#2 Destination - Momentum based on linear purpose, not cyclic religious ritual.
One of the interesting contributions made by Christians to world civilization has been its understanding of time. The followers of Jesus carried the message that, as the Messiah and therefore ‘second Adam’ (Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15), the revelation that came in and through Jesus Christ, culminating in the cross and resurrection, made sense of everything spoken by Moses and the prophets. The people of Israel were taught by Moses that there had been an “in the beginning, God…” and that God’s purposes would be fulfilled through the coming of a Messiah at a future time.” In stark contrast to the religions and cultures of their neighbouring people, they saw time as the unfolding of the purposes of God through the generations of his people.
I speak about the idea of time as linear, not cyclic. At the time of Jesus nearly all the world viewed time as repetitious cycles. Cyclic time at its lowest and least was represented by a mythological Greek king by the name of Sisyphus. In the story, Hades, the god of the dead and king of the underworld punished Sisyphus because he twice cheated death. He was forced to push a large round boulder up a hill only for it to roll down again every time he neared the top. And he was to go on doing this for eternity. He has therefore been associated with our detesting of tasks that seem laborious and futile. The Greek philosophers argued about the idea of time, but only Plato put forward any form of linear theory and it never came close to being adopted.
Today we see the outworking of cyclic approaches to time through many of the eastern religions (Buddhism and Hinduism eg). Life is cyclic, like the seasons. The belief that humans are re-incarnated as they earn their opportunity to be released into moksha, an eternal state equivalent to the divine nature. This idea has been adopted by many of the forms of new age spirituality developed during the second half of the last century.
It was the followers of Jesus who lifestyle and influence gave the world the idea that time moved along a line, further from the beginning and closer to the end. The impact was explosive. It made clear the fact that the Creator God has a purpose that has been unfolding from the time the world was created. It declared that humanity was created as a loving expression of that purpose. Rather than seeking to merit a higher place in the incarnate order, we were born to know and serve our Creator. Rather than seeking a higher place for ourselves, we got to see our vocation as the opportunity of joining God’s redemptive purposes for the world. This divine vocation is ours to fulfill in union with the whole body of Christ which sees no need for competition or selfish ambition.
All this may seem fundamental and obvious, but when you see what has happened throughout the history of Israel and then of the church, it hasn’t always been embraced. Let’s start with relationship as a linear concept. As we are called into relationship and partnership with other “members” of the same body, that relationship has a beginning as we shed our primary identity with ethnicity, gender, intellectual ability, and the like to serve one another in love. That partnership can grow and become more and more fruitful as we learn to share the journey. It also has an end, as we pursue God’s purposes toward their complete fulfillment.
Our relationship with Jesus is also linear. It begins through repentance and forgiveness, moves along a line as we allow the Holy Spirit to re-form and re-purpose our lives in order to become more and more like him – from one degree of glory to another.
The shared purpose of the church is also linear as we see the difference between the headship of Christ and the seduction of status and power. We are always on a journey where we will find ourselves failing and falling but also repenting and rising. We see that purpose through the centuries as God has graciously steered the church through times of renewal and reformation toward a greater expression of his presence in every part of the earth. As nations multiply disciples and churches, we gain the insights from their journey to supplement our own understanding.
It is almost impossible for me NOT to feel that we are genuinely on the edge of a great time in the history of the church. We don’t have to go around and around in endless repetition of past mistakes and keep on bearing the pain created by our foibles and failures. This is a journey. We just need to re-correct our coordinates and recommit to press toward the destination prepared by God for us.
The alternative is also possible. We can camp around what we already know and never accomplish everything God wants us to know. We can camp out at a way-station as if it is the destination. We can find false comfort in the familiar and allow it to blind us to seeing our destiny. We can keep on doing what makes us feel more comfortable rather than taking the risks that are needed for us to make ourselves available for the impossible. In short, we can keep on doing things that have not accomplished the goals God has established in the foolish hope that somehow God will do what he has told us to do.
This is a time for pioneering a new path. One that will get us closer to where God has called us to go. All the Covid disruptions have provided a worthy opportunity. Linear means there is a beginning, a middle and an end. We are a long way from the beginning, but we are not close enough to the end to feel any sense of satisfaction. This was Paul’s world view, and it needs to become ours – individually and collectively:
‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 3:12-14)
Brian Medway
August 2023