A Search for Authentic Christianity
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GOD’S MORAL CHARACTER: THE FOUNDATION FOR REALITY The only adequate starting place for a comprehensive meaning of reality is God Himself. The Christian has an obvious advantage here because God has carefully and finally revealed Himself to His people. This fact of the self-disclosure of God is the Christian’s faith-principle. Upon its truth and reality, or the lack of it, he lives or perishes. If God’s self-disclosure is true, there is hope for meaningful life and relationship with Him. If it is false, then this faith-principle collapses along with the Christian who believes it. The Christian risks his soul, his future, and his whole being upon God Himself as THE TRUTH that sets men free. It is amazingly revealing how God has disclosed Himself to His people. The Bible testifies to that self-revelation. Interestingly, it is not primarily God’s power, wisdom, and majesty that are set forth within Scripture, but rather His Moral Character. The wisdom and beauty of this strategy is seen as one examines the purpose of Scripture. Although important, knowledge about God is not Scripture’s primary purpose. Rather, it is seeing the Beauty of His Moral Character and the subsequent choice of being made like Him in His goodness. As we are made like God in His Moral Character, we are able to see His Majesty and Power without being absorbed into Him. We remain distinct individuals. This concept is beautifully shown in God’s dealing with Moses in Exodus 32-34. Israel broke the covenant of Sinai and God told Moses that He would wash His hands of her and raise up for Moses a new nation, as God had promised Abraham. But, Moses interceded for Israel and won God’s favor on her behalf (Exodus 32:11-14). God was pleased by Moses and promised to reveal His Goodness but not His Face or Glory, for such would overwhelm him and take away his freedom of choice (Exodus 33:17-23). God declared His Name, which depicts the kind of Person being revealed. He is gracious to the uttermost and shows mercy beyond what we can imagine. In Exodus 34:6-7, God shows His Moral Character in three aspects. First, there is Love, in which He is merciful and gracious, revealing His love by forgiving even the rebellious. Second, God is faithful to Himself, His own Character; this is Truth. And third, God reveals Himself as Righteous, where He will not simply write off man’s guilt but will make a way through the suffering of the innocent for the guilty or “vicarious suffering.” All three aspects in perfect harmony and balance amount to the holiness (wholeness and uniqueness) of God (see table below). God is Righteous-Love in Faithfulness to Himself, engaging the unfit to make them whole. When Moses understood the real Moral Nature of God, he bowed down and worshiped before such infinite Beauty. GOD’S MORAL CHARACTER Love + Truth + Righteousness = HOLINESS (wholeness) The character of Jesus is precisely that of the Moral Character of God. In His incarnation, certain other facets of the Divine Moral Character are revealed so that we may now set forth, though incompletely, the character of God as: love, servanthood, other-centeredness, and absolute self-giving. His love is an unconditionally given refining fire. Philippians 2:7 reveals Jesus’ servant nature; he became the essence of a slave. His other-centeredness is seen as His life flows out to others, regardless of response from, or worth of, those to whom it flows. Finally, He embodies absolute self-giving, in that He is true to His nature, regardless of what appears to be a failure in eliciting the desired response from individuals. Despite this seeming failure of Jesus, the real failure is in rejecting Him. The Moral Character of the Godhead is the unchangeable absolute that is the same “yesterday, today and forever.” Thus, one eternally fixed reality is forever established. Therefore, with this fixed eternal certainty, the process of understanding reality and constructing a unitary and comprehensive meaning for all things can be pursued. By using our reasoning abilities, we can arrive at trustworthy conclusions. These conclusions can be verified when we apply them as principles for living. The Christian can say that life cannot be made to work any other way than this, for the Kingdom of God is reality. Therefore, we have courage to stand firm with this reality as our foundation. Implications of the Moral Premise There is an immediate advantage for one’s search for Truth by beginning with the eternal center of all reality as God’s Moral Character. When this basic premise is accepted as true, a whole and exciting world of meaning arises out of it. It is not some physical truth, which is open to the tools of science, and promises much but does not give solid, reliable knowledge. Rather, it is truth of a spiritual nature not open to physical measurements, which is nevertheless more valid than physical verities. The pursuit of physical knowledge as commonly held seems to offer the power to exploit and use nature. This pursuit has created havoc as is seen in our obstinate dependence on oil. It is apparent that we cannot selfishly manipulate or abuse nature without being defeated and frustrated. On the other hand, the Christian perspective for knowing truth is to learn how to cooperate with nature and receive her richest gifts.
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About the Book
"A Search for Authentic Christianity" asks the question, “Have we come dangerously near to missing authentic Christianity?” Authentic God-centered Christianity is compared to Man-centered Christianity. "Search" makes clear that the foundation for all reality is the Moral Character of God. Tracy and Manning delineate the underlying and motivational aspects of God’s character as found in Exodus 34:6-7. The Character of Christ, as a reflection of God's character, is described as revealed in the New Testament. In light of the Character of Jesus, the book discusses the call that Jesus gives to all who would follow Him. The call is to choose Jesus for His sheer beauty and worth rather than any hope of reward or fear of punishment. His call is to a partnership rather than an agreement with some man-made doctrinal list. Just as relationships between persons must grow or deteriorate, our relationship with Christ is to be vibrant and transformational. Grace and Faith are defined in light of this understanding. "Search" defines what the goal of Christ is: the production of Christians who are like Him in their characters. The book answers the question of "How?" by discussing growing conditions for the disciple's journey toward Christlikeness. The Beatitudes are discussed as the foundational attitudes and values of the Christlike person. Strategies are presented to foster a truly serving Christlike community.
About the Author
The original unpublished manuscript was written by Dr. Nat Tracy, Department Chair of Religion at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas for twenty-five years. Dr. Gary Manning, editor, is Professor of Religion and Religious Education at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. Manning has served in several churches in Texas as Pastor, Minister of Education, Youth, and Music. He holds the PH. D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Manning used the original book, “A Search for Authentic Christianity” in his course on Spiritual Formation for several years before deciding to edit, update, rearrange, and make additions to it.