Theology FOR 1-HOUR WRITER

· Each reply should be at least 250 words composed in 1 paragraph.

Interact meaningfully with at least 2 of your classmates. Try to add some insight (suggestions, constructive criticism, application, examples, etc.) onto the original posts. Let's see how much interaction we can generate so we can all learn from each other! Again, follow the instructions and conform your replies to the requirements outlined.

Please reply to each answer. Each reply needs to be a min. of 250 words.

Answer 1:

Brent,

Introduction

          In His final days before ascending to heaven, Jesus admonished the disciples and us to “’Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:19-20, New International Version). Christians are commanded to impact our cultures. Dr. Towns points out that “Cultural transformation only takes place when Christians consistently live out their faith and allow their values to be governed by biblical principles” (Towns 2007, pg. 128). But what does it mean to live out our faith? How can we as a church better reflect Christ to the culture around us? I would like to examine two aspects of Christ’s earthly life that I believe Christians can emulate to reflect Jesus to our communities.

I.                   Christ came to serve.

          One prevailing quality I see throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry is that He came to serve. Christ even said so Himself: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). We see this attitude consistently through Christ’s actions and ministry, culminating in His washing of the disciples’ feet, a truly humbling task.

          As the Body of Christ, we should strive for a servant’s heart. A servant puts the needs of those he or she is serving above their own, not seeking recognition or notoriety.  They simply find joy in the act of service and the joy of those being served. Christians would do well with that attitude. By putting others first, we would build each other up in our local churches and we would be impacting the needs of our communities in mighty ways. A group of Christians genuinely concerned about meeting each other’s and community needs above their own would reflect Christ to that community in a mighty way.

II.                Christ was authentic.

          It is no secret that Jesus ruffled feathers of the religious establishment of His time and for good reason. “’Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean’” (Matthew 23:27). The religious leaders of His day had lost sight of being good and focused on looking good. We find that trend today among our American culture today. We put on a good show of a well put together life, which isn’t limited to Christians by any stretch. However, when an unbeliever looks in and sees a group of people portraying a perfect life, it makes the church look unauthentic at best or even hypocritical.

          Christ was authentic; He meant what He said and said what He meant. He was authentic with those He encountered. I believe that if we are authentic about who we are, where we’ve been, what we are struggling with, we have a platform for which to interact with the lost and dying world around us and to speak God’s grace and mercy into their lives. This can be done as simply as answering honestly when asked how we are doing; to being willing to be open about our struggles as well as our strengths. “God designed the church to be a place where interactive relationships help believers to experience God” (Towns 2007, pg. 108). In being authentic in our relationships, we can encourage and build each other up as a church while portraying Christ’s message of redemption to our communities.

Conclusion

          Christians are admonished to impact their culture for Christ through the Great Commission. The best way I feel that we can fulfill that command is to look at and emulate Christ’s life and ministry on earth. Two specific ways that the church can do this to better reflect Jesus is to adopt an attitude or lifestyle of a servant and to be authentic in our relationships. If the church can strive to improve those two areas, our communities would be impacted in mighty ways for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Answer 2:

Holly,

As a Christian who hasn't been impressed with church buildings and their arrogant communities, it wasn't hard to see the downfall of the small churches as they began to grow. I began to feel severely out of place, feeling more welcomed in a public evironment rather than the church environment. It seemed inevetible that a modern church would become arrogant, shunning those who were horrible sinners, and lashing out with fire and brimstone sermons. It became unpleasant, and that word should never have to be associated with a church.

I thought there should have been ways to help with making a church pleasant, and the more I think about it, the more it seems possible. All we need is cooperation. Look at one of the most successful and anticipated communities of the modern era: Comic-Conventions (comic-cons). The people share a common interest: entertainment. They all are vastly different from one another; some dressing up as their favorite character, some just enjoying the community. But the point cannot be understated that they are all different, and yet they still enjoy each other's presence. One person who likes "Gundam" (Japanese robot series) won't shun another who likes "Transformers" (American robot series). Why can't people in a church get along with this kind of excitement and willingness to share differences?

While a church focuses on more real topics, Comic-cons actually can teach us two ways to get along:

1. We should be able to get together with excitement to see each other as friends. Differences may be even more extreme in the environment of a church, but the fact remains that we need to accept people for who they are. While judgement is not something to be ignored, we are taught to judge as we want to be judged. This does not mean condemning others who like "Star Wars," or girls who like to wear makeup and pants. In fact, this does not mean condemning anyone, no matter how much you might hate what they wear. Matthew 7:1-5 puts it perfectly into words, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." We all have problems, and the coming together of a church community is meant to better ourselves, not focus on the problems of others. Towns' book asks on page 109, "Why doesn't the church express more love to the world and to one another?" We should stick out for each other and support each other as friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.

2. We have a common interest that sadly gets overlooked: Christ. Again, let's take a look at Comic-cons. Their common interest is just entertainment -- an extremely broad category ranging from TV shows, to movies, to video games, to board games, and so on. Our common interest is much more defined, and is much more important to the extent of our lives. We need to focus on what's important to us, and strive to help others. Towns' book explains on page 108, "God designed the church to be a place where interactive relationships help believers to experience God." While we must focus on our common interest, we must follow Christ's example of how to show it, too. 1 Peter 2:21 tells us, "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

Did Jesus concemn the people that came to Him or the people around Him? How about the people that scourned and even crucified Him? What we need to do is follow Christ's example and forget about the trivial details about our culture. Christ is a timeless being, and so His teachings can reach the hearts of countless people of any generation of any culture and nation.