Bumper Sticker Theology

It's a hard thing, this life of faith. Many years ago, when I first fell in love with Jesus Christ, things were relatively easy. Just read God's Word and do what it says. But 13 years and nearly a master's degree later, I've learned that being a disciple of Jesus can't realistically be reduced to bumper sticker theology... C'mon, you've seen them before (heck, maybe you have one stuck on your rear bumper)... "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!"

Ya, I love God's Word too, but since the "good book" was written thousands of years ago, in other languages, in and for a completely different culture and philosophical worldview... trying to interpret what the Bible could be saying to God's people today ain't so simple. But frankly, I don't think it ever was meant to be simple. It's not a book of cut and dried answers to life... it's a unified collection of narrative stories of our God, and His movement and presence among His creation - namely, humanity. The Holy Spirit not only reveals how God has acted in human history, He also reveals to us - through the Church - how and where we fit into the ongoing story of God. As such,we as disciples of Jesus are called to do more than read the accounts what Jesus did and imitate his lifestyle... we are called to live in the community of God's people, interpret His Word through the lens of our cultural context, and allow the Spirit to show us how He is still at work in the world today through our lives.

Part of me wishes it were simple... just read the instructions and obey - but the greater part of me appreciates the holy mystery. God didn't give us a prescription for moral behavior, He gave us a collection of stories about ourselves... the good, bad, and ugly of human nature... and how He has continually weaved His mercy and grace in the midst of our fallenness. The Spirit of God beckons us to Christ, and reveals to us how our character ought to be shaped by His life within the context of our lives together as His disciples. I've heard it stated before that He is the Master, and as His disciples, we are apprentices, called to follow Him. Unlike what much of what 21st century American Church would tell you today however, the place we follow Him to is paradoxically into the valley of the shadow of death... to the cross.

Simple? No. Easy? No. Rewarding? Absolutely! Against all human logic, the Way of the cross, the Way of holiness, the Way of suffering, the Way of servanthood is the Way of deep-seated, God-infused joy. I understand that in my spirit, but articulating it to others caught up in a dog-eat-dog, fast-paced, self-serving world is difficult... no, it's downright impossible. Perhaps that's why we're called to do more than verbalize our faith... perhaps our actions - our Christlike concern for justice in the world - have the potential to speak louder than our words ever could. Perhaps we're called to do both... proclamation and mercy.