Dismantling Self-Centered Salvation: Learn the Value of Sacrificial Service
One of the biggest lies I was told growing up defined the entire Gospel as Jesus came to earth as a man, died on the cross for my sins, and rose from the dead so that my sins could be forgiven and I could live with him in heaven.” That statement contains many true facts, but it limits the full work and intent of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Christians who go no further hamstring their life’s purpose, fulfillment, and mission. My publisher has granted us permission to run chapter five from my soon-to-be-released book The Life You Were Reborn to Live: Dismantling 12 Lies that Rob Your Intimacy with God. If this chapter intrigues you, you can preorder the entire book.
“The kingdom of God is so shockingly opposite the way the rest of the world works that I need constant reminding of what it looks like and how good it is.”
Brant Hansen, Unoffendable
A faithful life in Christ depends in large part on your understanding not just the facts of Jesus’ death but the point of Jesus’ death.
There’s a difference between the facts and the point of an event.
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, Pravda, the state newspaper, was famous for its stories that might be factually true but were radically misleading. For example, one headline announced, “Soviet Runner Second, American Runner Third from Last.”
The race involved just three people, and the American won the race. But first place in a three-person race is, technically speaking, “third from last.” So the headline was technically true but wildly deceptive. The facts missed the point that the American defeated both the Soviet runner and the other runner.
When she was in high school, journalist, writer, and filmmaker Nora Ephron[1] took a journalism class in which the teacher gave an assignment to write the lede to a story as a way to help the students distinguish between the facts and the point. The teacher introduced the assignment by presenting the story’s relevant facts:
Kenneth I. Peters, the principal of Beverly Hills High School, announced today that the entire high school faculty will travel to Sacramento next Thursday for a colloquium in new teaching methods. Among the speakers will be anthropologist Margaret Mead, college president Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins, and California governor Edmund “Pat” Brown.[i]
With that information, the professor asked the journalism students to write the lede. One suggested, “Margaret Mead, Maynard Hutchins, and Governor Brown will address the faculty on . . .”
But that was wrong.
Another started out, “Next Thursday, the high school faculty will . . .”
Wrong again.
The teacher proceeded to unveil the true lede: “There will be no school Thursday.”
For journalists, the lede refers not just to the facts but also to the point of the facts. With all the faculty out, the school can’t hold classes. What the students most need to know and want to know is that they don’t have to go to school that day.
If we know the facts about Jesus’ death at Golgotha but miss the point, we risk, in the words of C. S. Lewis, “running about with fire extinguishers whenever there is a flood.”[ii]
One of the reasons we’re running around with fire extinguishers during a flood is that we don’t understand the lede about Jesus’ death. We get the facts right, but the point is wrong. We need to rethink what the point really is so we can learn what really matters.
Before we go on, ask yourself, What is the proper lede for the events of Good Friday that culminate with Jesus’ death on the cross at Golgotha?
Continue reading this blog on Substack HERE.
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