How did language that is not biblical become the most important language for doing evangelism? Jesus never even comes close to saying, "Invite me into your heart so you can go to heaven." Nor does the rest of the New Testament. (Concerning the misguided focus on going to heaven, see my blog for March 17.) If people really knew what it meant for Christ to take over the controlling center of their being, that would be one thing, but they do not. Jesus does not seek people to make a decision, but people who become disciples, who follow him, and who are attached to him.
If we think we can retreat to Paul, we are in for a surprise. Paul rarely speaks of Christ in us—at most six times, but at least 164 times he has the Greek expression en Christō* or its equivalent, which can express a variety of ideas. Clearly though, being in Christ is a much more powerful image than Christ being in us. Faith is not merely a mental activity. As Sanday and Headlam’s old ICC commentary on Romans put it, faith involves "enthusiastic adhesion" (p. 34). Faith is that which attaches you to Jesus. Nothing less is saving faith.
John’s language focuses too on attachment to Jesus. While he speaks both of Christ being in us and our being in him, he expresses both ideas with the word menein, "to remain." Christians are people so attached to Jesus that he remains in them and they remain in him.
Interestingly, nearly all the 263 occurrences of the noun mathētēs, the word for "disciple" are in the Gospels and Acts. The same is true for the verb akolouthein ("to follow") and its cognates. How do we make sure that the focus on following, being attached to Jesus, is not lost when we turn to speak also of the risen Lord? Asking Jesus into your heart does not cut it.
The other obvious thing about discipleship that should be said, especially from Luke 9:57-62 and 14:15-33, is that the biggest obstacles for discipleship—and the biggest opportunities—are our family and our money. Ouch!
great post
Klyne:
Thanks for this. Faith has an adherance and allegiance to it that this blog entry nicely touches on.
dlb
Thanks for this. This is one of the main issues I'm running into right now (where I serve as pastor). When I bring up stuff like this, I get looked at like I'm questioning the very heart of the gospel. In many circles this way of speaking has become uncontestable, which is especially strange considering that many of these circles are those in which the Bible is theoretically held in very high regard. Anyhow, I just found your blog for the first time and I plan on becoming a regular visitor!
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I think one of the weaknesses of the "inviting Jesus into my heart" approach is that it wipes out the broad, rich, creative array of metaphors that NT authors use for conversion. "Getting saved" is another overused term for conversion that causes Christians to miss out on the wealth of NT conversion imagery.
It's worth mentioning that the "Jesus in my heart" terminology probably arose from misreading Eph 3:17 ("that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith") and Rev 3:20 ("I stand at the door and knock"). Both passages describe those who already believe, not those who need conversion; at least the latter passage has a strong corporate aspect that is often overlooked. Other passages that led to the overemphasis on "Jesus in my heart" are John 14:23, 2 Cor 13:5, and Col 1:27.
What is really scary about the content in this post and the previous one about eschatology is that these two things are THE CENTER of what most think Christianity is about: Asking Jesus into your heart so that you go to heaven when you die.
I found myself agreeing and loving everything that you wrote in these two articles. Moving from intellectual ascent to loyal allegiance and moving from "going to heaven when I die" to being a part of God's restoration project is ... well ... revolutionary.
Hi Klyne,
I was just doing some prep for Sunday and happened across your blog. I was wondering where the phrase, "Ask Jesus into your heart" came from.
Thanks for your work and contribution!
J:
Not Klyne, but Darrell. I am not sure where the phrase comes from. It is not a NT expression. It might be a paraphrase for the idea that "as many as received Him, He gave the right to be children of God" in John 1:12.
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