John Piper & Tony Jones?

The question has arisen how I could possibly have material by John Piper and Tony Jones on the same website. The answer is simple: Christ. Both John Piper and Tony Jones center on Christ, the bedrock of Christian faith. They may disagree on virtually every other issue, but they are both men who exhibit the risen Christ in their lives and ministries.

I do not have a problem posting material from both men because I know I can learn from those I disagree with on some (or many) issues. This would be a very boring, and useless, site if I only posted material from those I completely agree with. There is a definite wideness in God's mercy, and one of the beauties of his body on earth, the Church, is that men as radically different in praxis as Jones and Piper can both be called Christians.

Labels are strange to me, though it is difficult to speak coherently at times without using them. However, as Paul says, there "is no Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, man or woman in Christ." Barriers of labeling have been destroyed through Christ, and for us to reconstruct them makes us just as legalistic as the audience to whom Paul was speaking. Doctrine is important for sure, but if Christ as Word of God is the center of one's theology, little else really matters. In fact, if Christ as Word of God is the center of one's theology, the fruit of the Spirit cannot help but pour forth out of that person's life.

The fruit of the Spirit is evident in both Jones' and Piper's lives and ministries, though they appear to be vastly different. Perhaps even they would disagree with my assessment. But such an assessment is the reason I have posted material from both of them.