Is the Bible Literal?

I mentioned recently that I am once again taking seminary courses.  Due to their online format, topic discussions are accomplished through discussion boards.  Recently I was engaged in a conversation with another student who was adamant that Scripture is to be read literally.  He sees any deviation from this as the slippery slope toward heresy, especially in his focus on a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 and rejection of evolution.

I once held the same view of literal interpretation as my brother and classmate.  However, as I've studied and grown in the Scriptures, I found room for a different approach toward areas in Scripture that were perhaps not meant to be received literally as a historical narrative.  By no means does this mean that I have devalued Scripture in my life or theology.  Allowing a perspective on a biblical author’s poetic license certainly does not in itself erode the elevation of Scripture.  Rather, I believe, reflecting on where an author may have used poetic license has actually helped me hold a higher view of Scripture.

The literary skills of the biblical authors are hardly debated.  We widely (both within and outside Christian circles) esteem biblical texts as among the best literature ever written.  Why would we assume these expert wordsmiths would have restricted themselves to such a narrow set of literary tools in describing such vast and glorious topics as God’s nature and His workings among mankind?  I don’t believe that Robert Frost in The Road Not Taken intended us to believe simply taking the more rugged path in a day hike changed his life.  Bob Dylan in Blowing in the Wind wasn't asking us to chase the breeze with a net.  We would even find it odd if someone responded to our clumsy invitation to receive ‘Jesus into her heart’ with a hesitation based on her fear of His presence restricting blood flow.

I hold a very high regard for Scripture.  I have such a high regard that I find it absolutely imperative that we wrestle with how the author intended and did not intend his book to be read.  I also believe biblical authors (especially in the OT) used poetic genres and language to ignite our imagination toward the radically different world God is calling us into when sanitary prose simply would not do.  In these cases, the image they invite us into is much more important than the sum of their words used.

Among several bloggers I read is author, theologian, and Baptist professor Scott McKnight, who shares his blog with a contributor who posts with the pen-name RJS.  RJS recently posted an interesting article on the Literal Reading of Scripture.  He makes extensive reference to an excellent video of author and Presbyterian pastor Tim Keller addressing this same issue. They both make the important point that Christian orthodoxy is big enough to hold differing views.  Where there exists a lack of clarity within the orthodox Christian community on a passage’s genre and resultant implications, we must be willing to embrace the debate and debaters with Christian love and honest scholarship.

I advised my classmate to be careful not to hold so tightly to a hotly debated view that it can become a stumbling block in his relationship with other devout Christians or a become a stumbling block to a non-Christian in hearing the gospel of Christ.  This is a much more destructive situation than taking Genesis 1 as allegory.

What say you?  Is genre up for debate in biblical texts?  Does your view treat Tim Keller as a brother or an enemy to the gospel?

Why I believe the Bible

I believe the Bible because I believe in the Church.

I grew up in the Church.  The Church introduced Jesus to me.  The Church introduced the Scriptures to me.  The Church has provided me tools and a worldview to interpret the Scriptures and respond to Jesus.

Right now I am in a seminary class studying the gospel accounts and Acts.  Of course, the first couple weeks we discussed the origins Scripture.  Interestingly enough, it dovetailed well with a conversation on the relationship between the Church and Scripture I had recently had with some good friends.  I thought perhaps I would discuss my views to some of the issues that came up in our discussion and see what my blog readers think.

Perhaps I should first define my definition of Church.  In my writing, I use Church (with a capital ‘C’) to refer to the fellowship of baptized Christ followers (both living and dead) throughout time and geography who intentionally gather[ed] together in local congregations for fellowship and ministry.  I guess some may instinctively understand the Church as necessarily being some rigidly defined organizational structure (read denomination), but this is not my belief.  I use church (with a lowercase ‘c’) to refer to the fellowship of living baptized Christ followers as a local body in a particular geography.

Within the Evangelical circles I often run, I find the tendency to view the Scriptures as originating from outside the Church.  I think perhaps this offers us Protestants a bit of pride that we don’t have to thank the traditions of our Orthodox and Roman Catholic brothers for canonizing and preserving our Scriptures.  We can instead look to our hero Martin Luther as rediscovering an inherent truth of a canon.  Without getting into a discussion on the Protestant Reformation that I am unable (and currently unwilling) to engage fully, I submit that as Evangelical Christians, we should both affirm and thank our ancient Catholic and Orthodox brothers for their canonization and preservation as well as Luther for his call to re-engage with Scripture.

Through looking again at the process that Scripture was written and canonized, I am reminded just how much God relied on human intellect and discernment.  The text didn't come through some supernatural and audible dictation, but rather through careful study, consultation, reflection, and prayer.  Luke, in the opening verses of His gospel account, speaks of this careful process.  As these gospel accounts and letters were shared among the churches, some became generally accepted as authoritative and some were not.  By the time the Third Council of Carthage was held in 397 A.D. (more universally formalizing what books are included in the canon), the list had been generally accepted for quite some time by early Church leaders and members.

I’m reminded that we interact with the Holy Spirit in much the same way these biblical authors compiled and canonized Scripture.  I am very skeptical of ideas and statements that come through some ‘liver quiver’ moment that have not been tested through the careful process of study, consultation, reflection, and prayer.  In this same way I think my confidence in Scripture would be greatly diminished if it was born out of this type of ‘liver quiver’ without being carefully tested.

I am very confident the scrutiny the early Church gave the Scriptures did well to test their accuracy, validity, and usefulness for edifying the Church and ultimately testifying to the true “Word” Jesus Christ.  I think it is an important distinction to note that it was those early Christians, bonding together as the Church—the Body of Christ—that wrote and scrutinized our texts.  We are not forced to rely on one person’s subjective ‘liver quiver’ as the foundation of our revelation of who God is.  I believe godly and wise decisions were made through the quite human processes of prayer, consultation, and reflection.  Likewise, I am confident the Holy Spirit continues to bless the Church with the gift of spiritual discernment for how we are to interpret Scripture as we study, consult, reflect, and pray.

Is Salvation a ‘Free’ Gift?

As a member of Campus Crusade for four years as well as being in evangelical churches most of my adult life, I have sat in my share of ’How to share Jesus’ classes.  I learned the Romans Road, the Four Spiritual Laws, the Bridge, and countless variations of these gospel sharing tools.

I don’t like any of them.

After that admission, I’m not sure if I’ll still be accepted in evangelical Christian circles.

I often hear evangelists talk about salvation as a free gift.  They emphasize free, as in ‘requiring nothing in return.’  Does salvation really require nothing in return?  Jesus himself tells his disciples about the persecution they will encounter, encouraging them to endure (Matthew 10:16-25).  Paul was constantly telling the churches to “press on” (Philippians 3:14) and to “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12).  The first few centuries saw countless Christians martyred for their faith.  The twentieth century saw more Christian martyrs than the previous nineteen centuries combined.

I ask, is salvation free?  Perhaps salvation is, but living the gospel of Jesus Christ certainly is not.

I can hear someone now yelling, “justification by faith alone.”  I see your Romans 5:1 reference.  I ask, can salvation and living the Jesus way be separated?  James tells us faith without works is dead (2:14-26).  The first letter of John says “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning” (5:18).  Hmm, it seems we have to jump through some theological hoops to completely separate salvation from the way we live, but I digress.

In evangelism, are we looking to “make disciples of all nations” as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19 or are we looking to get sinner’s prayers prayed?  Are we looking to launch people into a life of following Christ or are we merely passing out fire insurance?

I have to believe the centuries of Christians who have been persecuted and martyred would likely not describe their salvation as costing nothing.  Is their gospel different than what we proclaim?

I am convinced the gospel Jesus announced and the apostles proclaimed is much bigger than a ‘get out of hell free’ card.  The gospel is ultimately about Jesus Christ building a new Kingdom, a new way of organizing society, a new way of doing life, a new way to be human.  A gospel reduced to heaven and hell minimalism is a different gospel than the blood of the martyrs tells.  A reduced soterian gospel places me in the center of the story, pushing aside the true storyline that’s about a loving Savior.

Perhaps I won’t be shunned from all evangelical circles.  I am content sharing the company of Christians like Tim Keller, Brian Zahnd, and Scot McKnight.

So, what does this say about evangelism?  I know these gospel tracts were written to explain justification, which they may do well.  However, I cringe seeing them used as an introduction to the gospel.  There has to be a better way.

How do Christians share the gospel without the bait and switch effect a free gift of salvation tract has when followed by prodding to join a bible study or to quit sleeping around?

I really am asking you these questions.  I don’t know their answers.  Do you have some thoughts you would share over a Coke?  Are there any books or blogs you’ve read that address evangelism while keeping true to a full Kingdom gospel?

What to do about millennials leaving the Church

I’m sure by now you’ve seen Rachel Evans’ why millennials are leaving the church blog that’s been going around.  You've probably by now seen several responses as well as been involved in some sort of discussion around it.  I was pleasantly surprised how much attention it got.

Like Rachel, I would identify myself as being on the outer edge of this generation.  I had the opportunity to engage in an online conversation with some of my similarly aged friends.  I've reflected on that conversation and responses I have read and have put together four issues we as the American church need to address better in our local congregations.  Sure, they're as a response to this blog, but they are not new or novel approaches.

Politics

Rachel says young evangelicals see their church as too political.  If you haven’t read my blogs before, you should know I agree.  This is a big problem to me.  I have written blogs and will undoubtedly write more on this topic.  I won’t rehash these same ideas other than to say that Church needs to look more like two friends joining together for a meal than like two political parties bickering over who gets to make decisions.

Our Youth’s Theological Framework

“Train a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:5 ESV)

This passage is certainly not a promise that every child taught the Jesus way will stick with it, but as the Proverbs are, it’s a wise statement that generally holds true.  I can’t speak as a parent, but as an adult in the Church, it is our responsibility to guide our youth in developing their framework for seeing the world around them.

We need better answers for our kids who maybe have a good friend who is gay or struggle with the disconnect they hear in biology class and Sunday school.  It’s our role to provide them with a sound theological framework to interpret the issues they encounter.  We must offer a sound Christian lens through which they can make sense of the world around them.

Perhaps this means we rethink our youth ministries.  Is your church’s youth ministry guiding young people through a journey of developing this lens or does it boil down to a playdate?

 

For a couple years, I worked with a high school youth group.  While I was discussing what I was teaching the students, I had a youth pastor tell me that the purpose of a youth ministry is to show kids that church is a fun and safe place.  The hope is that when they grow older they’ll long for a fun and safe place, remember their experience in youth group, and come back to the church.  I was appalled at this understanding of youth ministry (and its shock has obviously stuck with me to this day).  I couldn't believe that her plan was to expect the youth leave the Church only to hope they’d come back later in life.  However, I wonder how many pastors and youth workers believe this (even if they wouldn't admit it as clearly as this youth pastor did).

I was fortunate to have my parents and several other adults who had a great influence on me in my high school and college years.  They helped me develop a substantial theological framework that helped me make sense of life and guide me in the Jesus way.  I certainly continue to refine my worldview and theology, but the foundation is there because these adults invested in me.  Are we as a local church intentionally investing in our youth in ways that will yield good worldviews?

Being the Church
Evangelical Christianity has put too much emphasis on decision for Christ at the expense of being the body of Christ.  Don’t misunderstand me…I do agree that we have to make an intentional commitment to follow Christ in our lives.  However, the way we teach this simple gospel often leads to the idea that Christianity ultimately is all about getting to Heaven when we  die.  This is another pet peeve of mine and undoubtedly a blog will be forthcoming at some point on this.

As a Church, we need to teach our youth that they’re part of something larger.  Christ is building His Church and we are invited to be a part of this magnificent (yet sometimes messy) work.  Paul spends so much time in his epistles telling Christians to be unified with one-another.  Our ticket to Heaven theology leaves this (and so much else) out.

Jason Allen, makes a great point in his response by showing that “many churches function like a confederation of para-church ministries meeting under the same roof.”  We absolutely need to bring the youth out of the youth room and into the wider church body where they can rub shoulders with and learn from ordinary church members.

Rachel discusses how millenials are drawn toward churches with a high view of Tradition, namely Catholic, Orthodox, and Episcopalian.  I can’t say that I’ve studied statistics about this, but I can anecdotally see this.  One of my good friends in college grew up in an Evangelical church and is now raising his family in the Roman Catholic Church.  I have found the Common Book of Prayer and other liturgical sources of great help as I continue walking the Jesus way.  When visiting Israel and Rome, I felt a bond with the countless Christians who have visited these sites for centuries.  We need to show our youth just how big this Church they’re entering is.

Our Holy Huddle
Rachel makes good points that the discussion of science and hot topics like LGBT are often not discussed well in our churches.  I have a feeling that at the bottom of this is that we look to maintain a holy huddle.  The church seems to stand on the sidelines, bewildered by the growing acceptance of evolution or the LBGT lifestyle.  I think we’re afraid to enter into the conversation on a personal level for fear that we’ll be letting the 'riff-raff' break our precious holy huddle.

I’m not saying we ramp down our focus on holiness (I encourage us to ramp it up) or our faith in God as creator (I encourage a greater focus).  I’m certainly not encouraging us to blindly accept what culture suggests as the Jesus way.  What we do need is a new way of interacting with the culture we co-habit with our non-Christian neighbors.

We must remember that Christ ate with the tax collectors and prostitutes, rather than with those forming a holy huddle.  I think Christ would eat not hesitate to share a table with members of the LBGT community.  Why won't we?  He didn't say it was okay to be a tax collector or prostitute.  We don't say it's okay to live a LBGT lifestyle.  Welcoming and accepting does not equal condoning or agreeing.  It equals love.  Let us be holy and loving like Christ that when we welcome those living in sin, they may be transformed in a similar way that these 'sinners' were (or even that we were).  We need to understand that holiness is a way of life that includes loving others.  We need to have a faith that God can turn a messy collection of people into a work of beauty if we follow Him.

Worthy of Imitation?

I recently had the opportunity to preach at my church.  My pastor has been preaching through Philippians and somehow my week coincided with the passage I now believe pulls the whole book together.  I don’t know how he let such a good passage slip to me, but I was glad to have it.  This time studying through it, I was reminded of a focus of Paul that I hadn’t thought much of recently—imitation.

The main verse I based my sermon on is Philippians 3:17: “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”  Paul also tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”  Paul seems really passionate about seeing the Christian life lived through imitation.  I find this interesting, especially participating in a society that encourages us to stand out from the crowd and be original.

Human nature is to imitate.  As kids we imitate our parents or our favorite TV character.  In sports, we imitate the great athletes with the best baseball swing or the best basketball shot.  When learning a new job, we imitate the actions of those with more experience.  These are examples of our imitating that we do quite deliberately.  We often don’t admit to the myriad of ways we imitate those we spend time with, whether in our body language, our word choice, or even our dress.

Paul tells us to imitate him and those who also are living life Christ’s way.  This is a great reminder to me—and it cuts both ways.

As a Christian I cannot expect to grow better at living the Jesus way without looking to those who are better at it than I am.  Certainly not everyone that calls themselves a Christian is worthy of imitation.  The majority of my sermon was spent discussing some of the contrasts between those who live the Jesus way and those Paul calls the enemies of the cross of Christ.  We must deliberately seek out those who are truly following in the example of Christ as revealed in scripture.  I need to study and model myself after those who pray better than I do, serve better than I do, forgive better than I do, and love better than I do.

As a (fairly) mature Christian, it also means that Paul is telling my younger brothers and sisters to imitate me.  Jesus warns us that “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6) [ESV]  Ouch!

Who are you imitating?

Would you be proud or embarrassed to see young believers following in your example?

Sacred Marriage and the DOMA Ruling

As expected, my Facebook feed has lit up with clever statements from supporters of both sides of the Supreme Court case concerning the federal Defense of Marriage Act.  Religious and cultural leaders have spoken their two cents on the issues as well.  I have been kicking around the thought of writing a blog about marriage while addressing the topic of homosexuality.  With today’s Supreme Court decision, I suppose I might as well bring my thoughts to the discussion.

Depending on which side of the debate you sympathize with, most quotes about the court ruling hurled from the ‘other camp’ either consider you a backwards bigot or a partner with evil, destroying the very fabric of this great nation.  However intended, these clever lines and memes serve only to boost the morale of the agreeing mob by identifying those who disagree as the enemy to be conquered.  I suggest there’s a better way to approach this issue.

As Christians, we must direct our attentions first to what God intends with marriage.  When we look at the sweep of what God is up to in the world, we find He’s all about creating a people who bear His image and work as His partners in reigning over creation.  Surely the first covenant God gives us coincides with His big mission.  When we look at the Bible’s first marriage, we see God charge Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28 ESV).  God gave Adam and Eve to each other as help to fulfill this charge.  This charge extends to us also as certainly Adam and Eve did not themselves completely fulfill it.  In light of this godly charge, I submit that the main purpose of marriage is to create an environment conducive to Christian growth and maturity.

I think there are two ways I see that marriage should be conducive to growth and maturity in the faith.  The first is described very well by Gary Thomas in his excellent book Sacred Marriage.  Gary is emphatic that “God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy.”  Through the lives of two people becoming intertwined for life, character flaws will be revealed.  A good marriage is one where these character flaws are worked out in love, respect, and service toward one another.  Through all this, we become more Christ-like.

The second way our marriage should be conducive to growth and maturity in the faith is through being the gospel to our families and neighbors.  The most obvious is creating a home environment where our kids grow up in the faith from an early age and are well equipped spiritually to make their way when they leave.  Perhaps less obvious is the influence married couples can have on their neighbors in the community.  I think of a couple in particular who has made themselves and their home a place of refuge for many who have fallen on hard times or just need an encouraging word.  I hope you can think of a married couple you know like this.

So, to finally bring this post back to the homosexuality debate…I state my belief that heterosexual (not homosexual) marriages are God’s intention.  If marriage is to expose character flaws, what better way than to put two people together who are wired totally differently?  Culture seems to try to blur the distinctions between male and female, but I think a healthier way of looking at gender is to see that God placed an emphasis of certain attributes of His in males and an emphasis of other attributes in females.  This doesn’t make one gender better than the other, but rather one complements the other to demonstrate a more complete picture of God’s nature.  In joining with someone of the opposite gender in marriage, we allow ourselves to be sharpened in ways that I would believe impossible in a homosexual marriage.

If this is what Christian marriage should look like, we need to take a step back to see if marriage lives up to this in our church.  I don’t mean the worldwide body of believers, but your local congregation that meets every Sunday.  I’m guessing that for most of you, sitting in your church’s pews are many folks struggling in their marriage or even lamenting a failed marriage.  As American Christians, we don’t have particularly great statistics on marriage success, with divorce rates of Christians basically identical to the national average.  I hope your church is an exception to this norm, but I’m guessing it’s not.

You’re probably figured out by now that I’m not trying to lay an airtight case against society adopting homosexual marriage here.  My response to today’s court decision is no surprise.  I mean that literally…I’m not surprised.  Overall, our representation of marriage is not all that compelling.  Why wouldn’t others in society try something different?

Is the Christian response to the growth of homosexual marriage acceptance in the U.S. to continue throwing grenades over the wall at our homosexual neighbors and those who support their legal right to live this way?  By no means!  In doing this we are far from showing Christ’s love to our neighbors.

Christianity should look more like inviting homosexuals to dine at a shared table than a dizzying barrage of insults.  The best response I have to the growth of homosexual marriage in the U.S. is to work to cultivate good Christian marriages.  Think back to the couple I mentioned earlier who open their lives and their home to serve those around them.  Think of a couple you know like this.  What if this is what every Christian marriage looked like?  That would certainly make Christian marriage a compelling alternate lifestyle.

We Christians need to quit viewing homosexuals as the enemy of marriage and start focusing instead at whatever underlying issues drive Christian couples apart.  Instead of being worked up about the DOMA ruling, get worked up about what’s tearing marriages apart in your church.  Invest in your marriage so you’ll be able to weather whatever is around the bend waiting to tear yours apart.

The greatest thing you can do to defend the institution of marriage is to be a good husband or wife.  The second greatest thing you can do is to help other married couples grow a sacred marriage.

St. Francis and the Prosperity Gospel

I recently finished a biography on St. Francis of Assisi.  I’ve of course known of St. Francis for some time and even visited his hometown, but I hadn’t really explored his life.  Since finishing this book, I’ve been thinking about what to make of his life.  Certainly his love of God and fellow man is a great example to emulate.  I was encouraged that his response to the Crusades was to work as a peacemaker rather than follow in the brutality waged against the Muslim people.  I’m a bit saddened by his lack of emphasis on theology and learning.  Of course the most radical element in St. Francis’s life was his extreme vow of poverty for himself and for those who would join his order.  I assuredly stand in good company in saying his commitment to poverty is perhaps the most fascinating and challenging markers of his life.

After living a life of wealth and pleasure, St. Francis used his vow of poverty as a chisel to carve himself into a man of deep humility and love of God and fellow mankind.  His humility and love made him an iconic figure in Christian history.  I find it astounding that this man, pursuing no wealth or prestige, is so well known and respected eight centuries later.  This saint who had to beg the pope to permit his order’s existence is now a key inspiration for the present pope’s ministry.

More recently, there has been a focus of teaching that God’s will is for us to be happy, healthy, and wealthy.  I’m sure you’ve heard certain preachers proclaiming this ‘prosperity gospel.’  Of course, many bible stories and passages are used to support this message.  I agree that the Bible teaches us that God is our provider and tells of His immeasurable blessings.  Solomon reigned over one of the richest nations of his time.  Matthew 7:7 tells us, “Ask, and it will be given to you.”  However, the thought process can ultimately lead toward a belief that God desires his followers to live in the largest houses, drive the fanciest cars, and have the most fun.  This, of course, is all to reveal our His glory to those around us.

So, here we have two polar opposite views of God’s desire for us.  What is the right understanding of how God desires us to interact with money and possessions?  I recently stumbled on a song by Shai Linne that you should check out here.  I think you’ll be able to pick up his thoughts of the second view.  It’s a bold song where the line “If you’re living your best life now, you’re headed to hell” is hardly noteworthy as a controversial statement.  Shai Linne ultimately reminds us, “if you come to Jesus for money, then He’s not your God—money is.”

On the other hand, I don’t see that scripture urges us to live a life of complete poverty in the pattern of St. Francis.  I view St. Francis as a type of prophet whose life was a kind of prophesy, calling us to examination and repentance.  I suppose that the best understanding of how to pursue and handle riches lies somewhere between these two extremes.

I suppose our money goes generally to three purposes: ensuring financial security (preparing for the ‘what if’), making our lives more enjoyable (through experiencing creation and making life comfortable), and helping others.  I can make strong arguments for the necessity and goodness of investing in each of these.  I am challenged by St. Francis's example and do wrestle with how I invest my money.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on:

1. What’s your guide in balancing investing in financial security against putting faith in God’s provision?
2. How do you gauge if you’re investing too much in making life fun and comfortable rather than being selfless and putting others’ needs ahead of yourself?
3. How do you determine what to invest in missions or charity?

Who Deserves My Comfort?

Whenever a tragic event happens, the question of how a loving God can permit suffering and death comes up.  Following the recent tragedy in Moore, Oklahoma, undoubtedly this question is on the minds of many.

So, what is the Christian response to horrible tragedies?  Was it God’s will that children would die in a tornado in Oklahoma?  Why didn’t God stop the Sandy Hook school massacre?  What is to be said to high school students grieving the loss of their friend through some tragic accident?  (This has been an all too common scene in my town for the last few years.)

I’m the type that wants to tie up theological loose ends with clever logic.  As an engineer, I value the simplest answers as they tend to be the most elegant and correct.  I love it when a complex math problem boils down to a simple solution.  I’ve wrestled with these questions, occasionally thinking I had found an elegant solution to this problem of evil.  I know I’ve at some point expressed one of these ‘solutions’ to a grieving friend.  If you were the recipient of this from me (or some other well meaning theologian), let me say to you now, “I’m sorry.”

Truth is, there are no elegant or clever answers.  The most concrete statement we have is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Of course this comes from the Beatitudes where Jesus is telling us who is going to be the most at home in the Kingdom.  The best aid we can provide is to mourn alongside those affected by tragedy.  When we attempt to explain, we run the risk of being the kinds of friends Job of the Old Testament had when faced with terrible trials and tragedy.

So, I’m guessing you are with me so far.  Perhaps I’ve provided a good reminder, but I imagine I haven’t rattled your cage yet.  Let’s take this a step further then.

We’ve been looking at this in cases of clearly undeserved loss.  Clearly nobody (other than a few radicals) would claim that the victims of a tornado in Oklahoma or a school shooting in Connecticut were deserving of the tragedies that beset them.  But what about the drug addict whose addiction broke up his family?  What about the broker who slid too far down the slippery slope of corruption and lost everything?  Are we to mourn with these in their loss as well?  Are we to provide comfort to these people?

We really have two ways to interpret Jesus’ beatitude.  Either we can read it as “Blessed are those who mourn for any reason” or as “Blessed are those who mourn for situations which they did not bring upon themselves.”  If we take the first interpretation, we have no right to pick and choose whom we should comfort.  If we take the second interpretation, we ultimately can bow out of providing comfort to any sufferer, acknowledging that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and thus justly receiving their penalty.  We even might take it to the next level of picketing funerals just to make sure these mourning receive no comfort.

I submit that the correct interpretation is the first, the one which we are called to comfort those mourning for any reason.  In Les Miserables, I think Jean Valjean’s comforting of Fantine after her desperate turn to prostitution is much more beautiful and Christ-like than Javert’s advice, “Honest work, just reward, that’s the way to please the Lord.”

The problem of evil, or Theodicy, is certainly a complex topic.  It’s certainly a noble task to work to untangle it.  Great headway in this endeavor can seemingly be achieved in well informed discussions.  I completely support having those discussions.  You may even catch me engaging in a Theodicy discussion on occasion.  However, when it comes to application, comfort without judgment is always the right answer.  Oh, and try not to explain your Theodicy theories to the mourning.  If this actually helped, Jesus would instead have said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall have explained to them the reason.”

I doubt many have found me particularly comforting in their times of mourning.  Lord, help me to be comfort to those who mourn.

Is it difficult for you to provide comfort, without regard of whether the suffering is somehow ‘deserved?’  How have you grown in compassion for the mourning?

Two Friends

I have two friends who I know from various church settings I’ve shared with them.  Although they are not close friends, I do value my friendships with them.  I’m sure you have similar friends and acquaintances.  I have nothing against either of them; I just don’t often find myself engaging in the same activities that these friends do.  I guess they just happen to each run in slightly different circles than do I.

Don’t get me wrong, I would not hesitate sharing a meal with either of these friends.  On the occasions I have spent time with them, I have enjoyed their company.  I certainly count each as a valued brother or sister in Christ.  What I wouldn’t do is invite them both to dinner the same night.  You see, one of these friends is a passionate Democrat who is pro-choice and supporter of LBGT rights.  My other friend is a passionate Republican who is pro-life and very much against extending marriage rights to same sex couples.  Politically, these two friends are polar opposites.  I’m afraid steak knives may be required to cut through the dinner conversation tension.

In my first blog post, I discussed that my hope is not in politics.  One reason for this is how unclear Christ’s stance often is on particular policies, especially in the context of a secular government which rules over people of various religions and opinions.  Both of these friends are very outspoken about their respective positions and believe with absolute conviction their conclusions accurately reflect the Christian response to these issues.  Each of them seems to believe the ‘other’ side is the political enemy holding our nation back from reaching its potential.  They (unknowingly) have declared the other their political enemy.  I’m confident each of them has prayed that God would shape the nation’s political climate in favor of his or her positions.  I’m confident each of them believes God is on their side.

So, when my friends read David’s praise in Psalm 23, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” what should they think?  Is God preparing a table before one of these friends in the presence of the other to show His favor on the one and in doing so mock and humiliate the other?

Another famous table in scripture is the Last Supper.  We see in this story Jesus sharing a table with His disciples.  One of these disciples was Matthew the tax collector.  Matthew had colluded with the occupying Roman government to collect taxes from his fellow Jews and send this treasure to Rome.  Don’t think of Matthew as an IRS agent.  It is closer to think of him as a colonial American working for British officers to collect taxes to send back to Europe.  Another of these disciples was Simon the Zealot.  Simon was the revolutionary.  If Matthew was a traitor working for the British in colonial times, Simon was a minuteman.  (I know this is not a full analogy, but it’s the best I have.)  It’s fair to say Matthew and Simon wouldn’t have seen eye to eye.

It’s clear that Jesus didn’t agree with either Matthew or Simon.  Jesus had a new way.  He prepared a table before each of them in the presence of their enemies, not to elevate one over another, but to join them together in His new way.

I don’t think David had any idea of the Eucharist table when he penned Psalm 23.  I do think as we read the Psalms in light of Christ, this is exactly the table that should come to our minds when we read these words.

The reason God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies is so we can invite them to sit with us and share a meal.  I’d be nervous to invite my two friends to the same table, but this is exactly the invitation God is extending to them—to us.  What must you and I change in ourselves to make this our response when in the presence of our political enemies?

Our Daily Bread

“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)  We all know this line from the Lord’s Prayer.  I’ve always just taken it as a request that our Father provide for our needs.  I’ve been thinking recently about what this really means.

My wife had given me a copy of Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller.  (Excellent book, which I highly recommend.)  I recently finished it and have been pondering on morsels from it since.  During one of my prayer times, I found myself reflecting on Tim’s ideas while praying through the Lord’s Prayer.  Through working on connecting Tim’s ideas with this line of Jesus’ prayer, I think I’ve uncovered something I’ve been missing.

Tim tells the story of Creation by showing us how God created the world and then empowers mankind to finish the details.  God does this by setting us in a garden and charging us to create a great city.  This requires work.  Tim explains how every task that is necessary and beneficial to a flourishing society is following in the mission that God has for mankind.  When we work at these tasks, we labor with God.  When we enjoy the fruits of these tasks, we owe thanks to God and fellow man.

Why would Jesus ask us to pray for our daily bread?  Yes, Jesus did provide bread to the 5,000 and manna did fall from the sky, but these are obviously rare occurrences.  There’s a lot of human labor that goes into making bread, and none of it seems overtly spiritual.  If Jesus was interested in directing us toward more primary sources of His provision, I’m sure He could have thought of something else to reference…perhaps sunlight, rain, air, gravity, the strong nuclear force, etc.  I think instead Jesus uses bread specifically because of all the human labor that goes into it.

You can’t have bread without a farmer planting a seed and caring for the fields before finally harvesting and delivering the grain to town.  Of course, this grain must also pass through a flour mill, a bakery, a distributor, and grocery store before finally landing on my plate.  This doesn’t mention the buildings, the equipment, and the transportation to allow for all this.  I’m sure you can think of many details I’m leaving out.  Every step requires human work and attention.

My job requires that I travel on occasion.  Just a week or so ago, I woke up in a city far away from home.  It was my last day of a long startup and I was ready to be home, ready to see my wife, and ready to sleep in my own bed.  I finished up at the plant, was driven to the airport by a coworker, went through security, got on a plane, landed, and found myself on a bus headed toward the parking lot.  I hadn’t given much thought to how all the folks doing their various jobs enabled that journey home for me.  I realized I had taken it for granted that this lady (or someone in her role) would drive by the terminal to pick me up and take me to my vehicle.  Her task is one that is necessary in a flourishing society.  I would assume she probably wasn’t reflecting on how she was being the hands of God steering that bus, but her task was a blessing to me that day.  Just on this journey home, God’s hands were at work for me in the form of a bus driver, a pilot, an airplane mechanic, and the guy at Jimmy Johns who baked bread that morning.

When I pray this line of the Lord’s Prayer, I now reflect on how I’m asking God to work through all the people who help build a thriving society.  I sometimes thank God for placing people in roles that particularly benefit me, perhaps it’s the guy that picks up my trash or the farmer who sows a seed, maybe it’s the crew repairing a road or the grocer who cuts my meat.  I think this is shaping me to more deeply appreciate those whom I share society with…helping me appreciate my neighbor.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  It’s a bigger request than I had realized.  What do you see in it?

The Great Hope

Here it is six months after the most important election in U.S. history (as I was told at least).  In the months leading up to it, I was bombarded by how significant this election was to be.  It was, you know, the turning point for the United States.  It was impressed upon me just how vital getting the right men and women in office was.  It was the last hope we had to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and reclaim our status of a Christian nation after all.

As Christians, we were told to pray for the election so that our country doesn’t continue going to ‘hell in a hand basket.’  So much talk, so much prayer, so much hope was invested into one day of punching chads and filling in bubbles.

The funny thing is nobody seemed particularly happy afterwards.  Predictably, I have Christian friends who were very upset their party didn’t get enough power.  More interesting though, my friends didn’t agree on whether it was the donkeys or elephants who were more deserving.

Yes, I did vote.  No, I didn’t pray much about the election (gasp!).  I have little hope that the ‘right’ politician will bring about the peace I’m looking for.  Instead, I stand with the Apostle Paul to declare that our blessed hope is the “appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us.” (Titus 2:13-14)

Undoubtedly, there will be an appearing of Christ in the last days.  At that time every knee will bow and every tongue confess.  This is orthodoxy.  My question is why will every knee bow?  What would compel every living thing to bow to Christ at His appearing?

I dismiss the idea of a sword flinging Jesus on a revenge mission.  The clearest revelation of God is Christ on the cross.  Revelation shows us Jesus as the slain lamb.  Peter was rebuked when he flung his sword.  I don’t know what the ultimate reason why every knee will bow, but I doubt it’s because Jesus holds a bigger nuke.  Perhaps it’s something along the lines of His beauty.

Yes, this speaks to my eschatology, but it also informs how we should interact with society right now.

We’ve all heard it before, the word Christian means ‘little Christ.’  We all know we are supposed to imitate Christ, but do we believe doing so has any impact?  If the appearing of Jesus is the ultimate answer to our world systems gone awry, should not the appearing of a Christian be a small answer to the same problems?  I submit that we are when we follow Jesus in sacrificing ourselves for others.  “You say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”

How does this work, I don’t know.

I’m working on it though.  I have some ideas.  I have some questions.

That’s what I want this blog to be about: working out how to imitate Christ in a way that can be a small answer to what’s wrong in the world.

I managed to jump right into both politics and religion in my first post.  I think I’m off to a good start.

Will you join me?