You don't understand Christianity

I chose this picture not because it relates to the post, but because I just like the picture. It represents clarity, which I often lack, and beauty, which I one day might fully understand. It is also yellow. 

The title is my starting point. You don't understand Christianity.

Neither do I.

Neither does he.

Neither does she.

No one really understands Christianity.

No one. Except Jesus, because he invented it.

I've been thinking about all sorts of things today, wearing different hats and writing different things. I've been moving furniture and boiling kettles, engaging in debates and watching people cry. I've been trying to understand ever more angles, ever more people, ever more things. But I don't understand Christianity. Not one bit. Or, if I do, its because of God's grace. Saving. Transforming. Illuminating, Powerful. Incomprehensible. Unreasonable.

I hugely enjoyed the following short video, via Justin Holcomb's Twitter, that is a 'sermon jam' of part of something Matt Chandler preached. I'd encourage you to watch it. Either on youtube here or embedded below;

This is the true scandal of Grace. The core message of Jesus. The radical notion at the heart of the Christian faith.

God lavishes his grace up on us.

This is not a God who withholds, a God who demands, a God who nitpicks. This is a God, in fullness and power, who sees the sin, sees the evil, sees the brokenness, of everything and everyone. And has a response. An over the top, ridiculous, redeeming, radical, reconciling, royal, rich response. There is enough for you. And me. And him. And her. And everyone who comes. If you come to Jesus, there is grace for you.

I love what Chandler says to Christians;

God does not regret saving you. Regardless of what you do. There is no sin past, present, or future, that has more power than the Cross of Jesus.

Nothing is more powerful than the Cross of Jesus.

You do not disgust him. He loves you. He has forgiven and is growing and transforming you.

Chandler paints this beautiful picture, a message which works well with typography in this sense, out of the powerful passage he was preaching from, Ephesians 1;

"Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, evan as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth"

There I quote only a few verses, 3-10, of this powerful passage. It is a passage often used in debates to 'prove' predestination, and whilst I believe it is helpful for that discussion, we need to be careful to see the wood rather than the trees. Christianity is about many things. But it is first and foremost about one thing.

Jesus.

The Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus, the Jesus who is God and sovereign over all, is not a pushover. Or a bigot. Or a homophobe. Or sexist. Or racist. Or anything you could possibly think, even given the worst efforts of some of us who claim to follow him. The Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus that Paul is talking about passionately here in Ephesians 1, is the object of true Christianity. 

And that truth, that Jesus, can be summed up in one word.

Grace. 

This is the paradigm of true doctrine. This is the core of real theology. This is the ground of being, the call of Christ, the Good News, the Gospel. Paul references 'the heavenly places' in the same breath as 'the foundation of the world'. Grace reigns through both. Paul mentions 'redemption', 'forgiveness', 'riches of his grace', 'wisdom', 'insight', and purpose. And all of these are according to the riches of his grace. This is the radical nature of true Christianity. It is what Paul is writing to the Church in Ephesus about. Grace does not ignore sin and brokenness - it redeems and restores. Grace does not stay silent about broken hearts, it brings human hearts to rest in the place they are designed to thrive.

Often-times Christians do not make enough of Grace. Often-times we treat the real radical goodness of the Gospel like an awkward family secret, rather than Good News for everyone. I apologise for my part in that, and hope that in reading this you might be nudged to consider again what Jesus is all about. It's about Jesus. And Jesus is about Grace. Saving, transforming, fulfilling. 

Imagine what that could look like in your life.

Imagine how Big and how Good God might be. And multiply that by infinity  because that is how much greater God is. And the riches of his Grace reflect his perfect character. A Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit, that God invites you to relate to. To enjoy God forever, in the lavish riches of his Grace. That is what the Gospel says. Grace. 


Thanks for reading.