Why I am Compelled2? (Part 1)

The Crucifixion by Georges Rouault

Some of you have wondered why I chose Compelled2 as the name for my blog about the theology of cultural engagement and reconciliation. I am glad that you asked. I think that there are several reasons. 

• First, I am compelled to blog by my doctoral program directors. 
• Second, at this point in my life and ministry I have things to say that I can’t keep quiet on any longer…lest I get the bone consuming acid reflux that Jeremiah (Jer. 20:9) and David speak of (Psalm 3:3). 
• Third, and most importantly, the title is taken from 2 Corinthians 5:14 where Paul writes that, “the love of Christ controls/compels us”. He is explaining that whether he seems crazy or sane it is for a purpose, for God’s love compels him to live and act the way he does. He no longer lives for his own interests and desires. He and those who are with him are captive to the love of Christ and cannot operate outside of it. As their options were narrowed down, their focus was strengthened and their mission clarified.

Often, when studying a passage in the Bible I find it helpful to use a type of analysis that involves vertical alignment of repeated words and key concepts that allows me to better follow the threads of meaning as I scan down the page. I also may use different colors to highlight words and phrases. 

Here is an example... 2 Corinthians 5:13-21

   ¹³ For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God;

            if we are in our right mind,  it is for you.

  ¹⁴ For                           the love of Christ controls us,

because we have concluded this:

                             that one has died    for all,

                     therefore all have died;

                      ¹⁵             and he died    for all,

                                        that those who live

                                       might no longer live for themselves

   but for him who for their sake died

                                    and was raised.    ¹⁶

From now on, therefore,

               we regard no one

                        according to the flesh. Even

   though we once

                     regarded                    Christ

                        according to the flesh,

               we regard him thus no longer.

      ¹⁷      Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

                                           he is a new creation.

                                                The old has passed away;

                                    behold, the new has come.

      ¹⁸                                  All this is from God,

                                  who through Christ

                                     reconciled us            to himself

and gave             us

            the ministry   of reconciliation;

      ¹⁹                               that is, in Christ  God was

                                     reconciling the world to himself,

  not counting their trespasses against them,

and entrusting to us

            the message of reconciliation. ²⁰

Therefore,

               we are ambassadors for Christ, God

                                   making his appeal

               through us.

               We implore you

                                   on behalf of Christ,

                                 be reconciled        to God. ²¹

For our sake he made him to be sin

                              who knew no sin,

                     so that in him

               we might become

                                 the righteousness of God. [ESV]

If you find this approach hard to read, and you think I am crazy, that’s OK. It is not for everyone, but it helps me locate major emphases in the text. One of the reasons that I like the ESV translation of the Bible is the commitment to translate a Greek word using the same English word throughout a given passage rather than trying to constantly find a fresh synonym to fit it into English style. It is like being able to hear the verbal rhythm section in the divinely inspired symphony of scripture.

Just as this approach to reading the Bible (illustrated above) often changes my perspective and allows me to see more, so too allowing the love of God to compel/ control/ constrain me changes the way in which I see other people. I don’t just evaluate them according to physical or social labels like the world does asking, “What good is this person to me?” Now I can see them not as merely marginalized or powerful, as black or brown or white, but as the very ones to whom God has sent me as an agent of reconciliation. 

The love of God also constrains my own tendency to look at others economically since that is not the way that Christ loves me. It forces me to begin to relate incarnationally…for their good in Christ, not my own (though it does benefit me as well). The most important thing is that people are reconciled to God in Christ and for that to happen we must be compelled by the love of God…wholeheartedly offering reconciliation to others that we ourselves have received from God.