New Eyes, Same Old Story 2.0: Going Deeper

You may find a somewhat truncated version of this post here.

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How often do we go about putting training wheels on a seasoned cyclist's bike? Do we ask a boxer with a heavyweight title in their trophy case to run the paces with a high school pugilist to show they're really the best? I'm sure Lakeside Christian Church's senior pastor, Marshall, would be insulted by the former, as would Mike Tyson be by the latter. Consider the other side: How often do we register our sons and daughters for the Tour de France when they're ready for the training wheels to come off? Do karate championships pare up a yellow belt and a black belt?

Look at Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9:

¹ Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? ⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

What do we do, then, when we make God out to be in the business of behavior modification, a worker in actions like one works in textiles? The importance of this passage is not that Paul or Apollos does work, but that God grows in God's field. God builds in God's way. What if we changed the statements of who we follow to something like, "I don't smoke" or "I don't drink" or "I don't cuss" - would these matter, or just that God causes growth in His time in His way?

Now before we digress into a discussion of what's right and what's wrong, watch this video and think about your response to it. Do you like what he says? Hate what he says? Is it confusing? Does your mind explode with passages and biblical understandings that he missed or contradicted? Please take a moment to think about it before you continue reading here.




This video caused an immediate stir in Christian and non-Christian circles alike. Their were Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, and Atheistic responses to the video and the news stations (like CNN and ABC) took the story that went from 1 to millions of YouTube hits in weeks and reported it because it is news. I weighed in on the topic too, trying to strike a middle ground as I saw it, and don't consider myself blameless in the discussion. I am as guilty as everyone who maliciously attacked him and his video, or those who agreed with his video and attacked those responses.

It's amazing the life some forums can take on in our current world of socially accessible media. Whether it's a newspaper article, video, blog, Tweet, or Facebook post, you can find it online on a computer, phone, or tablet and comment and share to join the discussion. As great as all of this is, we can also look at this freedom of access and see the all-too-damaging possibilities as it pertains to God.

When the Hebrews were rescued by God powerfully out of Egypt, all it took was a wilderness to show their turning hearts (Exodus 16:3). When they were given the Law, all it took was a perspective of "goodness levels" to make it about us (Matthew 6:1, 5, 16, 23:5-7). When the Israelites were told how to worship God in honor of His glorious name, all it took was another person who didn't do it right to shift our attention from Him (Luke 18:10-14). When Solomon experienced all this world could offer, all that seemed to matter in the end was to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). All in a day's work, yeah?

Enter Jesus.

Now, because of Jesus, everything is different and yet everything is still remarkably the same. God is still the one and only Redeemer (Jesus is how we can see what He's always been about, because we seem to need that). We still turn away from God and focus on others (we can say we'd believe if we saw the things "Bible people" saw, but we're just like them so we're actually wrong).

God has never been in the business of telling us to do the right thing or He'll hate and/or destroy us. God has always been about calling us to return to Him, turning from sin to the fullness of life in His care, with HIM as king. But since we are more concerned with "doing" and "acting," we have the example of Jesus "doing" exactly what God wanted so we could stop "acting" like we've got it all figured out. So now Jesus is the standard, and His sinless life - which we must believe He lived, if He truly did ruffle feathers by claiming to be God, and God hates sin - is the only thing God accepts. Because it's perfect. And God is perfect.

So the $1,000,000 gospel question is: "Do I have to be perfect too?" The mystery of God is that the answer is a two-part-er: "No (initially because of Christ) and yes (inevitably in Christ)."

With each new generation comes a new rethinking and retelling of the gospel of Jesus. New eyes have the challenge of telling the old, old story - not a new one, not something dreamed up or manipulated till it's something different, but the same story - to a fresh-on-the-scene demographic. It's part of the divine story that we have been invited to participate in. You might say the Director is always the living and active Word of God. What does the redemptive work of God throughout history look like now for those who are followers of Jesus, or considering becoming one? Bethke's video is an attempt to continue the story.

Turner, in an article about the above video, wrote something that may be helpful in understanding how it is we go about in writing our part of the story:

When Anne Rice ‘quit’ Christianity back in 2007, she said, “It's simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.” How else are we to respond, except to carry on in our quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious ways.

As I read that, I wonder if Anne Rice truly saved herself from the burden of church membership, or modeled the same behavior by pointing the finger. The truth is we can't belong in a group when we consider ourselves better than its members. At the surface, we might all agree we don't want to be a part of this kind of behavior. But going deeper, we actually create more problems for ourselves by considering ourselves above that kind of behavior. "I don't do this, therefore I'm better and so choose not to associate with those who do."

I know, it's picking at her words, and that's certainly not what she was intending when she said it. That's not what she wanted (not that I know her heart or wants, but I assume the best of her). But what we're talking about here is not what we want, or what she wants, but what is true about the faith and about us. What's true is that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. What's true is that we look to OTHERS and pick apart THEIR theology and cherry-pick scriptures to bolster our case and consider ourselves justified - nay, commanded to - by scripture. Gregory Boyd would say this is the necessary consequence of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - we become the judges, juries, and arbiters of what is good and what is evil. The problem is, our judgments are not God's and can tend toward the self-serving.

Think about this response to Turner's response to Bethke's video (get that three degrees of separation?):

This is a spoken word piece not a doctoral dissertation. Folks are getting wound up about the so-call[ed] false dichotomy this young man is creating that they fail to realize that spoken word uses/defines words taking into account the historical/social/cultural significance of words... He believes in church but not a form of godliness. Context is key! It's analogous to bemoaning the inaccuracy with which Picasso depicts the human form in his abstracts.

Bethke's thoughts are his, and he's entitled to have them, but even as he speaks from scripture - even as he reads the Word out loud and talks about it - what we hear is nothing more than commentary. A commentary that Bethke himself admits is flawed and involves his own personal struggling even as it's drawn from the Source of God Himself. I encourage you to also watch/listen to this sermon Bethke gives explaining his heart behind the poem and consider his encouragement. In a sentence, he challenges us to read the word for ourselves and not rely on religion, or others, or worldly pleasures to bring us the kind of fulfillment that only God can give.

So where will we go with our abundance of opinions in social media? What are we to do if there's more opportunity than ever before to pick apart everything that anyone says?

At some point, we need to drop the act of picking each other apart and do what Bethke was encouraging us all to do: turn to Jesus as the standard, grow in Him as we devour the living Word, and drop the self-serving act.

A Battle of Wills (September 2012)

Last month we looked at how we can show God as a heartless judge, not because He is but because we sometimes overstep our bounds by putting words in His mouth, or very weakly understanding His purposes in this life. Now we'll turn the magnifying glass on ourselves and think about how our desire to be judges ourselves leads to less-than-impartial behavior.

Christening Culture

The will of God for humankind is not like the will we possess. Because of this, we also find that our human wills within the body of Christ are at war with the wills of others and God, and we strive to come out on top. This battle of wills can cause much damage within the world in general and within the body of Christ specifically.

Many times we push for our opinions or agendas -- our wills -- to be accepted and slap a proverbial "Jesus Sticker" on it. We christen our thoughts as "godly" which leaves those that disagree left with the rather unflattering alternative. We tell others that we're on the side of God, which (if even subconsciously) means that anyone else is, well... not. A popular Christian worship song could mistakenly give rise to this kind of attitude:

"And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us. And if our God is with is, then what could stand against?"

Now, I enjoy Chris Tomlin's music and believe God has used him to draw people to worship God. I also know that his lyrics come from scripture (this particular verse from Romans 8:31) and am thankful for that. But I also know how trickily false beliefs and destructive heresies can creep in when the people of God are away from the altar of God.

In context, Tomlin's song references the truth that our nature once in Christ is that of a conqueror in Christ, one that no power in heaven or on earth can pull us away from the Christ we choose to cling to. The victory is in Christ, the greatness is in almighty God, not in us! God is greater, God is stronger and higher, God is the healer, God is awesome in power -- the focus is there, and we cannot misplace this truth in our minds or hearts.

It is our relationship with Christ that allows us to say "God is for us," not something in and of ourselves. This passage in Romans, and Tomlin's song, is not a catch-all for anything that a follower of Jesus happens to claim, believe, or teach from the pulpit. We are not permitted to say what we will, claim our relationship with Christ gives us that authority, and ignore the scriptures' authority. Nothing can stand against the authority of the Word made flesh. Especially not us.

Sometimes the world rightly stands against the thinly-veiled hatred that we "sanctify" with Jesus' name. It's those times when God's voice sometimes speaks through unbelievers and tells us -- the ones who have endeavored to follow Jesus -- that maybe we're confusing God's will with our own. I'm not talking about the times when followers of Jesus and those who don't follow Him try to excuse sinful behavior and get away with it (though even there, it's not our job to convict until the end of that behavior or remove fellowship). We are to stand for the truth and faithfully proclaim what following Jesus looks like, but not to the extent that we no longer look like Jesus when we do it. Remember, Jesus hung out with the sinners and lambasted the religious elite.

A Will Submitted

What does your will look like? Is it a will submitted to the lordship of Jesus, or something you use to bully scripture and others into a useful form? Sometimes we appear to the watching world like rams angrily butting heads, locking horns and fighting for the preeminent position in the "herd." There is a survival of the fittest mentality that pushes many of us to find our worth and value in being right or stronger or better than someone else.

When the world sees us playing this "game," is it any wonder that they question why God is so confrontational, hateful, and the like? We're nearing the end of the year and I'm hoping that the main theme is starting to latch on now -- people will view God in the same way they view us. And truthfully, this is how it should be since we are called to be Christ's ambassadors! Read what Paul says when instructing us to wake from our sleep and act wisely in these evil times:

Ephesians 5:17-21

 ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

But the only way this will be good for us or for God is if we continue to practice wills that are submitted to Christ. When we are faithful to submit our personal wills to Christ, we will avoid these struggles for superiority that can be so destructive. We will then be able to submit to each other in love, be known for our love as Jesus instructed, and live lives of humility and reverence for Christ.

Judging God (August 2012)

Painting by William Blake: God judging Adam.

The Judge

We are a judgmental people. Not just some of us, but all of us. We are judgmental.

In today's culture, this phrase is often aimed at the "other" among us, those we consider to be different from us (read: wrong). We are right, another is wrong; we are justified, others are condemned; we are forgiven, others damned. This is so intrinsic to our natures that we often do not see the problem as coming from ourselves. We consider ourselves to be the objective ones, the unbiased ones, the fair ones.

And so we consider ourselves to be the judge. We can look at others and make judgement without fear of reprisal because we're doing so from our high ground (moral or otherwise).

The problem is, we can all spot the fakes. We know when someone's trying to hoodwink us, and we developed a high ground of our own. A quaint little patch of earth that leaves us untouched and unsullied by the hypocrites and hateful among us. We are not like them, we are above that behavior, and so we speak authoritatively the trump card of reactive judges: "Don't judge me."

We are all judges of our fellows, every one. We judge which foods we should eat, what friends our children should have, which home and neighborhood it's best to live in, what information is true or false, who builds up and adds something to our life, and what course our life will take. We judge where we think we're headed in life, and (even subconsciously) where others are too. But what does the authoritative word of God say to this?

No one from the east or the west

or from the desert can exalt a man.

But it is God who judges:

He brings one down, he exalts another. (Psalm 75:6-7)

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12)

Why not also judge the One who says in His word that He alone is judge?

The Jury

Unfortunately, we already do judge God. Our history is ripe with it.

What kind of God would let this kind of thing happen?

If God could stop this, why doesn't He? Doesn't this make Him evil or uncaring?

If God is aware of, but can't stop this evil, then He's not worthy of my worship, right?

Why should I worship God if I'm more compassionate than Him? I wouldn't let these things happen!

We sit as the jury, looking at the work of God, and pass judgment on the righteousness or love or justice of God. We ask questions that assume a greater knowledge of actions and outcomes than the Creator who claims to know more than we do (Isaiah 55:9). 

But only one of us can be right. Our statements are mutually exclusive understandings, so we need to admit to ourselves that we have placed ourselves on the jury to judge the sovereign will of Almighty God.

The book of Job in the Hebrew Bible recounts an amazing dialog between Job and his "friends," Job and God, and even the celestial scene of heaven that we are given a glimpse of through the power of the Holy Spirit. There are not many answers that comfort us in this book, but there are more than enough questions that should make us all uneasy about going to God with a view to what He's doing in this life. Listen to these words from God to Job after he has lamented his sufferings and desires to know why:

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said:

“Who is this that darkens my counsel

with words without knowledge?

Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand...

Have the gates of death been shown to you?

Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know all this. (Job 38:1-4, 17-18)

The Verdict

Before moving on, take a moment to read those words of God again, and ponder them. Who are we as men and women to question this great God when we are surprised by the actions of others, the "Murphy's Law" moments that throw us for a loop, and even how our own words and behaviors seem to bring consequences we were unaware of before?

Who are we to shake our fists at God and say, "How dare you?!"

Just like Job, the understanding we have of evil and pain in the world isn’t so much objective and all-seeing as it is circumstantial and limited. We call God uncaring for the things we see as wrong, and judge Him because they happen.

We cast a verdict in favor of what little we know without much concern for the much larger field of things we do not know. When we see God in this way, we claim the superior high ground, as God Himself says, "without knowledge."

So here's my assertion, my theory, for this article: if others view God the way we, as Christians, portray Him to others, we cannot overstep our bounds when answering questions about God's justice in this world. When we are asked difficult questions by hurting, angry, apathetic, or curious people, we do more harm than good by speaking for God when God has not spoken. When we claim the ideological high ground that stifles conversation, we do not draw people to Jesus so much as delineate (at least in our own minds) who is "in" or "out," a service we are supremely unqualified to provide in the first place.

Do not compromise the authority of God's word. Do not compromise the truth of Jesus Christ. Do not deny the power of the Holy Spirit. And do not mistakenly believe that we must feign the right answers to all of life's questions before we have them.

The Standard (July 2012)

I have a confession to make, and I would appreciate you stifling your laughter or judgment until you've heard me out... (deep breath)

I kinda dig 80's hair bands. As you can tell - even if you've never heard that term or their music - it's not just a clever name. If you can get past the crazy get-ups and hair that single-handedly upheld the perming products industry in the 70's and 80's, some of the stuff they put out, musically-speaking, isn't half bad. Not all of them, mind you, and certainly not all of their songs, but some of them really jazz me up, you know?

In fact, I'd be willing to wager that some of you would be willing to say the same thing, even though your minds have likely suppressed what it means to "like" an 80's hair band (after all, what if your friends found out?!?). If you know what livin' on the edge is like, if you've ever been hot for teacher, or thought that - for lack of something else better to do - you might as well just jump, then you might be into at least some classic hair band jams. Let's run a simple test in the vein of Jeff Foxworthy's "You might be a redneck" jokes, okay?

You Might Be Into Hair Band Music If...

... you've ever gotten ready for a date while blasting some "Pour some sugar on me" (Def Leppard);
... you can't hear someone say just two words - Paradise City - without busting into your personal homage to Guns N' Roses;
... you've ever walked into a public bathroom, smelled smoke, and sung "smokin' in the boys room" (to yourself or [bonus points if] out loud) by Motley Crue;
... you consider "every rose has it's thorn" to be a deep and poignant philosophical statement, and you might have even forgotten it was first sung by Poison;
... if you know the immediate response to "I wanna rock and roll all night;"
... if you've ever started something new in life by singing, "here I go again on my own - going down the only road I've ever known;"

Now, I put that not just for a stroll down memory lane, or to start a debate on whether rock music can, or cannot, be sanctified, but to set up this month's topic of standards. Some rock is certainly not profitable or edifying in any sense, just as some Christian-labeled music can be more about the artist singing than the God they're asking to pour out blessings.

One of my favorite bands - ever since I started listening to Christian music (some of which is still WAY below my standard of quality, but that's a-whole-nother post) as a kid - is Petra. To this day, when we sing "Salvation Belongs To Our God" in my smaller, rural church, I want to tenor-scream and rock that tremulous vibrato like John Schlitt did at the first Christian rock concert I ever attended in Houston, Texas. Just to be clear, I know the whole congregation is thankful that I don't. For right now, though, I want to focus on their song, "The Battle Belongs To The Lord," and the following lyrics in particular:

The power of darkness comes in like a flood.
The battle belongs to the Lord.
Let's raise up the standard, the power of His blood.
The battle belongs to the Lord.

We sing glory and honor, power and strength to the Lord (2x)

 

What Is Our Standard?

If the standard we are to live by is the power of Christ's blood, then what are we saying about God when we claim to regulate the style, timeline, and manner by which another moves from a worldly life to a life of God-honoring holiness? Said another way, what are we trying to do when we put time frames and stipulations on another's process of sanctification? Do we believe it to be a process at all? And what does our action or speech say to others about the ways of God in another's sanctification? Think about Paul's words here:

1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. ... 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’" 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. ... 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Paul is clearly talking about eating and drinking here, the distinction between the sacred and profane, but we must ask where we put the focus in this passage. Is Paul primarily focusing on the prohibition of something, or on the preeminence of Christ in one's life? Is it on prohibition of sin, or progression of faith? What is the goal, for Paul? It might be easier to ask a question - where every word is important - to then draw out our conclusions from: did Jesus die primarily to keep us from sinning? Think about that for a minute, then read on...

Raise Up The Right Standard

My assertion here is that we've actually changed the standard for those coming "behind" us. Whether purposefully or inadvertently, Christians can sometimes convey that God's standard for progress is remarkably similar to our own. Others should progress on the road of sanctification at our rate of progression (if not faster) or we need to coax them along so they don't derail. Those of us born in the church have acquired much head knowledge about the progress and we still stumble. What does that tell us? Sometimes a quick and zealous conversion/change experience can leave little room for others whose response to the Spirit of God is slower, resistant, or just unsure. For such people, Christians can graciously respond with patience and love or convey messages those new to faith in Jesus may find hard to take...

• you need to do ______ or you're not really saved.
• since I got this from the Bible, if you don't agree with me on this, you're wrong.
• the starting point is you've got to believe everything in your Bible, the way I believe everything in my Bible, to be saved.
• these political stances prove whether or not you're actually a follower of Jesus.
• you've had enough time to get your sin of ________ under control, so now I've got to step in and handle things.
• if you really loved God you wouldn't be doing ________ anymore.
• I'm not judging, just inspecting your fruit, so if you know the Bible says _________ and you're still _________, then I've got to call you out on this.

... and this is wrong.

We are all involved in the same "game," if you will, and with different levels of skill sets, experience, and motivation. Did you ever play team sports? You know that guy who was so gung-ho he practically sweated Gatorade? Or the girl with such a competitive edge she blew her nose and Wheaties came out? Then there were people who were the backbone of the team, who served as go-betweens for the play-makers, and who simply wanted something to do with their free time? We knew these things clearly as we played. Some rose as leaders, some just wanted to be leaders but weren't equipped, some had the ability to lead but didn't want to, and the list goes on...

The Church is much the same way. The Body is composed of people, just like a team, and everyone has a role. Paul tells us they're all important, and yet we still try to tell eyes to be a better ear, or knees to stop being so flexible and be a femur, for Pete's sake! Do you get the analogy?

We can know the Word (as much as the Spirit's enabled us to know at this stage in our faith, at least), we can know Jesus personally, and we can know all the struggles, temptations, heartaches, and life circumstances that have brought us to where we are now, but we can't know those things about others unless we are let into their world. With different levels of intimacy with another, there are different levels of confrontation.

Let us not confuse the levels and overstep our bounds. When we set ourselves up as the arbiters of another’s struggle between [Point A] life without God and [Point B] life in God we're not doing anyone any favors - least of all, God. Treat others graciously, run after Jesus faithfully, and let love keep us in the boundaries of right relationship with each other. For all else, we must trust that the Holy Spirit knows what He's doing... even if it's unclear to us!

And just for fun, here's one of their greats for you to rock along to - be blessed!!

WE ARE WORKS IN PROGRESS