When Objective Truth Becomes Subjective Truth

 

How does a faithful church become more effective in connecting people to Christ without sacrificing anything to the expediencies of opportunistic mission methods of the moment?

One way is by being sure what our faithfulness consists of.

Faithfulness to the Faith

Think of it as faithfulness to the faith. Then recall that the faith comes in two forms: faith as a noun and as a verb. The noun is that which we believe (fides quae creditur), our doctrine. The verb is the act of believing it (fides qua creditur).

The core of our Lutheran doctrine is justification by grace through faith. God’s grace that declares us justified in his sight is true whether I believe it or not. It is objective truth. Its necessary companion is subjective truth, trust that this grace is for me—faith as a verb. Faith as a noun appeals to the head; as a verb it appeals to the heart.

Until the Gospel reaches the hearts of as many people as possible, the objective truth we treasure is not achieving its God-intended purpose.

The Unending Challenge of Translation

God’s truth in Greek or Latin does not reach many hearts in America today. Luther’s translation into German did a great job for centuries—for Germans. The proliferation of English/American translations in recent decades reflects the evangelistic commitment to meet readers where they are with words they know, even when their comprehension is at a fifth-grade level.

God bless the translators of the Good News Bible (TEV). In 1 Corinthians 5: 18-20 Paul teaches us that we have the ministry of reconciliation. What a joy it is to see adult minds come to life with possibilities when they hear that this means God “through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.”

The translation task continues in every sermon and teaching through applications that make the objective truth more accessible to all.

One can argue whether everyday language gives appropriate reverence to God’s holy Word.  Through Jesus’ ministry, though, we can see that for God effective communication is much more important than receiving reverence.

The Art of Reaching Hearts

C. F. W. Walther in his teaching says that preaching is the “spiritual art of reaching the hearts of the hearers.”

This art also takes seriously oral and written communication’s context. One of the most important is music. Beyond doubt different styles of music reach different hearts. Contemporary expressions in worship have emerged in many mission-minded congregations in order to reach hearts.

Of course the key question is, whose hearts are to be reached—those who have a lifetime of experience with church culture or those beginning their encounter with Christ within a Christian fellowship. The challenge is to reach both, which may involve several different approaches.   Jesus was willing to reach beyond the 99 sheep to focus on the one lost.

Faithfulness does not have to mean resisting change. Faithfulness to faith—both the objective and subjective kinds—provides a compelling reason to search for ways to be more effective at reaching hearts.

DSL