Monday, March 11, 2019
643 - Mean to Me
Spirituality Column #643
March 12, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Mean to Me
By Bob Walters
“Apostolic succession” is one of those ancient church
phrases that tends to make independent Bible Christians head for the ecclesial
exits, their eyes rolling.
On the
seminary glossary test, “apostolic succession” describes the specific Roman
Catholic doctrine of the Pope’s unbroken “succession” or “transmission” of the
received authority of Christ in the line of the Apostle Peter – Jesus to Peter
to the ongoing history of the Church and through all its Popes up to
today. Most Protestants don’t buy into it,
the same way most independent Bible types don’t buy into church authority superseding
that of the Bible.
But there is something about the
phrase itself, “apostolic succession,” that I like and it is this: any
Christian (or really anybody) – with a little effort – can track back in time
along a direct line of history anchored in the era when Jesus walked the earth:
when He taught and ministered, was crucified and resurrected, and lifted to
Glory. I’m not saying that studying the
timeline makes one an apostle, but it should give one great peace that the
evidence, thought, scholarship, and ministry of Christ has a continuous (and
continuing) two-thousand year track record of durability, uniqueness, and
truth.
That history has been protected and
transmitted not just by the Roman Catholic Church but by the various Eastern
and Orthodox churches originating in the Middle East. Whether or not one agrees with specific
points of doctrine or church organization, or perhaps would criticize this or
that corruption in this or that church over history, all Christians are
beholden to the faith and tenacity of those who carried the light of the Word
of Christ through the Dark Ages and into modernity.
My friend and mentor George Bebawi
pointed out in a recent conversation that perhaps the greatest mistake of the
modern church and modern Christians is neglecting the rich, rich historical roots
of the faith. Christianity didn’t begin
with Luther or Calvin, with the Anglicans or Puritans, or Jonathan Edwards, or
the Wesley brothers, or the exploding Gospel revival of 1800s America, or with
C.S. Lewis or Billy Graham.
Lewis often made the point that it
was more important to actually read the ancient commentators (Athanasius,
Augustine, others) than to simply “read about them.” And while Lee Strobel or Josh McDowell may be
far easier to ingest intellectually (and for sure, they are), it is a great lesson
to look at their research and how it underscores the back-to-the-beginning
train of Christian faith and worship.
Many, many smart folks have been thinking about, writing about, and
preaching about Christ for a long time. I take great solace in knowing that we
do not have to re-invent Jesus every generation.
In my view the very worst
modern-day theological aberration of knowing Christ and understanding the Bible
is embodied in the make-it-up-as-you-go-along, self-focused question: “What
does this mean to me?”
Our question should be, “What does
this mean to God?”
It is not a mean thing to put the
focus where it belongs.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) knows Christ points to the future, but we can learn much from our shared
Christian past.
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