Matt Chandler - A Redemptive Lens

We’re going to be in the second chapter, five. I have this pretty vivid memory of my mom and dad dropping me off at a small Baptist church in the Bay Area that was right outside the base where my father was stationed. I don’t know if they were doing that for babysitting purposes—I’m not sure why—but I got dropped off. We had this big group time, and if you’ve been here ten years, I’ve told this story before, but I’ve only got one life; that’s all I’ve got. I’ve just got this stuff I have, so I’m sorry. It’s big group time, and they’re starting to play the song that’s meant to get all the kids hyped. They handed out instruments—I don’t know if you remember this, but there was a stick with bells, like a reindeer stick. Then there were little finger cymbals, and it was this really upbeat, chipper song about how God hates liars. In the middle, I mean, I had the stick, the reindeer stick, and then it just occurred to me, «Hey, wait, what?» I’m singing this chipper song about how God hates me, and I could give you that story in about forty other stories about a moral approach to Christianity that’s inconsistent with the God of the Bible. See, what I have found is that, more often than not, Christians understand the Christian story through the lens of morality. They approach the Bible with morality, and what I mean by that is these are the things I’m supposed to do and these are the things I’m not supposed to do—that’s what Christianity is. Yet the other way, in fact, I would argue the correct way—and God help us, the way that most people miss—is actually a redemptive understanding of Christianity. Here’s how the redemptive lens works: Let me place it maybe right in the middle of 2019. Let’s just pretend we’re binge-watching a show. There’s a new show coming out; it’s called «Redemption» (bum bum bum, not «Justified»; I know that’s already been done). You watch the trailer, and man, the music’s amazing! All the pieces come together, your favorite actor and actress—the sinner of the otago fee looks amazing—so you order your life around it! You’re not sure you have time, so you’re like, «I’m just going to try the first one and see what happens.» You watch episode one, which is called «Creation.» You’re sitting there on the couch, and, man, out of nothing bursts forth everything, and it’s good, it’s beautiful, and it’s right! You find that your soul aches as you watch this thing come about. I mean, out of nothing, everything! There’s this man—your favorite actor—and actress; they are in love, and it’s the kind of love that just makes your heart ache, long, and desire. When that episode is over, you’re not going to bed, right? They’ve got the next episode starting in five seconds, so you’re like, «Tomorrow will be rough, but I’m in!» Episode two is called «Fall.» You’re probably thinking, «Oh, they’re going to fall deeper in love, ” and then what happens is that episode two is like „Empire Strikes Back.“ Spoiler alert: everything goes wrong, and Vader turns out to be Luke’s dad. If you didn’t know that, that’s on you. So, in episode two, everything unravels! Everything that was beautiful in episode one is now broken—the beauty of creation is broken; this love relationship is broken—everything is broken. Now you’re not going to bed because right—the next episode starts in five seconds—and episode three is called „Reconciliation.“ You’re like, „Oh my gosh, what’s this one about?“ You’re stress-eating now, and then this is about things being put back together, right? There’s this weird kind of dynamic where this other person comes in, and he starts putting everything back together. He takes the man and the woman and puts them back together, but not before he returns them to their design. He starts taking what was broken and actually starts to fix it again. You can feel like you’re tearing up now, right? So you say, „This is unbelievable!“ Now, man, let’s just call in sick tomorrow, right? It’s 2:00 in the morning, one more episode—it’s only an hour and 30 minutes—so let’s do it! You watch the last episode; it’s called „Consummation,“ and in the last episode, not everything is put back the way it was in the beginning, but it is made more beautiful and grand than we can even imagine. The credits roll, and you’re sad because it was the most perfect story ever, and now it’s over—all you have is the new „Daredevil“ coming out in a couple of weeks. Now you’re not even sure what to do next. That is the story of reality! Are you tracking with me? The story of reality is a Creator God who creates everything good, right, and beautiful. Sin enters the cosmos and fractures all of it, and God doesn’t move away from his creation; He moves toward them in the sending of the Son. Jesus reconciles people back to the Father, and in the end, consummates all things. Now, if you’re looking at life through the moral lens, God expects a certain level.