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John R. W. Stott (1921 – ) was ordained in 1945 and served for many years as Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. He is known worldwide as a preacher, scholar, and evangelist. Stott’s broad interests in theology, Christology, evangelism, and apologetics are reflected in his many books. Below is an excerpt from his work The Cross of Christ in which he traces the root of all man’s rebellion—the worship of himself.

“For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.1″

If, as Protagoras suggested, “Man is the measure of all things,” then man’s claim of divine prerogative follows naturally from his esteemed position. However, if God is God–the Holy One, then man’s aspiration is exposed for what it truly is: idolatry. Thus, the substitutions which Stott describe head in two divergent directions: selfish idolatry leading to death, or glorious redemption leading to life. In which direction are you heading today?

Footnotes

1 John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 160.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) was a significant Danish philosopher who is widely considered to be the father of modern existentialism. A trenchant critic of the German thinker G. W. F. Hegel, Kierkegaard believed that the former’s philosophy poisoned the well of civil, ecclesial, and philosophical discourse. Kierkegaard saw the Church of his day as cold and lifeless, a victim of Hegelian rationalism. His frustration emerged in his scathing Attack Upon Christendom, which, despite appearances, was written by someone who deeply cared about vital Christianity.

Kierkegaard has received well-deserved criticism from modern evangelical theologians.1 Nevertheless, the following passage taken from his Journal powerfully exposes the terrible problems that develop when the Church fails to understand the seriousness of her task in the world. To the Church of his day, Kierkegaard exhorted: your battle is spiritual, and war is grim business: get on with it. To the preacher, he underscored the need for risky sermons, which could cost him his comfort, his position, and even his life.

“We all know what it is to play warfare in mock battle, that it means to imitate everything just as it is in war. The troops are drawn up, they march into the field, seriousness is evident in every eye, but also courage and enthusiasm, the orderlies rush back and forth intrepidly, the commander’s voice is heard, the signals, the battle cry, the volley of musketry, the thunder of cannon–everything exactly as in war, lacking only one thing . . . the danger.

So also it is with playing Christianity, that is, imitating Christian preaching in such a way that everything, absolutely everything is included in as deceptive a form as possible–only one thing is lacking . . . the danger.2″

For some, the danger about which Kierkegaard speaks is physical. The lives of Christians in places like China and Sudan bear sober and clear testimony to this. For most of us however the danger has more to do with our social status and image. Perhaps our allegiance to Christ will cause us to be viewed as someone who doesn’t belong to this world. What a great danger it is.

Footnotes

1 See, for example, Edward John Carnell, The Burden of Søren Kierkegaard (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965).

2 Søren Kierkegaard, Attack Upon Christendom, trans. Walter Lowrie (1944; reprint, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), 180. The title for this piece was suggested by Lowrie in his translation.

“Eighty and six years have I served him, and he hath done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?

Thou threatenest the fire that burns for an hour and in a little while is quenched; for thou knowest not of the fire of the judgement to come, and the fire of the eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why delayest thou? Bring what thou wilt.”

These words were spoken by Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who was one of the foremost leaders of the Church in the second century. He studied under the Apostle John and, with Ignatius of Antioch, was one of the vital links between the apostolic and patristic periods. A strong defender of orthodoxy, he opposed such heretical groups as the Marcionites and the Valentinians. When Ignatius was being taken to Rome to be put to death, he wrote of Polycarp being clothed “with the garment of grace.” Polycarp was himself arrested by Roman officials in Smyrna soon after returning from a trip to Rome to discuss the date for Easter and was martyred.

His defense against the Roman proconsul contained a clear and courageous witness to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of fearing “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” Polycarp feared God “who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28 ). Polycarp’s gospel courage sprang from his gospel clarity.

May I suggest that this is the evangelical moment? When worldly ideologies which disregard the rule of Christ emerge before our eyes, we find ourselves faced with the same opportunity as Polycarp. Will we bow the knee before the principalities and powers of this world, or will we stand for the King who has saved us? God, please help us.