Tomorrow, a great number of Christians around the world remember and reflect on the brutal death of Jesus through the holiday of Good Friday.  Why do English-speaking Christians call this day "good" when clearly the events that took place are immensely sorrowful and gloomy?

Justin Holcomb, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, summarizes why Good Friday is "so dark and so good":

Still, why call the day of Jesus’ death “Good Friday” instead of “Bad Friday” or something similar? Some Christian traditions do take this approach: in German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” In English, in fact, the origin of the term “Good” is debated: some believe it developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.” Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins…

Read more.

The Vine will be marking the occasion of Good Friday with a service tomorrow at 7:30pm at Lapham Elementary School.

The heart of the gospel message is that redemption, restoration, and salvation are not things we can accomplish through our own efforts.  Another way to say it is that the gospel is the polar opposite of religion.

Tim Keller, pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian church in New York City, in his book, The Prodigal God, has some very thought-provoking words about religion vs. gospel and the types of people we attract or offend as a church:

To most people in our society, Christianity is religion and moralism. The only alternative to it (besides some other world religion) is pluralistic secularism. But from the beginning it was not so. Christianity was recognized as a tertium quid, something else entirely.

The crucial point here is that, in general, religiously observant people were offended by Jesus, but those estranged from religious and moral observance were intrigued and attracted to him. We see this throughout the New Testament accounts of Jesus’s life. In every case where Jesus meets a religious person and a sexual outcast (as in Luke 7) or a religious person and a racial outcast (as in John 3-4) or a religious person and a political outcast (as in Luke 19), the outcast is the one who connects with Jesus and the elder-brother type does not. Jesus says to the respectable religious leaders ‘the tax collectors and the prostitutes enter the kingdom before you’ (Matthew 21:31).

Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did. If our churches aren’t appealing to younger brothers, they must be more full of elder brothers than we’d like to think.

Pastor, theologian, and philosopher Francis Schaeffer left a deep impression on Christianity in the 20th century.  In particular, he is a meaningful example of how to engage and interact with people of different belief systems.

In his writing about the role the Christian plays in today's world, Schaeffer offered four things that society wants and needs from Christians:

Two contents

1. Sound doctrine
2. Honest answers to honest questions

Two realities

1. True spirituality
2. The beauty of human relationship

Read more about these contents and realities at the Gospel Coalition blog.

Tim Chester, pastor at The Crowded House Church in Sheffield, England, has some great thoughts on how our core values as a church (gospel, community, mission) intersect with everyday life, as we gather around the dining table:

Jesus didn’t run projects, establish ministries, create programs, or put on events. He ate meals. If you routinely share meals and you have a passion for Jesus, then you’ll be doing mission.

On the idea of gospel-centered mission in ordinary life:

Meals bring mission into the ordinary. But that’s where most people are—living in the ordinary. That’s where we need to go to reach them. We too readily think of mission as extraordinary. Perhaps that’s because we find it awkward to talk about Jesus out-side a church gathering. Perhaps it’s because we think God moves through the spectacular rather than the witness of people like us. Perhaps it’s because we want to outsource mission to the professionals, so we invite people to guest services where an “expert” can do mission for us. But most people live in the ordinary, and most people will be reached by ordinary people. Even those who attend a special event will, for the most part, have first been befriended by a Christian. “For those looking to connect with people in the local community it isn’t that hard if you really want to. Just invite people round, let them know they can go home if they need to and then enjoy a meal together. You’re going to eat anyway, so why not do it with others!”

On combining community with other believers and mission to those outside the church:

People often complain that they lack time for mission. But we all have to eat. Three meals a day, seven days a week. That’s twenty-one opportunities for mission and community without adding anything to your schedule. You could meet up with another Christian for breakfast on the way to work—read the Bible together, offer accountability, pray for one another. You could meet up with colleagues at lunchtime. Put down this book and chat to the person across the table from you in the cafeteria. You could invite your neighbors over for a meal. Better still, invite them over with another family from church. That way you get to do mission and community at the same time; plus your unbelieving neighbors will get to see the way the gospel impacts our relationships as Christians (John 13:34–35; 17:20–21). You could invite someone who lives alone to share your family meal and follow it with board games, giving your children an opportunity to serve others through their welcome.

One of the Vine's core values is an outward-focused mission for the people around us. As we have been selflessly loved by God, we selflessly desire to love, serve, and sacrifice for the people of our neighborhoods and city.

Along that same line of thinking, Tim Gaydos, pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, shares 11 gospel-centered ways to love your city:

1. Reach out to “the least of these” in your city.

Who are the downtrodden, forgotten, or underserved people in your city? Start a mercy ministry to reach out to these groups. Create a transition plan for homeless people from shelters into community. Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least of these, we do for him.

2. Get involved civically.

Set up a meeting with your mayor or city council members and find out specifically what your city needs. Then rally your church or Community Group to help meet those needs. Start attending your neighborhood association meetings and volunteering your time to make your city better.

3. Throw parties and invite your neighbors.

This could be anything from a get-together in your apartment to a full-scale neighborhood block party. The transient nature of many cities can lead to neighbors barely knowing one another. Sometimes all it takes is to initiate by invitation!

Read more.

As Wisconsin continues to experience political unrest heading into recall elections, and another national political campaign season gets under way (does it ever really end here in America?), we should think carefully about our responses to the political divisions in our community.

Our pastor Zach Nielsen, on his blog Take Your Vitamin Z, shares a meaningful quote from Tim Keller, pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, on how the gospel transcends political alignments and the power struggle but how Christians are nontheless compelled by the gospel to be radical players in how society addresses its problems:

Secular people have a strong belief that religion is really just about social power. There is a need to place every church somewhere on the ideological spectrum, from liberal left-wing to conservative right wing. But the gospel makes the true church impossible to categorize. Justification by faith brings deep, powerful psychological changes: 'Though I am sinful, I am accepted based on the good of Another.' This truth converts people.

On the other hand, the gospel of the Cross and Kingdom brings deep, powerful social changes. It defies the values of the world: power, status, recognition and wealth. The gospel is triumph through weakness, wealth through poverty, power through service. This changes our attitude toward the poor and toward our own status, wealth and careers. A gospel-centered church should combine zeals that are ordinarily never seen together in the same church. This is one of the main ways we make people look twice and take our message seriously.

Continuing the same theme of racial reconciliation that Zach Nielsen explored in his sermon this week, what is it like to be a part of a church in a multi-ethnic neighborhood?  The above clip shows a glimpse of a new church plant in Seattle's Rainier Valley, one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country, but also a neighborhood stricken with poverty, crime, and other social problems.

Deacon Danny Chi remarks about the church's diversity:

We’re not here to be diversified just to be diversified. That’s what the world wants. But the difference between the world and us is that we want to be multi-ethnic and multi-cultural because Jesus has a heart for that.

Indeed, there is a great temptation within us to keep our churches "safe", which often leads intentionally or unintentionally to monoculture.  Much like the ancient city of Babel, we can fail by creating an atmosphere of exclusion beyond our four walls, erecting within our hearts a tower to the testament of our own superiority.

Jesus' heart for the church is the exact opposite—welcoming in "aliens and strangers" and "breaking down the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2)—so that all peoples of all colors and tongues might be welcomed in to celebrate God come down to be with his people.

This past Sunday, Zach Nielsen shared in his message on racial reconciliation that there are no grounds for racial superiority, because all men and women of all races and ethnicities are each created in the image and likeness of God.

Kim Riddlebarger, pastor at Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, explores in more detail the deeper implications of what it means to be an "image-bearer" of God:

Because all men and women are divine image-bearers we are truly like God, and we possess all of the so-called communicable attributes of God–albeit in creaturely form and measure. This is what constitutes us as “human” beings, distinct from and superior in moral and rational capabilities to the animal kingdom. In fact, the creation of Adam and Eve marks the high point of the creation account (Genesis 1:28-31), as God pronounced the first man Adam to be “very good.”

The ramifications of the fact that we are divine image bearers are multifaceted and profound…

This is a must-watch video.

Jerry Bridges:

Evangelicals commonly think today that the gospel is only for unbelievers. Once we’re inside the kingdom’s door, we need the gospel only in order to share it with those who are still outside. Now, as believers, we need to hear the message of discipleship. We need to learn how to live the Christian life and be challenged to go do it. That’s what I believed and practiced in my life and ministry for some time. It is what most Christians seem to believe.

As I see it, the Christian community is largely a performance-based culture today. And the more deeply committed we are to following Jesus, the more deeply ingrained the performance mindset is. We think we earn God’s blessing or forfeit it by how well we live the Christian life.

Most Christians have a baseline of acceptable performance by which they gauge their acceptance by God. For many, this baseline is no more than regular church attendance and the avoidance of major sins. Such Christians are often characterized by some degree of self-righteousness. After all, they don’t indulge in the major sins we see happening around us. Such Christians would not think they need the gospel anymore. They would say the gospel is only for sinners.

For committed Christians, the baseline is much higher. It includes regular practice of spiritual disciplines, obedience to God’s Word, and involvement in some form of ministry. Here again, if we focus on outward behavior, many score fairly well. But these Christians are even more vulnerable to self-righteousness, for they can look down their spiritual noses not only at the sinful society around them but even at other believers who are not as committed as they are. These Christians don’t need the gospel either. For them, Christian growth means more discipline and more commitment.

Then there is a third group. The baseline of this group includes more than the outward performance of disciplines, obedience, and ministry. These Christians also recognize the need to deal with sins of the heart like a critical spirit, pride, selfishness,envy,resentment, and anxiety. They see their inconsistency in having their quiet times, their failure to witness at every opportunity, and their frequent failures in dealing with sins of the heart. This group of Christians is far more likely to be plagued by a sense of guilt because group members have not met their own expectations. And because they think God’s acceptance of them is based on their performance, they have little joy in their Christian lives. For them, life is like a treadmill on which they keep slipping farther and farther behind. This group needs the gospel, but they don’t realize it is for them. I know, because I was in this group.

Gradually over time, and from a deep sense of need, I came to realize that the gospel is for believers, too. When I finally realized this, every morning I would pray over a Scripture such as Isaiah 53:6,” All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” and then say, “Lord, I have gone astray. I have turned to my own way, but you have laid all my sin on Christ and because of that I approach you and feel accepted by you.”

I came to see that Paul’s statement in Galatians 2:20, “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me,” was made in the context of justification (see vv. 15-21). Yet Paul was speaking in the present tense: “The life I now live ….” Because of the context, I realized Paul was not speaking about his sanctification but about his justification. For Paul, then, justification (being declared righteous by God on the basis of the righteousness of Christ) was not only a past-tense experience but also a present-day reality. Paul lived every day by faith in the shed blood and righteousness of Christ. Every day he looked to Christ alone for his acceptance with the Father. He believed, like Peter (see 1 Pet. 2:4-5), that even our best deeds–our spiritual sacrifices–are acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ. Perhaps no one apart from Jesus himself has ever been as committed a disciple both in life and ministry as the Apostle Paul. Yet he did not look to his own performance but to Christ’s “performance” as the sole basis of his acceptance with God.

So I learned that Christians need to hear the gospel all of their lives because it is the gospel that continues to remind us that our day-to-day acceptance with the Father is not based on what we do for God but upon what Christ did for us in his sinless life and sin-bearing death. I began to see that we stand before God today as righteous as we ever will be, even in heaven, because he has clothed us with the righteousness of his Son. Therefore, I don’t have to perform to be accepted by God.

Now I am free to obey him and serve him because I am already accepted in Christ (see Rom. 8:1). My driving motivation now is not guilt but gratitude. Yet even when we understand that our acceptance with God is based on Christ’s work, we still naturally tend to drift back into a performance mindset. Consequently, we must continually return to the gospel. To use an expression of the late Jack Miller, we must “preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” For me that means I keep going back to Scriptures such as Isaiah 53:6, Galatians 2:20, and Romans 8:1. It means I frequently repeat the words from an old hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.