The 50/50 Gospel Muddle....

I commented on this post this morning--before I realized that it had a Part II. But I find that my answer to the first post is not changed by the second post. I "met" this brother at Missional Tribe ... but more about that next Tuesday!

So this is what I had to say, as a bit of a lead-in to our 40 Days of cHesed, which will be starting on Monday. (I've learned how to advance post, finally, and have two weeks already lined up, so get ready for M-F cHesed right here!)

Interesting post, Jonathan. However, I believe that many who buy into the 50/50 idea have made a zero-sum game where it is not necessarily intended. I believe it is supposed to be 100/100 -- it is 100% God's grace and provision that brings us into the New Covenant in Jesus but it is also 100% our engagement with and submission to "Jesus is Lord" that lights the gospel fire that will sweep over the world and its cultures.

Scot McKnight gets to this with The Jesus Creed--loving God and loving others, and I have come to realize that this 100/100 is misunderstood or ignored because too many have not understood covenant and covenant keeping (cHesed) in its New Covenant context. We are to be "in Christ", which speaks to God's provision in Jesus + our acceptance of the gift. But we are also to be "like Christ", which speaks to the Holy Spirit's on-going transforming work + our duty to love God and love others. And finally, if we are in Christ + like Christ = with Christ -- and this is where we engage with Christ in Kingdom mission, joining the 100% of God's redeeming effort with 100% of our effort to practice cHesed, where we both activate and then "infect" the cultures around us with what Alan Hirsch calls mDNA.

I find it's "simplexity" worth pondering.

Shalom

It is the "simplexity" of cHesed that is so important to get across. I am counting on the Spirit to help me communicate this truth with it's proper simple nature while encouraging digging deeper into the vast complexities of its implications for our attitudes and actions.

...and now that I have learned how to advance post, perhaps I'll finally be able to get to my thoughts on perichoresis without having to do one giant data-dump. That will be something to look forward to this year!

...now, if I can only learn how to track back to posts I link....