Two days in a row where I actually read something out of Barth that made sense! Look out!

This quote is so incredible:

“The divine simplicity precedes every man-made complication. Above all the misery of the Church is the glory of the commission with which it is entrusted.”

Good stuff.

For all the complaining and griping we like to do about the Church, there is a glorious message to proclaim. There is an incredible task given to us. If we can move past the man-made complications and get back to the divine simplicity, we will find the power of the Spirit once again and the Great Commission will still be taking place!

For Barth, it is simple. Believe the Word! Believe the living Word of God. Believe the written Word of God. “…and it is inly then that we can and must give ourselves to the humility, care and exertions which are appropriate to those in the Church.”

We must look to Christ instead of ourselves. Barth rises up out of centuries of human rationalism. The human mind was to be the “end all.” He calls out to believers to realize that in Christ we have everything we need for the proclamation of truth.

We need to understand our authority.

“That there is a Word of God for the Church; that above all human authority and freedom in the Church there is the authority and freedom of the Word of God; and again that beneath the Word there is a genuine human authority and freedom in the Church: that is something which must first and foremost be apprehended, accepted and reckoned with.”