"A Community"

I finished reading Scot McKnight's book A Community Called Atonement yesterday, and so in classic Scot McKnight fashion, I will now blog about it. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Jesus Creed blog. He blogs through a number of books... pretty good reading)

Before I picked this book up I knew relatively little about atonement theories. I knew there were a few, and that Penal Substitution was the dominant one in evangelicalism, but I couldn't really name any of the others. Actually I bought this book on amazon with the specific hope that I would learn more about the atonement theories. He does talk about them some, I feel like I have a better sense of what an atonement theory is, but not really what each one is about.

But that wasn't the point of the book. The main metaphor in the book is a bag of golf clubs. He says that just as no one goes out on the golf course with just one club, we shouldn't approach Christianity through only one atonement theory. The metaphor seems to work, though I was a little hazy on what game of golf itself represents in the metaphor. I think it must just be Christianity as a whole, or maybe Christian Theology.

But the ideas of the book do more then explain atonement theories. First, he shows the basic things all atonement theories have in common, then he explains what that should mean for Christians.

That's the part that I want to talk about. What does the atonement mean for our lives?

Scot describes atonement as "identification for incorporation" by which I think he means this: God in Jesus identifies with us so that we can be a part of what God is doing in the world. This, Scot says, is a commonality that all atonement theories have- it is the bag to hold the clubs.

Another idea that runs throughout the book is people as "cracked Eikons", Eikon being a word for image, in this case the image of God. Cracked as we are, the work of atonement is the restoration of Eikons, and ultimately the incorporation of those Eikons into the mission of God.

What I love about this language is the emphasis on justice and mission. As Christians, we're not just "evangelists" trying to "win souls" we're broken people participating in the mission of God to restore all the broken people. And it's not just about the afterlife; it's about life now, and it requires action.

Too often, it seems, we try to make Christianity into an intellectual pursuit while ignoring the injustice and oppression around us. "Know the right stuff, believe the right way, and behave yourself" thats what we're told it means to be a Christian. I believe Scot McKnight, and also the New Testament, give us a different mandate:

Accept the atonement.
Share the atonement.
Do the work of the atonement.
Live in a community called atonement.