Kingdom Purpose...

The profound evangelical pendulum-swing away from the so-called "social gospel" movement of the 60's has resulted in a somewhat emaciated, neutered church that has arguably all but neglected its' central purpose. As N.T.Wright summarizes,

"According to the early Christians, the church doesn't exist in order to provide a place where people can pursue their private spiritual agendas and develop their own spiritual potential. Nor does it exist in order to provide a safe haven in which people can hide from the wicked world and ensure that they themselves arrive safely at an otherworldly destination. Private spiritual growth and ultimate salvation come rather as the byproducts of the main, central, overarching purpose for which God has called and is calling us. The purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator: that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it."

The tension and messiness of an incarnational kingdom that introduces salvation to all creation has been replaced in many evangelical circles by an easier theology - one that escapes our role in God's ultimate purpose, and makes everything "personal" and "future" - but reducing salvation to “going to heaven” and “having a personal relationship with Jesus” (a 20th century phrase), distorts truth. It lets the “true for you, not for me” cynics and skeptics interpret truth as “something that happens inside you” instead of “God’s powerful, loving revelation of the way things actually are in the world", and how He is going to redeem it.

How much do I want a week of conversations with Tom Wright? Even more than I want a 1963 VW ragtop.