However, in looking over some class notes from my doctoral studies this summer, I ran across this encouraging passage from Martin Luther’s The Sum of the Christian Life:

I myself have been preaching and cultivating [grace] through reading and writing for almost twenty years and still feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal so with God that I may contribute something so that He will give me His grace in exchange for my holiness. Still I cannot get it into my head that I should surrender myself completely to sheer grace, yet [I know that] this is what I should and must do.

Luther’s words remind me that even the more spiritually mature can derail themselves from living out of grace. Brother Martin gives me hope knowing that even one of the men God used to restore the church to the message of grace struggled in his head with living out that very grace in his life. It proves to me once again that grace really is that amazing!

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
- The Gospel According to St. Matthew 25:35-40

Ways you can help:

• Together for Adoption
• Compassion International / Compassion’s Rescue Babies Now Initiative
• International Justice Mission
• Fair Trade Sports
• Not For Sale Campaign
• If you’re a Creeker, support our fellow Creekers, Giulian & Christy Guisti, who are working in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with Restore Brazil

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten …years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

…I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

Today she continued:

My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.

On first blush there are things I like about Rice’s confession.

• I like the fact she is honest about the blemishes of the church throughout history. There is no question there have been seasons the church has been less then sterling in her work and witness.

• I also like that Rice wants to keep any one group from cornering the market on the faith. For example, I bristle when political parties claim Jesus as their own, thinking their political ideology is in the fat middle of the Kingdom of God.

Thus, I think there are things in Rice’s words to, at some level, affirm. But her sentiments also create caution in me. I don’t think she intends this, but her words can be construed to say, “I believe in Christ. I just don’t want to follow Him.” How do I get there?

Rice lists beliefs she obviously considers right no matter what “Christianity” – the collection of believers throughout history – says. They are dogma to her. But what if, in following Christ, she discovers that Christ holds beliefs in conflict with hers? What does she do then? It appears she may have already shown us: just write off the church. Blame them for being wrong in it all. Say they’ve lost their way and don’t have a grip on modernity. But what if, on some issues, that’s imply not true? What if she’s just at odds with the biblical understanding of an issue. Then maybe…

She really needs to write off Jesus?

The Gospel accounts show us that Jesus gave teachings which very well may conflict with our fallen, man-centered ways of seeing things. His very own disciples (the institutional church at the time, by the way) felt this sting of this truth. John 6:6-69 records:

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

The real question we should ask ourselves is, Who do you really believe has the words to eternal life? You or Jesus?

If, like Peter, you believe that Jesus is “the Holy One of God” then what he says about anything and everything is true…even if it conflicts with what you believe about life, gender, sexuality, politics or any other area. And believe me, Christ will say “hard” things – things we need to wrestle with, repent of and embrace. Can the institutional church get things wrong? Yes. For that, she should repent. But, if in finding through the Scripture rightly understood, we are the on opposite side of Jesus and his Word (which Jesus completely affirmed) on any issue, it is we who are to move, not him. Divorcing ourselves from “Christianity” isn’t the answer to the conflict. It’s helping to work with the church to make sure she is hearing God’s Word clearly and truly (see Martin Luther).

The truth is Jesus died for the church. He loves the church. And if we want to follow Jesus, we must love what he loves and believe what he believes. Picking and choosing what we like about Jesus and his Word – embracing what fits our preconceived notions and rejecting the rest – only shows us we want our version of Jesus but not the real Jesus. This warning is for you, me, Ms. Rice and anyone who considers themselves a Christian.

Because to believe in Jesus is to follow Jesus.

My friend Yancey has written an accesible book for men of John Owen’s treatise of sin. Men either want to deal with sin by tapping into white-knuckle disciplines (because it’s manly) or by excusing sin altogether because all men deal with certain sins. Neither attempt to defeat our formidable sins has any success. Yancey (and Owen) will help guide men to stop trying to defeat our sins on our own and start tapping into the gospel’s power over sin.

My apologies for not inviting Scott to endorse it early on in the process, but better late than never. Thanks for the gift, Scott.

You can see his post about TAP at the Acts 29 Network blog here.
For more information about the Acts 29 Network click here.

The day of TAP‘s release my wife turned to me with a big smile on her face and said, “Hey, you’re officially an author!” followed by a big hug. It was a moment for both of us. She knew for quite some time I had wanted to write but was waiting for the right season in my life. That season started early last year and, at least for my first book, ended Wednesday with www.tapsinout.com.

I still don’t really know how to feel. For example, I was asked to bring books I originally ordered for friends who had helped with the book to a regional meeting of church planters where the host purchased them all to give away to the attendants.  (Sorry “friends,” I’ll send you your books when the next shipment comes in) When he recognized me at the beginning of the meeting and highlighted that it was the day of TAP‘s release, some kind applause broke out. While grateful, I felt sheepish…almost embarrassed about it all.

So, as I said, I don’t really know what I’m feeling. It’s a crazy mix of gratitude, joy, wonder, excitement and a bunch of stuff I can’t put my finger on. But here’s what I do know: I don’t deserve any of it. I’m especially reminded of that truth being that my book is about the greatness of the One who has come to help me, someone who isn’t so very great. Whatever happens to me because of TAP is all gravy from here. Indeed, that’s how it’s always been anyway.

I pray God will use this book to help others (individuals, small groups, etc.) find in Christ what they already have in Christ – victory! If God will allow TAP to bear that kind of fruit, then this really is going to be a great ride.

PS – THANK YOU to everyone who pitched in and help get TAP off the ground this week!  Special shout-outs go to my CCCC Family and my Acts 29 Family. You guys went the extra mile! I will never forget this week…ever.

]]> http://blog.yanceyarrington.com/2010/07/23/post-release-day-thoughts/feed/ 1 http://blog.yanceyarrington.com/2010/07/21/its-official-tap-releases-today/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=its-official-tap-releases-today http://blog.yanceyarrington.com/2010/07/21/its-official-tap-releases-today/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:41:03 +0000 Yancey Arrington http://blog.yanceyarrington.com/?p=1315 Yes, it’s an all-caps kind of day. More than a year in the making, TAP: Defeating The Sins That Defeats You officially released today nationwide. I’m grateful to God for his gracious provision in it all and pray he would work mightily through the book.

You can see the book’s website at www.tapsinout.com

I can’t vouch for how well it translated digitally. That’s Amazon’s area. Nevertheless, it’s there for those who want it.

For all you “hard copy” folks there’s more to come…

Last month my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I, along with my two brothers and our respective wives, threw them a surprise party. It was a wonderful time. I am reminded in it all that marriage is a grace from God…and doing it well for fifty years is a grace unto itself.

Andrew Peterson‘s new single “Dancing in the Minefields” describes marriage, and the grace of it all, quite beautifully. Here’s to my parents and all who demonstrate the grace and goodness of marriage…

(HT: Justin Taylor)