Assignment 1 | Reflection 1

What is church teaching today?

By David Garcia

The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him.
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Blaise Pascal

Oden explains, The primary mandate of the church is not to teach miscellaneous opinions about psychology,
politics, or sociology that are not derived from the churchs unique gift: revelation in Christ.
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It is true that the key obligation of the church is to reveal God through Jesus, but at same time we cannot deny
that the church needs to say something about psychology, politics, sociology or other science field related
specifically with the peoples behavior and their relationships with others. Bonhoeffer wrote, The church is her
true self only when she exists for humanity.
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It doesnt imply necessarily that church become a humanist
organization that get away from their calling to make disciples. A sound approaches to the Gods revelation never
will be dissociated from humankind interests, when God has the initiative to reveal Himself to the world always He
will have something to say regarding our knowledge about ourselves (psychology) in order that we can reach and
live with an appropriated self-image according His own image and like Him
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, in other words His revelation
reveals us who we are; is interesting that Wesley frequently described holiness as renewal of the whole image of
God.
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But Gods revelation will also have political implications. One definition of Politics is, the art or science concerned
with guiding or influencing governmental policy
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, we can observe how it was reflected in the several areas of
Wesleys social praxis: slavery, economics and ethics, and his work on aid to the poor, prison reform, and
education.
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Nobody to whom God has already revealed can remain unconscious or avoid try to change or impact
his/her area of influence; in Acts we read, These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come
here
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, it was not only a spiritual turbulence but socio-political also that happened when they revealed Jesus as
Lord and Savior.
So, what are the implications of the revelation in the educative ministry of the church? Let me propose at least
three major implications:
1) To teach the Gods revelation has implications for the personal holistic redemption. When God takes
the initiative of revealing Himself to us, we are confronted with our sinful nature and tendency to the evil;
so, the church message cannot focus only in one area of the human life: the spiritual, church should teach
that God wants redeem all areas in our life.
2) To teach the Gods revelation has implications for our life in the worlds environment here and now.
When God reveals Himself, church should educate disciples that God wants that His kingdom start here
and now and it imply not only the human wellbeing but also the nature and environment care.
3) To teach the Gods revelation has implications for the Christian daily life living a daily holiness life.
God reveals His own nature; He is Holy and wants that we become holy as He is. We couldnt imitate God

1
ThinkExist.com Quotations (2014). Blaise Pascal quotes. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_knowledge_of_god_is_very_far_from_the_love_of/153335.html. [Last Accessed 13 September 2014].
2
Oden, T. C. (2009-07-23). Classic Christianity (Systematic Theology) (p. 173). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
3
Thiselton, A. C., (2007). The Hermeneutics of Doctrine. 1st ed. Grand Rapids, MI.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
4
Genesis 1:26 New Living Translation (NLT)
5
McMaster, J. (2002). Wesley on social holiness. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=www.methodist.org.uk/.../emtc-paper-wesley_on_so...&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8. [Last
Accessed 13 September 2014].
6
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated (2014). Politics. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/politics?show=0&t=1410648394. [Last Accessed 13 September 2014].
7
Lunn, J. (2014). John Wesley's Social Ethic. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-3-number-6/john-
wesleys-social-ethic. [Last Accessed 13 September 2014].
8
Acts 17:6New International Version (NIV)
if we have never known what He has revealed about himself to us. And you should imitate me, just as I
imitate Christ.
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In conclusion, Gods revelations shouldnt only be studied from a theological perspective from scholars; His
revelation has daily life implication for every Christian and inclusive for non-Christians. Gods revelation should
be part of the daily educative agenda of the church, looking for that the group of disciples can understand who
God is and what are the practical implications of knowing Him.


9
1 Corinthians 11:1 New Living Translation (NLT)