Friday, October 26, 2007

Gospel Fresh

I wake up to NPR, therefore I have no business discussing anything that I think I heard because my brain takes a good while to sharpen up in the morning. Not to mention I never hear an interview all the way through since I am constantly reaching over to smack the snooze button. However, I caught something this morning that I piqued my interest.

The hosts of the particular shows were making a transition, one show to the next. They were briefly discussing the interview that had just concluded; an interview that had lots of religious conversation. The host that had performed the interview said something very interesting to me. She stated that the interviewee had a "fresh perspective" on religious issues.

Now, I don't entirely know what that means in the context of the interview, but I do know that I have been hearing that statement a lot lately concerning religious issues. Churches are claiming to take a "fresh" look at the Bible. My parents church has a service called "fresh blend (as if the service was a cup of coffee. What ever happened to first service and second service anyway?)." Bringing an Eastern influence into your Western religious experience seems to be something "fresh."

I guess that my question is this: what is our motivation behind making something appear fresh? If we, as Christians, attempt to take a "fresh" look at the Bible are we really taking a "fresh" look at the Bible? Is the Gospel not fresh enough? God became man, an yet was still God, came to the Earth that He spoke into existence, lived for the majority of His life as a carpenter, ministered for a few years, all while never committing sin. Then, in the greatest act of love in the history of the World, died so that those who the Father had given Him could live with Him forever sharing in His glory for all of eternity. Not to mention the death that took Him could not hold Him and is now reigning at the right hand of the Father and will be seated there forever upon forever.

If you think that needs to be "fresher," by all means add to it. As for me, I will rest in the freshness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.