Christianity that cuts
March 29, 2013
It is sometimes difficult to work out exactly what people are doing when they open their Bibles and let their eyes pass over the pages of Scripture. An observer might surmise that one of the things that they are not doing is reading the words and assimilating the truth that is contained there. That conclusion would follow from the fact that there seems often to be a comprehensive and wilful failure to recognise that Christianity is an offensive religion, and offending people is the capital crime of the early 21st century Western world.
The problem with Christianity - the cause of the offence - is that it speaks very plainly and directly to sinners about their sin, their need of salvation and the only possible way of salvation. It tells men that they are neither good nor wise, and that therefore salvation is of the Lord. Such searching scrutiny of and honest counsel concerning the soul is not palatable to the natural man, whose "mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Rom 8.7). And yet there seems to be a general resistance to the idea that Christianity must cut.
Among those who profess the name of Christ are multitudes who bend over backwards to avoid any hint that Christianity labels certain things as right and wrong, declares certain behaviour to be sin and identifies those who pursue it as sinners, condemns the unrepentant sinner to hell, demands allegiance to Christ crucified and to him only, declaring his to be the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4.12). Instead, we find a determination to avoid issues and individuals who might upset the applecart, preaching instead a spineless inclusivism that never makes a distinction, never draws a line, never takes a stand.
Even in healthy churches, there are believers who are mortified when sinners become angry and resentful under the preaching of the gospel, believers found backtracking - and perhaps urging others to do so - like a man who's just walked into a bull's field. There are parents who labour under the misapprehension that any confrontation of their children's sin will result in their rejection of Christ, and who therefore spend their lives avoiding the demands of the gospel in their homes. There are members who steadfastly militate against any form of church discipline because they cannot see how it can be loving to identify and address someone's sin. There are those who balk at the proclaiming of a single sovereign Saviour of mankind, who find calls to repent and believe harsh, who find any demand for whole-souled obedience and the pursuit of divine standards a little, well, demanding.
But we need to open our Bibles and do more than let our eyes pass over the pages. We need to recognise that Christianity cuts. If yours is a Christianity that has no sharp edges, no distinctive flavours, then it is not the true Christianity of the Bible. Paul made clear that the gospel of a crucified Christ was "to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness" (1Cor 1.23). If your gospel does not cause the hackles of the self-righteous to rise and the lips of the worldly-wise to curl in a sneer then it is not the gospel of God, and will not prove the power of God to salvation. If your gospel does not declare a freeness in God's grace that makes the self-righteous feel that you are giving wicked men a licence to sin then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not call men to an obedience so complete and entire that you are despised as narrow and shrivelled (1Pt 4.4) then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not offer salvation to any wretched sinners who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, however great their sins, and however far and long they have wandered from the Lord, then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not proclaim that those same sinners rely entirely upon the saving and sanctifying grace of a sovereign Lord then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not entreat, demand, command, invite, and compel sinners to come in, then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel has no cutting edges it is not the gospel of the Bible.
This gospel, this truth, draws lines and dares any to erase them. What does your Jesus say? Mine says this:
If we blunt the edge and mask the flavour then our Christianity will not cut. It will not cut men to the heart because of their transgressions, whether they show it by their fury or their repentance, or perhaps their fury and then their repentance. It will not cut down the rearing pride of human goodness and human wisdom. It will not cut men out of the wild olive tree and graft them into the cultivated one. It will not cut off the fruitless branches, pruning the tree so that it bears good fruit. It will not cut off the right hand that causes you to sin or the right foot that walks into wickedness. It will not cut off words that are cutting, cruel, bitter, sapless, complaining and divisive. It will not cut the church out of the world and its appetites and pursuits, and make them holy to the Lord. It will not cut out the sheep from the goats. In short, it will not do the cutting work that is required if sinners are to be saved and the church to pursue its identity and activity in the world.
Many of us live in a place in which the only real sin is to hold to a Christianity that cuts. But lose that, and you lose a Christ who saves. If you have not felt the cut of Christianity, then you do not have Christ's Christianity. If you do now allow the cut of Christianity, then you will lose Christ's Christianity. Let us not avoid or be embarrassed by a Christianity that cuts. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of God.
The problem with Christianity - the cause of the offence - is that it speaks very plainly and directly to sinners about their sin, their need of salvation and the only possible way of salvation. It tells men that they are neither good nor wise, and that therefore salvation is of the Lord. Such searching scrutiny of and honest counsel concerning the soul is not palatable to the natural man, whose "mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Rom 8.7). And yet there seems to be a general resistance to the idea that Christianity must cut.
Among those who profess the name of Christ are multitudes who bend over backwards to avoid any hint that Christianity labels certain things as right and wrong, declares certain behaviour to be sin and identifies those who pursue it as sinners, condemns the unrepentant sinner to hell, demands allegiance to Christ crucified and to him only, declaring his to be the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4.12). Instead, we find a determination to avoid issues and individuals who might upset the applecart, preaching instead a spineless inclusivism that never makes a distinction, never draws a line, never takes a stand.
Even in healthy churches, there are believers who are mortified when sinners become angry and resentful under the preaching of the gospel, believers found backtracking - and perhaps urging others to do so - like a man who's just walked into a bull's field. There are parents who labour under the misapprehension that any confrontation of their children's sin will result in their rejection of Christ, and who therefore spend their lives avoiding the demands of the gospel in their homes. There are members who steadfastly militate against any form of church discipline because they cannot see how it can be loving to identify and address someone's sin. There are those who balk at the proclaiming of a single sovereign Saviour of mankind, who find calls to repent and believe harsh, who find any demand for whole-souled obedience and the pursuit of divine standards a little, well, demanding.
But we need to open our Bibles and do more than let our eyes pass over the pages. We need to recognise that Christianity cuts. If yours is a Christianity that has no sharp edges, no distinctive flavours, then it is not the true Christianity of the Bible. Paul made clear that the gospel of a crucified Christ was "to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness" (1Cor 1.23). If your gospel does not cause the hackles of the self-righteous to rise and the lips of the worldly-wise to curl in a sneer then it is not the gospel of God, and will not prove the power of God to salvation. If your gospel does not declare a freeness in God's grace that makes the self-righteous feel that you are giving wicked men a licence to sin then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not call men to an obedience so complete and entire that you are despised as narrow and shrivelled (1Pt 4.4) then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not offer salvation to any wretched sinners who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, however great their sins, and however far and long they have wandered from the Lord, then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not proclaim that those same sinners rely entirely upon the saving and sanctifying grace of a sovereign Lord then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel does not entreat, demand, command, invite, and compel sinners to come in, then it is not the gospel of the Bible. If your gospel has no cutting edges it is not the gospel of the Bible.
This gospel, this truth, draws lines and dares any to erase them. What does your Jesus say? Mine says this:
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Mt 10.32-39)Of course, I am not saying that we have to be or ought to be offensive in ourselves. The gospel does that all by itself simply by being true. It cuts across the modern dogma that you cannot be dogmatic. It tramples on the idol of our self-sufficiency. But our task is simply to communicate the truth faithfully. The truth of God has a sharp edge and a distinctive flavour, and we must not and cannot afford to be ashamed of it. In almost every instance, sinners must be offended before they are converted.
If we blunt the edge and mask the flavour then our Christianity will not cut. It will not cut men to the heart because of their transgressions, whether they show it by their fury or their repentance, or perhaps their fury and then their repentance. It will not cut down the rearing pride of human goodness and human wisdom. It will not cut men out of the wild olive tree and graft them into the cultivated one. It will not cut off the fruitless branches, pruning the tree so that it bears good fruit. It will not cut off the right hand that causes you to sin or the right foot that walks into wickedness. It will not cut off words that are cutting, cruel, bitter, sapless, complaining and divisive. It will not cut the church out of the world and its appetites and pursuits, and make them holy to the Lord. It will not cut out the sheep from the goats. In short, it will not do the cutting work that is required if sinners are to be saved and the church to pursue its identity and activity in the world.
Many of us live in a place in which the only real sin is to hold to a Christianity that cuts. But lose that, and you lose a Christ who saves. If you have not felt the cut of Christianity, then you do not have Christ's Christianity. If you do now allow the cut of Christianity, then you will lose Christ's Christianity. Let us not avoid or be embarrassed by a Christianity that cuts. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of God.
