Christus Victor and Urban Ministry

[Andrew Lee]

As I learn more about Christus Victor, I am leaning towards believing that this motif is ideal for urban ministry and to the poor. I would be curious to know other's thoughts on this. Do you agree? Disagree?

Perhaps the most obvious reason is that the concept of God battling and being victorious over the evil things in this world is pretty enticing and appealing to those who have been oppressed and are suffering.

But a few questions come to mind as to whether the following should be concerns:

*With an already violent inner city, would someone who is either immature in their faith, or does not know the Lord, misinterpret the motif as an excuse to be violent? Do you think that teachings based on Christus Victor should be reserved for those who are mature and can distinguish the differences rather than an evangelistic paradigm?

*In general, I think that many churches in America are heading in the direction of the "prosperity gospel". The idea that God will bless those who follow Him by making them rich, and providing a life without suffering. I find this teaching to also be taught frequently in the inner city. Is there a danger that as we teach the concept of Christus Victor that it would overflow to the idea that Christ being victorious over sin and Satan equates to a prosperous life without suffering? How do we answer why God would still allow suffering when He is victorious? Why would He not be victorious over this specific suffering and hardship? What would be the wise way to discern this issue?

I know that Christus Victor was a common motif used throughout Christian history, but I am curious as to whether the issues mentioned above had any negative affect on the church at the time.

I am really excited about learning more about Christus Victor and am finding myself personally growing as I explore this concept more. I would like to hear other's thoughts, questions, etc... on this topic. I hope that others are as blessed and encouraged as I am by learning and growing on this great concept of our Victorious Savior.

[Don Allsman]

Andrew - way to go! Great questions.
In response to your questions:

*"With an already violent inner city, would someone who is either immature in their faith, or does not know the Lord, misinterpret the motif as an excuse to be violent? Do you think that teachings based on Christus Victor should be reserved for those who are mature and can distinguish the differences rather than an evangelistic paradigm?"

You are right that we have to be careful in how we express this because people can misunderstand, and historically we've seen this expressed in all kinds of tragic ways, the Crusades being a classic example. But if we keep focused on the Bible and it's own language, we can help both new believers as well as those who have been walking with Christ for some time. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Eph. 6), and the weapons of our warfare are spiritual, not carnal (2 Cor. 10). The nature of our fight is to join Jesus in the rescue of people into His Kingdom. We fight against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places, using the weapons He gives us to fight: the fruits of the Spirit, the armor of God, etc. We fight through evangelism, discipleship, holistic ministry, doing all kinds of good works that bless people, not harm them. The very nature of our weaponry is full of joy, humanity, and blessing. Given these assumptions, I think a child can understand these ideas. Any young person who watches Star Wars, or hears any basic fairy tale like Sleeping Beauty, can understand the basic storyline of the Bible: There was good, then evil came in to mess things up, and the prince had to leave the castle to defeat the enemy, win back His bride, and take His rightful place on the throne. These are not difficult, nor foreign, to even the youngest believer when taught in the right context. This is why we must come back, again and again, to a narrative theology that tells the story of the Bible, rather than viewing Scripture as a discursive list of rules. We follow a King who is active in the world, not a "handy list of do's and don'ts" as Webber says in Ancient Future Faith.

*"In general, I think that many churches in America are heading in the direction of the "prosperity gospel". The idea that God will bless those who follow Him by making them rich, and providing a life without suffering. I find this teaching to also be taught frequently in the inner city. Is there a danger that as we teach the concept of Christus Victor that it would overflow to the idea that Christ being victorious over sin and Satan equates to a prosperous life without suffering? How do we answer why God would still allow suffering when He is victorious? Why would He not be victorious over this specific suffering and hardship? What would be the wise way to discern this issue?"

Another great question. But this question indicates a limited understanding of Christus Victor. Christ was victorious at the cross, and carried out a series of victories over the devil at his incarnation, his temptation, his exorcisms, his ascension. But the job is not done. Phil. 2 talks about the fact that every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. But that is a future event. Right now, not everyone has bowed nor confessed of Jesus' Lordship. In the same way, Jesus taught us to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). This indicates there is a Lordship that is complete in heaven, but a lordship that has not been perfected on earth. The Kingdom is advancing on earth, and will be completed when he "puts everything under His feet" in the future (1 Cor. 15:25; Rev. 11:15). But until then, we are part of a Kingdom that is at war with the kingdom of this world. As a result, we see the ravages of a kingdom that produces suffering, pain, and lies in this world. We experience the effects of the three sources of evil: the world, the flesh and the devil. Until He returns to make all things right, to reconcile all things, to put all things under His feet, to restore all that was lost, we have a HUGELY uneven, painful world full of suffering and grief (John 16:33). It was precisely because of this unevenness that Jesus came (1 John 3:8). That is why He is our advocate and serves as our Commander-In-Chief, the Head of the Body, His Church, as we operate as the agent of His kingdom in this world.

So, Christus Victor gives us a way to answer the theodicy questions (why is there evil in the world). A true and full understanding of Christus Victor doesn't imply that everything is good in this world just because of His victories in His earthly ministry. There is still work to be done, which is why He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us, so He could continue His work in the world, defeating the powers of evil through us (John 14:12). This is the mystery that has been revealed through the Church--God's strategy to progressively defeat the powers of evil until He comes again (Rom. 16:25, Eph. 1:9, 3:3-9, Col. 1:26-27). Through the Church, He does His work. That is our job to continue until He comes.

[Don Davis]

Great conversation. In my judgment, Christus Victor is not an alternate theory of the atonement, a rival paradigm of Christian ethics, or a higher teaching for the mature. Rather, it represents the ancient Church's fundamental vision of the purpose of history, viewed through a Christo-centric lens. God was in Christ, destroying death, reconciling all things, restoring creation, inaugurating the Age to Come, sending forth on humankind his pledge of the Spirit, and so on. Christus Victor stands more as fundamental biblical theology, the essential storyline of the Story of God, from the Garden of God to the city of gold, the New Jerusalem.

What we need to do in urban spiritual formation is so articulate the biblical message in such a way that it clearly 1) lines up with historic orthodox teaching, 2) captures the substance and heart of the prophetic/apostolic testimony regarding the person and work of Christ, and 3) carries real meaning into the lives of urbanites whose existence is filled with wanton violence, cruelty, poverty, humiliation, and sorrow. Christus Victor simply suggests that God has accomplished in Christ his own aim of destroying the underlying principalities and powers that usher sin, chaos, evil, and death into the universe.

While much is yet to be accomplished at his return, through his incarnation, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension, God has defeated his enemies--Sin, Death, the Grave, and the Devil--stripping them of their powers, and now has exalted Christ to his right hand as Lord and Christ. Christ is the cosmic Lord of all, the Lord of the harvest, drawing out of humankind a people for himself, reigning in triumph until all enemies are under his feet. The Church is the locus and agent of his authority in the world, a tangible living witness to his victory on the Cross. Soon, Christ will return in visible power to vanquish evil in all forms, and that last enemy, Death itself will die.

From a human vantage point, the cities of the world are the domain of darkness, filled with blight, violence, sensual perversion, family destruction, congestion, oppression, and so forth. Urban Christians, all of them (new, maturing, and fully grown) must understand history and society from the vantage point of Christ's victory over his enemies in the world. This is not naive triumphalism, greedy Christian consumerism, or small-minded easy-believism. In the world, we still have tribulation, the world oppresses us, the sin nature wars against the soul, and the devil accuses day and night. Still, Christ is King, the risen and exalted Lord whose reign underlies all human history. This is why Christus Victor is so critical for urban Christians. It provides a biblical framework in direct opposition to the world's fatalism, hedonism, determinism, and religious confusion.

[Andrew Lee]

Don D., Don A.,
Thanks for your thoughts, these are great points and am still reflecting on your points. God bless!

[Daren Busenitz]

Andrew,
Great to see you thoughts on this. It interesting you see this as being a focal point for urban ministry. We are becoming (or already have become) convinced that this is THE message for the city of Wichita and hopefully beyond. I can think of no two better reasons for this identity to become our own than: (1) It is the clear theme of Scripture, (2) It was the identity of our Ancient roots and (3) It is a message that many in the city will identify with and respond to. In other words it is Biblically accurate, historically sound, and totally practical for today.
We in Wichita need to settle the identity issue in church planting and I believe this is the solution. The question for me now is not what but how.
I am thankful you are wrestling with this also.

Daren

[Jason Phelps]

(3) It is a message that many in the city will identify with and respond to. In other words it is Biblically accurate, historically sound, and totally practical for today.

D - good to hear from you brother.

I totally agree with your three points, and want to look at #3. I was at a church planting meeting and heard a seminary prof recently talking about the loss of men in the church, particularly guys of the ages of 18-35. He gave many statistics from Barna, two of which stood out to me. 1) 90% of boys raised in the church will abandon her by the age of 20. Now they could or might return later in life, but his point was the mainstream evangelical/protestant church does a better job emasculating men then teaching them to be men. 2) If a woman responds to the Gospel, 17% of the time the household follows. If a man responds to the Gospel, 90% of the time the household follows. He even used his own example when he was a member at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids and how their focus on men was huge factor in the growth of their church.

These two statistics point to the problem of men in the church, the lack of, and the importance of reaching men with the Gospel. Please note, that I'm not speaking at all to the role or importance of women in the church, this is not meant to say one's presence or role is more important than the other. Only that the church is not reaching our young men, and definitely not teaching them to be men.

Now, the professor gave several practical steps for the church planters present to use to reach men to build their church. One that hit a string was to have visions that men would want to follow. Big, bold, dynamic, dangerous visions, men following the Kingdom vision with wild abandonment.

This is what we want, NEED, if we want to witness a church planting movement in our inner-cities in our lifetime. Not just men - but the men that we are really not reaching. All this to say, Christus Victor is the view that I believe men would need to hear, will follow, and give their lives for. This view motivates, inspires, & ignites.

Christus Victor was the view held to tightly by those who readily gave their lives for the Gospel. Those who were bold and fierce as warriors to see the message of the Gospel go anywhere and everywhere. We need an influx & movement of leaders & church communites who understand themselves as soldiers & family of another King, another Kingdom. I really believe that the view of Christus Victor is vital in our message and vision of the Kingdom, Church planting movements, and developing leaders for the church.

[Andrew Lee]

Daren, Jason, it's great to hear your thoughts. Your comments brings up a few things that has been on my heart as of late.

I do believe that Christus Victor is the way to go, not only in urban ministry, but in all Christian ministry. I also believe, as was stated before, that it is very practical in urban ministry. I am still in the process of learning more about Christus Victor so that I can understand how best to implement it within our ministry. I will admit that I am still a novice when it comes to understanding fully what this entails and how it's best implemented.

One of the things that I really like about Christus Victor is that it brings to light the need to fear and revere God. The past few weeks, the Lord has put upon my heart the need to focus more on this issue and I shared this with our church plant team this morning. As I am understanding more about fearing the Lord, I am becoming more convinced that without a healthy fear of the Lord, we cannot understand the true nature of grace.

Without fearing the Lord, grace becomes a "get out of jail free card" or a way to get away with sin. It's very easy to think, "God will forgive me, so I'll do whatever I want". The fact is that God will forgive you, but having a healthy fear of God, may help us to understand that repenting before the Lord after we sin is not so that we can feel better or relieve our guilt, but that we should repent because God is holy and we sinned against Him. I believe that the church in general is losing focus on this idea of fearing God and revering His holiness.

With Christus Victor there brings about a dependency upon Him to fight on our behalf. It's a constant reminder of how powerful He is, who He is and why we should have a healthy fear of Him. I believe if we have a good understanding of His holiness and Christus Victor, there will be a very healthy trickle down effect throughout all aspects of Christianity and faith. The key is trying to figure out where those "dots connect".

These are only some basic thoughts, and I am still trying to process everything, but I sense there is some way to empower urban men through this. I believe that strong Christian men, who fear the Lord is an extremely valuable asset to the Christian Church.

The issue of training urban male leaders has also been on my heart the past few months. There is a great need here in Chester, and I'm sure in other urban areas throughout the country (and the world). Keith Phillips states in his talks that there are more African American males in prisons than in colleges today. An article in ABCNews.com on Sept. 27, 2007 (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3657852)states that there are three times as many African Americans males and 2.7 times as many Latino males in prisons than in colleges.

Having spoke with a local board member who does some prison ministry, I sense that there is something we can do in prisons that will empower men for the urban church, whether that church is in prison or in the city, once released. But there also poses some other problems within prison ministry. I started another thread in Urban Church Ministry to discuss this issue of empowering men for urban churches. This is an issue that needs to be addressed and one that the church needs to do a better job of. I do believe that Christus Victor would be a great way to do this. As Daren mentioned, the question isn't what, but how.

Thanks for your thoughts, they are challenging and encouraging.

[Daren Busenitz]

Brothers,
Wow, I wish we lived and ministered closer! We could get some momentum on this. Hopefully we will anyway despite the many miles between us. I also appreciate your thoughts. Sorry I have been long in responding. Learning Spanish has proved to keep me very busy. I appreciated Andrew's word on Fear of the Lord. I agree on this and add that I personally want to learn more about the wrath of God and establish it into my theology as it is as much a part of Biblical revelation as other major themes (love, grace, sovereignty, etc.). Why is it that we cannot remember the last time we heard a sermon on this? I agree, grace becomes an incredible thing in light of God's wrath.
Jason, I hear your heart to call men (and women) to something great, something all consuming, something dangerous! I believe this is what we must begin calling people to. However, I can't help but believe that it is something WE must live first! Don and Keith are strong on this as they should be. We cannot reproduce what we don't have ourselves. I want to rediscover the mentality of a soldier in the Lord's army where there are clear lines of authority (urbanites already have a better sense of this than we do), conviction and courage in the face of real danger (spiritual and physical), toughness and even some craziness in fiercely fighting evil (see Braveheart for inspiration on this one!), and loyalty to Christ and His Kingdom that dictates every decision and every action in our life.
I leave you with an awesome quote I found while recently reading through The Chronicles of Narnia. If you have read it, you may remember Reepicheep, the small mouse who was the fiercest warrior in Narnia. He was always looking to pick a fight with evil and defend the honor of Aslan. Consider this quote:

"My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be head of the talking mice of Narnia." From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis)

[Jason Phelps]

Fellow warriors of Jesus Christ, it's been proposed that two main theologies of atonement, such as the Satisfaction motif by Anselm and the Moral Influence motif by Abelard, were heavily influenced by the cultural times they were articulated in - post Constantine. And that these theologies reflect a time of prosperity and high social status of the Church. J. Denny Weaver and James Cone both argue that they reflect a salvation theology but neglect any connection to ethical responsibility. Why does this matter? Because the narrative of Christus Victor allots for no such separation. In fact, Christus Victor's story is about the Kingdom, anywhere that God's rule and reign is, traced from the Garden to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ modeled this perfectly. He never waned or wavered on His mission, His task, His allegiance. Jesus Christ is the only example we have of a perfect model of the Kingdom life, a life totally under the rule and reign of God Almighty.

What Christus Victor does that I see heavily critiqued in Anselm’s and Abelard’s motifs, is place an equal importance on the life of Christ as the death and resurrection. In other words, there’s not a separation, Christus Victor is not simply a motif that focuses on the cross. It’s a motif that shows an epic battle between the Kingdoms. My thoughts at the end of this Lenten season, through Holy Week and Easter, have been about the atonement. And as I think about an atonement motif for my friends and neighbors, it has to be one that absolutely is about freedom and liberation.

This is living in the resurrection, the power to live after Christ’s example. Not just a repentance of sins, but a freedom from sin, over evil, Satan, wrath, etc…. I heard someone say recently that “Pain trumps Theology!” If you’re in pain, theology doesn’t play a big role in your decisions. I agreed. When my 5 month old daughter is fussing and causing me to lose sleep, I am not thinking, “How can my words and actions best illustrate and teach the reign and rule of God to her?” I’m thinking, “If you don’t keep that pacifier in your mouth, I’m going to fasten it to you.” Classic, I’m in pain or a trial that causes me some kind of suffering, and I want it over, healed, dealt with – theology doesn’t play a role in that. However, I believe it’s a problem with our theology, for it wasn’t born out of pain and persecution and therefore doesn’t reflect pain and persecution in it. Christus Victor was articulated by those in suffering and persecution, i.e. the early Church, the early Anabaptists movement, the black church, etc… Therefore it’s a motif for those in pain, suffering and persecution, or any believer in a fallen world.

Christus Victor is a motif for the city, the poor, oppressed, those in suffering and the persecuted. Scripture tells us of the last times to come, times which are extremely hostile to soldiers of the Kingdom. In fact, the epistles assumed they were living in them. I believe we should too. I have been thinking that our theology must represent the times to come, not just our present religious freedoms. We need to intentionally think more in terms of persecution and oppression, Christ tells us to, and Scripture predicts its coming. If we want to be ready, if we want the flocks to be ready, it’s imperative we think of what’s to come, and have a faith that'll work in the hardest of times and situations.

[Terry Cornett]

Excellent observations. Eastern Orthodox theology has always emphasized that we are saved through the life and death of Jesus, not simply the death alone. Because Jesus is the "second Adam" who victoriously overcomes humanity's fall by living the life Adam was intended to live, it is crucial to remember that Jesus was acting salvifically in how he lived as well as in how he died.