A Thin Veneer of the Gospel
theMangoTimes blog has been dead silent for more than a year. There were many things I wanted to write about during 2020, but it seemed like everyone was blogging and podcasting on the same subjects. I did not want to add another voice into the conversation about pandemics, sheltering in place, politics, racism, or why we should or should not be wearing masks. Lately though, I have not been able to shake a few thoughts and theMangoTimes always seems like a good place to write some things down and see how they land.
So, what would bring Fletch out of his blogging hiatus? The same as always: the gospel. It’s been over 10 years since I woke up from what I refer to as “gospel amnesia.” I know it sounds crazy from a guy who loves the gospel, but for a large chunk of my life I had done the unthinkable and forgotten the gospel. I got wrapped up with a group of people who thought and taught more about behaving than believing. Those years of pursuing religion through better behavior were some of the most fruitless years in my faith and I have no desire to return.
That's why theMangoTimes will continue to be a trumpet for gospel-centered promotion (and I hope discussion). It is also why I choose to surround myself with people who will regularly speak the gospel into my life. I appreciate the reminder to believe better because on my own I quickly return to focusing again on how to behave better.
This leads me to a trend I have seen this year. As 2020 blends into 2021, the virus and the politics surrounding the virus have continued to surge at a feverish rate. The desire for normalcy has led many in our community to a point of frustration and feistiness. The epitome of frustration can be seen in what the internet refers to as “Karens” or “Kevins” exploding in the local Trader Joes. What I find interesting is that this angst remains almost indistinguishable within the virtual walls of the church. Sure, it doesn’t represent itself in shared viral videos, but it remains suppressed within the minds and hearts of many in the church.
Our American culture has created a spirit of entitlement. In public we see this erupt in angry displays by people who will not “let their rights” be violated. In the church, I find it much more subtle. “Gospel amnesia” lives quietly under the surface and spreads quickly because many of us live with a very thin veneer of the gospel over our faith.
“The gospel becomes a banner we live under that says: You have been saved by faith. You are being saved by faith. You will ultimately be saved by faith. Period. ”
If we are being honest, the church has been hit by the perfect storm. For the past year, we have been forced to face a lingering pandemic, unavoidable issues of justice, and a front-row seat to one of our most contentious political seasons in history (Note: I am quick to be corrected by my father who loves to describe the similarities to the election of 1864).
For gospel loving Christians, we should be thriving in this environment. Who better than us to articulate the good news that God loves us and that His love is most clearly demonstrated in the redemptive work of Jesus on our behalf? Pushing this theology a little deeper, my favorite 16th-century monk, Martin Luther, would remind us that this happens only by God's grace. Jesus and only Jesus can do the work that saves us. We bring nothing to the table for negotiation of our salvation or our sanctification.
The gospel becomes a banner we live under that says: You have been saved by faith. You are being saved by faith. You will ultimately be saved by faith. Period. This knowledge should then translate into a demonstration of a deep love for one another or, to follow my metaphor, we should have a thick layer of the gospel that remains difficult to penetrate.
Has that been the case? I'm discovering something quite different. 2020 has revealed that because many of us have been living with a very thin veneer of the gospel, we are quick to forget these truths.
As I said above,, I’ve been working this out in my thoughts and with several in my community. I mentioned this recently as I walked with a friend who asked me to clarify what I meant. Think back over the last year with me. In conversations about politics, or our cultural/corporate behavior/response to Covid-19, or our response to justice, or any of the other challenging topics this year, have you witnessed a gospel response? I would argue that as soon as we begin scratching the surface in most conversations we will quickly find discussions and ultimately lives driven by "good or right" Christian behavior.
If the gospel reminds us how deeply loved we are by God, that should motivate us to "do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously." (Micah 6) Instead, 2020 revealed a church split over so many issues: From wearing masks to responding to issues of justice, citizenship, political candidates, to gathering in person for worship, to whatever. Instead of the gospel motivating and informing our response to instinctively care for others over ourselves, I found over and over this year that folks seemed to be driven by religious responses driven by self-focus and personal rights.
The solution for this seems so simple: Preach the gospel even more, right? It seems easy enough, but here's where things got real. In my little corner of the world, I began to hear statements like this: "Hey Fletch, you can't keep talking about the gospel. That's all you ever seem to want to talk about. Can we move beyond that topic? You clearly do not recognize the importance of holiness. I get the gospel. What we need to talk about is what it means to live out our faith in the fear of God."
“In other words, the gospel doesn’t just earn your salvation, but it maintains your salvation and secures your salvation. ”
This is exactly what I mean by a thin veneer of the gospel. This is represented in responses like this: The gospel is great, but only for getting our foot in the door. Once I am there, I am responsible for all of my behaviors, so thanks for the gospel mumbo-jumbo, but I need to hear and learn how to behave better. Oh yeah, by the way, I need to hear way more about the consequences of all my bad choices too. I can’t live on a diet of the unconditional love of God alone.
It reminds me of a life-changing conversation I had with a pastor who told me that the gospel is not just the “A, B, C's” of the Christian faith, but the “A to Z”. In other words, the gospel doesn't just earn your salvation, but it maintains your salvation and secures your salvation. At no time do we move on from the gospel. At no time do we hit a place where our work is required to maintain our position before God or secure our salvation.
When we have a year like 2020, where our faith has been given multiple opportunities to be on display, where do we look for motivation? In this season where we can choose to humbly serve our weaker brother or boldly stand for brothers and sisters who have been seen "lesser than" because of the color of their skin, their gender, their political beliefs, etc, shouldn’t it be the gospel that motivates us? The gospel is the constant reminder that we have been reconciled to God by His grace alone that motivates us. It's never our behavior. It's never our good works. It's never our righteousness.
As I mentioned, these conversations based on a very shallow penetration of the gospel have become almost unavoidable. In fact, they have seemed to ramp up and I love when others say that they've heard enough of the gospel and want to move on and start focusing on their obedience or working out their salvation. For me, it's like pouring gasoline on the gospel bonfire. It motivates me to remind others that the gospel-centered life is a life where Christians experience a growing personal reliance on the gospel that protects them from depending on their own religious performance and being seduced and overwhelmed by idols.
“True faith takes its character and quality from its object and not from itself. Faith gets a man out of himself and into Christ. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!”
When you bump into others who have reached the point of frustration and feistiness, turning inward to the “quality of their faith” does not provide hope, rescue or relief. As a teacher once explained to me, when you meet a drowning man you don’t tell them to: “Paddle harder and kick faster.” We do not possess the internal power to get things right and unfortunately every effort within ourselves will only lead to further collapse.
In his book, The Christian Life, Sinclair Ferguson had an amazing quote: “True faith takes its character and quality from its object and not from itself. Faith gets a man out of himself and into Christ. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!”
Now it's your turn. How important is your behavior to your faith? What do you bring to your salvation? What do you bring to your sanctification? Does the gospel get you in the door or is it the fuel behind every step in your faith? Have the challenges of 2020 and 2021 pushed you one way or the other. Let me know in the comments or feel free to connect with me privately by email. I’d like to hear from you.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
The Gospel Revisited
I can't review this enough times...and he kills it.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
The Heart of Man, The Love of God
Don't miss this one!
You have one more chance to see this great movie!
I love movies. I love movies that are made well. I love films where the director focused his lens on beauty. But I really love movies that make me think and potentially change my view on the world.
The Heart of Man is one of those movies. As a reader of my blog, I don't want you to miss your once chance to see this film on a big screen, surrounded by a full audience in a public theater environment. It really is worth your time and money to experience this film in a theater.
You know how much I love to talk about the gospel and the love of God. It is part of my everyday conversations around here. It is so rare that a film is made and communicates the concepts of God's love and redemption so clearly.
FILMING TECHNIQUE
The Heart of Man is filmed in a unique way. It very clearly depicts individuals and couples who share their personal lives in a documentary interview format. They are quick to walk you down to the dark spaces in their journey with God. Addictions, hurt, damage, and pain are on display. (Note: this film speaks candidly about sexual sin and you should consider who you bring - more on that below). Had the director stopped there, I would simply not recommend this film. There are plenty of places on the internet where you can listen and watch folks open up honestly about dark sinful choices and how they were redeemed.
“What if our brokenness is a bridge, not a barrier?”
This director does not stop there.
Within the personal interviews, the director weaves a story of The Prodigal in a beautiful and vivid way. The story is simple and easy to follow, but is told without dialogue. This is why you must see this film. The images still burn in my mind. To see the depth of the love of God and what He does to pursue us before, during and after our descent into sin is life-changing.
THEMES
This film speaks clearly to themes of sexual addiction, infidelity and sexual abuse, but in no way should you pigeon hole this movie in that way. It's a movie about living in freedom and knowing that the Father loves you and pursues you and never gives up on you.
This is a film for those struggling in addictions. A film for those struggling with sin. It is a film for those struggling with loss. It's a film for those struggling with despair and a loss of hope.
In fact, I would say that this film is made for everyone. Sinner. Saint. Believer. Unbeliever. Christian. Non-Christian. Protestant. Catholic. Muslim. Jew. Hindu. Buddhist. Gay. Lesbian. Transgender. Man. Woman.
DISCUSSION
I believe this movie will begin discussions on your walk back to the car. You will leave a changed person with a desire to talk through certain scenes, how they were filmed and what they communicated and how you feel about it.
Kendra and I saw it on opening night during a limited release. We immediately made plans to purchase this film and turn it into a community event where we could invite our friends who are waking up from Gospel Amnesia and those who are discovering the love of God for the first time. We were stoked to hear it was out on re-release for one more night.
What about kids? We have learned to have discussions sooner rather than later. That being said, we would not hesitate to take OUR 10 year old son. We've had hard conversations already. This film would only serve to clarify the love of God in his life. We are willing to step in and talk about themes of sexuality, lust, adultery, pornography and the brokenness in the world. If you aren't prepared for that, you might want to consider who you invite along.
Are you interested in joining us? Leave a comment or contact me here and we'll keep you in the loop.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Freedom In Christ
I updated my MacBook Air this week with the new Mavericks operating system. I love the iBooks app that comes pre-loaded. Reading on my computer? Are you kidding me? Yes, please. As I opened my library, one of the stored books I found was The Radical Reformission, by Mark Driscoll. I remember reading and enjoying this book several years ago when I was trying to read books on my iPad.
I enjoy finding old books that I connected with at a different time in my life. This was one of those books. At the time, I was in the midst of recovering from Gospel Amnesia, this was one of the books that spoke to me from nearly every page.
This section below was one of the few I had highlighted. I even wrote a blog post about it once. It's worthy of a second mention.
“Reformission is ultimately about being like Jesus, through his empowering grace. One of the underlying keys to reformission is knowing that neither the freedom of Christ nor our freedom in Christ is intended to permit us to dance as close to sin as possible without crossing the line. But both are intended to permit us to dance as close to sinners as possible by crossing the lines that unnecessarily separate the people God has found from those he is still seeking. To be a Christian, literally, is to be a “little Christ.” It is imperative that Christians be like Jesus, by living freely within the culture as missionaries who are as faithful to the Father and his gospel as Jesus was in his own time and place.
I am advocating not sin but freedom. That freedom is denied by many traditions and theological systems because they fear that some people will use their freedom to sin against Christ. But rules, regulations, and the pursuit of outward morality are ultimately incapable of preventing sin. They can only, at best, rearrange the flesh and get people to stop drinking, smoking, and having sex, only to start being proud of their morality. Jesus’ love for us and our love for him are, frankly, the only tethers that will keep us from abusing our freedom, yet they will enable us to venture as far into the culture and into relationships with lost people as Jesus did, because we go with him.”
Excerpt From: Mark Driscoll. “The Radical Reformission.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=362055909
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
How People Change 2013 - Join Me!
If you have been hanging around theMangoTimes for the past few years, you know how often we like to talk about the gospel and how it centers us from looking for our identity in the "practices" of religion or the traps of the world.
On April 26th and 27th I will be attending the "How People Change 2013" in Modesto, CA. Several churches, organizations and individuals are bringing Tim Lane, president of CCEF for a two day conference that focuses on just this topic. Understanding our identity in light of the gospel.
I recommend this conference to ANYONE wanting a deeper understanding of the gospel. If you are struggling in your faith, feeling like it's "hard work," or wondering what it was that woke our family up from "gospel amnesia" then I would love to have you join us for this event.
It is open to individuals, church leadership, so feel free to share this with others. For more details you can click through the photo above to the conference website, or take a look at this video put together by some leaders in our church:
If you have any questions or would like to hang out with me at the conference, let me know!
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Good Friday 2013 - It is Finished
It Is Finished
“So, by all means work! But the hard work is not what you think it is—your personal improvement and moral progress. The hard work is washing your hands of you and resting in Christ’s finished work for you—which will inevitably produce personal improvement and moral progress. Progress in obedience happens when our hearts realize that God’s love for us does not depend on our progress in obedience. Martin Luther’s got a point: “It is not imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.”
The real question, then, is: What are you going to do now that you don’t have to do anything? What will your life look like lived under the banner which reads “It is finished?”
Social Media Feeding Frenzy
I love when someone really gets the Gospel and begins to live under a banner that reads "It is Finished!" I love when they declare that publicly in the arena of social media. I love to watch how this juicy morsel tempts others to swoop in and warn everyone of the danger of taking the Gospel too far. It's like watching a bucket of bloody chum on shark week.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Religion and Affections
From Convergence, Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist by Sam Storms
"There is a lot of "religion" in the world, rituals, rites, gestures, beliefs, acts of moral virtue, charity, as well as organizations and institutions and traditions designed to perpetuate and promote it, ostensibly to the glory of God. But without holy affections, all such activities and the effort to advertise them are nothing but wind.
Those who would insist on the intellect of man or the doctrinal accuracy of his thoughts as the pinnacle of religous expression need to consider that no idea or attitude or theory or doctrine is of value that does not inflame the heart and sir the affections in love and joy and fear of God.
Those who would argue that moral obedience is the essence of religion fail to see that such behavior is only good to the degree that it springs from and finds its source in the holy affections of the heart as they are described in Scripture."
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Gospel Amnesia
***2014 UPDATE TO THIS BLOG POST - IF YOU WANT TO HEAR THE PODCAST OF GOSPEL AMNESIA. FOLLOW THIS LINK.
I wrapped up last year spending three days with thirty-five young men at a leadership conference. I was very thankful for the opportunity and the invitation to speak on the topic of leadership and with these young guys In considering my topic, I was immediately drawn to 1Timothy 4:11-12. I shared that Paul (the old guy) encouraged Timothy (the young guy) to lead by example in five areas: speech, conduct, faith, love and purity. For three days, that is exactly what I did with these young men.(photo courtesy Creative Studios Photography)
On the last day, I uncovered the topics of lust and purity. Often, these topics are not spoken about in the public arena with teenage men, yet I have always found it easy to find a connection and did not waste much time navigating through this discussion. My audience (which had largely been asleep) suddenly began to straighten up and engage in what I was saying. I think they realized I was going to punch through some of the tougher subjects and not hold back.
As I spoke to these guys there was a moment that I tripped on my words. As I was speaking, suddenly what I said caused me to speak and listen at the same time. It was funny, because I had prepared for weeks what I was going to say. I crafted the discussion and I had reviewed it before getting up to speak. It wasn't until I began to speak out loud that it suddenly applied to me.
I wonder if this happens to pastors who preach weekly. Probably.
Anyhow, I stumbled through my words while trying to listen to God speak to me at the same time. I'm not sure if I pulled it off or not, but I'm thankful most of the guys were drifting in and out of sleep and missed my distinct pause. I'm not talking about a monumental life-changing event. This was just a simple truth in life I discovered while I spoke. It began as I was sharing with them about helping fellow believers that are "stuck" in their faith. I suggested one of the ways we can help someone who is stuck in sin or in their relationship with God is to merely remind them of the gospel.
That's when it happened. I had what others describe as a lightbulb moment. Instantly I was able to describe much of what I had been thinking about in 2010 with a single phrase. As I spoke to these young men at the leadership conference, I realized that I had been one of those people that was stuck. It's not that I was stuck in sin. I was not having a crisis in my faith. I was not abandoning the church. I was just stuck. Somehow...somewhere...I had developed a case of "gospel amnesia."
You see, after years and years of ministry and church involvement, I found myself struggling in 2010. Much of the year felt like I was waking up out of a slumber and rediscovering old truths. As I looked back on previous years, I began to question what had taken place. As I looked at my life I realized that I had a form of faith. I also found that I had been tangled in a mess of religion. I had gospel amnesia. For years, I had been working hard at the outward lifestyle of Christianity, but the roots of that lifestyle were established in the fear of man. I was "doing Christianity" because of what I read and saw others "doing." I was saying/repeating what others were saying or sometimes what they thought was important to say. Again, I had gospel amnesia. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that my faith was a sham, but it wasn't authentic either.
Conversation after conversation had taken place all year and I kept trying to pinpoint what I was thinking and what I had learned. I kept searching for ways to communicate what exactly I meant. Then, in the last few moments of the year, it came into focus...and quite unexpectedly. 2010 was a year of curing the amnesia with heaping doses of the gospel. 2011 will be a year of rediscovering how to live out my faith with authenticity and Spirit-led humility.
What are your plans for 2011?
Quietly making noise,
Fletch