Jesus Manifesto....Let's surrender to the Supremacy of Christ!

A Magna Carta
for Restoring the Supremacy of
Jesus Christ
a.k.a.
A Jesus Manifesto
for the 21st Century Church
By Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola
Christians have made the gospel about so many things … things other than Christ.
Jesus Christ is the gravitational pull that brings everything together and gives them significance, reality, and meaning. Without him, all things lose their value. Without him, all things are but detached pieces floating around in space.
It is possible to emphasize a spiritual truth, value, virtue, or gift, yet miss Christ . . . who is the embodiment and incarnation of all spiritual truth, values, virtues, and gifts.
Seek a truth, a value, a virtue, or a spiritual gift, and you have obtained something dead.
Seek Christ, embrace Christ, know Christ, and you have touched him who is Life. And in him resides all Truth, Values, Virtues and Gifts in living color. Beauty has its meaning in the beauty of Christ, in whom is found all that makes us lovely and loveable.
What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology. Christianity is not a philosophy. Christianity is the ―good news‖ that Beauty, Truth and Goodness are found in a person. Biblical community is founded and found on the connection to that person. Conversion is more than a change in direction; it’s a change in connection. Jesus’ use of the ancient Hebrew word shubh, or its Aramaic equivalent, to call for ―repentance‖ implies not viewing God from a distance, but entering into a relationship where God is command central of the human connection.
In that regard, we feel a massive disconnection in the church today. Thus this manifesto.
We believe that the major disease of the church today is JDD: Jesus Deficit Disorder. The person of Jesus is increasingly politically incorrect, and is being replaced by the language of ―justice,‖ ―the kingdom of God,‖ ―values,‖ and ―leadership principles.‖
In this hour, the testimony that we feel God has called us to bear centers on the primacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically . . .
1. The center and circumference of the Christian life is none other than the person of Christ. All other things, including things related to him and about him, are eclipsed by the sight of his peerless worth. Knowing Christ is Eternal Life. And knowing him profoundly, deeply, and in reality, as well as experiencing his unsearchable riches, is the chief pursuit of our lives, as it was for the first Christians. God is not so much about fixing things that have gone wrong in our lives as finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ.
2. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his teachings. Aristotle says to his disciples, ―Follow my teachings.‖ Socrates says to his disciples, ―Follow my teachings.‖ Buddha says to his disciples, ―Follow my meditations.‖ Confucius says to his disciples, ―Follow my sayings.‖ Muhammad says to his disciples, ―Follow my noble pillars.‖ Jesus says to his disciples, ―Follow me.‖ In all other religions, a follower can follow the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with that founder. Not so with Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus cannot be separated from Jesus himself. Jesus Christ is still alive and he embodies his teachings. It is a profound mistake, therefore, to treat Christ as simply the founder of a set of moral, ethical, or social teaching. The Lord Jesus and his teaching are one. The Medium and the Message are One. Christ is the incarnation of the Kingdom of God and the Sermon on the Mount.
3. God’s grand mission and eternal purpose in the earth and in heaven centers in Christ . . . both the individual Christ (the Head) and the corporate Christ (the Body). This universe is moving towards one final goal – the fullness of Christ where He shall fill all things with himself. To be truly missional, then, means constructing one’s life and ministry on Christ. He is both the heart and bloodstream of God’s plan. To miss this is to miss the plot; indeed, it is to miss everything.
4. Being a follower of Jesus does not involve imitation so much as it does implantation and impartation. Incarnation–the notion that God connects to us in baby form and human touch—is the most shocking doctrine of the Christian religion. The incarnation is both once-and-for-all and ongoing, as the One ―who was and is to come‖ now is and lives his resurrection life in and through us. Incarnation doesn’t just apply to Jesus; it applies to every one of us. Of course, not in the same sacramental way. But close. We have been given God’s ―Spirit‖ which makes Christ ―real‖ in our lives. We have been made, as Peter puts it, ―partakers of the divine nature.‖ How, then, in the face of so great a truth can we ask for toys and trinkets? How can we lust after lesser gifts and itch for religious and spiritual thingys? We’ve been touched from on high by the fires of the Almighty and given divine life. A life that has passed through death – the very resurrection life of the Son of God himself. How can we not be fired up?
To put it in a question: What was the engine, or the accelerator, of the Lord’s amazing life? What was the taproot or the headwaters of his outward behavior? It was this: Jesus lived by an indwelling Father. After his resurrection, the passage has now moved. What God the Father was to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is to you and to me. He’s our indwelling Presence, and we share in the life of Jesus’ own relationship with the Father. There is a vast ocean of difference between trying to compel Christians to imitate Jesus and learning how to impart an implanted Christ. The former only ends up in failure and frustration. The latter is the gateway to life and joy in our daying and our dying. We stand with Paul: ―Christ lives in me.‖ Our life is Christ. In him do we live, breathe, and have our being. ―What would Jesus do?‖ is not Christianity. Christianity asks: ―What is Christ doing through me … through us? And how is Jesus doing it?‖ Following Jesus means ―trust and obey‖ (respond), and living by his indwelling life through the power of the Spirit.
5. The ―Jesus of history‖ cannot be disconnected from the ―Christ of faith.‖ The Jesus who walked the shores of Galilee is the same person who indwells the church today. There is no disconnect between the Jesus of Mark’s Gospel and the incredible, all-inclusive, cosmic Christ of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The Christ who lived in the first century has a pre-existence before time. He also has a post-existence after time. He is Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, A and Z, all at the same time. He stands in the future and at the end of time at the same moment that He indwells every child of God. Failure to embrace these paradoxical truths has created monumental problems and has diminished the greatness of Christ in the eyes of God’s people.
6. It’s possible to confuse ―the cause‖ of Christ with the person of Christ. When the early church said ―Jesus is Lord,‖ they did not mean ―Jesus is my core value.‖ Jesus isn’t a cause; he is a real and living person who can be known, loved, experienced, enthroned and embodied. Focusing on his cause or mission doesn’t equate focusing on or following him. It’s all too possible to serve ―the god‖ of serving Jesus as opposed to serving him out of an enraptured heart that’s been captivated by his irresistible beauty and unfathomable love. Jesus led us to think of God differently, as relationship, as the God of all relationship.
7. Jesus Christ was not a social activist nor a moral philosopher. To pitch him that way is to drain his glory and dilute his excellence. Justice apart from Christ is a dead thing. The only battering ram that can storm the gates of hell is not the cry of Justice, but the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of Justice, Peace, Holiness, Righteousness. He is the sum of all spiritual things, the ―strange attractor‖ of the cosmos. When Jesus becomes an abstraction, faith loses its reproductive power. Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.
8. It is possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies. The fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the
frontal lobe alone. Christian faith claims to be rational, but also to reach out to touch ultimate mysteries. The cure for a big head is a big heart.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with CliffsNotes for a systematic theology. He leaves his disciples with breath and body.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. Jesus gives his disciples wounds to touch and hands to heal.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with intellectual belief or a ―Christian worldview.‖ He leaves his disciples with a relational faith.
Christians don’t follow a book. Christians follow a person, and this library of divinely inspired books we call ―The Holy Bible‖ best help us follow that person. The Written Word is a map that leads us to The Living Word. Or as Jesus himself put it, ―All Scripture testifies of me.‖ The Bible is not the destination; it’s a compass that points to Christ, heaven’s North Star.
The Bible does not offer a plan or a blueprint for living. The ―good news‖ was not a new set of laws, or a new set of ethical injunctions, or a new and better PLAN. The ―good news‖ was the story of a person’s life, as reflected in The Apostle’s Creed. The Mystery of Faith proclaims this narrative: ―Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.‖ The meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success . . . not wealth or health or anything else: but love. And God is love.
9. Only Jesus can transfix and then transfigure the void at the heart of the church. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his church. While Jesus is distinct from his Bride, he is not separate from her. She is in fact his very own Body in the earth. God has chosen to vest all of power, authority, and life in the living Christ. And God in Christ is only known fully in and through his church. (As Paul said, ―The manifold wisdom of God – which is Christ – is known through the ekklesia.‖)
The Christian life, therefore, is not an individual pursuit. It’s a corporate journey. Knowing Christ and making him known is not an individual prospect. Those who insist on flying life solo will be brought to earth, with a crash. Thus Christ and his church are intimately joined and connected. What God has joined together, let no person put asunder. We were made for life with God; our only happiness is found in life with God. And God’s own pleasure and delight is found therein as well.
10. In a world which sings, ―Oh, who is this Jesus?‖ and a church which sings, ―Oh, let’s all be like Jesus,‖ who will sing with lungs of leather, ―Oh, how we love Jesus!‖
If Jesus could rise from the dead, we can at least rise from our bed, get off our couches and pews, and respond to the Lord’s resurrection life within us, joining Jesus in what he’s up to in the world. We call on others to join us—not in removing ourselves from planet Earth, but to plant our feet more firmly on the Earth while our spirits soar in the heavens of God’s pleasure and purpose. We are not of this world, but we live in this world for the Lord’s rights and interests. We, collectively, as the ekklesia of God, are Christ in and to this world.
May God have a people on this earth who are a people of Christ, through Christ, and for Christ. A people of the cross. A people who are consumed with God’s eternal passion, which is to make his Son preeminent, supreme, and the head over all things visible and invisible. A people who have discovered the touch of the Almighty in the face of his glorious Son. A people who wish to know only Christ and him crucified, and to let everything else fall by the wayside. A people who are laying hold of his depths, discovering his riches, touching his life, and receiving his love, and making HIM in all of his unfathomable glory known to others.
The two of us may disagree about many things—be they ecclesiology, eschatology, soteriology, not to mention economics, globalism and politics.
But in our two most recent books—From Eternity to Here and So Beautiful—we have sounded forth a united trumpet. These books are the Manifests to this Manifesto. They each present the vision that has captured our hearts and that we wish to impart to the Body of Christ— ―This ONE THING I know‖ (Jn.9:25) that is the ONE THING that unites us all:
Jesus the Christ.
Christians don’t follow Christianity; Christians follow Christ.
Christians don’t preach themselves; Christians proclaim Christ.
Christians don’t point people to core values; Christians point people to the cross.
Christians don’t preach about Christ: Christians preach Christ.
Over 300 years ago a German pastor wrote a hymn that built around the Name above all names:
Ask ye what great thing I know,
that delights and stirs me so? What the high reward I win?
Whose the name I glory in? Jesus Christ, the crucified.
This is that great thing I know;
this delights and stirs me so: faith in him who died to save,
His who triumphed o’er the grave: Jesus Christ, the crucified.
---
Jesus Christ – the crucified, resurrected, enthroned, triumphant, living Lord.
He is our Pursuit, our Passion, and our Life.
Amen.
*****

Broken

Everyone has heard the expression, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The good Lord does not adhere to that advice. In fact, He most often breaks us in order to fix us, even when we think we're running along smoothly in life. I am currently in this process, and I don't care for it much. It seems this breaking process is cyclical and difficult, and I'm the one who makes it difficult because I resist. It's not that God doesn't like or love me as I am. It's just that He knows I can be better.

Looking back over my life, I see a pattern of these breaking times, and they usually occur just when I get to the point that I like and accept the finished result of the previous breaking. Comfort. Not a word Christians should really want in their vocabulary because comfort is fleeting for the Christian. The sermon today was on following Jesus. If you're comfortable, can you really be following? I'm not too sure that it's possible. I believe you can be content to follow, and should be content following Him. After all, He is all we need, right? So contentment is good, being comfortable is not. Walking in someone else's shoes should never feel comfortable. It should feel uncomfortable. Perhaps God breaks us, so that those shoes don't get comfortable for us, and He does it at just the precise moment we begin to feel comfortable. New shoes, new direction His son takes for us to follow, or new things for us to do for His kingdom that might cause incredible discomfort.

I'm getting married in just over four months. I'll have a new husband and stepson. I'm moving to a new town where I know probably 5 people, if that. Let's not even mention the job search I'll have (nothing with time off as sweet as I have now, that's for sure). I'm leaving the church family I've had for 12 years now. Finding a new church is no easy task. I've got a lot of breaking going on.

I've been single, and living with just my children, since 2003. That's a long time, and I'm a bit set in my ways. I have to be willing to compromise some of those ways, and that'll be fine. With three young children, you get pretty easy-going about stuff like that. A certain amount of pride accumulates when you're a single mother. And not the kind of pride you want to have. It's almost boastful. When I got divorced, I wanted to avoid this at all cost. It accumulated anyway, however, and I didn't realize it until the last few days. I'd gotten very used to taking care of the kids and myself, doing everything on my own (I even patched drywall and fixed my piano and moved heavy furniture and everything). When you're married, though, it's not about doing everything on your own. Spouses lean on and help each other. I have a very "I can do it myself" demeanor. That demeanor has to be broken, and it's being broken right now. It hurts. It's humbling. I don't like it, but how could I possibly be a good wife and mother if I don't go through it? I am, once again, going to be a helper to a wonderful man, and God is simply making me a suitable helper for him (Genesis 2:18).

There are many other things in me that need to be broken in order for me to achieve my goal of being a Proverbs 31 wife (this has always been a goal of mine, but cut short upon divorce. God has renewed this goal for me). In the difficult process of God breaking me to make me what I should be for my soon-to-be husband and our children, I will become a better follower of Jesus. Funny how the Father can fulfill two purposes at once. Being broken won't be comfortable (and isn't), that's for sure, but by keeping my eyes on Jesus, following Him, perhaps I won't notice it so much. By making Jesus my treasure, everything else I desire to be for Him, and for my family, will fall into place in His time. And because following Jesus is, as Pastor Dave said, evangelistic in nature, my experiences over the last several years in being broken and made whole again just might help someone else going through the same thing.

Tell me what you see!

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."

"What does that tell you?" Holmes asked.

Watson pondered for a minute, then replied:
"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.
Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you?"

Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke.
"Watson, you idiot. Somebody has stolen our tent!"

Read the gospel of Mark with Me

For the next several weeks we are going to be studying the gospel of Mark and talking about the Power of Jesus! I would love it if you would join me and read a chapter each day in Mark. I will share my humble thoughts. And you could share yours!
Looking forward to reading what God shows us together as we read through this exciting book.

Part II of our journey away from the Shack

The Shack in a very tiny nutshell:
Mackenzie Phillips (Mack) lost his youngest daughter, Missy, in a tragic abduction. Police suspect that Missy was murdered in an abandoned shack in the Oregon wilderness. Her body was never found. Four years later, Mack finds a note, supposedly from God, inviting him to that shack for the weekend. Mack confronts his pain and dialogues with God (a black-woman named “Papa”), and the other members of the trinity (Jesus the Middle Eastern Carpenter; the Holy Spirit an Asian woman named Sarayu) about the weighty and important issues of the world. It is these dialogues which comprise the majority of this book, and which concern this review. The Shack is a metaphor for the psychological constructs we make out of our pain.

The Shack and The Atonement:
While some would say it is unfair to judge a fictional work from a theological perspective, the language of The Shack (not to mention the raving endorsements on the cover) make it apparent that this work is theological in nature. At its essence, The Shack seeks to provide answers to one of the greatest theological problems in the world: pain and suffering. Nitpicking and pettiness, which mark far too many Christian reviews, are not necessary in order to find the flaws in this novel. The author clearly seeks to break down the reader’s conception of God, and rebuild it with new conclusions. Technically speaking, any discussion of God is theology. The Shack is most certainly theology; simply in narrative form. The question is not whether theology itself is good or bad; but whether The Shack promotes good or bad theology.
Whether Christians agree or disagree on the varying topics in this book, the atonement presented by W.P. Young cannot be accepted by anyone who calls him or herself a Christian. Historically, it is a proper understanding of the Trinity that has distinguished orthodox Christianity from unorthodox (for a detailed discussion of the Trinity in The Shack see the linked article). While The Shack certainly falls outside the bounds of Christianity on the Trinity, the most devastating consequences of this subversive theology are in its views of salvation. Consider the following excerpt:
“Papa sat forward and crossed her arms on the table. “Honey, you asked me what Jesus accomplished on the cross; so now listen to me carefully: through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world.”
“The whole world? You mean those who believe in you, right?”
“The whole world, Mack. All I am telling you is that reconciliation is a two way street, and I have done my part, totally, completely, finally. It is not the nature of love to force a relationship but it is the nature of love to open the way.” (p. 192)
Young claims to answer the following question on behalf of God:
What did Jesus accomplish on the cross?
Answer:
God is now reconciled to the world.
When Mack clarifies “You mean those who believe in you?” and Papa restates “The whole world.” Not only does Young fail to describe in what way Christ has restored the world to God, the clear implication of this statement is that people will be saved without believing in Jesus. At best Young’s portrayal is lacking many important details, and at worst it is an all out call to universalism – the belief that everyone will be saved. Young’s choice of words neither affirms nor denies universalism, but he also fails to describe the means by which a man can be reconciled to God.
Consider another confusing dialogue. Jesus explained paradoxically that He does not intend to make Christians out of people:
…Does that mean...that all roads will lead to you?
'Not at all,' smiled Jesus...'Most roads don't lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you' (182).
Biblically, God will save people with no distinction to status, race, or gender (Rom. 3:22, 10:12). Everyone who believes in Christ will be saved regardless of their background. While Young certainly accommodates this view, he fails to mention that not all men will be saved. Furthermore, he implies that the term “Christian” is a non-biblical or institutionalized term (see Acts11:26). Rather than discussing what it means to truly be a Christian, the author plays games with language.
Other statements leave the reader equally confused about the nature of the atonement. Jesus tells Mack “I am the best way that anyone can relate [to God]” This is a far-cry from John 14:6 in which Jesus makes the claim that He is the only way to God. Toward the end of the book, Young states that God has forgiven all humans for their sins (p. 225). Throughout The Shack, language remains ambiguous enough that the reader cannot nail down any solid conclusions.

Turning a Fortress into a Shack (Part 1)

Over the next few days, we are going to post a three or four part blog discussing a very popular book in Christian Circles today. Our hearts' desire in everything for you is that the discussion, study and thought brought about by honest intellectual and emotional engagement will draw each of us closer to God and aid in transforming us into the very image of Jesus!


Turning a Fortress into The Shack
W.P. Young’s The Shack makes a muddle out of Christ’s atonement
by Blake Loy

The reason for this article:
Bottom line: No issue is more important than the atonement of Christ. What Christ accomplished on the cross is the most important topic in the entire universe. While Christians would do well to let many disagreements and petty debates fade into oblivion, the atonement of Christ cannot be compromised. W. P. Young’s triumph of independent publishing, The Shack, addresses many spiritual concepts. While Christians can “agree to disagree” on many of the unorthodox views presented The Shack, Young’s portrayal of Christ’s atonement must not be accepted by any Christian.

Caution:
It is not my intent to deride William Paul Young or those who support the message of this book. Christians must stop throwing “babies out with the bathwater,” and must begin to embrace art which is beautiful and effective. I intend the utmost of respect and humility when approaching this review, and I hope that it will be helpful not slanderous or poorly received. Witch hunts are prevalent in Christian culture today. Unfortunately, evangelical Christians have developed a nasty reputation for rejecting film, music, and books for petty reasons. Culture is waiting on writers to make novels which are artistically relevant, and spiritual in nature. The Shack is an example of such a work of art; which bridges the gap between quality workmanship and religious appeal – in that I applaud the efforts of this author.

Great Words from Thomas Jefferson, 1801

Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners.
Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people, the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer, not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Thomas Jefferson, Washington D.C., March 4, 1801


Every Thursday at noon, I get together with people from the church to pray for our nation and most of all the Kingdom of God. I found this in a prayer book that we have used for the past several months. I especially liked the last sentence.
I would love to hear your thoughts about his words!

David