I did not find myself in any faith communities that exposed me to the “word of faith” teachers such as Joseph Prince (author of Destined to Reign), as I spent the last 30 years in the Reformed (predestination) tradition of faith. They were usually portrayed as shallow thinkers with a simplistic and even dangerous message. But as I have come to realize that the Body of Christ is indeed His Body I have opened up my heart and mind to learn from the Church as a whole. That is when I decided to listen to a Joseph Prince sermon a friend sent me.
Prince comes across more polished than I am comfortable with but I had to admit that once I started listening to what he was saying I couldn’t turn him off. I was surprised to find his passionate grace message actually no different from what I have heard coming from his Calvinist counterparts in the radical grace message (minus the “prosperity” emphasis). I even heard him quote Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones! (a dearly cherished voice in Reformed circles). From Tullian Tchividjian’s Jesus+Nothing=Everything to Jefferson Bethke’s viral Youtube video, “I hate religion but love Jesus,” the proclamation of the grace message from among the Reformed camp is nearing a tipping point. At the same time it is interesting to discover it emerging substantially and forcefully from the more Arminian (free-will) teachers. (See Paul Ellis, Bob George, Steve McVey) Will they find a convergence?
As diametrically opposed the Joseph Prince’s of the Body of Christ appear to be next to the theological heavyweights, such as those from The Gospel Coalition, they have revealed a common ground and proclaim a single and common battle cry: The Gospel needs to be administered without additives, it cannot be a mixture of law and grace or it cannot be considered good news.
As the teaching attempts to assure people that God does not require any works in order to be saved the question arises then “how much faith do I need to have?” The answer is clearly that the faith is a gift as well, otherwise I will depend on my own holding power to sustain me. But in order for Joseph Prince to reassure people that it is not their faith that saves them he must dip into a theological camp that is opposed to his own, which is Calvinism – that belief system which says that salvation, in order for it to be all of grace, must have God as the author of even our faith! That of course brings up how it is that any are saved and the Calvinist’s answer is that they are “elected” and chosen from among mankind – an answer wanting and begging questions from all sides!
Thus it is once again illustrated how each tradition or camp cannot exist without borrowing from their opposing camps! We are indeed the ONE body of Christ and demonstrating it even while being unaware of it! We appear to be destined to it!
A dear friend of mine, weary of the intellectual exercises that he had undertaken for many years to create and sustain his faith as a Christian in a certain denomination, confided that he did not have the strength nor the drive to study and explore yet another doctrinal difference – that of ultimate reconciliation or universal restoration.
“I had to read dozens of books just to get where I was feeling a little more certain of what I believed and now I have to read dozens more to deconstruct and then to reconstruct? I just can’t do that. I’m done,” he said to me.
I understand the mind and soul fatigue and losing heart in the midst of it all. A cynicism arises and weariness sets in. I think of Jesus’ invitation:
“Come, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest…”
Matthew 11:28
Well, I believe we can actually take Him at His word, I mean totally and completely at face value! I believe that in just a few minutes you can rest tonight assured and at total peace that: “All shall be well – all manner of things shall be well,” to quote Julian of Norwich. I submit that you will never need to worry or sweat over another passage, debate another believer or lose a night’s sleep in angst regarding you or the world’s ultimate destinies.
Instead of having to get a seminary degree to reassure your soul or settle an argument about the hell issue (in which millions are still fruitlessly engaged in), you could replace it with a simple truth about the way God made you. It is something so universally obvious that both science and Jesus clearly agree upon it.
The answer, which is found in the way in which God designed you, is first found in a simple reading of His word!
The Scriptures declare that you were made by love, through love and for love and it is “the kindness of God that changes us” (“brings us to repentance” Rom 2:4). It is “the love of God that motivates us” (2 Cor 5:14) and “The fruit of the Spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.” If that were not enough we are told “there is no fear in love. Fear is the torment of punishment… The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” Last but not least, we are reassured that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end” and in sum: “Love never fails nor ends” (1 Cor 13).
The trend, the trajectory, the direction of these scriptures within the whole Story of God, if we are willing to take up this lens, show us that humankind functions best within love, joy, peace and hope. The fear-factor does not make one “perfect” as Paul describes. It doesn’t make one a very healthy person. In other words, that person is not thriving. We all know these people and we know ourselves in this state – we are not good to be around. Fear creates chaos, conflict and cowardice. It creates a very self-ish mindset because fear puts us in a self preservation mode. On the other hand, the fruit of a loving motivation is nine-fold! Again, I remind you…
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23
Here’s where science agrees. In his book, How God Changes Your Brain, neuroscientist Dr Andrew Newberg explains how the brain, under the duress of a belief system in a punitive god, actually shrinks. That’s right, it shrinks. This phenomenon has been studied as they documented the brain scans of subjects of various belief systems. To believe in a god that uses threats to invoke fear impedes one’s brain to develop naturally and causes it to get smaller. This is not the logical outworking one would expect of a deity that one calls “good.” Not what you would imagine from an intelligent God who is supposedly advancing His creation. No, a good and loving God would be fundamentally about life, growth and expansion. We would expect an encounter with this God’s true nature and character to elicit a response of love, joy, strength and a human flourishing.
And that is just what we find. As we follow the discoveries of science we find the unveiling of a God who is bigger, closer, and more intriguing and appealing than anything we could ever ask or imagine! How interesting that science has become the revelation of something beyond itself as it continues to spotlight a Reality we can fall on our faces in wonder, awe and worship as well as be the catalyst for a love capable of healing the world. This awe is true “fear” in its ancient and original Hebraic understanding.
Surprisingly even Carl Sagan weighed in about how science will finally reveal the truth of the God worth worshipping:
How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge.*
We have to ask the question Pastor Paul Smith asked his readers in his book entitled: “Is your God Big Enough. Close enough…You enough?” In other words, does your God blow your mind as least as much as quantum physics? Does your God know what it’s like to be you? Is your God as close as your next breath? These are the three faces of God known as the Father, Son and Spirit.
It is the infinite love, wonder, beauty and grace of this Being that creates the space in which we can grow and expand our hearts in order to restore and heal our selves and our world. This bigger view of God and His love is the only way we can begin to imagine Jesus as “the Savior of the World” and “Your Kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Let’s think and imagine and dream the way our brains and hearts were built and intended…to expand into a place that includes and embraces the whole world!
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
Romans 11:33
Now to him who is able to do infinitely, immeasurably and abundantly = more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20
In Conclusion
While this article can begin to absolutely put to rest a person’s fears and allow rest in the immediate sense, it is also based on deep and detailed pillars of truth that are laid out within this website. There is no judgment for the person who needs to explore more deeply the particular scriptural, philosophical, and historical basis for this worldview. That is what this website is for. However, for the weary souls who do not have the bandwidth to study these aspects in depth, this “fast track” is sufficient to build a foundation of trust and faith in the God who is GOOD and whose mercies NEVER come to an end!
Most people do not need to understand how the plane flies in order to have enough faith to board the plane and venture their lives upon its safety. But others have to know the mechanics and the principles of aerodynamics in order to lay to rest their fears and fly in confidence. We offer both here!
Perhaps you find yourself in the middle ground of “I’d like to explore and study further but it seems overwhelming and I don’t know where to start!” May we suggest a couple of books that are easy to digest and yet thoroughly grounded in the word?:
Hope For All by Gerry Beauchemin (great introduction that amazingly covers a lot of ground)
Grace Saves All by David Atman (very pastoral and also digs a bit deeper)
* Carl Sagan. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (New York: Random House Publishing, 1994), pg 50
NOTICE – 10/2021: I apologize for the fact that several of the posts on this site state (including this one) that “comments are closed.” That is not my intention. It is a glitch that I am investigating. There are pages where the comment option are still functioning, for instance on the Home page and also the Q&R page. Please give your feedback there if you wish!
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