Attribution to Darren Twa

Darren Twa developed an effective theological perspective for Christianity using value systems and relationships. The material was available first in Sunday message audio form. Darren then authored several books about this material:

• God's Value System
• Emotions: Revealing our Value Systems
• Relationship and Value System

 

My own writings here at this website are based on his ideas and use this effective language and theological perspective.

 

Why this perspective?

Darren's initial goal was to distill Christianity to its critical essence.

• It made it easy to teach, even to children.
• It was also a matter of Christian fellowship. We are to welcome other Christians without quarreling over opinions. (Romans 14:1) And we are not to extend Christian fellowship to those who are not of the Kingdom. (1 Corinthians 5:11) To reject someone that God has accepted into His Kingdom as not being a Christian is a serious matter. (Matthew 18:5-6) Therefore it is necessary to understand the critical essence of the Gospel over which we have fellowship.
• This would eliminate any unnecessary baggage - things of culture or tradition that had become attached to Christianity in our experience.
• If you were in a context where it was dangerous to be a Christian, you would want to know what it was that you needed to believe. You would not want to die for something that was not important!

The concepts that came from this effort are startlingly effective for all Christians:

• All theology is relational.
• God's value system is sacrificial love for the benefit of others.
• God's value system most looks like Jesus on the cross.
• The Gospel (the good news about the Kingdom of God) is news about a spiritual Kingdom, not an earthly kingdom.
• The Gospel is simple. There is a part we believe and a part we do. Everything else is tradition and interpretation.

 

The Core Elements of the Gospel

Gospel is the good news of the Kingdom of God. As covered in Darren's book God's Value System, there are five essential points to the gospel:

• Jesus is both God and man
• Jesus is Lord and King.
• The Kingdom is spiritual
• The Kingdom is established by death and resurrection
• We must adopt God's value system

The first four are the part we believe, the last one is the part we do. Together, these points contain the gospel.

 

Original Quotes

Darren repeatedly has used simple phrases as teaching instruments. They highlight this theological perspective which simplifies many aspects of Christianity and yet is extremely practical. These quotes following are original to Darren (and some of which I have quoted at places in my writing).

• "God's value system is sacrificial love for the benefit of others." & "beneficial love for others"
• "God's value system most looks like Jesus on the cross."
• "You can't make people love and you can't make them forgive."
• "All theology is relational."
• "All relationships are based on common value systems."
• "All conflicts in relationship are conflicts over value system."
• "Lying is an attempt to hide your true value system."
• "Lies impair your ability to reason."
• "Sin is choosing a value system apart from God."
• "We know that Jesus' Kingdom was not an earthly kingdom because John the Baptist didn't have a shovel." •••
• "It is better to be good than to satisfy bodily appetites (have a full tummy), to have people like you (be adored), or to have an earthly kingdom: (power, wealth, control)."
• "At the cross, Jesus could not remain out of relationship with the Father because his personal value system always was identical with the Father."
• "God's kingdom has one rule - sacrificial love for the benefit of others. And if you break the rule, the consequence is that you are forgiven."
• "The Gospel is simple. There is a part we believe and a part we do. Everything else is tradition and interpretation."

Some of these quotes may seem startling. Please read Darren's material or what I have written here at this website to understand what they mean.