Alpha Philosophy in 4 Biblical Principles



I want to sum up a piece of what I see as our Alpha philosophy - our attitude toward every guest who attends an Alpha course. When we look on these guests, we should see them in the light of 4 Biblical themes:

Creation: God made man in His own image, so we must look at them in that light. We should see in them the same value that God does.

The Fall: All have fallen short. That includes us. I often think of 1 Corinthians 6:10-11
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 
Now, it may be tempting for the self-righteous among us to stop there, feeling smug that we are not as other men, but let's see what comes next:
And that is what some of you were.
Yes, let us not forget that we were once in the same position as any of our guests, needing Christ.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
None of us can claim to be any better than anyone else, just better than we used to be.
So we don’t lecture on lifestyles. We are not in the business of telling not-yet-Christians what sinners they are and how they must clean up their lives. That is not fruitful. It is the Holy Spirit’s job. Our job is to introduce them to Jesus and let Jesus do the rest.


Redemption: We must see every guest as someone for whom Jesus died to give the possibility of eternal life. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world, not just people who were already Christians. Not just people who were perfect already. If there were such people, they wouldn’t need Jesus, but of course we know there are no such people.


Glorification: Every person who puts their faith in Jesus will one day be with God forever. Any guest may be one with whom we will spend eternity. Let’s imagine them coming to faith in Christ. Let’s imagine them by the end of the course as a brother or sister.


I sometimes struggle to remember these points. They may even seem counter-intuitive. Something in us wants to solve problems. Something in us wants to correct others' errors. Something in us wants to show others we are right.


But these 4 Biblical attitudes have a great deal to do with why Alpha works, and has worked, so well for so long.


Blessings,
John

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