The Usual Suspects

 

How , then, should they be invoking One in whom they do not believe?  Yet how should they be believing One of whom they do not hear?  Yet how should they be hearing apart from one heralding?  Yet how should they be heralding if ever they should not be commissioned?  According as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those bringing an evangel of good! 

Romans 10: 14-15, Concordant New Testament 

I know a man, my good friend Dennis, a former man of the cloth, who during his final years of preaching and teaching from the pulpit, would often struggle with the concept of knowing Jesus on a more personal level.  He recently referred to this in one of our podcasts as the "Two gospels."  The first gospel is the traditional teachings of Christ which both Dennis and I grew up knowing and learning.  The second gospel is one spoken of by the apostle Paul.  A gospel not only of Christ Jesus, but of knowing Him on a more personal level.  The conflict Dennis faced as a pastor was struggling with the centuries old Christian doctrine he had been commissioned to preach and the radically new Revelation which the Lord had placed on his heart.  These days, he cringes when he thinks of the theology he once preached.  He has all too often jokingly apologized to me for all those years of misleading me on Jesus.  I hold no grudges.  I believe that he was simply proclaiming what was right in his heart at the time.  Yet why on earth would Dennis feel that tug of guilt over sermons delivered so long ago?  I believe that this speaks to the conflict of the two gospels.  One traditional and one so radically different that even Paul referred to it as the "Mystery among the gentiles" {Colossians 1:27}.  I had no idea of the conflict which my friend had faced until, on one of our short hikes, Dennis confided in me what I will forever know as my own revelation of Christ Jesus in me.  This is the second gospel which Paul spoke to {Galatians 2:20}.  The fact that churches proclaiming the truth of Christ in me are few and far between makes the revelation I have received less than mainstream in the Christian community.  Which explains why many readers probably have never even heard of it.  Were it not for one man, I more than likely would never have been introduced to the second gospel.  Predictably, most pastors continue to stick to the centuries old theology talking points in their teachings.  When was the last time you walked into a church service and hear the pastor speak to Christ Jesus in you?  Have you ever heard a pastor speak from the pulpit that sin...is dead?  Wait...sin is dead?  But don't we all still struggle with sin?  Yet Paul assures us that sin is indeed a thing of the past {Romans 6:11}.  This is part of the struggle Dennis and I faced as we each received our own revelation of Christ in us.  

With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, who loves me and gives Himself up for me.

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

I can definitely understand the struggles Dennis faced because I faced the same internal revolt among my own beliefs as well.  I also understand how recalling his days preaching the same old theology from the pulpit has made him at times feel like a get away driver who evaded capture.  I get it.  Somehow, he feels guilty by association.  Yet I believe that, as the Father intends everything for a reason, that the revelation which Dennis received was in no way by coincidence.  For his revelation of Jesus led to my own.  It is fair to say that God reveals Himself in us in His own timing.  This is especially evident in Paul's experience on the road to Damascus.  Traditional Christian doctrine speaks to Paul being converted on the spot, but this was not the case at all.  For Paul had questions and struggles with his new found revelation as well.  Remember, the man Saul was a devout Jew who had been raised up in the faith.  Saul was, if you will, a major religious authority of his day.  His zealous beliefs eventually leading him to persecute the early followers of Jesus.  Now, put yourself in Paul's shoes for a minute.  You've just encountered something/someone whom you cannot wrap your mind around.  Your teaching is telling you one thing, but your heart is pulling you in a totally different direction.  For Paul, his Damascus road experience led him to more than a few years in the desert as he undoubtedly wrestled with what he knew and the revelation he had received.  I have no doubt that Paul, like Dennis, had regrets about the theology which he had embraced for so many years.  By his own admission, Paul was the chief persecutor of the early followers of Jesus {1 Timothy 1:15}.  I for one am thankful that Paul worked out his struggles with his revelation out there in the desert, for he has become a confident voice for the truth of Christ in us.  Whether or not Dennis feels guilty by association to the old theology is of no consequence.  For through his guidance more than a few others have come to the revelation he once received.  We hope that through this book that many more will come to see the truth of Christ Jesus in you.  

To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is Christ among you, the expectation of glory.

Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~