The World Awaits

Recently I have been reading a couple of pieces by N.T. Wright and have found him to be wonderfully thought provoking in many directions. His work on Jesus and Paul has given a more panoramic view of the kinds of themes and issues that were part of their first century world and that shaped their ministry and writing.

I came across a wonderful quote about what it means to follow the crucified Messiah. One of the expansion points in my own understanding of my faith has been seeing how much broader salvation is than in the way I originally conceived of it. We experience coming to know Christ as our own wonderful personal salvation-”I” am saved and delivered from sin. All of that is gloriously true. But if we continue on in our faith and take the Scripture on its own terms, it becomes clear that we cannot just sign up for Jesus as some kind of personal talisman for blessing, but that we have to take on his plan and mission as well.

I like the way Ralph Winter put it: he said it is not so much about getting people into heaven as it is about getting heaven into people. Meaning it is more than just personal salvation but is about having God’s rule change our hearts so that we become the instruments of his kingdom rule. This makes Christ Lord of all and wipes out the secular/sacred divide that we fall into so easily in the west.
Here is how Wright expressed it:
“When we speak of ‘following Christ,’ it is the crucified Messiah we are talking about. His death was not simply the messy bit that enables our sins to be forgiven but that can then be forgotten. The cross is the surest, truest, deepest window on the very heart and character of the living and loving God;…and when therefore we speak…of shaping our world, we cannot-we dare not-simply treat the cross as the thing that saves us ‘personally,’ but which can be left behind when we get on with the job. The task of shaping our world  is best understood as the redemptive task of bringing the achievement of the cross to bear on the world and in that task the methods, as well as the message, must be cross-shaped through and through.” (The Challenge of Jesus, 94-95).

This captures beautifully the centrality of the cross as God’s methodology that has to be reflected in all we do. It becomes so easy for us to reflect instead in our efforts the values of the world system of power and human arrogance. So wherever you find yourself, in whatever arena God has placed you in, we have a part in God’s redemptive task to bring the victory of the cross to bear on human brokenness.