Movements are built on a central idea that people get infected with, and of which they cannot help but be carriers and spreaders of this ‘virus.’ Consider the virus that was intended to spread over the whole universe:
[An intro video on the central theme of Jesus is Lord by Alan Hirsch at the Verge conference 2010.]
Notes:
The Incarnation does not alter the fundamental, practical God-centered nature of the scriptures; rather it restructures it around Jesus Christ. Jesus becomes the focus point in our relationship to God. Jesus not only initiates the new covenant, He is the New Covenant. “Jesus is Lord” is the covenant claim of God over our lives—the unshakable center of the Christian creed and confession.
At its very heart, Christianity is a Jesus movement, one that seeks to consistently embody the life, spirituality, and mission of its Founder. “Jesus is Lord” is about our becoming like Jesus our Lord and Founder. This confession lies at the epicenter of the church’s task. In order to recover the ethos of authentic Christianity, we need to refocus our attention back to the Root and recalibrate ourselves around Jesus. The great truth of our faith is that Jesus is Lord! But it is also true that it is Jesus who is Lord. The Jesus of the Bible defines our faith. We must strive to know him as he reveals himself to us.
Keys To Understanding:
- Jesus is Lord emphasizes Jesus as focus point of relationships with God, others, and the world
- We actively seek unaltered loyalty to Jesus in all areas of life; there is an active effort to exclude all other claims to false loyalty
- Jesus is the abiding center of Christianity and we actively seek to keep it that way
- We seek to have a whole-life-under-God faith
[from The Verge Network]
