briefermadness

Went to Water's Edge fellowship time tonight. I was a little uncomforatble part of the time just meeting new people. But I got over that and came away with a real good feeling for the people. I think I'm going to like this. Now, God, help me do some ministry along with it. Or, maybe I just need to cool it for awhile and accept a little ministry myself.

One of my favorite authors is Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel). However, I have heard others say that he is a "universalist" who believes that we are all saved and that we all simply need to realize it. In other words, we are not required to make that tough choice to lay down our lives and "accept" His lordship as a precondition to our salvation. The universalist would say that everyone is saved; we just all don't realize it yet.

I thought the criticism was over blown, but I decided to re-read his book in order to see for myself. So I've gotten through the first couple chapters and I can't get a real handle on Manning. There is a lot about grace, but I've been looking for the need for the sinner's repentence. Then, we get to pg. 73, and Brennan is talking about our misconceptions about grace, and he says that too easily become legalists and fret about "the heresy of universalism." Ok...maybe we do. But, Brennan, what is the real gospel? He goes on to explain:

"The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace."

Now, I don't have any problem with a church running on the basis of "belonging then believing." Quite often it is a person's relationships with other Christians that loves them into the Kingdom. What I'm not too sure of is what Brennan means by saying "forgiveness and then repentance."

Is Brennan describing the route to salvation here? I agree that we don't have to "pretty ourselves up" for God before we are good enough to merit his salvation. But is universal forgiveness just laying around out there, waiting for us to discover it so that, afterwards, our gratitude encourages us to repent of our sins? If that is the case, then the whole human race has already been forgiven, we just don't all realize it yet; and that is universalism.

Or, in this passage, is Brennan simply talking about the process that occurs after salvation (He does start out by saying "The saved sinner...")? The saved sinner realizes that, at any given moment, he is just as forgiven as he ever will be, and, in gratitude for that amazing grace, turns from his sin, the best he can, in order to live a life pleasing to his adoptive Father. The beggar is grateful for the banquet laid before him. All beggars are invited, but not all decide to attend. The banquet is still only available for those who accept the invitation. And, that's not universalism.

Well, now that I've talked it through a little bit, it seems to me that Brennan is saying the latter (the gratitude of the saved sinner), rather than the former (the gratitude of the already forgiven human who happens to realize that we all have been forgiven by a gracious God).

I really enjoyed the Ragamuffin Gospel when I first read it. I probably enjoyed Ruthless Trust even more. But, I'm still cautious and am looking for more statements in Brennen's works that shows me he's not a universalist. These two books fiercely attack Christian legalism (as it often should be attacked). All of us, no matter how "mature" we are in the faith, are still just ragamuffins, adopted into the Father's household only because of Christ's merit. None of us deserve to be here, or have any higher place in the household than another. But I still need to ask: even though all may be invited to the feast, isn't it a prerequisite that each of us first accept the invitation before we can count ourselves as otherwise unworthy ?