Previous Post – The Primary Context For Discipleship

The following is “Jesus I Have Loved, But Paul?” Blog Tour, based on J.R. Daniel Kirk’s new book, “Jesus I Have Loved, But Paul?”.  See Full Schedule for the line up & dates.  Also checkout the Giveaway page!

When I was asked to participate in the blog tour for J.R. Daniel Kirk’s new book, I was thrilled.  I was even more excited to be reviewing chapter 3, “Christianity As Community”.  Given my own passion for Christian community (and thus my book, “The Cost of Community”), I was eager not only read the book, but share here what I discovered.  I was not disappointed.

For me, the chapter was summed up well with this quote:

“The good news as proclaimed and lived by both Jesus and Paul is not merely the promise of power to make us new persons. It is also the promise of a new people.”

While this might seem an obvious statement, the western church all too often gives this lip service while, functionally, living under the rule of individualism.  The implications of becoming this community- this “new people”- are central to the work of the gospel itself.

Kirk builds the chapter on the solid foundation of Jesus’s clear call for His people to form into His community, drawing significantly on the Sermon on the Mount.  His call to forgiveness, grace and peace is challenging to every individual Christian, yet when understood as they were meant to be understood- that is, in the context of community- the radical nature of the people Jesus has called us to be becomes even more clear.  With the stories and teachings of Jesus with respect to community firmly in place, Kirk moves on to what Paul had to say about the topic.

“Paul’s story of a community of Jesus followers contains many of the same narrative dynamics as the Gospels, though with two particular points of difference. These differences are, first, that though Paul tells the story of discipleship as one of being part of the people of Israel, his churches are comprised not of Jews but mostly of non-Jews (gentiles). The other major difference has to do with how Paul depicts the church as the continuing presence of Jesus in the world: it is Jesus’s own body”

Kirk begins by establishing that Paul’s ministry among non-Jewish believers did not place this new people outside of the narrative of Israel- the story of God and us.  Instead, he demonstrates how it is the natural and only fulfillment of that story through Christ.

“To be part of the church is to belong to a community whose identity is being molded into the shape of that people of God whose story is written on the pages of the Old Testament. And that story, in turn, is being shaped by Paul’s convictions about Jesus as the crucified and risen Messiah.”

Paul viewed adoption into the community of Christ as entry into a family, a connection of more binding than even blood.  While never rejecting the covenant promises that God made with His chosen people, he shows that the work of Christ completed and fulfilled the intention of God to bring His promises to all nations:

“The story of God’s family is the story of Abraham. Paul retells this story, insisting that belonging to Christ makes us part of that community because he understands not only that communal stories determine our individual identities but also that this particular story is the one story that God has wrought salvation with. To follow Jesus is to be written into the story of the one worldwide family of God.”

Perhaps Paul’s greatest contribution was by articulating the a true image for the identity of the Church.  While the community of first believers- the Jews- drew their identity as being God’s chosen people, Christians are to draw an even closer, more intimate identity, the very Body of Christ:

“The members of the church make up Christ’s body in the same way that my eyes, ears, fingers, legs, and other parts make up my body. This might be putting it even too mildly: Christ is the body that is made up of the parts.” (pg 66)

The beauty of this image is that it demands an indivisible unity- one of love- yet defines that unity as only possible through the unity of great diversity.  Kirk contrasts this with the reality of individualism in our culture, including within the church.

“To be saved is to be “in Christ,” and to be “in Christ” is to be in his body, the church, a community of people who need one another not only to thrive but even to live. The story that determines my identity has as its fountainhead that I am inscribed in the story of Christ and thereby written into the story of the people of God.”

Kirk closes the chapter with a compelling challenge for us to embrace our identity as God’s chosen people, His family- as necessarily diverse as we are unified.  Our role as a missional people is made possible in and through that place in Christ.  Let me include one last quote to sum things up:

“What is Christian community? It is a family formed around Jesus. It is a family that has a certain look. Like a human family where unique persons bear a common family resemblance, so the family of God is comprised of an unmitigated diversity of people who are called to look like their Father, which means, in turn, to look like their brother Jesus. As a people we are called into a community.”

While I have not finished the whole book yet, I can already endorse it.  One of the best things about this book is that is brings together some of the best scholarship on Paul that has emerged over the last few decades.  It brings this critical new perspective in such a way that is accessible without losing its authority.  While I do not agree with every point in the book, the differences are not worth noting.  I highly recommend this book.