✝ The Core of My Christianity, 1
The Core of My Christianity is so-named in connection with our phone conversations going clear back to May, 2018: From the beginning, back then, I maintained that for our communication to be productive of mutual understanding, along the way you will need to "find out," "discover," "learn," or "come to know," somewhat of what, in the PRESENT "the core of my Christianity" is, what "my Christian life" is NOW, after all the years since we last knew one another something like 43 years ago. "Knowing where I'm at," so to speak, can save us from a lot of wrong assumptions, and a lot of "talking past one another," and can serve to EXPEDITE and FACILITATE our communication. I don't know if we'll be in contact with one another for "years" or whether in fact it's already "over," or may only continue for a short time, but I am convinced of one thing: The better and more truly and factually you "know" what "my Christianity" is, what it's "made of," what it's "about," that is, "what" "The Christian Faith" is that I HOLD, what The Christian Life is that I seek to live, the "walk" that I'm endeavoring to walk, the better we will communicate while and if we are in touch. And if it comes to an end, at least your "take away" will be according to the truth, rather than from mere sketchy impressions gathered in bits and fragments haphazardly, mostly by chance and happenstance, and often misunderstood in the uptake. In short, I very much want "my Christianity" properly represented, I want it known, and I want it clearly and rightly understood.
Written February 2019.
The Apostle Peter taught that we should be "PREPARED AND READY" at all times and at every moment to TELL or "give ACCOUNT" of (NASB) "The Christian hope" (NLT) that we possess (1 Pet. 3:15). That does NOT mean "know how to street witness to sinners and know how to tell somebody the gospel." It means to be "ready," primed and spring-loaded and prepared to share your whole Christian hope, what it is that makes you tick, what you are "all about" as a Christian. A. R. Fausset in the Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary at this verse says, Christians must not, like some, just say, "I believe it, because the church believes it," but be able to not only say "what" we believe, but give our reasons "why." It says, "The believer must be ready to give an experimental account how this hope arose in him, what it contains, and on what it rests." The JFB further says that this is a speaking from the heart, that,"This verse does not impose an obligation to bring forward a learned proof and logical defense of revelation." In other words, at least be ready to tell what your own Christian Faith is all about, as you hold it. The Matthew Henry Commentary on this verse says the following: "Be always ready, that is, able and willing, to give an answer, or make an apology or defence, of the faith you profess, and ... a reason of your hope, what sort of hope you have ... The hope and faith of a Christian ... . There may be a good reason given for religion; it is not a fancy but a rational scheme revealed from heaven, suited to all the necessities of miserable sinners, and CENTERING ENTIRELY IN THE GLORY OF GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. ... Every Christian is bound to answer and apologize for the hope that is in him. Christians should have a reason ready for THEIR CHRISTIANITY, that it may appear they are not actuated either by folly or fancy. ... Christians should be always prepared to make it, either to the magistrate, if he demand it, OR TO ANY INQUISITIVE CHRISTIAN, who desires to know it for HIS information or improvement." So we are to be ready to share the hope and treasure of our own "Christianity" (as we hold it) even to another Christian brother. You can probably see that I appreciate that.
I further appreciate the M. Henry Commentary saying something just above that, which MEANS A LOT to me, but I think would pass un-noticed like a "nothing" remark to many Christians that I used to walk among. They would not even notice it as having any meaning. Or at least not much. It says, that this "Christianity" that we should be ready to share, is a Christianty "CENTERING ENTIRELY IN THE GLORY OF GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST." It is because I have some familiarity with the writings of Puritan and Reformed writers, that I realize that this commentary, in that line, "means it" pointedly, and "says what it means and means what it says." That line is LOADED (in Puritan or Reformed thinking). First let me sift the clause, "the glory of God through Jesus Christ": It's not just a religious string of words. It is magnifying the truth that, all that Christians conceive of and comprehend as being to God's glory (and this encompasses the whole Christian Faith, the entirety of the Divine revelation, and our apprehension of it as humans) is understood as being "through Jesus Christ." I said that the Christians I have known usually "miss" this truth. The whole universe, from eternity past to eternity future, is being "headed up under" Jesus Christ, and what we might conceive of as "channeled through" him, and, made acceptable to God, and to His glory, ONLY through him.
I have said to you on the phone that you'll find out, if we continue along, that, in my Christianity today, "I'm a JESUS man."
One day I put it to you, that "I'm all about JESUS" and I was extolling his deity; and our conversation that day got derailed (painfully) as I attempted to defend that. You might remember the exchange where, when I made mention of the deity of Christ, you began firing back at me, "But Jesus prayed to God!" (as if that refuted my doctrine). I repeated my affirmation of his deity, you even more forcefully (and loudly) fired back "But Jesus prayed to God!" I was astonished, shocked (and still am, in mid-2021) that you could have the years in "Christianity" that you've had, and yet find the deity of Christ something to challenge with that retort. I mean, I've heard of "falling through the cracks" before! but I can't conceive how you've managed walk among the particular Christian groups you have, for years, not yet grounded in such a fundamental as the deity of Christ! I am quite sure that all the Christians you have walked among since what? 1973? hold and teach exactly the doctrine of the deity of Christ as I do, and presumably that should have been your doctrinal training since ca. 1973, and yet now, upon hearing me express it, you push back against it, like you think I have some new strange doctrine? I am just stunned. After getting off the phone with you that day, I reflected on that shocker, and have since, and only a couple of possibilities have occurred to me - but this webpage right here is NOT the place to iron this out - so I'm not trying to. But one of the thoughts I've had is, "Gee, is it possible that the Christians ______ 'hangs out' with have themselves slid into ignorance or confusion on the deity of Christ? or even 'apostatitzed'?" I mean, after you had ostensibly challenged and refuted my belief in Christ's deity with your firey comeback "But Jesus prayed to God!" I did not inquire of you, "Have you picked this up from people you've been 'hanging out' with? Have you been 'taught' this resistance to Christ's deity from some pulpit microphone?" In other words, maybe it's not just you I should be shocked at, but those you run with. Are they apostates who have departed from the doctrine of Christ's deity? Are you unaware that there are countless churches that will BAR you from their communion, if you say to them that you disbelieve or doubt the deity of Christ on the basis that he "prayed to God"? Do you know that you could not minister in churches, and that you'd be deemed a heretic? But I repeat, here is not the place to "iron this out."
But let me sharpen up here this "glory of God THROUGH JESUS CHRIST": In Eph. 1:10 the KJV puts it that it is the divine plan to "gather together in one all things IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth." The NASB renders it, "the summing up of all things IN CHRIST, things in the heavens and things on the earth." The ESV says "to unite all things IN HIM (Jesus Christ), things in heaven and things on earth." This may express it better than I do: The JFB Commentary says right here at Eph. 1:10, To "gather together in one--Greek, "sum up under one head"; "recapitulate." The "good pleasure which He purposed," was "to sum up all things (Greek 'THE WHOLE RANGE OF THINGS') in Christ ..." [ALFORD]. God's purpose is to sum up the whole creation in Christ, the Head of angels, with whom He is linked by His invisible nature, and of men with whom He is linked by His humanity; of Jews and Gentiles; of the living and the dead ( Eph 3:15 ); of ANIMATE AND INANIMATE CREATION. Sin has disarranged the creature's relation of subordination to God. God means to gather up all together in CHRIST; or as Col 1:20 says, "By HIM to reconcile all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or things in heaven." ALFORD well says, "The Church of which the apostle here mainly treats, is subordinated to Him in the highest degree of conscious and joyful union; those who are not His spiritually, in mere subjugation, yet consciously; the inferior tribes of creation unconsciously; but objectively, all are summed up in Him." I'll break off from that "in him and through him" exposition, finishing it with this little tidbit: All of the above is even how I think of the words Jesus spoke, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but BY ME." Of course we first think that is so as regards sinners who are in need of salvation. And that is absolutely true. But I say that it is also true of Christians gathered together worshipping God. I say that though they don't know it, they aren't "getting to God" during "that" except "BY HIM," by Jesus. And ultimately as the JFB said, including even the inanimate creation, EVERYTHING is to be channeled to God THROUGH Jesus. So Jesus could have said "Nobody and NOTHING will ever be brought to God but THROUGH ME." Even planet Earth, its "ground" cursed and "fallen" along with Adam isn't going to be "reconciled to God" or "redeemed from the curse" except THROUGH JESUS.
But enough of the "through him" and "in him" and "by him" for the moment: Look back up to that "Puritan or Reformed" line of words I was discussing: It said "centering entirely in the glory of God through Jesus Christ." It said that my "Christianity" that I am to be "ready" to share even with a Christian brother, is to BE that form of Christianity "centering entirely in the glory of God through Jesus Christ." To finish my remarks on that, NOW look at the FIRST words in that string: "CENTERING ENTIRELY." I have talked here, plenty, on how all "glory" is to be, and will be, "through Jesus Christ." But now notice that it says my Christianity is to "CENTER ENTIRELY" in that truth, principle, reality, consciousness, and conviction. ENTIRELY. I have "seized upon" this, here, with you, to help you realize "how much" I really mean it, when I say you'll find that "I'm a JESUS man," and that "I'm ALL ABOUT Jesus." So is my Christianity. And as I go further on this, either below here or later, you should begin to see that I do indeed have an EMPHASIS on Jesus in my Christian Faith, that the Christians that I've walked with in past years really do not. Maybe in their sermons they might talk about "high realms" or "marching on to the goal" or "being part of what God is doing in the earth," or say that "we have to line up in God's divine order" or say that "God's got an army, and we must each march in step," or say that "God is purifying a people" or "raising up a people," or even talk about "the presence of God," or even say that "he is the head, and we are members of his body," Inadvertently perhaps, however, their real emphasis is on "the body" and not so much on Jesus the person himself. Don't get me wrong: I believe most of those things they preach myself, and, were I in a pulpit somewhere, you might catch me saying many of those very things. But if you get what I'm telling you, it's that you'll see that I've come to much greater "focus on," emphasis on, the person of JESUS himself than the old crowd had, a much heavier "concentration on" Jesus, that my "theology" centers far more on Jesus than on other matters such as those just mentioned. I truly do, these days, profoundly believe "It's ALL ABOUT Jesus." If you REALLY LISTEN to a lot of the Christians that you've circulated amongst, listen to "what" they talk about in their sermons and teachings, take a sampling of their sermons for a whole year, you'll see that there's really a DIFFERENCE in this regard: Your old friend here is RIVETED to Jesus, ABSORBED with Jesus, OBSESSED with Jesus, FANATIC about Jesus, ADDICTED to Jesus, that I want to TALK ABOUT Jesus, and you'll see that my love and worship "zeros in on," and to, Jesus.
I truly love our heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but if we have time along the way, I can explain better that my love to God the Father is what the Bible calls "BY Jesus Christ" and "IN Jesus Christ," "BECAUSE of" Jesus, and is even (spiritually) "THROUGH" Jesus. And it's the same regarding the blessed Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit and me, it's STILL "ALL ABOUT JESUS." And I think that's how the Holy Spirit wants it to be. So, were I heard preaching sermons for the span of a whole year of Sundays, you'd hear me SAY the name "JESUS" far more often than folks in that network ordinarily do. I mean it literally: Compare two different Christians with one another: If you could literally COUNT how many times in a YEAR each one of them says the actual word "Jesus" while preaching or talking about "Christianity" or "Christian stuff or "the things of God," I'm saying you could find one of them saying "Jesus" ten times more frequently than the other person. I hear Christians saying all kinds of true things without the word "Jesus" in the sentence, like "we are to be the salt of the earth" or "the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea," true things like "God is moving" or "Come up here - God wants to bless you right now!" Fine. It can be all good and true stuff, and I may say those things myself. But I'm just pointing out that some Christians mention specifically "Jesus" a lot LESS than do some others. And I happen to think "JESUS" should be a lot more on our minds, in our hearts, on our lips and in our sermons and in our ministering, than is presently the case with a great many. As for ME, you'll hear me saying "Jesus" this and "Jesus" that, and "Jesus" this, that, and the other. And then "Jesus" did this, and then "Jesus" said that, and "Let's look at what JESUS is teaching in this passage," and "we should have faith in JESUS, trust in JESUS, lean on JESUS, depend on JESUS, hope in JESUS, follow JESUS, and we should YEARN for, LONG for, the RETURN of JESUS," and so forth. And I'm not embarrassed about it. If someone "critiques" me and says, "Gosh! He sure says 'JESUS' a lot; He goes on and on about 'JESUS' so much! It's like that's the biggest thing in his life!" then yep, they'd be right, and I'm not ashamed in the least, of my focus and my drive and my love and my zeal being for JESUS. I am enthralled with Jesus, I'm absorbed with Jesus, would like to be utterly absorbed IN Jesus and "lose myself in" Jesus. Figure out what I mean by all that, and why, and you'll be on the right trail of figuring out "my Christianity." I'm a Jesus guy.
Maybe 30 years ago I was in a Christian bookstore, and as I walked along in an aisle I spotted a book title that instantly made my spirit leap for joy. I was delighted, just seeing the words on the front cover, "How to Worship Jesus Christ." I think it was by a certain Pastor Carroll, an Evangelical church pastor. But instantly, with no elapse of time, I was going, "Yes! Thank you Lord!" Understand: I was of course already a "worshipper of Jesus." I mean, this book's title didn't say anything "new" to me. Rather, what delighted me so, was, that it was so plainly plastered on the front cover of a book, that is, that it was stated publicly so plainly, that it was PUT that way, that we ought to be worshipping Jesus, and, worshipping him rightly. My "Yes! Thank you Lord" reaction was because this was stated just by that title, and, I wish it was made so blunt and plain more often, by more preachers out there. People don't put bumper stickers on their cars anymore, but right there's one I'd love to see on cars: "Worship Jesus." I think that it would be a good "adjustment" to the thinking of Christians driving their cars in traffic and seeing that on the car in front of them. It might help line up their spirituality.
You know of course that as a Christian you love and worship Jesus. In the New Testament he is flat out, outright worshipped, and the New Testament writers were also solidly of the training and the conviction that no one, no being, no matter how high or holy, is to be worshipped but God only. Right there in those last two sentences is an entire "seminar" on our Christology. But Jesus is to be the object of our love and our worship. Check some of the worship given to Jesus at Revelation 5:11-14, John 9:38, Hebrews 1:6, Matthew 2:2, 2:11, 14:33, 28:9, John 20:28, etc, etc, etc.
TO BE CONTINUED.
THE LAST EDITING DONE TO THIS PAGE WAS ON MAY 11, 2021.