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Provocative Church

Let's face it, being a Christian in San Francisco is not a bowl of cherries. It can be hard work. Scary work. Any Christian who lives in an urban secular environment has a whole host of new questions to answer, not only to others, but also to themselves. I've heard many people tell me that moving to San Francisco exposed their faith as either real or false. The City does this to us, and I think it's a good thing. There's a certain honesty of faith that can develop as we live outside highly Christianized locations. As City Church enters its 15th year, we have quite a story to tell. God has done a great work to create a church that is making a visible difference in our city as we seek to love and serve it.  With all the challenges and joys of living in San Francisco, I always encourage Christians to ask themselves this question: "Why would God have me in such a strategic place?"  I have an answer. It's the Apostle Peter's answer. We are called together to revere Christ as Lord, and live provocatively. Let me explain.

 

In one of the key verses in the book of 1 Peter, the author gives a group of churches in present-day Turkey the following directive: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Peter is assuming something. When a community "reveres Christ as Lord," they will provoke questions, good questions. As you live out the Lordship of Christ in community, people want to know what on earth is going on with you and this group of people who give without expecting payment; who serve without wanting the spotlight; who are radically generous, radically pure, and relationally tenacious. All those kingdom values, when lived out in community, are proclamations of the new day that has dawned with the coming of King Jesus. They are kingdom signs, and as we enact and demonstrate that kingdom, we are provoking questions about, as Peter calls it, the hope that is within us.

 

"Jesus is Lord" was the earliest Christian confession of faith. It had political implications because it countered "Caesar is Lord," but it also had implications for all of life. The gospel centers on the Lordship of Christ. Jesus is God's king over the world; He has defeated the powers that oppose both God and humanity. God has seen to this because He as creator of heaven and earth, He passionately loves the world he made and the people in it. He generously provides everything for life, hates all that is evil and will one day destroy it, and He is the one in whom we find our true life, joy, and peace. The King on the cross comes for rebels to be pardoned and acquitted, as the King Himself pays the price of forgiveness. The kingly Spirit of Christ inhabits His people so that they may be "transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory." The King took on human flesh and walked among us, showing us the perfect image of God. The theme "Jesus is Lord and King" permeates every aspect of the Gospel story. And the only response is to repent, to turn around, to start in a new direction, living life with Jesus as King, with a kingdom that is established with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

 

Peter sees the church with this role: to be the provocative community of Jesus that has the task of bearing witness to His rightful rule over all creation. Loyalty to and faith in Jesus as Lord means living in the light of His victory over sin and death and evil, living the way of life Jesus proclaimed, the way of the kingdom values expressed in texts such as the Sermon on the Mount, and embodied in His own person and conduct. This is how human life was meant to be lived, and to this all people are invited.

 

In other words, the church is to be a visible reminder of life under God's rule to all who would observe her. In the words of Lesslie Newbiggin:


"How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people who should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it."

 

We'll be exploring this theme throughout the fall in a new sermon series in 1 Peter entitled "Provocative Church." Join us each Sunday as we hear the challenge of Peter's letter to a group of churches filled with believers, unbelievers, and skeptics....all feeling the discomfort of exclusion to one degree or another, and embracing the opportunity to one degree or another, of being the provocative community of Jesus. I think he's talking to us.

Rev. Fred Harrell

Founding Pastor
The Rev. Fred O. Harrell is a native of Central Florida and is a graduate of the University of...

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