Zach and Nikki, Part 2

In last week’s column, two unchurched guests named Zach and Nikki dropped in on Parker Hills one random Sunday morning. Mildly curious about the Bible, they were attracted by the inscription on the church sign: “Bible based, Christ centered.” They concluded from this description that an easy way to learn what the Bible says about Jesus would be to watch how people worship Him at PHBF.

Now at lunch, Zach and Nikki are processing their morning, trying to distill the service into salient points that they assume are part of what the Bible teaches. Let’s listen in and see if their experience led them to “Bible based, Christ centered” conclusions.

Nikki: “I was kind of surprised the people were so nice. …and pretty normal. Church people usually scare me.” Bible based quality? Definitely. God is good. He loves people. Nobody knows that better than Christians, and so no group should be more gracious, loving, and genuinely smiley than a Christian church.

Zach: “Apparently, Jesus must really have something to say! That preacher-guy talked for like 40 minutes.” Bible based conclusion? Definitely. When God wants to break in on the world and get something done, invariably He starts by speaking. Examples: He created the world by His word. He warned Noah, called Abraham, and covenanted with the Patriarchs with His word. God spoke the Law to His people and their kings, spoke poetry to songwriters and sages, and spoke warnings to the prophets. And then when He finally came personally into the world as a man, one writer put it: “The Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Jesus definitely has something to say, and so a “Bible based, Christ centered” church spends a good chunk of their meeting listening to Him speak.

Nikki: “I thought we would hear more about the whole WWJD thing—what Jesus would do about all the problems in the world today. But they seemed pretty obsessed with what Jesus did way back then.” Bible based emphasis? Definitely. We will never get right what Jesus WOULD do until we set our bearings by what Jesus DID do, particularly what He did on the cross. Besides, Jesus’ direction to “Do this [i.e., the Lord’s Supper] in remembrance of Me” seems like a pretty clear indication of what He wants His people to obsess over.

Next week: more fictional eavesdropping…