1) Calling
2) Regeneration
3) Repentance and Faith
4) Justification
5) Adoption
6) Sanctification
7) Perseverance
8) Glorification

Sorry for adding to the confusion!!

John, I agree that it’s so easy to “promote resentment” and/or stonewalling one side, by listening primarily to the other side. Maybe my weakness is to “side with” the weaker, that is, the “sheep,” while I regard that the stronger, the leader, or “the shepherd” should be more mature and humble and willing to acknowledge their own shortcomings, instead of “blaming the sheep,” or as David L puts it, “talk behind their back,” which is essentially gossip, and promoting resentment and stonewalling.

Dr. James, For sure we Christians are “greater sinners” than non-Christians. But if our communication is to label others as “godless,” “proud,” “selfish,” “spoilt,” “trouble-maker,” “mental patient,” “racist,” etc, (all of which I have personally heard from leaders in reference to others) without stating exactly how we Christian leaders are “greater sinners,” it still comes across as though we Christians or leaders are far better than non-Christians or better than those who left UBF.

So, I think that until we state clearly how we are “greater sinners,” that’s only a theory but not a reality, I think.

I was  at UBF for 6 years, and it was hard enough  for me to  escape, much less take a stand, but for some of you, I know that you have been there  for 15, 20, 30 years or more!  I know that UBF  is a HUGE part of your life, perhaps  for a long time it  was the CENTER of your life, and to finally break free from stifling legalism and take a stand against it from within the ministry  is truly admirable! You are like a Christian version of Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 but with a different ending hopefully!!! Truth always  wins in the end, and I thank God that the Truth is shining brightly through you!

I hope you don’t mind if I make a comment on your phrase “godless culture around us.” It’s basically a judgmental statement similar to saying, “selfish Americans,” or “proud Koreans,” or “snake-like Chinese,” etc. I’m sure that no one who is American, or Korean or Chinese, likes to hear such statements, regardless of whether or not they are true. Likewise, I don’t think that any Christian or non-church going person likes to be referred to as “godless.”

Also, “godless culture around us” also implies that there is no or less godlessness in the church, or that the church is far better than the “godless culture” outside of the church.

*Is this really true?

* Are Christians “less godless” than non-Christians?

* Are Christians “better” than godless non-Christians?

* Are Christians “elected” or chosen because they are less godless?

I think that we Christians will give a far greater influence to the “godless culture around us,” when we begin to address our own godlessness within the church:

* Is the church flawless, sinless?
* Is there no selfishness in the church?
* Is there no gossip, slander, playing politics in the church?
* Is there no favoritism in the church?
* Even if we avoid adultery in the church (for the most part), is there no lust or the temptation of pornography in the church?
* Is the church really less godless than the “godless culture around us”?

If we in the church begin to address our own short-comings, sins, idolatry and godlessness, I believe that we will be much less resented and “hated” by the “godless culture around us.”

Thinking of Jesus, the “godless people” like the prostitutes and the tax-collectors loved Jesus. It seems that it is only the “godly” religious leaders who hated Jesus.

I hope that you are not offended by my “picking” on your phrase “godless culture around us.”

1) “Bad theology dishonors God and hurts people. Churches that sever the root of truth may flourish for a season, but they will wither eventually or turn into something besides a Christian church.” John Piper

2) “The authority of the Bible must operate in the way the Bible is, not in the way we would like it to be or in the way our subculture has taught us that it is.” Graeme Goldsworthy

3) “The ultimate goal of Jesus’ commandments is not that we observe (obey) them by doing good works. The ultimate goal is that God be glorified. The obedience of good works is penultimate. But what is ultimate is that in our obedient lives God be displayed as the most beautiful reality in the world. That is Jesus’ ultimate goal.” John Piper

Some have complained to me that quotes are not from the Bible. But quotes by godly Christians do illustrate truths proclaimed in the Bible.

We like to remember our founder Dr. Samuel Lee’s last word as “go back to the Bible.” But it seems like we are going back to mission, to our methods, to our tradition, to our “good works” over the last 50 years. They are not necessarily bad or wrong, but they are not ultimate. Also, there seems to be no fresh newness of life, no more revelation or awe in Bible study, since we already “know it” and it cannot be questioned. It seems to be assuming the gospel, while emphasizing works, and what we must do, sometimes quite unplesantly or ungraciously.

So, even the beautiful majestic sublime doctrine of election breeds a subtle air of pride, racial and cultural superiority, elitism, an elevated status, as though the one chosen or elected was because of their merit or goodness or purity or hard work or repentance or faith or obedience. Is there genuine and heart felt humility, gentleness, grace, meekness toward “sheep” or others who are “different”?

A lot of this is of course subjective. But the fruit of this on a fairly large scale is the exodus of India UBF after 20 years, while in other instances people leave one by one. Can we even begin to address this, or do we keep “blaming” the people who have left?

Sorry if this comes off as quite harsh. Maybe it’s because I’m still jet lagging from my recent trip. More likely it’s because I’m a sinner (Ps 51:5) who constantly needs endless grace for transformation and sanctification. Lord, have mercy.

God did not save us because he needed workers and producers. I think for so long we have misunderstood God’s eternal plans for human beings. While God the Father seeks to raise up a family: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters…” (1Co 6:18); He also seeks to raise up a Bride, an eternal companion for His Son: “…For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Rev 19:7), to reign with Jesus in the coming kingdom. Defining human beings based on what they do or don’t is causing so much heartache and trouble everywhere. God loved me even when I was dead in my transgression and sins and because of his great love made me alive in Christ (Eph 2:4,5). Once after the initial experience of salvation, will His love increase or diminish based on my performance? No.

I think that failure to recognize “salvation is the mission” and making a distinction between the two results in neglecting some of the more important issues such as sanctification. The immediate danger is neglecting the person and role of the Holy Spirit for our Christian living and spiritual growth. Mission station strategy replaces the longing for glorification with endless struggle to be justified in the eyes of those around us. Not only UBF but most in the Body of Christ are either unaware or neglecting these realities (sorry, for the sweeping generalization). I hope and pray that God may wake us up to greater realities. Thanks again for the article and your bold and honest comments.

I don’t think anyone in UBF would argue that we are justified by works. In our testimonies and messages, we always talk about God’s grace upon our lives, about the need to remember God’s grace, give thanks for God’s grace, and so on.

But where it gets murky is when we  get to  sanctification.  Actually, in  UBF, we don’t say much about sanctification. Rather, we tend to  frame the Christian walk  in terms of  mission. After we  introduce  people to  Christ,  the next step in our discipleship  plan is to get them started doing mission, identifying themselves as shepherds and Bible teachers, praying for mission, and so on.  That mission is what drives our prayers, our conferences, our worship, our concept of marriage, basically everything about  our self-identity.  A person’s  standing in the fellowship is very strongly related to how hard he works to  participate in the mission, defined as campus fishing, Bible teaching, etc. Those who don’t get with the program are definitely regarded as second class. They are made to feel  guilty, disobedient, lazy, faithless, and so on and continually told to shape up, work harder, pray more.  Is that consistent with the gospel? No, I don’t think so. Mission must be a response  to grace. It needs to be a work of the Holy Spirit, not driven by human effort.

There is a very strong implicit theology within UBF  that we need to generate God’s blessings through our efforts. This is undeniable. You can here it in some of our messages: “We must do this,” “we should do that.” So many imperatives. So much talk about what we must do. Not much about what God has done through Christ. Not much about what the Holy Spirit does for us.  Even the mention of grace often comes in the form of an imperative: “We must remember God’s grace” and “We must give thanks to God every day for his grace.”  

Now people who speak this way do not regard it as salvation by works, because they do not regard it as a matter of salvation at all; they think of it as mission, something  that comes after salvation. That is why, I suspect, that many readers of this blog would dismiss your comments out of hand. They would say, “We DO believe that we were saved and elected by grace.” But then they live and act as though they must earn God’s blessing and bear fruit through strict lifestyles, training, discipline and hard work. And they see no contradiction with the gospel, because they have framed it as mission, something distinct from salvation. This is not an easy thing to identify or root out. But the problem is very real. I agree with your diagnosis: We seem to have reached a tipping point where the gospel of grace is being assumed more than it is being proclaimed.

One of my aims in writing this series of articles is to try to understand what mission is really about. Mission and salvation aren’t really distinct. Salvation is the mission. God wants to save the nations, and he does it by grace alone. If salvation comes by grace not effort, then mission happens by grace not effort.