Richard Doster
The Westminster Confession of Faith describes the Bible as “the rule for faith and life.” We come to it, then, wanting to know how to live. We come asking: What does this passage want me to know? How do these verses want me to think? What are they telling me to do?
But as we read, it helps to remember that the Bible is more than an instruction manual. It shapes our view of the world. It reveals God’s grand plan for all creation and shows us mankind’s role in it.
Warren Smith and John Stonestreet, in their book “Restoring All Things,” show us that there are times when someone from outside the Christian faith brings fresh perspective on this. They relate a story from theologian and missionary Lesslie Newbigin. Newbigin described a conversation he once had with a Hindu scholar. “I can’t understand why your missionaries present the Bible as a book of religion,” the scholar said. “It is not a book of religion. I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole of creation and the history of the human race. And therefore, a unique interpretation of the human person as a responsible actor in history. That is unique. There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside it.”
With his outside-in perspective, the Hindu grasped how the Bible’s narrative — beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation — explains why the world was made. It tells us why there’s jealousy, greed, envy and even death. It explains how God rescues us from the consequences of such sins. And then reveals how God’s people, in the end, live happily ever after.
Without that framework, we lose sight of why we’re here. When the Bible is only a book of life lessons, our faith is disconnected from our culture and the institutions that shape it. As a result, we often feel as though there’s not much we can do about the culture’s moral and spiritual decline.
But with this broader framework, we understand how Christ’s salvation encompasses the whole of all He’s made. We see what God means when He talks about redemption, renewal, restoration and reconciliation. We then grasp the full scope of God’s work and what it means to our small part of the world. That knowledge shapes our thinking and then motivates our actions.
It matters to us, then, that today, in Fernandina Beach, the word redemption literally means to “buy back.” We may think of a kidnapping: Someone is taken and held for ransom, and someone else must “buy back” the captive’s freedom. The point of redemption, says theologian Al Wolters, is to restore the freedom the prisoner once enjoyed.
We might be motivated by the fact that the Bible has so much to say about reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Colossians 1:19-22, Romans 5:10 among other verses). When we hear the word, we think of broken relationships — friendships or marriages that need to be mended — that need to “go back” to their original health and intimacy.
We should be inspired to learn that when the Bible talks about renewal, it’s talking about “making new again.” Think about the restoration (or renewal) of a classic car. In Wolters’ words, someone is bringing back the car’s “former newness.”
These concepts prompt us to constantly ask ourselves: What is good in Fernandina Beach that we can expand, protect and celebrate? What can we do, personally and corporately, to encourage such things — in government, the arts, education, environmental care and business.
What’s missing that we can contribute? We’re made to be creative; if there’s a new or better way for our city and county to thrive, how can we bring it into being?
What is evil that we can stop? God hates evil, and so should we. Throughout history, Smith and Stonestreet point out, courageous Christians have worked to stop that which destroys and deceives. As citizens of Fernandina Beach and Nassau County, we should do the same. That’s what it means to love our neighbors.
What is broken that we can restore? Ultimately, we reflect the Gospel most clearly when what has been damaged by sin is restored to God’s intended purposes.
In a sense, then, salvation is “re-creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). When God declares that He makes all things new (Revelation 21:5), He’s telling us He doesn’t give up on the world He created. Instead, He salvages it. And we — His people in Fernandina Beach — are His regents here. That means we’re to be responsible actors in history.
Richard Doster lives in Fernandina Beach with his wife, Sally. He’s the editor of byFaith, the magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America. Reach him at ddoster@icloud.com.