BLOG 12/31/16. THE QUESTION THAT WILL NOT GO AWAY

BLOG 12/31/16. THE QUESTION THAT WILL NOT GO AWAY

It is interesting that the New York Times published an interview this week between its gifted columnist Nicholas Kristof, and New York’s incredibly effective and thoughtful pastor, Timothy Keller. Kristof’s question: “Am I Christian, Pastor Keller?” Ah! That question seems never to go away: What is required for one to be a Christian? The proclivity on the part of so many seems to want an answer that meets one’s own religious and intellectual qualifications … rather than what is the sine qua non of Jesus’ own life and teachings. Happily, Nicholas Kristof could not have asked a more authentic witness. Tim Keller has undoubtedly handled that question on a regular basis in his Christian outreach to Upper West Side New York. Keller is a gifted and classically orthodox proponent of New Testament Christianity, who stays in dialogue with the questing young urban professionals of his neighborhood—a good choice for Kristof’s inquiry.

The question is lurking in the most primordial records of human history—like from the Garden of Eden account in Hebrew tradition, and in the ancient records from across the globe. Once one encounters human experience without God, there is an aching void to know what life means, or if there is hope, or justice, or something/Someone out there to fill that void? But then human autonomy kicks-in, and so the tendency to create religions that give something to fill that void. Idols. Religious institutions. Holy Men. Priests and Priestesses. Philosophers. Attempted answers that range all the way from bleak atheism to agnosticism to one’s own designer gods, i.e. those we create to suit our own parameters. In these two millennia of the history of the Christian church there have all sorts of ‘clip-and-paste’ versions of the Christian faith, which can be most confusing to many, i.e., whole denominations that add-to, or leave-out pieces that are uncomfortable to them.

I have often been in conversation with persons who, when confronted with the message of Jesus, or of the larger Bible, would respond: “Oh, I could never believe in a God like that!” Not surprising. The essence of the New Testament message is God’s costly desire to communicate his love for his creation and to fill that aching void. But he does not send a philosophical treatise, rather he comes in the person of Jesus, and that defies human rationality. And the Christian message is based on historical events, and the New Testament is the first-generation record of those who were eye-witnesses, and recipients of Jesus’ teachings. The early messengers candidly acknowledge that their message is foolishness to the intellectuals, and a stumbling-block to the religious, …  but to those who respond to the invitation of Jesus, it is an entrance into a whole New Creation. Always comes the question: Can this one who is so obviously human also be divine?  But we always come to Jesus on his terms!

To some that entrance into Christ’s life is quiet and profound, to others it is convulsive, … but it is always built upon the foundation of Jesus, his life and teachings, his death on a cross and his resurrection. In its second-generation the Christian community created a brief codification of the essentials, known as the Apostles’ Creed (which you can Google if interested). It contains the answers to many of Kristof’s questions. On this New Year’s Eve, let me leave with you Jesus’ own invitation.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message).

Or … you could join the innumerable hosts over the centuries who have discovered God’s love in Christ by reading the four introductory witnesses of the New Testament. If you’re serious in knowing if you are a Christian (along with Nicholas Kristof), this is a good place to begin.

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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