In the Middle?

  In the Middle Midst

Rick Warren’s Statement about the crucifixion has a bunch of Christians fired up in controversial responses.

What did he say?

If you’re looking for the real Jesus, not a caricature disfigured by partisan motivations, you’ll find him in the middle, not on either side.

I think he was right on target and off by a hundred miles, but this is what most of the so-called engaged Christians are talking about.

Who?  It’s sort of the equivalent of the Facebook warriors that emerge with each news story. You know, the Chinese balloon experts, the firearms experts, the gender and transgender experts, and whatever the topic of the day is experts.

I think the context here was probably political (right and left) or sexual orientation (straight or gay). What I think Warren was saying was that Jesus wasn’t choosing sides.

He referenced Jesus on the cross between two thieves.  That’s how the hubbub started.

The Saddleback pastor hit the mark but scored an 8 out of 10 in the bullseye. I suggest using the word "midst" instead of "middle."

Jesus is in our midst. He is among saints and sinners. There is no need to decide to whom he stands closer or closest. He is all around us.

We believe in God and that Jesus was God in the flesh. He walked this earth and still calls the crown of his creation to follow him.

How can you come for the sick if you won’t make some house calls? Jesus was in the midst of sinners because that was his mission.

He talked with sinners. He ate with sinners. He rebuked the self-righteous in the presence of sinners.

OBTW—all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus came to heal the sick—the ultimate healing.

I also get the opposition to his statement because of the word “middle.”  Placing Jesus closer to one person or one group or cause, even if it’s the middle, just seems a bit off.

What do we do?  We are Cumberland Presbyterians, known for our grace. Known for calling whosoever to repent and believe. We are the frontier church that said the covered wagons are outrunning the word of God.

We are also a denomination considered to have a median theology. As that sounds, we are in the middle, and with good reason.

We teach, train, and make disciples from the center.  What’s that?  The undisputable stuff.

We believe in the Trinity:  Father, Son, and Spirit. It’s the second item in our Confession of Faith, but we had the good sense not to codify what each part of the Trinity does. God has three biblical manifestations: Father, Son, and Spirit. That’s the deal.

How each works is left to our biblical studies and the exhortations of someone standing behind or near a pulpit. We should have a heart to explore these.

We believe in God’s love for humankind, that he is always working—even though he modeled for us a Sabbath, and that mercy and grace are his trademarks.

We believe that God is love.

Now, we may vary somewhat in our baptisms. Immersion, pouring, and sprinkling are all just fine. We are not going to strain any gnats here.

We know that the Spirit of God is doing the work. The real victory in the water baptism is the believer's obedience to God.

We have a fair understanding of disputable matters. What are those?

These are the things on the periphery, not central to salvation, but we should explore them with abandon.

This brings us to James Hendrix. I loved James, and I love you guys, too, but James and I were kindred spirits. We like to explore the edges without fear of our beliefs being challenged.

I don’t advise this if you are early in your faith. Eat a lot of spiritual meat for a while before taking on these morsels.

Don’t ignore them. Just don’t make them central.  There is good stuff along the perimeter; we can dig into it without fear because we are grounded in what is central and essential.

Let's press on with what we know so well and explore with great expectations those we do not, bringing glory to God all the way.

Amen.