Good Friday?

Good Friday Text:  Mark 15

Seems weird to call the day Jesus was crucified, "Good" Friday... but oh well. I'm sure there's a historic reason. Not much that was good about it though.

Here's a sample of how it went for Jesus.

²⁵ It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ A sign was fastened to the cross, announcing the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

 ²⁹ The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. ³⁰ Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

 ³¹ The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.

So, here's a question... who was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus? Was it the Jewish leaders, who plotted his death? Was it the Roman soldiers, who enjoyed toying with and torturing Jesus? Was it the crowds, who on Palm Sunday cheered, "Hosanna" to Jesus... only to shout (a mere five days later) "Crucify him!"? Was it the disciples... who turned their back on him in the Garden of Gethsemane when the gang of thugs came to take him away? Or was it you and me... when we rebel against Him?

Seems we all have blood on our hands.

Nope... there ain't much that's good about Good Friday. That is, except we know it's not the end of the story.

Maundy Thursday

Biblical Text:  Mark 14:12-72

Today is Thursday of Holy Week. So what does that mean... what could that mean to us followers of Jesus 2000+ years after His crucifixion? Well, if nothing else, it's an opportunity for us to reflect on what happened that fateful night oh so long ago.

Reading the above passage in the gospel of Mark, I have a question I'd like to explore:  If Peter was ready to die for Christ, why wasn't he willing to live for Christ?

V. 31 - “No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.

Vv. 71-72 - Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” And immediately the rooster crowed the second time.

   Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.

I am so just like Peter, aren't you? We want to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength... but way too often we find that we don't love Him the same way He loves us. We want to reflect the light of Christ in this dark world... but way too often we find ourselves immersed in the same darkness that covers non-Christians. We want to stand for what is right... but when the going gets tough, we fall backwards and fail to stand at all.

Jesus went through so much for us. Not just the crucifixion itself, but coming to our world in the first place. Enduring hardship. Putting up with our refusal to draw near to God. Experiencing persecution. Suffering an agonizing death. So why do we so quickly deny Him with our words and actions? Why does the spirit of Peter... the spirit of cowardice permeate believers even to this day?

Don't know. But I'm glad Jesus went through with God's plan. I'm glad He's a forgiving God. I'm glad He stepped in through the gates of Hell, so that we don't have to. I'm glad He is faithful to humanity, even though humanity continuously fails to be faithful to Him. I'm glad God loves us even though we don't deserve it.

We are invited to dine at the table with Christ, and some of us plot his death. We are invited to pray with Him in the garden, and all of us scatter when danger comes. We are confronted about our relationship with Him, and most of us deny knowing Him. What a mess we are! What a fountain of grace He is!

Rob Bell: Response to a Concerned Friend

I admit it... I'm getting worked up all the controversy about Rob Bell. What follows is my response to a friend and brother in Christ who voiced his concern about Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins.

It seems as though a new divide is taking place among evangelicals in recent days and - though I appreciate their passion for Scriptural teaching - I'm getting increasingly frustrated with Christian "celebrity" leaders like John Piper and Mark Driscoll, especially when they decide to call out (and even demonize) pastors and teachers that dare explore what I perceive as extraordinarily Christ-centered (albeit out of the box) ideas about the love of God. There are, and always have been two primary sides to the great debate within evangelicalism... Calvin and Wesleyan/Arminian. Nevertheless, more often than not, the two sides have respectfully (if not always gently) disagreed on issues such as sovereignty vs. freewill, inerrancy of Scripture, etc. When it comes down to it, for many centuries now, many groups of so-called Bible-believing Christians have recognized a core of shared beliefs, most clearly articulated in the ancient creeds. As I reflect on both the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed... neither of which have a lot to say about the afterlife. I think it's safe to say it is not much. Scripture itself veils the whole matter in mysterious language - not at all clear or comprehensive. I'm guessing that is on purpose. Perhaps because it is beyond our human capacity to comprehend, except "through a glass darkly", i.e., the revelation of the Holy Spirit to our spirit. God gives us exactly what we need for our salvation, right? Regardless, I think we can agree that one thing about eternal judgment is very clear: God is in total and complete control. He will surely do it with justice and grace... all motivated by and infused with His perfect love.

Regarding judgment, the Nicene Creed merely affirms:

He [Christ] will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

And, by the way, regarding generosity of spirit among Christians it says:

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

What it all means to me is this: important as it may be, nevertheless, eternal judgment is simply not our domain - it is God's alone. And though we need to be wise and discerning... still, we absolutely must approach the issue with humility, fear and trembling. I don't think I would call anyone a heretic unless I truly felt they were setting up theological barriers, effectively preventing people from receiving the free gift of grace... that is, a renewed and restored relationship with God, available to the "whole world" through Jesus Christ. Our job is to be witnesses to the light of Christ, all while understanding the implications of continuing to live in darkness (both here and in the life to come). Honestly, with that in mind I don't see how Rob Bell qualifies as a false teacher. He doesn't deny the "bad" news of eternal judgment - he only challenges our modern assumptions about the degree and scope by which God will carry it all out in His perfect love.

Unfortunately though, I don't sense very much generosity among fundamentalist Calvinists these days. As a Wesleyan/Arminian Christian... I find that kind of insulting. More and more, I'm hearing and reading some pretty divisive things from leaders among the Reformed camp, which saddens me. Obviously, this has really come into focus with the Rob Bell book. It seems as though they believe they have a corner on truth (Truth?)... and the rest of us are false teachers, leading people to destruction. Where is the generosity of spirit between the differing camps of orthodox Christianity? Where is the gentleness of correction and disagreement? Where is iron sharpens iron? I've read some alarmingly mean-spirited things written by the aforementioned pastors... and of course, their vast crowd of blogger followers. As I said, many of them wrote Bell off as a heretic even before the book was released! All because of a four minute video? Really? Honestly, I wonder if many of the bloggers are merely perpetrating what their heroes tell them they should believe. For the past several years, Brian McLaren has been a favorite target of theirs... and now it's Rob Bell, who dared to write a book exploring the afterlife... a book he audaciously decided to call Love Wins. Yes, I saw the video... and yes, Rob Bell certainly seems to be enjoying stirring the pot just to sell more books... but nothing he has said or done seems to deserve the tone of the attacks by his chorus of angry critics. Come on... why not attack real heretics and false messiahs like Oprah, or Tom Cruise, or any number of New Age spiritual wackos that lead people into the lie of self-glorification? Yes, Bell asked some controversial, thought-provoking questions... and he even inferred the possibility that Gandhi could be in heaven. But does any human being know for certain where God might send someone like Gandhi in the afterlife? Do you or I know? Does Driscoll? I'm pretty sure only God knows. And clearly, God looks at the heart. So, is it evil to ask questions about our time-honored doctrines, so firmly planted in the Enlightenment and rooted in rationalism? Is it so evil to think God may have another way of invoking pure justice on his creation than by sending all non-Christians to hell forever? Does the concept of God allowing "evil" people into His embrace (beyond what we can ascertain from the pages of Scripture) really that offensive to us? Is the Bible crystal clear about these things... or has the Church been shaped by cultural truisms that may not be biblically-based whatsoever? So Piper disagrees on Bell's view of the afterlife... is that disagreement borne more out of what Scripture clearly says, or what contemporary Christian tradition says? Biblical interpretation has always been, and always will be, a difficult, humbling process. But more and more, it seems as though if you don't interpret the Bible the way some people do, then you're labeled a false teacher. And therefore, attacks can be justified. My question is this: at what point does protection of Scripture become Phariseeism? They killed Jesus for his outrageous claims about the love of the Father... all in the name of protecting the law of Moses.

I don't need everyone to agree with me, not by any means. Nevertheless, I do hope and pray that we brothers and sisters in Christ can continue to dialogue, can continue to debate, can continue to encourage one another... and in humility, help one another discover and embrace the love of God more profoundly as we journey along together on this beautiful, yet extraordinarily difficult path called Christian discipleship. In the words of my home-boy, Jesus (found in John 13:35), "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Amen and Amen! What a concept.