Last night in my American Literature class, my teacher discussed the providence of God, the function of the church and the incarnation of the Gospel for the believer as taught in the writings of John Winthrop. It seems that my teacher, who I believe is not a Christian, has a better understanding and application of these areas than a lot of Christians.
Last semester I had World Literature with the same teacher. We studied the Old Testament. We had been discussing the characteristics of a hero. We observed other heroes in other ancient texts, but when we got to the Old Testament my teacher made an astounding observation. He pointed out that in other texts the heroes were humans. However, although the Old Testament contains many stories where the main characters are the protagonist – characters such as Joseph, Abraham and Moses – they are not the heroes. He said that in this text (the Old Testament) the hero is God Himself. He said that these stories are merely the acts of God through the lives of His people. It all centers on God.
I was amazed! My literature teacher had a better understanding of the Old Testament than some Christians I know. I later expressed my appreciation to him for his view of the Old Testament and asked him how he came to that conclusion. I told him that I know some Christians who teach the Old Testament as merely a book of stories of men who model good moral living for people to emulate, rather than one main story centered on the Sovereign work of God. He, once again, made a interesting statement. He said that the reason people have that opinion is because they do not read the Bible. He said that if they truly read the Bible in its entirety, they would see that it is centered on the will and work of God. What an incredible observation from a person who I do not think is a believer.
The reason that I bring this up is because this story has caused me to begin working out a personal understanding of what the Gospel ought to look like in a secular setting. My teacher has studied the Bible, the writings of the Puritans and other Christian writers, and he has developed a very Biblical view of Christianity based only on his literary analysis of these works. He made the observation to me last night after class that if people truly understood the Gospel as taught in the Bible, they would live more humble and loving lives. They would not be so concerned about their specific religious hang ups, but they would rather be concerned with living out the true Gospel of Christ. (Obviously, I paraphrased, but this is the basic idea.)
I am going to follow this post up with other encounters that I have had at Greenville Tech. God has used this time to shape my understanding of the Gospel. I would appreciate any observations or comments on this topic. My understanding is still being constructed so bear with me.
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