Don’t weaponize what is meant for our healing.
Hey there, fellow heir in Christ! First, these are wild days. The volume is high. I’m praying for us.
A caution from what I’ve seen of our conversations with each other as of late, and from what I feel tempted toward in my own heart:
To anyone in Christ who has claimed that they only ever say/think/post what is absolutely true, that the gospel as they understand and proclaim it is the True Gospel, that any believer in Jesus who would encourage or exhort them by offering that there is a piece missing in their understanding of the gospel, an implication of orthodox doctrine they hadn’t considered, an angle of the multifaceted heart of Christ that they just might find beautiful “just aren’t walking in the truth,” I say tread carefully, my brothers and sisters.
To be clear, there is only one true gospel of God, one Kingdom coming, only “one name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4), but no one group, denomination, country, or time in history has a monopoly on the gospel. And, more pointedly for my own interactions and conversations with other believers, *I* do not have a monopoly on the gospel.
To receive and proclaim the gospel in its fullness is the holy privilege and work of the whole, entire global Church throughout time. (Side note: This is one reason why the Creeds are an important gift to us that I have loved discovering in recent years). The gospel is our shared heritage in Christ.
I will not weaponize what God meant for healing. I dare not throw in the face of my co-heirs what he has given to us in love. I will not use for my own gain what is meant to renew all things, making every heart cry out, “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!”
Do I really want my view of the gospel at 30 to be my view of the gospel when I’m old and gray? I say emphatically, NO! God forbid it! I want it to be truer, wider, higher, fuller, deeper, more awe-filled, more present, more expansive, more humble, more glorious, more integrated, more beautiful with every passing year. I want to be overwhelmed like Paul, saying, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! ...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom. 11)
And this desire—by its very nature—will require that I also say things like:
“I didn’t know.”
“Can this be?”
“This is a hard saying. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60)
“I confess.”
“I repent.”
I resolve to love Jesus more than my rightness (and oh, how my heart is inclined to elevate and protect its own rightness) that I may know him in his fullness. Together, let’s encourage each other forward into God’s invitation to confession and repentance as we yield to his Spirit and are formed by his Word. It’s his kindness that leads us there, and it’s always and only for our healing.