The Church Misses the Point Again Again

In the gospel of Mark, there is a story where Jesus is walking with the disciples, and the disciples are arguing about who is the greatest among them.  In particular, the disciples are arguing about who will sit on Jesus' right hand and his left.  Jesus rebukes the disciples by saying that the one who wants to be the greatest among them must become the servant of all people.  Jesus then reminds them that as the Son of Man, his calling is to give his life as a ransom for many

One of the central doctrines of the Christian tradition is the atonement--the fact that in Jesus, God died for our sins and through death, restored our life.  In its engagement with this doctrine, the Church has, once again, completely missed the point.  Christian theology, then it comes to the atonement, has focused on the question of "how"--how did Jesus' death reconcile us to God and bring us salvation.  The atonement theories throughout the centuries propose different answers to this question; some are just plain awful, some are pretty good.  But by focusing on the question of "how" they miss the point.

The point of the atonement is not the "how" but the "why"--why did God sacrifice Himself for us and bring us salvation.  The answer to the why is found in Jesus' response to the disciples along the road; God's entire existence is based upon self giving love.  God sacrificed Himself for us because that is God's nature.  God wouldn't think of doing something else.  And because this is God's nature, God wants us to do likewise and sacrifice ourselves for others and to live as the servant of all people.  The one who is greatest in God's eyes will be the one who sacrifices themselves the most for others.

In the Christian tradition, there has often been a grudging acceptance of serving others.  Christians are vaguely aware that they are supposed to serve others, but the significance of service is typically pushed to the back of the Church's agenda.  Serving others has its foundation and is grounded in mirroring what God has accomplished in Jesus--we serve others because Jesus did, and Jesus did because that is what God does.