Kudzu
Kudzu has been called “the vine that ate the South.” It can grow up to a foot in one day and canopy it’s tendrils over everything in its path. To say that Kudzu is an invasive species is like saying Martin Short is a little dramatic.
Like kudzu, bad theology creeps its way into homes, devours families, and kills the surrounding culture. How? It’s a shallow view of the gospel that can depend more on fear and shame as its mode of operation than hope. I witness this every day as I visit these small communities in Southern Appalachia.
Before I moved to these hills, I was told that small towns and rural places, though dotted with churches around every bend, were gospel deserts. Upon our arrival my wife and I couldn’t get away from gospel talk. It was in the music at thrift stores, around diner tables, and even in a local brewery. I began to doubt that we had moved to a place that needed Jesus . . . until we started visiting churches.
I want to be clear as I write this . . . Jesus is preached in many of these churches. Very emphatically we are told that we need Jesus and that He is the only way to salvation. But much of what we have heard is a half gospel. It’s half the good news. What is desperately lacking is a gospel that transforms lives through and through with a robust message of healthy and vital sanctification, or, growth in a relationship with Jesus.
Paul wrote to the churches in the region of Galatia (now Turkey), confounded by their lack of trust in the complete sufficiency of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection on their behalf. Their particular temptation was to listen to some Jewish folk who thought that to be a true follower of Jesus meant you also had to have the mark of a Jewish person . . . you had to be circumcised. Paul says that if circumcision is a requirement for salvation than you might as well cut yourself off from Jesus (Paul is quite the wordsmith):
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3 ESV).
“I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:12).
Is Jesus sufficient or not? That’s the question at the root of Paul’s concern. Writing to the young pastor, Timothy, he says that there are those in the church who deny the power of Christ (2 Timothy 3:5) because they are adding their own power, as if their contribution makes the gospel better. They may be teachers, disciples, and professors of Christ but they are missing a vital component of who He is! They are attempting to add to what Christ did, thus diminishing the fullness of what He accomplished. Just because your vehicle needs oil, it doesn’t make your car run better by putting more oil than is necessary. In fact, it harms the car.
What is the harm done? If we are dependent on our flesh to perfect ourselves then we will produce a veneer of spiritual fervor undergirded by deep-rooted anger, bitterness, jealousy and outward works of gossip, backbiting, and self-righteousness. To maintain our outward appearance we must protect and defend at all cost leaving a wake of the destruction of others.
How do we beat back this deathly vine? It must be devoured, roots and all, by the truly powerful and sufficient fullness of Christ. That is the only remedy.
We must preach, teach, and lead people to Christ’s “It is finished” and away from their, “I can do more.” We must remember what Christ has fully accomplished and live in the freedom of that accomplishment.