BitterSweetLife

God is infinitely great. He made the universe and all the stars with a flick of his wrist. Therefore let's recognize his power with a round of extra-energetic clapping.

And, since he saved us from eternal death in a fiery hell, let's each put an extra dollar in the offering today. Thank you, Jesus! Oh, thank you. It's because of you that we're alive to meet today and enjoy these tasty low-fat lattes. The gospel? Of course it's good news. That's why I wear this "Jesus is my homeboy" T-shirt. The "unsearchable richness of Christ?" [Ephesians 3:8] That sounds overly complicated and intellectual, maybe kind of mystical--or, worse yet, Emergent. Let's stick to what we know. And now for another chorus of "Awesome God!" (We have CDs in back so you can also worship at home.)

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A truncated version of the gospel sees Jesus as a door only: a door that leads to a stationary Christian existence where the business of spirituality is to discover what else Jesus can do for me. The real gospel, on the other hand, is a room you enter "that you may become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). And as even a grade-school Physics education can tell you, tapping an infinite divine nature is an eternal pastime.

But wait! I thought the gospel had already served its purpose. It was cool at first. Jesus died on the cross - check. I assimilated that info and the door to heaven swung open. I walked through and took a seat in the waiting room... Now you're telling me the picture I've had in my head has been wrong all along. Great, this will probably mean some extra Sunday morning education classes. Because I think you're telling me that the gospel opened on something more like Narnia, less like a lounge. Do you just make this stuff up or what?

I think you're telling me that the original movie is still playing. The old characters are still walking around this world-set. Sin, that ugly old sadist, still alive? Me--now on Christ's side--still part of the plot? (Well, I assumed I would be there, of course.) Jesus by my side, interrogating me, humbling me, training me, changing me, sending me on these missions to infiltrate the darkness...

It's like the whole original cast is back. And now the walls of this waiting room are melting like the Matrix. It was never a waiting room at all.