about a new chapter in ministry that will be starting for me this summer.
Sometime around July of this year I will be leaving my role as the pastor of the GCI congregations in Nashville and Murfreesboro, TN, and moving to North Carolina, where I grew up and my extended family lives. Once there my family and I will be joining the Episcopal Church and I will be pursuing ordination into the Episcopal Priesthood.
As I’m sure you can imagine, this is not a decision that we have come to lightly or quickly. Beth and I have spent much time in prayer and conversation over the last couple of years as we have sought to discern where Jesus is calling me in ministry.
There are several reasons I am entering the Episcopal Church. None of these reasons are salvation issues and they are all of secondary importance, but they are all important to me personally. I have a desire to be in a fellowship organized around the ancient three-fold ministry of bishops, elders, and deacons; I believe that the historic episcopate, linking the leadership of modern Christianity to its ancient roots, is valuable and is present in the Episcopal Church; I have a heart for sacramental theology and a personal preference for liturgical worship, especially as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, I have a desire to live in North Carolina, near my extended family, where there are many opportunities for ministry in the Episcopal Church.
I have written an essay entitled “Why I am Entering the Episcopal Church” that explains in more detail my decision. If you are interested in learning more about my thinking you can read the essay at this link: http://trinityandhumanity.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/why-i-am-entering-the-episcopal-church.pdf
Here’s a quote from page 6 of the essay that summarizes the conclusions I have come to:
I believe that just as there is a mainstream, orthodox understanding of Christianity based on the Bible and the creeds so there is also a mainstream, orthodox ecclesiology based on the three-fold ministry of bishops, elders, and deacons. This ecclesiology has its roots in the earliest days of Christianity and it has been handed down, through the historic episcopate, to our modern age of the Church.
I have spent my entire life in GCI and I love GCI and the people here. I believe that GCI has a bright future. The decision to live my Christian life in another part of the Body of Christ is not an easy one but I plan to remain as connected as possible with all of my friends in GCI.
I am also looking forward to continuing my ministry with Tim, Nan, and John here at Trinity and Humanity. I will continue blogging here through the coming months of this transition and after I enter the Episcopal Church. The conversations that we have here together, and the gospel words of encouragement that we share with each other, are an important part of my spiritual life and a major part of my ministry. I thank the Father, Son, and Spirit for each one of you and look forward to continuing our conversations about the gospel in the years ahead – even as a new chapter of ministry begins for me.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Epiphany for a gentile
Filed under: Bible, By John Stonecypher, Fiction, Gospel, The Plan of Adoption |
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Imagine you are a member of an ancient tribe. The earth is chock-full of gods, but the one who lives in your area is the one who affects your life. You have carefully groomed this deity with gifts and flattery (a.k.a., “worship”), so that he will think positively of you and grant you occasional favors. If you have been really diligent in your flattery, you can have some reasonable expectation that your god will save you from your enemies (who, coincidentally, have the same arrangement with their gods).
As far as you can tell, the nearby tribe of Jews seems to have a similar relationship with their “Yahweh.” Just like you, they work hard at stroking their god’s ego, and they feed him lots of whatever food he likes (Yahweh seems partial to blood and meat), and they expect him to send them a “Messiah” to crush their enemies. Good for them.
But one of the Jewish splinter groups believes that Yahweh has already sent their Messiah, this Jesus. Okay, whatever. But here’s the weird part: They are saying that their messiah is your savior, that their Yahweh has crushed your enemies. That Jesus is not only the Messiah of the Jews, but is also the Savior of the whole world and all the people in it. Huh?
Here’s their logic: They say Yahweh is not just their local deity, but the Creator of everything, the God of gods (including yours). They say Yahweh’s kindness to them is a gift, not dependent on the quality of their sacrifices and worship. Taking the weirdness even further, they say Yahweh has been kind to them for the express purpose of extending his unconditional kindness to all people, including you. They call this “the mystery of the ages” (Ephesians 3.6). It’s a mystery alright…
But if they’re right, if this Jesus is what they say he is, it means the world does not work the way you think it does. This is worth thinking about more…
Sermon: We Believe in the Body of Christ, Part 10A
Filed under: By Tim Brassell, Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Perichoresis |
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This message continues to reflect on the difference between the Church and the World even though everyone is already included in the Love and Life of God the Father, Son and Spirit, through Jesus and by Grace. Particularly, the Truth of the Body of Christ as a Person is clarified and contrasted against tendencies we have in the Church toward consumerism, religiosity and success thinking; things that lie behind the incongruency and deadness of our personal and collective lives.
