The Empire Strikes Back

After a rather long absence, here's another entry. In the intervening time I've finished school, finished moving out of the dorms, and spent a week in Florida for RUF Summer Conference. John Stone, the main speaker, was phenomenal, especially the first two nights. If anyone wants to listen, the talks are up as a podcast. Just search for "RUF Summer Conference."

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I've been reminded again lately that Christianity sounds much easier that it really is. It's easy to talk about how the Christian life is still messy and full of hurt and struggle. However, when hard times come, my first reaction is to shake my fist at Christ in frustration rather than flee to Him. Being broken sounds romantic in theory, but in practice it sucks. Still, I've also been reminded of the goodness of the gospel. It is only when the idols I engineer fail me that I can clearly see how
needful of His persistent grace that I am.

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I just picked up the Islands' new CD, "Return to the Sea, " and Mastodon's "Leviathan." While neither album has had enough spins for me to give a good opinion, I like them both, and the combination of happy indie-pop and intelligent heavy metal has made a delightful mixture in my brain. Eric H. also gave me Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere," a pairing of Cee-Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse. I haven't had time to listen to it, but it sounds like fun. Next on my list is probably The Raconteurs, although we shall see when pay day comes.

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"Evangelism does not consist in the rehearsal of what has happened in the evangelist's own soul. Christian evangelism does not consist in a man's going about the world and saying "Look at me, what a wonderful experience I have, how happy I am, what wonderful Christian virtues I exhibit. You can all be as good and as happy as I am if you just make a complete surrender of your wills and obedience to what I say." That is what many religious workers seem to think that evangelism is. But they're wrong. Men are not saved by the exhibition of your glorious Christian virtues. They're not saved by the contagion of your experiences. We cannot be the instruments of God in saving them if we preach only ourselves. Nay, we must preach to them the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only through the gospel that sets him forth that men can be saved."
-J. Gresham Machen

As much as I favor postmodern relatability and theology which connects with experience, I think there's a lot of truth in this statement. Common wisdom among evangelical circles today is that evangelism should consist almost solely of sharing your testimony. "After all, they can't argue with your experience." However, the problem is that you can't really argue with theirs, either. Examining the biblical model, we see this sort of thinking really start to break down. In proclaming the gospel to unbelievers, the apostles rarely spoke about their own experiences. Rather, they spoke of the person of Christ and his atonement. Personal experience was just one of several evidences they gave to point to Christ.

It just strikes me as ironic that modern Christians feel it would be presumptious to invite people to Christ based on who He is, and that instead we ought to base His credibility on ourselves.