Last weekend I had a conversation with a fellow who is an ex evangelical. After high school he got very involved in the Open Bible Church movement. After a few years though he became disillusioned and left the church. Today he doubts that Jesus even existed.

I must admit I was a little taken aback when he denied there ever was such a person as Jesus.  His explanation for the existence of Christianity is that it is a self generated religion. In essence, what I heard from him was that Christians simply made it all up.

It seemed to me that much faith is required to deny the Historicity of Jesus and even more faith to think Christianity is self generated.

A number of non Christians historians from the first & second centuries do make passing references to Christians.

Had these pagan observers read the New Testament, though, they would have been amazed at the claims Christians made about themselves. According to the four gospels, Christians saw themselves as the principle agents by which the God who created the whole cosmos, heaven and earth, was at work in the world. In fact, according to one of their leaders, God intended to bring the whole world together under the authority and leadership of their founder, Jesus. (Ephesians 1:10). According to the New Testament, God had a future for the world and it was to come about through Christianity.

From the outside this claim would seem preposterous, even megalomaniacal. Christians would be considered delusional concerning their own power and importance. Upon what basis would reasonable or rational people develop such incredible ideas? Reading the New Testament one cannot help but think that the authors of these books are intelligent people. How then could they make such claims?

Their claims were not fanciful notions, as atheists assert, but were based upon certain experiences that the early Christians presently enjoyed. They believed they were no longer subject to the cosmic authorities that dominated their world, in particular, they were not subject to the Emperor or the worship of that Emperor. This is one of the complaints that turns up in the writings of Pliny the Younger, who tests the faithfulness of Christ followers by having them burn incense to the Emperor. (See The Letters of Pliny the Younger).

Not only were they not subject to ruling imperial authorities, they believed they were not even subject to ruling ontological authorities, in particular, the authority of death. They believed in and had as their current experience, the idea of salvation. Salvation was not something that happened to them a long way into the future, but it was a current reality. In it they found freedom, boldness, faith, hope and love.

These concepts generated very odd behaviors. Instead of weeping at funerals, they celebrated. (1 Thess. 4:13). Instead of succumbing to despair at persecution they submitted to trials with joy. (James 1:2). Rather than resentment in relationships they preferred one another over their own interests. (Phil. 2:1-3).

Further, the experience that generated these grandiose ideas of changing the world was something that came from outside of themselves. As Luke Timothy Johnson puts it in his book, The Writings of The New Testament,

If we try to cut deeper beneath the symbolization, we see that the Christian experience had to do with power: the Christians said they had been touched by an awesome force that in turn empowered them—a particularly paradoxical claim given their circumstances.

The terms for this power are various. It can be called

Ø     an authority (exousia; see John 1:12; 1 Cor. 8:9; 9:4; 2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10; 2 Thess. 3:9),

Ø     an energy (energeia; see 1 Cor. 12:6, 11; Gal. 3:5; 5:6; Eph. 3:20–21; Col. 1:29; 1 Thess. 2:13; Phlm. 6; Heb. 4:12), or

Ø     a power (dynamis; see Rom. 1:16; 15:13, 19; 1 Cor. 1:18; 6:14; 2 Cor. 6:7; 13:4; Gal. 3:5; Eph. 3:20; Col. 1:29; 1 Thess. 1:5; 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:7; Heb. 2:4; 2 Pet. 1:16).

This power manifested itself outwardly in certain “signs and wonders” (Acts 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; Rom. 15:19; 2 Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:4) such as healings, prophecies, and spiritual utterances, but above all in the proclamation of the “good news” (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:4; 2 Cor. 4:7; 1 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:8; James 1:21).

It also manifested itself inwardly by the spiritual transformation of those who received it (Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:16; 2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 3:5; Eph. 4:23; Col. 3:10; 1 Pet. 1:22).

This power, finally, was not of their own doing, but was transmitted to them from another to whom it properly belonged (Rom. 1:4; 16:25; 1 Cor. 1:24; 5:4; 12:3; 2 Cor. 1:4; 6:7; 12:9; 13:4; Eph. 3:16, 20; Phil. 3:10, 20–21; 2 Tim. 1:7; Heb. 5:7; James 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:5; 2 Pet. 1:16; Jude 24). None of the elements listed here is found in the NT as a goal for which one is to strive; rather, each appears as a dimension of one’s present life. The relationships, states, dispositions, and transformations are experienced, not just desired. The case is succinctly stated by Paul: “The Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20).

Because of this new empowerment, Christians believed they represented something entirely new ...   more »

"I forgive! I forgive!" These were the dying words of Sister Leonella who was gunned down by Muslim extremists in Somalia last week. ("I forgive" whispers dying Italian nun).

I have heard it said, " Forgiveness is the fragrance of the violet which still clings fast to the heel that crushed it."

There is great power in the fragrance of Sister Leonella's forgiveness. Power that is greater than all the signs and wonders the church would hope to unleash to prove the love of God. Forgiveness is a power that does not overwhelm evil, but takes on board the full measure of the pain of evil. By allowing evil to do its worse and not returning evil for evil, it captures the evil act for God and uses it to demonstrate a power that is greater, the power of love.

Today I look at the notions of power and authority and how they work in the Kingdom of God. Power and authority are not the same thing. One can have power without authority. For example, those gunman in Somalia exercised their power to kill Sister Leonella. They had no authority to do it. There can be no rational legitimization for murdering an innocent nun.

On the other hand, one can have authority but have no power to exercise that authority. The recently deposed Prime Minister of Thailand has a legitimate authority to govern the country but without the military on his side he no longer exercises that authority.

One can have the authority to exercise power such as President Bush has, but by exercising that power unwisely and alienating people, it will reduce the legitimacy of the authority that stands behind the exercise of that power.  

Finally, one can exercise power wisely and in doing so gain authority in the minds and hearts of the people who one wants to influence for good.

The Kingdom of God is all about that last approach. In this post I want to contrast the Charismatic approach to gaining authority through the exercise of power: signs and wonders; with what the gospel of Mark says is the true pathway to authority inherent in the gospel -- the Cross. In doing so I want to challenge the Charismatic church to earn its authority in and through the pain rather than seeking to earn that authority through the "raw power" of signs and wonders.  

In a previous post on Bill Johnson’s book When Heaven Invades Earth: A Practical Guide To A Life Of Miracles, I talked about how the Charismatic Church needs to ground its hope in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the event that established once and for all that God intends to redeem creation. The resurrection is an affirmation of our creatureliness so we do not need to be insecure about the “natural” because as Johnson says “the anointing transforms the vessel it flows through.” That is, the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is at work even now in our naturalness empowering us to do God’s work.

Johnson’s stated purpose for his book is to raise up a generation that would walk in the “raw power of God”. By that he means demonstrations of God’s power to heal and set people free from spiritual oppression. His hope is for a Church that would operate in the authority of God and have a “dominating impact.” 

He states that “vision starts with identity and purpose. Through a revolution in our identity, we can think with divine purpose. Such a change begins with a revelation of Him.” (p.34) So in his chapter on the Christian identity. Johnson states that “As He is, so are we in this world.” (p. 145) Since Christ is glorified, powerful, triumphant and holy so we are to be as well as his church. This is what ought to be shaping our Christian identity as Christ followers. This is what will give us the authority to have a dominating impact. 

“His promises for the Church are beyond all comprehension. Too many consider them to be God’s promise either for the Millennium or heaven, claiming that to emphasize God’s plan for now instead of eternity is to dishonor the fact that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Our predisposition toward a weak Church has blinded our eyes to the truths of God’s Word about us. This problem is rooted in our unbelief, not in our hunger for heaven. Jesus taught us how to live by announcing, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” It is a present reality, affecting the now.

We lack understanding of who we are because we have little revelation of who He is. We know a lot about His life on earth. The Gospels are filled with information about what He was like, how He lived, and what He did. Yet that is not the example of what the church is to become. What He is today, glorified, seated at the right hand of the Father, is the model for what we are becoming!” (p. 178)

Johnson goes on to give a list of “the heart of God for us right now.” Wise – especially as demonstrated in excellence, creativity and integrity. Glorious – with the Holy Spirit’s presence and anointing. Without spot or wrinkle; unified; knowing Christ; mature; filled with the fullness of God; with the gifts of the holy Spirit fully expressed; doing the Greater Works and seeing God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.  All these are attributes of the Church God wants manifest now. Johnson quotes the passage from Haggai, where the prophet says, “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former.” (Haggai 2:9)

The problem is that most of the church is mired in powerlessness. Johnson attributes this to being on “the wrong side of the cross.”

“The Christian life is not found on the Cross. It is found because of the Cross. It ...   more »