<h2>Part One: Something's not right....</h2>

I have added to my Pet Peeve collection. In fact, this pet peeve has been growing over the past year. What is this pet peeve of which I speak? "Christ being taken out of our preaching." I know what you're thinking... "How can Christ be taken out of our preaching when the preaching is from the Bible?" Now the big question of the day is, "Is Christ the central theme in what is being preached, or is man's duty the primary focus - while Christ is tacked on to make your point more legitimate?" What do I mean by that question? Let me answer it for you. First, I want give some background and explanation of what I'm about to present. I won't be starting my answer to the question until "Part Two: Something's not right...." I want to explain some key terms.

Word Definitions

Paradigm - the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time Gospel - Christ lives in me. Christ remains. The great and awesome mystery of the gospel is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). Christ is the Gospel - The Gospel is Christ

Word Descriptions

Paradigm - Scientifically speaking, in times past, a general viewpoint of the Solar System was that the Earth was the center of the Solar System. That was a paradigm. Everyone subscribed to this viewpoint. Check out A Brief History from the University of Wisconsin to get more detail on this paradigm. I don't subscribe to the 'Big Bang' theory, at all. Please disregard that. I am mainly pointing you to the descriptions of geocentric and heliocentric viewpoints of the universe. Gospel - To spread the gospel, first through ourselves and then through the city by word, deed, and community; To bring about personal changes, social healing, and cultural renewal through a movement of churches and ministries that change [local cities] and through [them], the world. Romans 1:16 states - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Corinthians 4:4 says specifically that the Gospel is Christ - "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Mere words or actions can not change people (if that were true, then the AA would have incredible affect - also, Christ would have died in vain), only Christ/the Gospel changes people.

Background

I am challenging our current paradigm. Of which paradigm am I speaking? Generally, we believe when we preach from the Bible, we are preaching truth. Correct? Naturally, we would all agree on that point. For instance, if I were to 'preach' "Love one another" you would automatically think about the book of I John or think about Christ saying 'Love your neighbor as yourself', right? Or maybe, if I mention to you about conquering the giants in our lives. What do you think of first? David & Goliath, right? All these things are all well and good, but what is the emphasis? Man's duty, right? A key question to ask yourself now is, How does man's duty make a difference before God? Does it make a difference? Why is it that if David can kill Goliath that we think we can conquer our 'giants'? That doesn't make sense. God gave him the ability to do so, right? But does that automatically mean we will conquer our giants? No - not necessarily. God may want those giants in our lives to teach us something greater. To bring this part into full circle, let's consider a quote from the link of UW above: "As we discover more and more about the origins of our early universe, we should realize that our present theories must be continually tested and modified because new theories frequently arise as we learn more through our observations." Remember scientific actions/testings can be universal to any discipline (Theology, Bible, Math, Technology, etc...) - by this I mean the testing of a theory (repeatedly) to verify its validity or authenticity based in truth. So why is it that we do not come with that approach to our understanding of Scripture (and thereby the preaching of Scripture)? My point? Test your biblical paradigm. Make sure it allows you to fit your 'new revelation' (not meaning a brand new revelation but a pre-exising revelation to which you have been enlightened - or made to understand). Test your paradigm. To be continued...