Follow us with the 2013 Faithful Conference for Pastors and Leaders!View replays and read post summaries here on the blog. In this article, see the message “Is anyone up there?”, by Michael Horton:
Is anyone up there?
Michael Horton
The great philosopher Nietzsche said that the Christian movement is for the weak. An American journalist said Christianity was a religion for losers. So, to go against it, we try to promote our powerful, our beauty queens, we create a gospel of prosperity, which says that the gospel is for the powerful: “Decide and take possession. “You can have your best life here and now, says a preacher of prosperity. However, Jesus came for the sick and sinners. “Blessed are those who weep, for they receive comfort. ” Paul constantly speaks of weakness, so grace was enough for him. When I was weak, I was strong.
Our culture is on Nietzsche’s side, they no longer sing regrets, only joyful songs, they no longer hold funerals, they celebrate, they don’t allow anyone to die, but to move on to the other side. triumphalism as a premise: it is not the weak who win, they are the ones who step on others. Doesn’t that sound silly and useless? Lewis says it’s not that our desires are too strong, they’re too weak. children who build mud houses in a slum when we could be by the sea to enjoy the delights. Not that we want too much. We’re used to it little by little.
Christianity does not preach pessimism, but reason. True courage is in the praise of God, We are all weak. We are like the grass that is dying soon, but it is the Word of God that remains forever. That’s why.
Even when you look at the Psalms, where there are roller coasters of emotions, you choose to sing only the happy parts. How about you start singing Psalm 77:2-9 in our services?Or Psalm 88: 3-7. 18? Psalms were part of what God did with his people, through the psalms God says his part and the people respond with their part, there is a total honesty here in this dialogue.
Realizing these things changes the way we read our Bibles. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther spoke of the theology of the glory and theology of the cross. Calvin explains this in his commentary on the book of Psalms. The theology of glory is a ladder, that we climb. We try to climb this ladder in two ways: mysticism, speculation and merit. It is a theology of prosperity and triumphalism. ” Can I reach God!?Martin Luther says that definitively, those who follow a theology of glory see a light at the end of the ladder of ascension to heaven, because they will see a God who consumes fire.
That is why Paul says that the gospel is foolish for those who perish, especially for the Greeks, because the purpose of religion and philosophy is that we now have the best days. It’s inventing the best possible scale to get to heaven. “Absurd is this, where God came down and died hanging from a cross?He is the eternal Son of God who reveals the Father ??. The truth is that the eternal God who could turn us into ashes gives himself to sinners to be healed As Luther well understood, the theology of glory judges by appearances: “This person is very good, so he deserves prosperity; this person suffers, so he must have committed a sin ?.
When Jesus went to Gethsemane, nor did his own brethren understand what was going on, they thought it would be a path of victory, they confused the first coming of Jesus, in weakness, with the Second Coming of Jesus, in power. They even pressured Jesus, asking him to stop talking about the cross, to the point that Jesus rebuked him with a “distant Satan!”As they enter a Samaritan village, Peter and John ask if they can pray to God asking that fire fall from heaven. Jesus says, however, that his way is not that of glory, but that of the cross. The disciples had to suffer with him for the gospel.
In Mark 10, Jesus speaks again of his impending death. Some disciples began to discuss their position in the Kingdom. They think that when they get to Jerusalem, there will be a new president. Jesus said, “You don’t know what you want. You’re asking. Do you ask to be crucified, one to my right and one to my left?At the time of the crucifixion, they fled.
After the Resurrection, Jesus finds two very sad disciples on the way to Emmaus. Triumphalism only leads to despair. Jesus hides and does not recognize Him, they sadly recount the scene of Good Friday. They say they thought it was Jesus who would deliver Israel, so Jesus began to speak, showing that everything in the Law and the prophets was about him and that it was necessary for Christ to die and be resurrected on the third day. the weakness of the preached gospel, in the weakness of bread and wine, that we contemplate the Risen Lord.
The good news sealed by the suffering of the suffering servant and his suffering on the Cross is still before us Today Are you tired of being a superman or a superwoman?Are you tired of television commercials?Are you still strong enough not to embrace the Cross?Or have you reached the bottom of the well? If you’ve already reached the bottom, you’re ready for the one to reach you at a time like this. He said, “Everyone who is tired comes to me, I will make them rest. “