Streams of Living Water
Words Flowing With Life
John 6:61-69
November 14, 2004
Mark Eberly
Our last stream or tradition that we will address is the word-centered life or the evangelical tradition. If you remember from last week, one of the great weaknesses of the compassionate life is doing good things for people and doing the right thing but often forsaking the opportunity to explain why you do what you do. The natural balance to the compassionate life is the word-centered life. In fact, the word-centered life is also a very valuable to offsetting weaknesses of the spirit-filled life (that has a tendency to downplay the intellectual and rational).
We read from John 6 about how Jesus has the words of eternal life. In fact, in John 1 we are told that Jesus Himself is the eternal logos or Word. Not only does Jesus have the words to eternal life, He is the living Word. He is eternal life. He is the truth, the way, and the life.
An archaeologist digging in the Negev Desert in Israel came upon a sarcophagus containing a mummy. He called the curator of a prestigious museum.
“I’ve just discovered the 3,000-year-old mummy of a man who died of heart failure!” the excited archaeologist exclaimed.
The curator replied, “Bring him in. We’ll check it out.”
A week later, the amazed curator called the archaeologist. “You were right about the mummy’s age and cause of death. How in the world did you know?”
“Easy,” the archaeologist replied, “there was a piece of paper in his hand that read, ‘10,000 shekels on Goliath.’”
The word-centered life like all the streams of living water is extremely important to the Church of God movement. The bible, God’s Word, has a critical place in the life of God’s people and their relationship with God. So just what does having a word-centered life mean? What has this tradition given to us?
The Word-Centered Life
1. Good News.
The first thing that the word-centered life does is bring to the forefront the importance of the good news of Jesus Christ. It reminds us that while serving others and seeking justice is very important, without Jesus Christ as the focal point, we fail miserably. The word-centered life is also known as the evangelistic tradition. People who subscribe to a word-centered life are known as evangelicals. Now in our day, the meaning of this word has been twisted. It is been political connotations that while sometimes are accurate, they are far from the original meaning.
God’s people have been entrusted with a message. It is a message of good news. It is the message that Jesus Christ died for our sins so we won’t have to. It is a message that God reigns supreme and the Kingdom of God becomes real first in the hearts of His people. The Greek word evangelion means good news. So an evangelical is one who has a message of good news to tell others.
This good news has three implications for every person.
a. Repent.
b. Reconcile.
c. Relationship.
When one hears the good news of forgiveness through the blood of Christ, God calls for a response of repentance or turning from a sin-full way of living to follow the way of Christ. When that happens we are reconciled to and given a ministry of reconciliation to bring the message of the good news so that others can be reconciled to God as well as each other. This reconciliation means relationship restored in all its fullness. Our relationship to God and our relationship to each other. It means that we actively become a follower or disciple of Christ.
Believing and Disciple Are the Same Action.
This is a huge misconception. There seems to be some strange anti-biblical notion that I can believe in Jesus but I don’t have become a disciple. I don’t have to seek His will and His ways. I don’t have to seek to learn the ways of Jesus let alone practice them. This is not true. Believing means that you will become one of His followers or disciples.
This means that Jesus is your life. He doesn’t seek to be a part of your life. He asks to be your life. We sing a song called “My Life Is in You, Lord” that is a reflection of this relationship that we have with Christ. You heard the phrase, “Get a life.” There is only one life to get: Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
2. Central Place of Scripture.
Because of this good news and focus on turning from sin to follow Christ, the word-centered life places at its center, the word. Right? Make sense? The word-centered life. Scripture becomes of primary importance in learning how to follow Christ. This means that Scripture is
a. Revealed.
The words given to us in the Bible are more than words written down by man. They are the revelation of God’s saving activity. They recorded teachings of Jesus Christ and as well as other servants of God. Yes, some man had to write them down but they were written down under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
b. Never Wrong.
The theological word is infallible. Because God has revealed Himself to us through these holy words, they are infallible or never wrong. Because God’s ways are higher than our ways, sometimes our ability to understand may be limited.
There is an old Church of God saying, We Have No Creed But the Bible.
This means that it doesn’t matter what you may think or I may think or what any person or pastor thinks, if it can’t be supported by the Bible, it really doesn’t matter.
3. Living Witness.
The third thing that the word-centered life gives us is that we have a living witness.
a. The Bible.
I just talked about the witness of God’s Word.
b. Ourselves.
We are reminded that we have been given a message. Every person of God has a testimony to give. No one is exempt. If you are a Christ follower then you are to witness to what God has done in your life and what He could do for others.
c. God’s.
The words in the Bible do not make a whole lot of sense without the Holy Spirit to guide us. The Ethiopian eunuch is great example of this. God’s Spirit testifies to us about His ways and His work. And lastly:
d. The Church.
We are not left on our own devices to figure things out by ourselves. In fact, every question about how God works and what the Bible says and could this really be true that I have ever heard has already been wrestled with at some point in the church’s history.
How could Jesus be both God and man? The early church fathers wrestled with this issue, frankly, at a level that most of wouldn’t even grasp.
This witness is an extremely important part of this stream because it reminds us of the importance of sound doctrine. It reminds us that we better think things through completely so that we don’t get off track in some way.
So what are the perils?
The Perils
1. Majoring in the Minors.
One of the great strengths of this tradition is emphasizing the need to right thinking and sound doctrine. However, this can become a weakness when we fail to determine what are the important issues. Really, wrestling with the issue of how Jesus could be both fully God and fully human is of much greater importance then a pretribulation rapture.
2. Legalistic Separation.
This comes when we start to believe that we are the only ones who know the truth. Usually this comes out of the first peril because of some extreme emphasis on very minor issue. So a group separates themselves from others because they are going to go to hell for believing differently on this minor issue than us.
3. Individualism.
This is really a too limited view of salvation. Declaring that believing is different from being a disciple is one example. This can take two main forms.
a. I’m waiting for heaven.
Me and Jesus. This comes from the need to break the chains of personal sin. However, we then just sit back and wait for Jesus hoping and praying that others will soon be joining us.
b. Lack of social justice.
This is the old “I’m not my brother’s keeper syndrome.” They aren’t my problem. Or simply saying that since salvation is the main thing, we don’t need to worry about the rest. Read back through the compassionate life. It reminds us that God values justice so highly that to ignore it, we do so at the risk of our own souls.
4. Bibliolatry (Bible Worship).
The great strength of this stream is its high view of the Bible. However, there are some that hold views of inspiration that are nothing short of magic religion. The belief that God literally dictated His Words to Moses or Paul and others. Some even hold that the biblical writers did not know what they were doing until they were done. God somehow possessed them, wrote His word down, and turned control of the body back to that person.
Some groups preach the Bible more than they preach Christ. One church has mural of a thirty foot Jesus holding out the Bible. Now is our mission to give the world the Bible or Jesus. Perhaps they would have better stated their mission by painting a thirty-foot Bible holding out Jesus.
We find this when people declare that only certain translations are authoritative. A translation is simply putting the words of one culture and language into another. In fact, no translator can escape some interpretation (which is based upon their own experiences and culture).
“The Bible is authoritative because it points beyond itself to the absolute authority, the living and transcendent Word of God.” – Donald Bloesch
Putting Into Practice
A. Just Do It!
What most long-time Christians need is not another Bible study. They just need to go out and be a witness. They need to put into practice what they have been taught. Do it.
B. Get to Know Our Bible.
With that in mind, we also need to remember that we are living a culture that is more and more biblically illiterate. Especially those born after 1965, we cannot assume that they know even basic Bible stories.
Whether young or old, we need to know our Bibles. We need to have some idea of what is written there. We need to understand the principles for living that God has given us. Maybe you do need a Bible study or Sunday school class.
C. Get to Know Those Around Us.
If we really get to know those we meet at the grocery store or at work or at the gas station or in the restaurants – learning their interests, needs, hopes, hurts, dreams, fears – we will be given what we need to say.
Our Lives Preach Christ; Our Words Confirm It.
Be intentional about being a witness. Get to know others. Intentionally stir conversations to spiritual matters but don’t force it. If they change the subject, go with it. Focus on them and not on some task or formula that you want them to recite.
Listen. There is a difference between “soul-winning” and witnessing. We are witnesses. It is God’s job to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. God alone “wins the soul.” We are just witnesses to the transformation that He has done in us.
The phone rang.
“It’s Jimmy. I’m really sick. I’ve got a fever. Can you help me?”
Jimmy was one man that the Love In Action ministry helped. He was dying from AIDS.
Jeff was angry. He had already put in sixty hours and didn’t want to hear about Jimmy. However, Jeff promised to go right over complaining to God all the way about the inconvenience.
As the door to the apartment opened, Jeff almost buckled over as he was blasted by the smell of vomit. After forcing his stomach to settle down from an involuntary gag, Jeff went in and found Jimmy shivering on the couch in severe distress. Jeff wiped his sweating forehead, and then got a bucket of soapy water to clean up the mess. Jeff managed a façade of concern even though he was still raging inside.
Jimmy’s friend, Russ, who also had AIDS, came downstairs. The odor made Russ sick as well.
As Jeff cleaned the carpet around Russ’s chair, he was about to explode inside. Then Russ said suddenly, “I get it. I understand.”
“What do you get, Russ?” Jimmy asked weakly.
“I understand who Jesus is,” Russ said through his tears. “He’s just like Jeff.”
Jeff began to weep. That night Russ trusted Christ to be his Savior. God had used Jeff to show God’s love in spite of himself.
If you desire to have a word-centered life, there is one candle surrounded by a bunch of tea light candles. Prayerfully come to the table light a candle using the one candle, representing Christ, and place your candle alongside the other candles declaring that you will take your place as a witness to the transforming power of Christ.
