Pulp Fiction Faith or Universal Faith?
Garrett mentioned that change is what the “whole Gospel story” is about. Though his comments were restricted to personal transformation, the gospel is, in fact, good news for sinners and for society. Jesus Christ not only changed the heart, he challenged social norms and changed cultural ills. He lived a life that produced radical personal and social change, but unlike Ginger, he connected it very clearly to God. In fact, he promised the power of redemptive change if anyone would follow him. He healed social outcasts like lepers, harlots, and the ritually unclean, by speaking in stories that appealed to the intellect, as well as to the heart.
With the gospel we need not choose between heart and head, spiritual or cultural connectivity. It provides a third alternative that possesses the best of private, portable worship along with the power for personal and public renewal. It would appear that something more than Pulp Fiction and universal faith are needed in order to produce lasting personal and social change, someone beyond us but within us by faith, someone like Jesus.
Posted on November 19, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
God is everywhere. He's in our culture and he's in our hearts. He's at church and he's on the street corner. Sometimes we need to be in church to grow with fellow believers; sometimes we need to be out volunteering to show others what Christ looks like; and othertimes we need to pray in solitude. We can't pigeonhole God or box Him in to certain places, and therefore we can't judge where or how God works and who He's working in and through. However, we do need to be discerning. We need to make sure we're following God and not just our desires or what our culture (whether it's a film or a congregation) wants us to believe.
Posted by: Stephanie Nikolopoulos | November 5, 2007 12:41 PM
Heart or head? Unless we appeal to both of these in tandem, as well as our bodies and our social sphere, we are sure to struggle to enact real spiritual change in our lives. Spiritual change, or transformation, takes place in every part of our being. Although we can discuss our many constituents in isolation, in real life they must change together, or the others will overwhelm the one we concentrate on and continue to push and pull us, with a sort of spiritual inertia, in the general direction we have been moving.
I've been teaching a class based on Dallas Willard's work in "Renovation of the Heart." It has been extremely enlightening and enabling to finally have a clear understanding of how all of our parts integrate to form a human being. We've discovered that most of us have had no clue what the differences are between the heart, soul, spirit, will, mind, emotions, body, and how they all affect each other in God's amazing design. Anyone who, like Jules, fails to realize change, no matter how much scripture they understand or how intensely they desire it, will save themselves years of struggling by bathing in Willard's book.
Posted by: Michael Norton | November 5, 2007 7:12 PM
This is a well written story, really great work. It is great to see the journalistic voice work clearly to take the two (seemingly) different articles and articulate the way the great reconciler, Christ, supersedes them both to reach the individual and the community uniquely and completely. Thanks.
Posted by: Erin Rodenbiker | November 21, 2007 12:36 PM
Agreed. God is everywhere yet rarely seen.
Michael, you might enjoy Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards to further understanding of the role of mind, will, spirit, and affections. Glad to hear the class is going so well!
Erin, sounds like you are a writer yourself! Thanks for your kind words.
Posted by: Jonathan Dodson | November 25, 2007 12:34 PM
Jonathan - That title happens to be this month's free download at christianaudio.com - I grab those every month.
Posted by: Michael Norton | November 27, 2007 8:45 PM
Outstanding!
Posted by: Jonathan Dodson | November 30, 2007 10:46 AM