{"id":6155,"date":"2015-10-22T14:37:51","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T21:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=6155"},"modified":"2015-10-22T14:37:51","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T21:37:51","slug":"i-call-you-my-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/i-call-you-my-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"I Call You My Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"
As my dear friend strolled through the Louvre last year, he spotted this 7th Century icon and immediately thought of me. \u00a0The astounding thing about this tile is that Jesus is presented as a friend to St. Mina (a 3rd century Coptic ascetic and martyr). \u00a0 The title: I Call You My Friends (http:\/\/www.monasteryicons.com\/product\/christ-the-true-friend-icon-166<\/a>). Before my friend traveled to Paris, we discussed in depth John 15.15 and my friendship with Jesus. \u00a0A few years prior, I heard in my heart the invitation from Jesus to be his friend. \u00a0I laughed with joy as I unpackaged this tile which now sits on the mantle in our living room for all to see that life with Jesus is really about friendship with Jesus. \u00a0Good theology begins and ends with friendship with Jesus.<\/div>\n
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As a student of theology, local church pastor, local high school history teacher, and most importantly Jesus\u2019 friend, I was actually excited to delve into McGrath\u2019s 5th Edition of Christian Theology<\/i>. \u00a0Agreeing with McGrath that theology is more than a set of ideas, but about, \u201cmaking possible a new way of seeing ourselves, others, and the world, with implications for the way in which we behave” (McGrath 102), I expected to read and learn more about my, and my fellow Christians\u2019, friendship with Jesus. \u00a0Unfortunately, halfway through the \u201cGetting Started\u201d chapter, my \u201ctextbook allergies\u201d started to act up. \u00a0Where Who Needs Theology<\/i> by Grenz & Olson makes a compelling case, and indeed extends a strong invitation for every Christian to start a relationship with theology through which we deepen our friendship with Jesus, for the nonprofessional academic, McGrath does neither. \u00a0Using Grenz & Olson\u2019s theology continuum (folk, lay, ministerial, professional, academic) to locate Christian Theology<\/i>, I would create a subset under academic called,\u00a0<\/i>\u201cstudent of academia.\u201d<\/div>\n
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A professional Christian myself, and a history teacher, I understand the realities of needing textbooks. \u00a0For me, it\u2019s like the pollen that causes me to sneeze, before the beautiful leaf forms on the trees in my yard. \u00a0Necessary, but not enjoyable. \u00a0Textbooks serve best as reference materials for students\u2026only students. \u00a0I doubt many non-students have read this book. And that illustrates a tension for pastors. \u00a0We have to convince followers of Jesus that one of the definitions of disciple IS student. \u00a0Every christian is a theologian, but not many have, or will read, a textbook like this one about theology. \u00a0Today\u2019s typical church attender would rather read a blog about church relevancy from a pastor like Brian Zahnd (http:\/\/blog.echurchgiving.com\/do-we-still-need-the-church\/#sht=1f06adfa72ba743a54277b42baff33e6<\/a>) rather than study the different historical periods of the church (McGrath Chs.1-4).\u00a0 I do appreciate the questions at the end of the chapter and the companion website with the answers (http:\/\/www.alistermcgrathwiley.com\/default.asp<\/a>)! \u00a0However, the website is a sign-of-the-times that people are craving a relationship, even with the author of their textbooks. \u00a0A user can listen to podcasts by McGrath, check out images, and even listen to the first couple of chapters. \u00a0Each of these links is a form of relationship building.<\/div>\n
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A friendship is a narrative. \u00a0The story we live, the story we hear, and the stories we tell are what truly forms us. \u00a0The current culture I find myself pastoring in is one that holds this narrative in high regard. \u00a0McGrath states that N.T. Wright\u2019s writings are some of the most important of the 20th century (McGrath 308). \u00a0I agree and think it true because Wright writes in a more of a narrative style(!) and asserts that \u201cJesus Christ introduces something radically new, especially in relation to the identity of the people of God\u201d (McGrath 308). \u00a0Experiencing a friendship with Jesus changes one\u2019s identity more profoundly than mentally assenting to any dogma or doctrine like the \u201ctwo natures\u201d formula (McGrath 266). \u00a0A concern though is that Christians should know about things like the two natures of Jesus. \u00a0It is just like Steven Covey\u2019s famous habit of success that states we should begin with the end in mind. \u00a0For Christians, we should know the different views of how this all ends (McGrath Ch18). \u00a0But at at the end of the day (pun intended!) most people I am in contact with will not take the time to work through the chapter and questions and come up with a workable theology regarding eschatology. My friends simply want the emotional assurance that when a loved one dies, they make it to heaven.<\/div>\n
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Even though the new (and old) Christians who are part of the Hub Vineyard Church do not have a clue of what transubstantiation (McGrath 417) and consubstantiation (McGrath 420) are, nor do they care, the future academic who will communicate with fellow future academics, are expected to know the material in this book. \u00a0The local church pastor should have this book on the shelf for reference because we do not have the luxury of being only concerned with current \u201crelevant\u201d events. \u00a0My dream is that the next edition of this book will include a new chapter heavy with application. \u00a0For example, given the doctrine of the trinity (McGrath Ch10) how do we respond to the current refugee crisis? \u00a0What do the doctrine of human nature, sin, and grace (McGrath Ch14) have to say about current American definitions of marriage? \u00a0Finally, how does the doctrine of the church (McGrath Ch15) inform various \u201cnew\u201d forms of church? \u00a0For me, theology looses it\u2019s importance when it is not contextualized in friendship with Jesus.<\/div>\n
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PS. \u00a0As I am proofreading this, I receive an email form the Barna Group (https:\/\/www.barna.org\/barna-update\/culture\/735-the-state-of-books-and-reading-in-a-digital-world<\/a>) explaining the disastrous reading habits of Christians.<\/div>\n
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As my dear friend strolled through the Louvre last year, he spotted this 7th Century icon and immediately thought of me. \u00a0The astounding thing about this tile is that Jesus is presented as a friend to St. Mina (a 3rd century Coptic ascetic and martyr). \u00a0 The title: I Call You My Friends (http:\/\/www.monasteryicons.com\/product\/christ-the-true-friend-icon-166). Before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":6156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[710,2,663],"class_list":["post-6155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alister-mcgrath","tag-dminlgp","tag-lgp6","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6157,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6155\/revisions\/6157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}