The Church's Mission Statement

Richard Hays, in his book, "The Moral Vision of the New Testament", gives a succinct statement that summarizes the mission of the Church:

"[T]he New Testament calls the covenant community of God's people into participation in the cross of Christ in such a way that the death and resurrection of Jesus becomes a paradigm for their common life as harbingers of God's new creation."

I just love it!

Fear of Frying

Adam and Eve's fall from communion to autonomy was a tragic event that haunts us today. As I've been thinking about their experience and what we can learn about ourselves from it, it dawned on me that Genesis 3:10 contains in miniature the whole dynamic of the Fall. I call that dynamic, “Fear of Frying”, and it still functions in us today.

It goes something like this:

Withdrawing from communion leaves one alone to engage reality with their own scant resources. Therefore, when they come upon something good, they are afraid because it highlights their lack, and this sends them running for cover.

Take a look at Genesis 3:10:

He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."

We can sum up this process in three steps: Sees Good => Fears Lack => Hides Self.

The following chart outlines the “Fear of Frying”:

Sees Good	“I heard the sound of You”	* Recognition of God's standard. * Recognition of moral obligation (do right and be good). * Recognition of one's duty/responsibility.
Fears Lack	“I was afraid because I was naked”	* Ashamed of limitations. * Not sure efforts are enough. * Others are better than self. * Can't live up to standard.
Hides Self	“so I hid myself”	* Boast in talents. * Don't admit lack. * Compete with others. * Dominate others.

The dynamic of the Fall works in us today. Because we mistrust God and try to be independent from Him and others, we experience a false sense of shame and insecurity that prevents us from meaningfully sharing ourselves with others, and often leads us to actually hurt them. Broken communion with God becomes broken communion with others.

It's a miserable existence God never meant us to have.

Faith in Fig Leaves (Audio)

I recently gave a message entitled, "Faith in Fig Leaves". The message uses the chart from my last post as an outline. The pdf version of the chart is a little easier to follow.

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Right click the link to download the mp3.
faithinfigleaves.mp3