Virginia is for Chaplains

Well, I almost went a whole month without blogging. Sorry kids... but it wasn't a month, it was almost a month!

I just got back from an amazing trip to Virginia to visit my friend Justin who is a Naval Chaplains Candidate with me. First of all the Appalachian Mountains are absolutely breathtaking. I forget what an amazing creation the Earth is when I am stuck here in the Midwest with no seas and no mountains to marvel at.

Drive highway 501 in a stick shift before you die, thats all I have to say about that.

Also it was very interesting being in Lynchburg. Located right in the heart of the state, it was a distinctly different culture then what I am accustomed to here in Cincinnati Ohio. There seemed to be a church every 500 feet or so, and the gospel is something that is taken very seriously. There is a distinct southern influence and an obvious Baptist one, diverse socioeconomic standings from the backwoods to the socialite elite, and a very interesting diametric between the America of our past, and the future ahead.

Here in Ohio we like to contextualize, teach, work with the Gospel until it is woven into our daily lives (at least thats the idea). There, it is something that is assumed. The Gospel is what it is, and you're either on board or you're not. It was very interesting indeed to see what God has done for His names sake there in relation to what He is doing here.

I have thought a lot about that since then. The Gospel is moving all over the world, and in a lot of places it is moving much more abundantly then in America. I think we know that in the back of our minds, but it really is happening. Not only this, but the Gospel looks differently in different areas. There were some things that I respect about the Baptist theology and polity, and some things that I am uncomfortable with... but it works in the culture they are in. I know that I can say that I am pleased with the growth of the Church in Africa, or China, or its persistence in the South, but its very different when I see it, and when it doesn't look like what I think the church should be. I think that this cultural gospel (which Ive blogged about before) is something that has led to intolerance, poor missionary work, and hypocrisy within the church. It then becomes the gospel beyond the Gospel, which Jesus did not come to do: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17. Jesus came for the Law, to fulfill it, because it was a good and righteous law... He did not come to add to the Law, which is the essence of the cultural gospel.

This made me ask a very important question of myself that I think can benefit us all... Is my foundation in my theology, or in the Gospel? I believe that there is a positive statement we can make, and a negative one regarding this idea. For the former: "The Gospel should transcend our cultural, theological, and relational norms in our everyday lives" and for the latter: "Our cultural and theological differences and misunderstandings cannot undermine the work we are charged with as brothers and sisters in Christ, for the good of the name of Christ and the Kingdom of God".

The gospel transcends all... for this reason:
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11-12

I will be blogging about these two statements I made in the next two days to address these ideas and tease them out a little further... Stay tuned, and Happy Easter...

He is Risen, He is Risen indeed.
Praise God!