Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The groaning of the Church

I haven’t read N.T. Wright, but I came across a short interview with him in Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/134306) which offers a nice explanation for all the disagreement among Christians (and people in general).

He cites the notion that ‘the creation is groaning, having been subjected to slavery’ from Romans, and says that the Church is also ‘groaning’ in this sense. There’s a subjection to fallen-ness that affects us all and leads to these internal and external squabbles.

I guess this is just a way of saying our problems are because of sin, but in all this ‘groaning,’ it’s helpful to me to be able to locate it in the story of redemption.

6 comments:

Ben said...

The other part of that Romans passage is that the creation is groaning as in the pangs of childbirth. We are groaning...longing for something more. Eternal life. Our redeemed bodies. A life fully reconnected with God. And the really awesome part is realizing that nature itself is longing for these things along with us.

It's cool that he's being interviewed by Newsweek. I saw N.T. Wright speak at Emory last week along with my Bible Study group. He has a lot to say about the meaning of the Resurrection for our Christian life today.

It's really cool. Makes me want to read his book, Surprised By Hope. It's amazing how much it fits with what I discussed with you recently about having a faith that's not just focused on the Crucifixion, but that goes on to live out and draw meaning from the Resurrection and the Pentecost.

Ben said...

By the way, tag, I've hit you with a meme.

Feel free to defy it in your contrarian way, but I'm curious what book will end up next to you.

Kenny said...

I apologize, but I don't understand that last post at all...don't know what a meme really is, or how I'd be contrarian about it, or what it has to do with a book ending up next to me...

Kenny said...

I will say that being described as a contrarian feels like a compliment.

Ben said...

A meme is the blog equivalent of chain mail, done to waste time in a semi-interesting way. See my blog for more details.

Ben said...

Oh, and the contrarian thing - by all means consider it a compliment.

I got it from your self-description a few posts below when you responded to Dave calling you a liberal. You say you like to play Devil's Advocate. That's basically being contrarian.