Pathways

I had a nice conversation with a good friend the other day. We talked about pathways to God and other mysteries of life... you know, some light conversation over coffee. Anyway, according to the well-known religious guru, Oprah Winfrey, there are many pathways to God, and (my interpretation of her words) Christians are rather arrogant to think they know the only way to eternal life.

Hmmmm... I realize Oprah is a very good and very powerful person. She has very publicly, very generously given away many things to needy people, and has poured herself into causes of injustice around the world. But just because she's popular... just because she's giving... just because she's a celebrity (in a culture that worships celebrities)... just because she's a "good" person, I have - and always did have - a problem with Oprah's "many pathways to God" theology. Just who is her god anyway? I submit she believes that "god" is found deep within ourselves. With enough positive thinking, we can tap into our inner god. A novel idea, but one that goes against the Jewish/Christian concept of a powerful creator.

For example, here is an Oprah quote from a 2002 article: "I became calm inside myself and I thought, The outside world is always going to be telling you one thing, have one impression—accusatory, blaming, and so forth. And you are to stand still inside yourself and know the truth, and let it set you free. And in that moment, I won that trial."

Now, I don't pretend to know whether "good" sacrificial, generous, god-fearing (i.e., Christlike) people of other world religions are on the right pathway toward salvation. No one knows the eternal destiny of other human beings... only God alone knows that. As followers of the Way, we are called to discern a person's standing before God perhaps - and be witnesses of His mercy and grace - but never to judge or condemn them to "hell".

Like Oprah, I do not believe that people must (magically) utter the name of Jesus, or bow down to the cross, or read a Bible, or say the sinner's prayer... or (for heaven's sake) be regular church attenders in order to be on the "path" of salvation. So, if Oprah believes Christians are arrogant to think they are the only people on earth who have even a glimmer of hope of eternity (just because they were lucky enough to be born into the right culture)... I would agree with her. I firmly believe salvation is far more complex, far messier than that... part of the divine mystery. Finite creatures attempting to know the ways of the infinite God will never fully grasp Him.

However, unlike Oprah, I don't believe there are many pathways to God... there is only one... and that is right response to the light we have been given (by whatever means that light may be shed). In other words, I believe the One true God can and does have the power and motivation to reveal Himself to humanity... ALL of humanity. And ultimately, He invites every human being to look outside themselves - to walk on the path of eternity - through His Spirit. For many, this light is the gospel of Jesus Christ... that is, an invitation to walk in relationship with the Jewish Messiah - to live as he lived, and believe as he taught. For others, the light... the revelation of God... may be cast in different shades or colors... but nevertheless, the invitation to turn away from self-worship (to repent) and turn toward something far more powerful than themselves... is given. Now, just how and where salvation plays out in the midst of this revelatory transaction takes place is a complete mystery... wouldn't you agree?

Anyway, here's my beef with Oprah. Ultimately, it seems her god is found from within... in other words, we are god. If we just believe in ourselves more, if we search deeply inside our soul... our inner sanctuary, if we seek inner peace and harmony (the goodness within us all)... we will find salvation... bliss... the pathway to God.

But the God I know... the One who whispered my name and revealed Himself to me... The One who was, and is, and always will be... let me in on a little secret: Creation is good, very good... but within the bounds of human history, something very bad occurred... something which profoundly damaged the goodness of creation... In the context of freedom, a wrong choice was made, thereby damaging humanity's eternal relationship with God. But God - knowing our determined desire to find the answer within ourselves - allowed humanity to attempt to fix their own problems... to be "good" and moral beings strong enough and righteous enough to restore the broken relationship (in their own strength... with some help from God). But after thousands of years and countless cycles of failure (as told in the Old Testament stories of God's chosen people)... After it became abundantly clear humanity is "lost" apart from God... In the fullness of time, God revealed Himself more fully, more personally. The Lord Himself joined us in our stead, He came to our world and personally paid the high cost of our salvation. We, therefore - through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - have the opportunity to live in a restored relationship with our Creator.

The answer is not found within ourselves, Ms. Winfrey... the answer is found outside of us, as we invite Him to come near. The answer is found in the loving, faithful, ever-so-patient, sacrificial, and yet oft-frustrated God who made us, cares for us, disciplines us, goes to the ends of the earth for our sake... and yes, the God - the ONLY God - who provides the Way for our eternity. "god" has a name - He revealed Himself to us as Yahweh. He then chose to more fully reveal Himself to us through His Son, Jesus... and by His Spirit. That is not a statement of arrogance... it is a Trinitarian statement of faith - it is an articulation of hope for those who seek something powerful and grace-filled of which they can cling to... forever.

Holy Week

It's 4:23 AM and I haven't slept very much all night. On top of that, I'm either suffering from a serious bout of hay fever, or I've gone and caught a fairly nasty cold. I think I know what's going on... with only a few (extremely pressure-packed) weeks to go in my seminary career, I'm remembering what I knew when I came here six years ago... I'm allergic to Kansas City! I need to head back to God's country, Washington State... quite literally to clear my head once again! :-)

Last night was interesting. On Wednesday nights at my church, the Sr. pastor and I trade off leading the devotional service. I love Wednesday nights, primarily because it's interactive... no sermon, no formal service... just a few songs of my choosing and an open-ended time of spiritual discussion, typically based on something found in the Bible (though that's not always the case). For the past several weeks, we've been making our way through the book of Judges.

Wow... I've read those stories several times before... but I've never really slowed down long enough to be shocked by them. Much of the book of Judges is appalling, if not downright offensive. I realize much of the text has to be filtered through the lens of significant cultural change, etc. Nevertheless, most of it is depressing and heartbreaking stuff. Wanton murdering, lying, raping, cheating, stealing, power-grabbing, idol worshipping... and those are the "good guys"! Basically, to me, Judges reveals humanity at its worst... base-level, unbounded sin. There is an interesting line scattered throughout the text that is rather intriguing: "In those days Israel had no king." No king... no leadership, no vision, no gelling agent, no boundaries, no relationship with Yahweh. But there's one thing they did have... religion - or should I say religiosity. An appearance of authenticity, but laced with self-centered, self-serving poison. Just one or two generations removed from Moses... geez, you'd think people would remember the miracles, remember the warnings, remember the grace that was shown their fathers and grandfathers... but no... they were content to turn from the One True God, and chase after false gods with a vengeance.

I guess the irony is that the Lord didn't want Israel to have a king... HE desired to be their king... and He even set up a system to raise up human "judges" (or stewards?) to give them someone they could relate to... But the people rejected His offer of grace. They wanted a human king, someone to wear the royal robe and diadem... someone who would powerfully lead the tribes of Israel into battle and give them victory over their enemies. So eventually, God gave the people what they demanded. But - if I understand the history properly - in this in-between time, God began to lift His hand of mercy from the stubborn, stiff-necked Israelites, and left the people to their own devices. Therefore, the book of Judges reflects a dark time in history when "Israel had no king." The last three chapters of the book are particularly gruesome and troubling. When you finish reading the story of the "Concubine in Twelve Parts"... you just feel kind of empty inside, realizing how disgusting people can really be toward one another.

Strange way to end the book huh? And... a strange book to finish up on Holy Week huh? Yes, and no. As we digested the grotesque treatment of the poor woman in the story, a few things were pointed out:

1. If we think the world we live in is bad (and it is), compared to the time of the Judges, our day and age seems rather tame.

2. If possible, the world very well have been even worse in the days of Noah... in other words, there may be no end to the depravity of our sinful hearts. That at least helps me understand better why God decided to destroy the world and start over again with Noah and his family.

3. Though I read those stories and conclude that God ought to nuke the whole bunch of them... even in the midst of their rejection of Him, and their violence toward one another... God saw them as valuable enough to forgive... lovely enough to redeem... special enough to rescue.

4. Very simply... thank God for Jesus. Thank God that He came. Thank God that in spite of everything, He never backed away from His merciful offer to be our King. Thank God that He sees the good in us, even when it's not readily apparent. Thank God for the self-emptying love of our Messiah.

Verbal Venom 2

Over the course of time, we disciples are given insight as a result of reading the Word and spending time with the Lord in prayer. This work of the Spirit is not done in a vacuum, however, but rather in and through the community of other like-minded believers and followers of Jesus. That has certainly the case for me in terms of this subject.

I have had a rough week. My sister-in-law, the one I posted about last week, died three days ago. Being 2000 miles away from the epicenter of my family (not to mention being a starving student) made that stressful, not only in terms of the grieving within my family - but also in terms of preparing to fly out for the funeral, etc. Here's my point. I haven't had time to follow up the Verbal Venom posting... much less the desire. Somehow, the loss of someone I love - someone who died too young - distracted me, and prevented me from thinking very clearly.
But God, in His mercy, provided insight through the community of online blog-ism. He provided Bub... probably not his (or her?) real name (if it is, perhaps we should flog the parents). Nevertheless, Bub came through for me in his response to the questions I asked in my last post. Since it is more likely others will actually see his response if they are posted afresh, his insightful, Spirit-directed advice on living with jerks (even in the community of God) is copied below in all its unedited glory:

interesting situation. seems strangely familiar. in reflecting on this situation, i'd venture a guess that this is all too common in our churches. this could be troubling, or it could be seen as an opportunity (or it could be seen as a troubling opportunity!) . i really think that our struggle really isn't against those pain in the butt types that we encounter in life. rather, it's a struggle against those forces of the enemy that may be at work in those pain in the butt types we encounter. ( i think that's Paul's take on it.) and let's be fair. who of us has not been the pain in someone's butt? we've all fallen short of God's glory, right? we all screw up.

so what's the difference in the body of Christ. honestly, my temptation would be to right off this veritable vomiter of verbal venom. you know, just disconnect completely and detach. classic conflict-avoidance. i'm not sure Christ will let us get away with that. admittedly, i can be kinda dim and there is a lot about Christ that is mysterious, but I think i get this much. Christ is about redemption and reconciliation. what if your friend didn't excuse or take this kind of behavior from her acquaintance? but what if she also surrounded this situation in prayer and invited others to join her in this truly spiritual battle? what if truth was spoken in love and sin was confronted and restoration began? what if the attempts of the enemy to fracture Christ's Body were thwarted because the members of the Body resolved to hang together and together, administer healing to this wounded member?

my life's experience is that those who bark loudest and bite hardest are often also hurting most profoundly.

i think if it were me, i'd advise your friend to pray for patience and grace. i'd counsel them to find a way to confront the sinful behavior and seek active loving ways to manifest Christ's healing to this injured individual. pie in the sky? a naive and pollyanna approach? maybe. but if Christ really can make all things new and if He expects us to get involved in the process, i guess i have to believe that He can make it happen.

i think that a largely non-christian world watching us "Jesus people" would sit up and take notice if we really loved eachother when it wasn't easy and resolved our conflicts in our churches.

anybody can love folks that are nice and just like them. even sinners to that. (have i heard that somewhere before?) i am hearing a call to a radical kind of love - a love i know precious little about and have absolutely no resources in and of myself to create....but i've got to believe it exists. otherwise, i've got nothin' to hang my hat on with this jesus.

Amen, Bub. It sounds like you have wrestled with these issues before, and we get to be the benefactor in an iron-sharpens-iron sort of way. Thanks for a thought-provoking response to a difficult set of questions.

Verbal Venom

Jesus (good mood): But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.

Jesus (bad mood): The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water?

Paul (good mood): Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Paul (bad mood): You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?

So... which is it? Are we supposed to love our enemies, or challenge the hypocrites? Are we supposed to not let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, or confront people with not-so-gentle phrases such as "you foolish Galatians" or "Who has bewitched you?"???

Yes.

The other day, I was talking with a friend about this very subject (yes, you know who you are!). She is dealing with a really difficult guy in her church community with the spiritual gift of entering a room and causing everyone to brace themselves for the emotional train wreck that will inevitably result. This guy jumps first, and thinks later. And, rather than apologize for the carnage he lays to waste, his way of showing remorse for his over-the-top behavior is to (on his terms of course) give a loud, seemingly insincere apology, then move on without even waiting for a response from the offended party. And this guy is a longtime Christian for goodness sake! People are so intimidated by his presence, most everyone avoids eye contact when they meet him in the hall, and prays he doesn't sit by them at a meeting... out of fear that his shotgun approach to relationship-building will accidentally be aimed in their direction.

So what should my friend do? Should she love her enemy, or grab this guy by the spiritual collar and forcefully tell him to knock it off? Should she build him up with kindness, or let this jerk have it with both barrels? Her flesh may want to rip him to pieces, but her spirit says that is not a proper biblical response. I offered some thoughts, of course (I always have a response)... I'll share them in the next day or so... but I'm wondering what you think. Just what is the appropriate response to such a pain in the keester? What is the very best thing for the person overall? For the community? For my friend? How does love look inside the community of faith when someone walks around so full of mean-spirited verbal venom? Feel free to reply with a comment... I know it's intimidating, but don't worry, it's easy... and I'd like to read your comments. Besides, there's only a handful of people who read this blog anyway - so it's safe.

Why, Lord?

From Psalm 18 (The Message):

The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

Someone I'm very close to is dying. A dreaded disease has entangled itself around her organs and is slowly snuffing out her life. She is an extraordinarily positive person, and brave beyond my comprehension... both of which have likely kept her alive this long. But she is growing weary of the battle, I can sense it. I keep praying for a miracle... and believe He can touch her body if He chooses. That said, however, I want to walk a careful line between faith in Him and demandedness of Him.

It's kind of weird, but I've never had anyone really close to me die before - that is - except my grandparents and an elderly aunt and uncle. But somehow, my large nuclear family has managed to escape the inevitable loss of someone taken from us way before their time. Five brothers and sisters, with husbands, wives and kids,etc.... and yet, we've not had to deal with the shock of losing someone young. But I think we're about to experience a significant shock wave fairly soon. I feel so helpless. I'm 2000 miles away from my family, and really don't have the resources to do anything except throw out the occasional sound byte to God... "Lord, please heal her, give the family peace"... you know what I mean, don't you? Where's the power in that?

But tonight was different. Tonight was about much more than a sound byte to God. Tonight it all became real and powerful and searingly painful. Tonight I came to a whole new realization of the value each person brings into my life... especially family members - those I know more intimately. Tonight I got beyond my self-centered little world, and felt a tremendous amount of pain for someone I love... and as a result my heart is hurting deeply. I can't stop weeping. Why do people have to get sick? Why does death have to rob us of our togetherness? Why does life have to be so fragile and painful? Why do perfectly healthy, perfectly happy, perfectly young people have to suffer for no apparent reason... and why do we have to witness the beautiful gift of life slowly bleeding out of their body?

In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. There is one thing that is of great comfort in all this confusion and pain. Somehow, through the fog of our experience, the Lord reveals Himself as light in the darkness... He hears our cries for help. He may not answer our prayers in the way we would like Him to, but He does quiet our spirit when we're afraid. He does call us by name when we're feeling very alone and afraid. He does reassure us that He loves us very deeply and eternally when we're in deep spiritual pain.

Somehow, tonight was different... somehow, tonight my cry came before Him... tonight I prayed far more than a sound byte. And He heard me. He brought a sense of comfort to the person who is suffering. He brought His holy presence to someone who is in the darkest valley of their earthly existence. He poured out His anointing on a phone conversation, enabling two people to connect by means of His Holy Spirit. Tonight a prayer was heard, and felt, and answered. Tonight, we encountered together the One who is all too familiar with suffering and death... and He reminded me that He is also the One who was resurrected and lives for our sake.

Thank you, Abba, for filling our emptiness with your divine presence. Amen.

Go Away From Me!

Yesterday, I posted about Simon Peter's doubt when Jesus told him to let down his nets for a catch. But I missed another important element of the story. When Peter did obey, the nets were overwhelmed... and so was Simon. After spending an entire night of fishing with no results. Mind you, this was a "professional" fisherman who lived and breathed the vocation of hauling in the catch. It was his family tradition and primary source of income, so I think we can safely assume that Simon knew how to fish. And yet, nothing. A whole night of effort with no reward.

Then Jesus entered the picture, and everything changed. "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." I don't know where Peter spent his night fishing... presumably where he knew the deep underwater pools attracted the big fish to come and hang out for a midnight snack. To catch fish, you have to go to where they are. But for all his expertise, Simon and crew came up empty and exhausted. When Jesus hopped into his boat, I'm sure Simon was relieved to just sit there and listen to the Master teach the people. But when He was done, He told Simon to put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Can't you just hear Simon's incredulity...? (Sigh)... Okay, Master, if you say so. (Parenthetical, sexist remark): Obviously Simon was a married man, because he was trained to resign himself to doing things somebody else wanted... e.g., "Yes, Dear."

Then comes the shocking haul of fish. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Wow, in the course of no more than a few hours, their labor went from fruitless to overwhelmingly abundant. By their own (legitimate) efforts... nothing, not even a minnow. However, after spending time with the Master... and consequently obeying His command... the nets begin to break due to the large number of fish in them.

Simon's response is what I'd really like us to consider... On the surface, it doesn't make any sense. Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man! Gee, Simon - the Lord does an awesome, otherwise unexplainable work of grace through your obedience - and you tell him to hit the road! In the words of Jar Jar Binks, "How wude!" How about a simple, "Thank you", or "Wow, You're awesome, Lord!" Nope, Simon's response is, "I don't want to be near you." Why?

Perhaps the answer lies in the second part of his surprising statement... "I am a sinful man!" I mean, I try, Lord, I really do... but often times my efforts don't get me anywhere. I've been working at this church for so long... and it doesn't seem like it's any better off now than it was when I got here. Or how about this: I've been teaching Sunday School for years now, and have never been able to lead anyone to Christ... I've been praying for my prodigal son (or daughter) to come back home for years now, but they're still living a destructive life... I've tried to be nice to my pastor (or priest) but he's so callous and impersonal... why don't you step in and help me, God?

We live by confident faith that God watches over our coming and going... but we also live with an understanding that God doesn't always answer our prayers - He is not our puppet. We have to guard against having a demanding spirit toward God's benevolence. Often times, He quietly weaves His grace into our lives without our knowledge. Sometimes, He chooses to remain quiet when we're going through difficult circumstances... but no matter what our emotions might want to tell us in the dark of night... we can rest assured that our heavenly Father never stops loving us or caring about the storms of life we face in this world.

But sometimes, He shocks us... overwhelms us with His holy presence... and even though it's a really good thing... our mind goes into spiritual overload... and, like Simon, we can't handle standing there before Him, feeling naked and utterly unworthy. I think it's because when God reveals Himself to us... we simultaneously see His holiness and our unholiness... causing us to shrink away from such perfection. I wonder what it will really be like when we supposedly "stand" before Him in the day of judgment...? Regardless of what Romans 14:10 says, I can't see us standing before Him whatsoever... In fact, I'm pretty sure we'll all be flat on our face, trembling in the wonderful, paradoxical mix of fear and joy associated with meeting Abba Father in His throne room.

Wow... What a day that will be! In the meantime, there's much work to be done... so let's push out to deep water and go fishing!

Amazing Grace

So, what is it about human nature that makes it so hard to forgive one another? I was reading the account of the crucifixion this morning in Mark 15, and something struck me afresh. Jesus was on His way to the cross, carrying His own cross (actually, just the crossbeam portion I'm guessing). Of course, this is only after being put on false trial, mocked, brutally beaten, etc... you get the idea.

But the thing that caught my eye this morning wasn't the story of Jesus carrying His own cross... it was the fact that "they" (whoever they are) grabbed a passer-by named Simon of Cyrene and made him carry the heavy, splintery, now-bloody crossbeam... apparently because Jesus could not physically carry it any longer Himself. I wonder if Simon of Cyrene ever forgave the Jews, the Romans, and perhaps even Jesus for invading his privacy and making him carry that stupid cross. He was just passing by from the country - he had no beef with the Roman government. Why'd "they" pick him to carry that disgusting thing... UPHILL? And Jesus... if He hadn't gone and stirred up trouble, taking on the religious leaders, and making statements like, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days" (John 2:19)... Simon would not have been put in this God-forsaken position in the first place! But alas, as the Bible so often does, it only mentions Simon in passing - it never lets us in on his emotional state after being forced to do such a humiliating task.

Why do I ask if Simon ever forgave everyone? Because even though he had to carry the cross, I wonder if Simon really understood what was really happening in Jerusalem that fateful day. I wonder if he stuck around and heard Jesus cry "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" shortly before breathing His last? I wonder if Simon ever realized that Jesus died for him... and his family... and his relatives... and the whole world? Because, unless Simon understood the significance of the cross in which he was enlisted to carry - that is, the significance of the crucifixion of Jesus - he probably went away embarrassed and angry, rather than grateful and repentant.

I'm convinced that it is only in the light of the cross that we have the proper perspective on our own pain and suffering at the hands of evil-intended people. If we judge our actions based on our own, extremely self-serving sense of justice rather than God's supremely self-giving act of love... then it is next to impossible to forgive those who conspire to hurt us. If we truly want to be free when we're trapped in a prison of unforgiveness... then all we have to do - all Simon had to do - is look to the enormity of God's willingness to become one of us and lay down His life for our sake. Anything and everything we'll ever face in this life pales in comparison. Paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, he said that in order for us to roughly understand the significance of the Incarnation (The Son of God coming into the world and being born of a woman)... is to think of ourselves letting go of our humanity in order to become a slug! Amen... and, I might add, becoming a slug with the full knowledge that evil people would eagerly be there to pour salt on our slimy little body.