Sonship

Children of God With Orphan Mentalities

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

There is a scene I recall from Little Orphan Annie worth taking note.  Annie has just arrived at her new home, a virtual palace that has been set up for her and for her enjoyment by her adopted father, Daddy Warbucks.  Upon entering the foyer, with household staff lined up to greet and welcome her, Annie gazes at her new surroundings.  Daddy Warbucks asks: “What do you think, Annie?”  “It’s beautiful”, she replies.  “Well, where do you want to begin?”  She muses for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders: “Bring me a bucket. I will start with the stairs.”

This scene presents a vivid illustration of the way many Christians, those adopted by God the Father through the blood of Jesus the Son, view life and their relationship with our Redeemer-Creator.

Jesus makes the promise:

“I will not leave you as orphans.” (John 14.18)

Yet, like Annie, we are conditioned to think like orphans and feel we must do something to earn our keep, or else face some kind of rejection.  Even if our theology tells us otherwise, this is a common dilemma.  This cognitive dissonance is the difference between our confessional faith and our functional faith.

What does it look like to be a Child of God with an Orphan Mentality?  Consider the distinctions from the two lists below:

ORPHAN FAITH

  • Confidence in Self, People, and/or Circumstances
  • Confidence constantly shaken by disappointments with circumstances, people, or self.
  • Fears increase through life; fears fluctuate depending upon circumstances.
  • Confused handling of criticism from others – moving back and forth between denial/self justification and self flagellation/discouragement/depression.
  • Gossip and lack of tongue control reveals defensiveness and judgmental attitudes.
  • Lifestyle characterized by insecurities, jealousies, and concealed grudges.
  • Ignorance of the potency of prayer in securing the Spirit’s presence and power.
  • Purpose of life is living for our significance (sometimes even erroneously basing our identity & reputation on Christian endeavors & successes rather than in our Union with Christ…) and/or our own comfort.

SONSHIP FAITH

  • Confidence in Christ ALONE.
  • Confidence in Christ increases even as self, people, and/or circumstances disappoint.
  • Fears are increasingly overcome by faith and love.
  • Sifting through criticisms, and discerning in light of the gospel, rejecting false and misplaced allegations, while accepting valid criticisms, finding even the kernels of truth in them, and repenting of sin while believing the gospel anew.
  • Speak the language of Praise to the Father, affirmation of others and, when wronged, forgiveness & reconciliation (directly to the persons involved whenever appropriate).
  • Gospel is made the center of motivations and the basis for behavior.
  • Lifestyle characterized by forgiveness, blessing, and prayer for our enemies and those who have wronged us.
  • Understanding the potency of prayer in securing the Spirit’s presence and power.
  • Purpose in life is to discover true happiness, and understands that true happiness is found in laying down life for Christ and for others.

As we think through these two lists we will likely notice, if we are honest with ourselves, that even on our better days we have characteristics of both, or that we fluctuate between them.  This is not cause to despair, but rather opportunity to believe anew what Jesus has done for us.  Don’t make the mistake of unreflectively assuming and assigning to self only the better qualities.  The psalmists provide us with a model worth emulating of raw honesty – both confessing and believing.   Honest reflection is the essence of spiritual authenticity and genuine vitality.

Gospel Discipling: Gospel & Adoption

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

World Harvest Mission was founded in 1983 under the leadership of Dr. C. John (Jack) Miller. Dr. Miller’s ministry had been revolutionized by his own rediscovery of the Gospel through studies in Galatians and the work of Martin Luther, and the results of that revolution became evident in multiple conversions in his church and subsequent interest in missions and evangelism. Dr. Miller asked, “How can we take the Gospel to others if we have not been mastered by it ourselves?” And so as part of its ministry preparation, the church began discipling people in the Gospel in a program now known as “Sonship”.

Key to the concept of Sonship is the recovery of the doctrine of Adoption.  The central ideas taught in Adoption include:

  1. The glorious truth of our sonship, even though we often act like orphans;
  2. The basis of our sonship in the finished work of Christ–this includes not only receiving the passive, or alien, righteousness of Christ for our forgiveness, but also understanding that because of the active righteousness of Christ we are actually welcomed by the Father as well-pleasing in his sight;
  3. A careful look into the true demands of the Law as a prerequisite for a full appreciation of our constant need for the Gospel;
  4. Repentance as a lifestyle for the Christian;
  5. Sanctification as well as justification by faith. This leads to a new paradigm for Christian living rooted in believing the gospel rather that the futile attempt to destroy the “flesh”;
  6. Faith expressing itself through love;
  7. The absolute centrality of prayer.

Just as critical as the truths taught in Adoption is the commitment to see that the gospel truths actually penetrate the heart and are beginning to affect the life, relationships and ministry of participants Believers. When people are actually discipled in the Gospel, not merely taught it, REAL change takes place. Continuously believing the gospel allows one to be frank about the reality of our own sin because any hope of righteousness is found in Christ and not in our outward performance.

The Gospel is for sinners. We must recognize that living in the reality of the Gospel is a constant battle. In fact, it could be argued that the essential issue of spiritual warfare is unbelief. Therefore we are in constant need of repentance and being renewed in the Gospel ourselves. Much of our joy in Gospel discipling is the way it encourages our faith as we witness the power of the Gospel transforming others.

Another challenge to the ministry has been to discover how easily Adoption can be divorced from its missionary setting. The mission of World Harvest Mission is still to take the Gospel to a lost world through our own evangelism as well as encouraging the witness of others. Sonship has been a means to that end, as was certainly the case with the Apostle Paul’s preaching the Gospel to the church of Rome. To lose the missionary character of the Gospel in the process of Gospel discipling is to attack the essence of the Gospel itself.

***

This is Part 3 of a 5-part series titled Gospel Discipling by Stephen Smallman. Steve Smallman is a past Executive Director of World Harvest Mission and author of the book Spiritual Birthline.

Thanks also to New City Fellowship of St. Louis, who posted Smallman’s essay on their web page.

To read Parts 1-2 click: Introduction; Romans as Model