Preach it, Greg Boyd!

For a few months now I've been slowing working my way through God At War: The Bible & Spiritual Conflict, by Greg Boyd. I've been picking up the pace this last week. If you follow such things, you may know that Boyd is a bit of a controversial figure in the world of Christian authors. Yet there should be no controversy in the following excerpt, a wonderful section where Dr. Boyd begins to get his preach on:

"... the Lord is using us earthly benefactors of his cosmic victory (the church) to display to the angelic society of the heavenly realms, including the now defeated powers, the greatness of the Creator's wisdom in defeating his foes. We who used to be captives of the Satanic kingdom now the very ones who proclaim its demise. ... we evidence God's brilliance and power in bringing about the destruction of his foes, and thus the liberation of his people.

On a strictly natural level this plan appears absurd. For it is painfully obvious that the church is, and has always been, full of a great deal that does not in any way glorify God. Let us be honest: the church has always been a very human and fallen institution, exhibiting all the carnality, pettiness, narrowness, self-centeredness and abusive power tendencies that characterize all other fallen institutions. On the surface we hardly look like trophies God would want to showcase.

What we must understand, however, is that far from disqualifying us from this divine service, this radical incongruity between what the church looks like and what God nevertheless uses it for is precisely the reason why God uses it. The church unambiguously proclaims the glory of God to the angelic society, and especially to the defeated principalities and powers, precisely by lacking any 'glory' of its own to proclaim. The church's very weakness and vulnerability is what displays the strength of God in freeing us and in using us to finish up his battles. ...

This is consistent with how God has operated throughout history. He has always chosen to use the foolish and weak things of the world to overthrow the "wise" and the "strong" in the world who resist him. ... so the Lord now chooses to carry out his coup de grace of the enemy by the foolishness of his church, these weak, struggling, imperfect people whose only qualification for warfare is that they have said yes to the Lord's gracious invitation to be set free.

... We the church, in all our foolishness, are called to manifest on earth and in heaven Christ's kingdom-building ministry, taking what is already true in principle because of what he has done and manifesting it as accomplished reality by what we do.

... Just as our redemption is a feature of Christ's broader cosmic accomplishments, so too the church's passion to save individuals should be a feature of our burden to manifest Christ's victory over his cosmic foes in all areas of life. ... Since part of God's goal all along has been to restore humans to their rightful place as caring (not tyrannizing) stewards of the earth, the church can hardly dismiss ecological concerns as being outside the parameters of its "spiritual" interests. ... So, too, since Christ has in principle defeated the fallen 'gods' who have for ages inspired injustice, cruelty and apathy toward the weak, the poor, the oppressed and the needy, the church can hardly carry out its role in manifesting, on earth and in heaven, Christ's victory over these gods without taking up as a central part of its mission just these causes. ... if Christ on the cross has in fact torn down the racial wall of separation that divided people-groups, and if his Spirit now seeks to manifest this by reversing the effects of the catastrophe at the tower of Babel, then the church has no choice but to seek to manifest this reality as intensely as we have sought to manifest the reality that the forgiveness for our individual sins was purchased at the cross.

... We proclaim Christ's truth by praying it, speaking it and (undoubtedly most importantly) by demonstrating it. ... following the example of our Lord and Savior, and going forth with the confidence that he has in principle already defeated his (and our) foes, we are to revolt against the evil aspects of our world as coming from the devil's hand. Our revolt is to be broad - as broad as the evil we seek to confront, and as broad as the work of the cross we proclaim. Wherever there is destruction, hatred, apathy, injustice, pain or hopelessness, whether it concerns God's creation, a structural feature of society, or the physical, psychological or spiritual aspects of an individual, we are in word and deed to proclaim to the evil powers that be, 'You are defeated.' As Jesus did, we proclaim this by demonstrating it." (excerpted pgs. 252-255)

Preach it! Glory!