i was at RAC the other night and i was looking at this book. it was a basic timeline of the world. and this time line was ridiculous. it had way more than the normal big events. in looking through this book i noticed that they mentioned Jesus Christ. so i read on of course. and they wrote after the date…”Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry began. He preached a message of compassion and eternal life.”
national geographic gets the fact that Jesus preached a message of eternal life AND compassion. it seems like we preach about and follow the Jesus that only preached eternal life more times than not. i wish we could just follow the Jesus that the national geographic magazine recognizes. and not just be legalistic about silly stuff.
my mind is confused.
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November 6, 2007 at 8:18 pm
curtismchale
The Modern church has just preached salvation as a transaction with Christ. You get something, eternal life, and you give something back. It is the emerging church that seems to take on the compassion part. It struggles with how to live an authentic Christian life in the midst of the world.
By the way I love your tag line. I started to think about being in the dust of Jesus after reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Love and Respect is also a good book. My wife refuses to read it. I need to pick it back up and remind myself why.
November 7, 2007 at 6:50 pm
tODD
Boy, if the “modern church” teaches salvation is a “transaction”, then they really have got it wrong! How many times and ways do Jesus and Paul have to say that we are saved not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus did?
But my question is this: what is our motivation for being compassionate, for living an “authentic Christian life”? Or, to put it in theological terms, what is the relationship between our sanctification and our justification? The answer to that question makes all the difference.