Finished "When the Kings Come Marching In"

When the Kings Come Marching In
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have an earlier version of the book. I am tempted to buy the updated book! Much of Mouw's discussion is relevant for the emerging church discussion. Here's a quote to wet your appetite (gleaned from pages 61-63):

This fact, then, (that Jesus is the light of the Celestial City) must first of all be pointed to for the benefit of those who have professed to honor Jesus as the Lamb of God but who have paid little attention to the cultural dimensions of his atoning work. Some Christians have greatly emphasized the individual benefits of the redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ. They have viewed the work of the Cross almost exclusively in terms of a transaction that took place to effect the salvation of individuals...

We ought not to belittle this important emphasis in any way. It is an emphasis that has come to be associated with an "evangelical" type of faith; indeed, it expresses something of the very heart of the Protestant Reformation. Jesus died to cancel debt of our individual sins, and the believer is justified by faith in this atoning sacrifice. Every person who trust in Jesus as the one who has "paid it all" can live in the confidence that he or she has been granted an everlasting pardon form the penalty of sin...

Some Christians have expressed suspicions about this emphasis on the salvation of individuals; some have even ridiculed those who have insisted that this is a central emphasis in the Gospel. They have feared that a strong pattern of "individualism" lurks just beneath the surface of "I-centered" expressions of Christian faith.

We cannot deny that dangerous tendencies manifest themselves in this kind of piety...

There is nothing that is intrinsically inappropriate, then, about an understanding of the Gospel which strongly emphasizes the individualizing love of God. Indeed, properly understood, this emphasis can express a profound comprehension of the Gospel.

The dangers arise when this element is emphasized to the exclusion of other important dimensions of the work of the Lamb. Jesus died to save sinners--but he is also the Lamb who serves as the lamp in the transformed City. As the Lamb of God he will draw all of the goods, artifacts, and instruments of culture to himself; the kings of the earth will return their authority and power to the Lamb who sits upon the throne; Jesus is the one whose blood has purchased a multi-national community, composed of people from every tribe and tongue and nation. His redemptive ministry, as the ministry of the Lamb, is cosmic in scope.

Let me encourage you, in the words of Augustine to "pick up and read" this excellent book.