Josh Benner

Tag: america

  • The American Gospel and the meaning of Easter

    The American Gospel and the meaning of Easter

    Statistically, we know that the vast majority of Americans believe in some form of a higher power. There are relatively few who are atheists. Since people do believe that there is something, and since it’s so easy to think of the majority of Americans as Christians, many simply attach themselves to Christianity.

    But what does it mean? Christianity?

    For so many, we call ourselves Christians but then never pray, or read the Bible, or go to church, or experience fellowship with other believers, or show any actual desire to have a relationship with Jesus. Without these, how can a person be Christian?

    We live in a culture where it is accepted to be a “Christian” so long as we have a faith that is extremely passive, watered down, and without conviction. In the eyes of the world, when we have a faith that actually impacts the way in which we live our lives, we’re labeled as extreme, strange, ignorant, or bigoted. For people who actually have faith, they’re thought of as being “really religious.”

    I argue that to be religious but not really religious is to be religious, not really.

    Contrary to popular opinion, the gospel isn’t that we just need to be a “good person.” To say that this was the basis of the message of Christ is a complete misunderstanding of the New Testament because He never says nor implies that our moral goodness is the thing which will save us. In fact, the point of the gospel is that our own actions cannot save us.

    All of us sin, and our sin separates us from God. But we are saved because of God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That is the heart of the gospel. That we need Christ. Some might not like that because it’s exclusive. But the gospel is meant to be inclusive. Jesus died for all who will accept His gift of grace.

    Throughout the history of the church, there have been those who have unfortunately distorted the gospel or misused it. We can point to events like the church’s Crusades or her Spanish Inquisition. In modern times, we hear of abuses within the Catholic Church, and radicals like the Westboro Baptist Church who protest funerals. It’s easy to look to these things and to become disgusted with Christianity.

    But if Christ really died and really rose from the dead, the fact that people distort the message doesn’t change the reality that He came to forgive you of your sins. It’s not the message of the gospel that is the problem. The problem is man’s selfish usage of the gospel.

    But why should we be Christians? In our daily lives, we see people who claim to know God but who are hypocrites…

    That’s the point!

    Man is sinful! We are immoral. We were incapable of morally cleaning ourselves up.

    We needed a savior.

    And a savior came, and died, and rose, and lives.

    Some may argue, if there is a God, why does He allow people to tarnish His message?

    It’s because people aren’t spiritual robots. We are willing, moral beings. And there are people who choose to do morally egregious things in the name of the gospel. But that isn’t a shortcoming of the gospel. Like a shinning light, it clarifies the darkness of our hearts and shows our desperate need for grace.

    Some may want to live as Christians, but feel that they can do a better job on their own, instead of through organized religion. But the idea that you can be a Christian apart from church contradicts the teachings of Christ. Certainly, there are bad churches. But there are also a lot of very good, Christ-centered churches. One bad experience, or years of bad experiences are no excuse for someone whose trying to live as a Christian to ignore church.

    In discussions about religion, I’ve often times said that the gospel is either the most important thing in the universe, or it is completely irrelevant. Jesus was the God who died for our sins, or He wasn’t. If He was, we should worship Him. If not, then He is useless to us. The idea that Jesus might have just been a great moral teacher contradicts Jesus’ own teachings. His message revolved around Him being the savior of the world. If He lied about that, He cannot be a great moral teacher.

    So what do you believe? Where do you stand with Jesus? Was He God or was he just some guy?

    Jesus said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls.”

    No matter what you’ve done, no matter who you’ve hurt, no matter what addiction is suffocating your life, no matter what dark thoughts you have, it’s nothing so great that the risen Lord cannot forgive you.

    But where to start?

    As I’ve already said, I think it comes down to prayer, studying His word, getting involved in a good church, fellowship with Christians. Jesus said that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” If you do that, I believe that God will lead you to truth.

    It’s not a self help message. Belief in the gospel isn’t a promise that you won’t have financial problems, or illnesses, or family issues, or countless other stresses and frustrations. The gospel is that you get God, and no matter what else is happening in this life, His truth will strengthen, and give purpose, and sanctify you.

    Maybe you’ve lived your entire life and said you were a Christian, but you’ve never really had faith. The gift of grace and the offer of salvation is just as real for you today as it is for a person whose never thought about the gospel.

    It’s easy to associate Christianity with a bunch of rules and a list of things that you can’t do anymore. If you truly accept the gift of grace by faith, no sin can separate you from God’s love or from the forgiveness that you have. A true faith in the gospel will also result in a transformed life. Certain things will become less appealing. But acting a certain way and following a particular list of rules is not what makes you a Christian. If it were, you would be earning your salvation which would have made Christ’s rising from the dead pointless!

    However, a person who is a Christian who has faith will have a life that is changed and will naturally live differently. This transformation is what shows that the faith is genuine.

    On the first Good Friday, when Jesus suffered that horrendous death for our sins, the Bible says that two other condemned criminals were also crucified with the Lord:

    39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
    -Luke 23:39-42

    Two condemned thieves found themselves condemned with Jesus. Both were guilty. One wanted Christ to work on his terms, the other recognized his guilt, and through faith sought forgiveness.

    All of us our guilty.

    Which thief will you be this Easter weekend?

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe!

    Originally posted April 6, 2012

  • The American gospel and the meaning of Easter

    The American gospel and the meaning of Easter

    Statistically, we know that the vast majority of Americans believe in some form of a higher power. There are relatively few who are atheists. Since people do believe that there is something, and since it’s so easy to think of the majority of Americans as Christians, many simply attach themselves to Christianity.

    But what does it mean? Christianity?

    For so many, we call ourselves Christians but then never pray, or read the Bible, or go to church, or experience fellowship with other believers, or show any actual desire to have a relationship with Jesus. Without these, how can a person be Christian?

    We live in a culture where it is accepted to be a “Christian” so long as we have a faith that is extremely passive, watered down, and without conviction. In the eyes of the world, when we have a faith that actually impacts the way in which we live our lives, we’re labeled as extreme, strange, ignorant, or bigoted. For people who actually have faith, they’re thought of as being “really religious.”

    I argue that to be religious but not really religious is to be religious, not really.

    Contrary to popular opinion, the gospel isn’t that we just need to be a “good person.” To say that this was the basis of the message of Christ is a complete misunderstanding of the New Testament because He never says nor implies that our moral goodness is the thing which will save us. In fact, the point of the gospel is that our own actions cannot save us.

    All of us sin, and our sin separates us from God. But we are saved because of God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That is the heart of the gospel. That we need Christ. Some might not like that because it’s exclusive. But the gospel is meant to be inclusive. Jesus died for all who will accept His gift of grace.

    Throughout the history of the church, there have been those who have unfortunately distorted the gospel or misused it. We can point to events like the church’s Crusades or her Spanish Inquisition. In modern times, we hear of abuses within the Catholic Church, and radicals like the Westboro Baptist Church who protest funerals. It’s easy to look to these things and to become disgusted with Christianity.

    But if Christ really died and really rose from the dead, the fact that people distort the message doesn’t change the reality that He came to forgive you of your sins. It’s not the message of the gospel that is the problem. The problem is man’s selfish usage of the gospel.

    But why should we be Christians? In our daily lives, we see people who claim to know God but who are hypocrites…

    That’s the point!

    Man is sinful! We are immoral. We were incapable of morally cleaning ourselves up.

    We needed a savior.

    And a savior came, and died, and rose, and lives.

    Some may argue, if there is a God, why does He allow people to tarnish His message?

    It’s because people aren’t spiritual robots. We are willing, moral beings. And there are people who choose to do morally egregious things in the name of the gospel. But that isn’t a shortcoming of the gospel. Like a shinning light, it clarifies the darkness of our hearts and shows our desperate need for grace.

    Some may want to live as Christians, but feel that they can do a better job on their own, instead of through organized religion. But the idea that you can be a Christian apart from church contradicts the teachings of Christ. Certainly, there are bad churches. But there are also a lot of very good, Christ-centered churches. One bad experience, or years of bad experiences are no excuse for someone whose trying to live as a Christian to ignore church.

    In discussions about religion, I’ve often times said that the gospel is either the most important thing in the universe, or it is completely irrelevant. Jesus was the God who died for our sins, or He wasn’t. If He was, we should worship Him. If not, then He is useless to us. The idea that Jesus might have just been a great moral teacher contradicts Jesus’ own teachings. His message revolved around Him being the savior of the world. If He lied about that, He cannot be a great moral teacher.

    So what do you believe? Where do you stand with Jesus? Was He God or was he just some guy?

    Jesus said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls.”

    No matter what you’ve done, no matter who you’ve hurt, no matter what addiction is suffocating your life, no matter what dark thoughts you have, it’s nothing so great that the risen Lord cannot forgive you.

    But where to start?

    As I’ve already said, I think it comes down to prayer, studying His word, getting involved in a good church, fellowship with Christians. Jesus said that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” If you do that, I believe that God will lead you to truth.

    It’s not a self help message. Belief in the gospel isn’t a promise that you won’t have financial problems, or illnesses, or family issues, or countless other stresses and frustrations. The gospel is that you get God, and no matter what else is happening in this life, His truth will strengthen, and give purpose, and sanctify you.

    Maybe you’ve lived your entire life and said you were a Christian, but you’ve never really had faith. The gift of grace and the offer of salvation is just as real for you today as it is for a person whose never thought about the gospel.

    It’s easy to associate Christianity with a bunch of rules and a list of things that you can’t do anymore. If you truly accept the gift of grace by faith, no sin can separate you from God’s love or from the forgiveness that you have. A true faith in the gospel will also result in a transformed life. Certain things will become less appealing. But acting a certain way and following a particular list of rules is not what makes you a Christian. If it were, you would be earning your salvation which would have made Christ’s rising from the dead pointless!

    However, a person who is a Christian who has faith will have a life that is changed and will naturally live differently. This transformation is what shows that the faith is genuine.

    On the first Good Friday, when Jesus suffered that horrendous death for our sins, the Bible says that two other condemned criminals were also crucified with the Lord:

    39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
    -Luke 23:39-42

    Two condemned thieves found themselves condemned with Jesus. Both were guilty. One wanted Christ to work on his terms, the other recognized his guilt, and through faith sought forgiveness.

    All of us our guilty.

    Which thief will you be this Easter weekend?

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe!

    Originally posted April 6, 2012

    Photo credit information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

    Other scriptures in this essay from:
    Matthew 11:28-29
    Matthew 22:37

  • Feels like yesterday: 9/11 through the years

    IMG-0615

    There aren’t very many days in your life where you know at the time that life is never going to be the same. Everyone knew that on 9/11.
    18 years.
    Today is the only day ever where everyone who was born on or before September 11, 2001 is legally an adult and everyone who was born after that day is still a kid. I’ve thought a lot lately about this day and what the younger generation will understand about 9/11.
    I remember it like it was yesterday, and so it’s crazy for me to consider that kids in school weren’t even born when this event happened. This monumental day that was a paradigm shift in American history is just that to kids, history. They learn about that day from what people tell them and from the same documentaries I watch.
    If you weren’t alive that day, and watch documentaries about 9/11, I think it’s hard to appreciate the chaos of September 11th. There’s a sense of fatalism in the documentaries. They almost always begin by contrasting the beauty of that morning against the pandemonium that was soon to burst forth.
    In the weeks and months after the attacks, it impacted every aspect of our society: sports were a rallying ground for patriotism. Many popular songs were written about that day and playing on the radio. New laws were enacted. Entirely new federal agencies were created. There was an ever present thought of if and when another attack would happen. The whole country was on high alert, arguably for the next 2-3 years.
    As I watch documenaries, the quality of the videos seems a little more dated, the outfits people are wearing seem a little more 90s.
    When the North Tower was struck, no Americans knew that the South Tower was going to be hit 17 minutes later. No one had any idea that other planes were in the process of being highjacked and that other sites were also being targeted. As the towers had smoke pouring out, the average person had no idea that they were going to collapse. From the time the North Tower was struck, three other planes crashed and both towers fell in 102 minutes.
    Last spring, I had the opportunity to visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. It’s a special place. One of the rooms (and one of the few parts of the museum where they ask people not to take photos) features photographs of all of the victims of the attacks. Just a huge room with thousands of photos of people. It’s crazy to think that each of those photos is a person who meant something to a lot of people. They were people’s spouses, people’s parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, best friends. All of them taken away because of evil and hatred.
    For many of the victims, the memorial also serves as their final resting place. From the intense fire, and from the incredible weight of the towers collapsing, and given the high numbers of casualties, remains could be hard to positively identify in the aftermath. Roughly 40 percent of victims have never been identified. The museum has a morgue where the unidentified remains are housed.

    DSC_6884.jpg
    One of the exhibits at the museum is a 36 foot tall column. It was part of the inner-core of the South Tower and was the last piece of debris removed at the completion of the cleanup efforts, nine months later. Workers covered the column in pictures as a memorial to the victims.

    It’s still unfathomable to me. Thousands of people just living their lives, having no idea that they were about to become casualties on the front lines of a war in which they had no idea they were enlisted. The horror that people experienced above impact zones on the towers and on our airplanes. The first responders who risked their lives (and the many who gave their lives) on that day to help others.. For those people, I never forget.

    It’s still unbelievable to me. There’s nothing else like it.

    I think of the people in conference rooms and riding elevators who were dead without ever knowing there was even an attack. I think of the people who jumped from the towers. They were in such a horrible situation that jumping was the lesser of two evils. That still shocks me.

    Originally published September 11, 2018

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the pastor of Christian Bible Church in Cissna Park, Illinois. He has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He has an awesome wife named Kari.

  • Hypocrites in church isn’t the issue. Faithless pseudo-Christians are the issue.

    drama-312318_960_720

    Originally published June 27, 2017

    A lot of people don’t want to be in a church because?

    Because the church is full of?

    Hypocrites.

    Churches are filled with hypocrites. (more…)

  • What’s the greatest danger to the American church?

    photo-1476455479340-25ee0cee09bf.jpeg
    There are 300,000 churches in America.
    There are many wonderful churches that boldly proclaim the gospel and faithfully teach the Bible every week. There is no perfect church in the world, because every church is full of members who are imperfect people.
    I think that the biggest issue the American church faces today is related to truth and love.
    Love that undermines truth and truth that doesn’t practice love. I’ll briefly explain what that means.
    Love that undermines truth 
    Love is important. The greatest command in scripture is to love God and to love people. God is love.
    But some churches can emphasize love to the point where it undermines truth.
    For instance, there is a temptation in some Christian circles to consider the love of God and reason that: “since God is love, his love extends to all people, whether or not they believe in God and whether or not they want or accept his love.”
    God is love. But that is just taking a slice of the character of God and acting as if that’s the whole pie. God is love. But he is also just, and righteous, and holy. He judges, he has wrath towards sin. God has all of those qualities at all times.
    God is love. But the idea of love is not only exclusive to what our culture defines love as.
    We tend to value acceptance and tolerance as what it is to love. And it’s true that God meets us where we are, but Jesus doesn’t save us to keep us the same. God is a perfecting God. We sin. We sin so much that we needed a savior, and the gospel is not a message that teaches us that we’re ok and we should just keep doing what we’re doing. We need to live for God and pursue him.
    Making love purely about acceptance and tolerance is not the full Biblical scope of what love is. And so it undermines the truth of scripture. And it runs the danger of undermining the inerrancy of scripture (taking the Bible as practical wisdom rather than the infallible word of God). And this view runs the risk of undermining the gospel itself.
    Assuming that love and  demand for justice are mutually exclusive.

    I observe this being the great risk in more liberal denominations.

    Truth that doesn’t practice love

    I think this is more of a danger in conservative and evangelical circles. We place a high value on the scripture and theology. And well we should because both of those are hugely important.

    But we can get so preoccupied with having the right answer that we lose sight of actually living out what we know. This is very similar to the failure of the Pharisees in the gospels. They were very well studied and trained in theology, but they missed the heart of the message.

    It can be easy to know the right answer but it’s difficult to live it out in practice.

    Truth and love. It comes down to belief and practice. We need both.

    Originally published May 9, 2018 under the title “What’s the greatest danger to the church?”

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!

    Josh Benner has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.