Monday, March 10, 2014

Give Me A Big Enough Lever...

I wanted to name my son Archimedes.  Archimedes was a really smart man - and one of the quotes attributed to him (beside "Eureka!") is "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."

Ah, the joys of physics and simple mechanics.  If there is a fulcrum, if there is length to the lever, you can move anything.  We love levers -- I'm a baseball fan.  Pitching - a lever.  Batting - a lever.  Great stuff.  Golf is all about levers.

We can love our levers too much when it comes to theology.  Our love of levers is why we disdain the Gospel.  The Law - man, that can be a pretty long lever -- and when you place it upon the fulcrum of guilt, or obligation, or duty - many, you can move people to do some crazy stuff. 
The Gospel provides no leverage upon one's neighbor. I can't use the Gospel to make *you* do anything... and thus to many it is of little use.  The Gospel provides for no manipulation.

The Gospel is not about shifting or moving you.  The Gospel is this:

Christ has died and risen for you - and thus you ARE forgiven.


That's not a movement, that's a simple reality.  You are forgiven, and in Christ you have life, both now in the face of sin and in spite of sin, and life everlasting when sin will be remembered no more.

 

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