Month: August 2017

Honoring Christ on Social Media Venues

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

Just a little word of admonition:

 

How’s your rhetoric in different social media venues advancing the kingdom of God in society,  glorifying God in Christ, fostering love in public, & uniting the various expressions of the body of Christ?

If it is not accomplishing (or will not fulfill) any of these goals, think twice about what you intend to post online and how you interact with people on social media.

God should also be exalted and treasured in our thinking, public interactions, and our actions in the public sphere. If you’re doubtful that Christ will not be honored through your public interaction with individuals, just don’t do it.

The goal of the Christian mind is to savor Christ and  exalt the Triune God in all things. Whatever you do and think and whenever you act, think, act, and do it all to the glorious fame and praise of the Triune God in the world.

A Prayer for National Healing and a Wounded Nation!

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

A Prayer for National Healing and a Wounded Nation!

prayer

Lord: We pray in this way for holistic healing and restoration of this nation:
where there’s hate, grant us us love.
where there’s despair, give us hope.
where there’s division, grant us unity.
where there’s chaos, give us peace.
where there’s isolation, grant us community.
where there’s sin, give us repentance.
where there’s retaliation, grant us forgiveness.
where there’s vengeance, grant us reconciliation.
Amen!

GRACE AND DISCIPLESHIP

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

GRACE AND DISCIPLESHIP

I am reading for a second time, The Cost of Discipleship by German Theologian and Pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer got a good picture of what it means to follow Christ, the meaning of the cross of Christ, Cheap Grace vs costly grace, and finally the relationship between the disciple and his master. I remember reading that book for a New Testament Theology class at Southern Seminary. The cost of discipleship has revolutionized my understanding of the cross and discipleship. For example, Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Furthermore, he comments on the “Grace of God,” “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian ‘conception’ of God” (45). Contemporary Christianity has lost the biblical vision of discipleship and the sacrifices involved in following Christ. Moreover, Bonhoeffer makes the following observations:

“Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. ‘All for sin could not atone.’ Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin. That was the heresy of the enthusiasts, the Anabaptists and their kind….” (46)

THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

“The call goes forth, and is at once followed by the response of obedience. …. It displays not the slightest interest in the psychological reason for a man’s religious decisions. And why? For the simple reason that the cause behind the immediate following of call by response is Jesus Christ Himself.” (61)

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. It remains an abstract idea, a myth which has a place for the Fatherhood of God, but omits Christ as the living Son. … There is trust in God, but no following of Christ.” ( 64)

“If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps. The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from his previous existence. … The first step places the disciple in the situation where faith is possible. If he refuses to follow and stays behind, he does not learn how to believe.” (66-67)

The book is very challenging, dealing with the ethics and implications of biblical discipleship.

The Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Narrative and Despair of American White Supremacy

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Narrative and Despair of American White Supremacy

I’m deeply saddened by what’s going on in our contemporary society: the reemergence and violence of White supremacist groups and hate groups, especially in Charlottesville, Virginia. The level of human despair and quest for hope has heightened in our culture. Hope grounded in hate not love and false human identity is no hope at all. It can never cure the deep wound in our hearts and bridge the walls that divides us as bearers of the Imago Dei.

Human hatred and the idea that a particular race is the apex of human history and universal civilization, articulated through the right of free speech, demonstration, and expression, defeat (American) democratic values that promote human justice, love, interdependence, and equality among all people, ethnicity, and races.

For those of us who are true followers of Jesus, we must resist this form of human arrogance and dispell this present (racial and cultural) darkness in our contemporary society and culture with the light of the Gospel and the love of God in Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Just like any other human sins, white supremacy is a form of human depravity that belittles the significance of the image of God in other races and boldly contradicts the gospel of Christ that calls people from all nations, people groups, ethnic groups, and all human races to form a new human race in Christ and to follow the Jesus Way of life.

The Burning Torch of White Supremacists in our society  is a false light and of the devil.  Jesus Christ is the true Light of humanity and culture. His followers must shine brightly in deep corners of cultural contradicrions and misconceptions and human darkness.

The light of the Gospel of God in Christ Jesus contradicts the narrative, message, and arrogance of American White Supremacists. Biblical Christianity has no room for human hatred, retaliation, and darkness.

Followers of Jesus must not embrace White supremacy, promote its message, and support its ideals. It is the Antithesis of the Gospel.  The Gospel is the power of God that interrogates all human sins, arrogance, and pride; its transformative power lies in the disruptive and liberative love and peace of God.

The supremacy we should celebrate is the overarching supremacy of Christ over all things including all cosmic powers and human authorities, all spheres of influence and guilds of hegemony,  both visible and invisible, earthly and heavenly.

Let’s pray fervently for repentance, forgiveness, unity, and reconciliation in our culture.