HOPE BEYOND APOLOGY
1 Peter 3:14-16 But
even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Never be
afraid of their threats, and never get upset. Instead, exalt Christ as Lord in
your hearts. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to
explain the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a
clear conscience.
The
Kingdom’s Gospel does not put forth an alternate view of reality. Rather, it
bestows meaning and dignity upon the reality that often seems meaningless and
not worthy of our efforts. The Gospel is forgiveness that graciously provides
an opening to a real and genuine new future. Our presentation of Jesus the
Christ must always resist the “let’s pretend” syndrome – let’s pretend that our
time is collapsed into the first century, or let’s pretend that Jesus is among
us as a twentieth-century man. The first “let’s pretend” is a regression that
denies historical responsibility for this moment; the second ‘let’s pretend’
reduces the Lord to mythological figure who is put in service to our goals and
ideals. Our message is never let’s pretend; it is rather: Here is what is
reported, here is the evidence for it, here are the reasons for acknowledging its
truth, and here are the consequences for ourselves and the world of which we
are a part.
As Scripture scholars persistently tell us, it is noteworthy that
the gospel accounts are not simply biographies of Jesus. Unlike the heroic
literature about the Maximum Leaders of the world, the New Testament
does not present Jesus as a moral model on which our lives are to be fashioned.
Especially is this apparent in the writings of Paul, where scarcely a reference
to the personality and character of Jesus is to be found. The purpose of the
New Testament, as of our ministries, is to assert the good news that in this
Jesus, who remains emphatically distanced from us by two thousand years, God
was fully present and acting on our behalf in victory over his enemies and
ours. The victory was manifest in his being raised from the dead, in which
event alone is the justification for calling him Lord. On that basis we assert
his sovereignty over all things – a sovereignty that is now disputed but will
finally, we believe, be vindicated in his coming again in glory….
Freedom For
Ministry by Richard John
Neuhaus, pg.28-29