The Fulfillment

I was raised in a mainline, liturgical church. It was a good experience for me, and it laid a foundation for faith that was needed later in life. Since then, I’ve been a part of charismatic, evangelical and reformed churches, all of which were good for me in their season. Years ago, a friend of mine started calling himself a PresboEpiscoMatic, which sounded both unique and accurate enough to describe my faith. But recently I started thinking about how to describe my spirituality in a way that didn’t sound like such a mish-mash of wandering uncertainty and instead defined what I believed about who I am. 

I’m not liturgical. Every church has a liturgy (or a format) by which they live out their beliefs, and I’m no different in that respect. I appreciate the liturgical year and find it helpful to keep me focused on my own walk with Jesus. I appreciate how mainline churches formed a liturgy to bring biblical truths to illiterate populations, just as I appreciate the reformed thinkers who challenged the religious rituals that sometimes overshadowed the truths of Scripture. Likewise, I appreciate the evangelicals who passionately sought to bring the truth of Scripture to all people in every nation. 

But to be clear I’m not an evangelical either, at least not in the way it has come to be understood by both believers and non-believers alike. I live in what I believe to be a Post-Christian society, where the majority of people have been inoculated against the truth of Scripture through a misrepresentation by those who bear Christ’s name. Despite noble intentions and success in spreading the gospel, the evangelical movement has significantly contributed to our Post-Christian society. Many evangelicals have treated people as projects rather than an person of great worth, made in the image of God and worthy of love. When a person is treated as a means to an end rather than as an end in themselves, they naturally resent the group who offered such a bait and switch: “We’ll love you unconditionally so long as you meet certain conditions.” As a result, many evangelical leaders are choosing to dig in their heels to assert the truth of scripture in a bold, uncompromising and sometimes uncompassionate way. In contrast, others are watering down the truth to be more winsome to seekers, diluting the truth that people desperately need to hear. I believe there is a third choice: speak the truth in love. Our culture so easily confuses identity with behavior and has difficulty separating “being nice” from being kind or loving. 

I’m of the belief that you can’t love others without being truthful, and it’s not the full truth apart from love. In other words, truth in the absence of love is not the full truth, and love without truth is not the fullness of love. It reminds me of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:17 that Paul further unfolded in his epistles as the doctrine of Grace. God’s Law remains true even though we are incapable of living up to His high standard. The Law, which is truly good, reveals our need for a Savior. God’s Grace saves us and there is nothing we need to do other than trust Him for salvation. However, the Grace of God as manifested by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection doesn’t end there as some teachings have misrepresented Grace. God’s Grace prompts a response to live in truth and love however imperfectly we are able to follow God’s will. We need to both trust God and obey Him, having Grace for both ourselves and others as we live it out inadequately. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and show us our rightful place with respect to God’s authority, restoring our relationship with the Father through His Holy Spirit. 

It seems there are so many ways that our haughty race tries to elevate ourselves, to become god of our own world and judge all the others in it by a shifting moral standard we both create and adjust as suits our current desires. But there is only One God -- One Author of all Truth -- and He created that truth to be lived out in love, humbly leading others in truth as just one more sinner who has been saved by Grace. The early Christians were called “Followers of the Way” and Jesus referred to Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life. The only Way is Jesus. It’s a relationship and not a set of rules. 

So that’s why I’m a Fulfilled Christian. I am convicted by the Law and saved by Grace to no longer be condemned by the Law, yet I’m prompted by God’s love to live out truth and love as an ambassador of His Grace. I can often fall into my own agenda, but I strive to follow God’s purposes in His ways. The only mission I have is to represent Him and His Kingdom well, and the only way I can do that is to remain close to Him… following His lead with each step. That intimate trust and obedience will lead me to make disciples of Christ and not of my own. 

I can’t call heaven down to earth the way some charismatic teachers have claimed, but the Kingdom is near when I obey the wisdom of Scripture as led by the Holy Spirit. Then, in true submission to God, the Kingdom reigns in my life and pours into the world around me. I admittedly do that imperfectly and inconsistently, so I’m regularly encouraged by the Word that I'm saved by Grace and not condemned by the Law. Like a toddler, I get back up again to walk a little longer, straighter and more nimbly each time while my Father in heaven cheers me on. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful. 

Any other Fulfilled Christians out there? 
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." ~ Matthew 5:17 
copyright ©2018 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/)

Popular posts from this blog

What is Alpha?

Image
I want to tell you about the Alpha Course.  Around 30 years ago, I had the privilege of attending an Alpha course at Truro Church in Northern Virginia. I was already a believer in Christ, but I've always struggled connecting with others. Some people may be surprised by that fact because I've been blessed with so many wonderful relationships, but the Alpha Course was special in that it opened the door to lifelong, family relationships. The people in our Alpha group kept meeting until we were pulled to different parts of the country. Yet even after that, we've had reunions, attended the weddings of our daughters and even met remotely during the COVID lockdown. I can't say that every Alpha group is as special as ours. The reunions and remote gatherings were in large part due to one lovely lady in particular who has continued to pull us back again and again, and it was my privilege to see her enter into a relationship with Jesus 3 decades ago, a relationship that has poure
Read more

If I were an Atheist

Image
My Life / My Will If I were an atheist, reality would be centered around me. I would judge things as good if they were in my best interest, and I would judge things as bad if they were not to my advantage. If I were an atheist, all relationships would exist for my pleasure and for the pursuit of my best interest. I would be at the center of the universe, and all others with circle around me. It would therefore be important that people agree with me in all things. Depending upon my level of sophistication, I would get people to agree with me without even realizing how I was manipulating them. In fact, I would take great joy in converting people to my way of thinking, and if I changed my thinking in any way, then I would want others to join me in this new enlightenment. If I were an atheist, I would want people to think of me as somehow “good“, so I would probably have some story to tell people about my “goodness”. It could be around my generosity, which would be just enough to have peop
Read more

Challenges of a Father

Image
I haven’t written in a while because I’ve been trying to form my thoughts for a topic that I’ll post later this month, and like our society in general have considered Father’s Day only as an afterthought. Our society celebrates Mothers pretty easily, and that’s a good thing. But it seems harder to celebrate fathers. Why is that? The message at our church today was a really good one but reflecting upon the content I realized that it was mostly describing fatherhood wounds, the impact of a bad father figure and how God brings restoration. So I could choose to write about the qualities of a good father, and that would also be a good thing to share, but instead I thought it might be better to share my challenges as a father. Assuming that others may be challenged in similar ways, maybe someone would benefit from knowing that we’re not alone. As the father of five children, I know I’ve made mistakes and that I’ve also done the right thing. No one is perfect as a parent, and that shouldn’t
Read more