More Than Stone

There are both spoken and unspoken rules in Christianity. The laws that we often pick up via the culture of the church. Tithing is mandatory, and the tithe goes to the church. Strong and vocal women are not being “subject to their husbands.” Certain types of music are sinful. Tattoos are unbiblical. There is something slightly “unredeemable” about a girl that loses her purity. The list goes on. I’m sure that we could add dozens more.

I’m ashamed to say that for much of my adult life, I lived by many of these laws. Unfortunately, law does not truly impact personal thinking, except to control behavior. We act or don’t act based on external controls. Judgment or Reward. If I behave this way, there is a price to pay. If I behave in that way, I will get some type of reward, (usually praise, or a sense of virtue).

Every one of my children has lied to me. When they were young, the law was simple. “We do not tell fibs, young lady!” As my children grew in maturity, our interactions became more nuanced. “Sweetheart, when you lie to me, it breaks trust. Trust is essential in our relationship. I want you to trust me, and I need to trust you. Do you understand the damage that happens in our relationship when trust is broken?” The focus was not on the law, but on the fidelity of relationship. Certainly law is useful when awareness is limited. Over time and with maturity, “I am not allowed to hit” becomes “I will not resort to violence, because violence is damaging to relationship. I love this person and do not want to violate our relationship.”

I wonder why we so often never move beyond the 2, or 3, or 5 year old comprehension of God. “I’m not allowed to lie” doesn’t become “Lying damages relationship.” We often do not move beyond “legal” statements to relational fidelity. I am convinced that if we approached God with our eye on fidelity instead of law, we might just find that our laws become unnecessary. Fidelity to Him, fidelity to each other.

Derek Webb A New Law Lyrics
(vs. 1)
don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music

don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus)
i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

(chorus)
i want a new law
i want a new law
gimme that new law

(vs. 2)
don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don’t teach me about loving my enemies

don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus/chorus)

(bridge)
what’s the use in trading a law you can never keep
for one you can that cannot get you anything
do not be afraid
do not be afraid
do not be afraid

Sunday morning’s service opened with a video from a local news station. The story was talking about James Cameron’s “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”. A local professor of religion was interviewed about the documentary. She said,

“For some people this is going to be threatening to their faith to think what does this really mean, but for most Christians I think it’s not going to change their faith one way or the other.”

The pastor’s sermon focused on the question “Does the truth of the resurrection matter?” It was a good sermon and the use of the video clip was a great way to address current news events and answer the questions that they may leave.

My tirade today is not about the sermon. It’s about the woman that was sitting behind me in the church service. The professor that was being interviewed was not attacking Christianity. She did not say hateful or insulting things. She simply revealed a basic (but massive) misunderstanding about orthodox Christianity. The professor declared that bones or no bones, the tenets of the faith wouldn’t be altered, because Jesus taught “good” principles.

As the video ended, the picture froze on the professor’s face. The woman behind me, in her outdoor voice, said “She looks better with her mouth closed.” Her husband said “Sounds better, too!”

Now, my children were with me. This is not the type of Christian behavior I want portrayed to them. Why did this woman feel that she needed to make smart-ass and adolescent comments about this professor? Why did the professor’s comments incite anger in this woman instead of compassion? Why did this woman feel the need to attack instead of love? What is it in us, (or some of us) which cause us to spew forth such hatred to non-believers or those who do not understand an orthodox faith?

This woman proceeded to “talk out loud” throughout the whole sermon. You know the drill, “That’s right”, “Amen”, “AMEN!” “MMhm”. First of all, it was distracting. Secondly, she’d already lost credibility by being so hateful.

I wondered…

if I happened to be a non-believer or a young believer walking into that church on an Easter morning….

and I happened to sit in front of this woman…

and perhaps, because I didn’t have a good understanding of the faith, I agreed with the professor…

out of misunderstanding, not contempt….

but, I never really heard the rest of the sermon about why the resurrection matters…

because if being a Christian meant I was supposed to act like that….

I’ll pass.

Technorati Tags: the+lost+tomb+of+jesus, church, christianity

Ok, I was not going to post anything about “The people formerly known as the congregation”, because everyone in the blogosphere was talking about it.

Then came, TPFKAC Part 2 or “The Penguins Formerly Known as the Waddle”

And then TPFKAC Part 3 or “The Community Coming To Be Known As Missional.”

And now, TPFKAC Part 4 or “The People Formerly Known As “The Pastor.”

I realize that not everyone who reads my blog is a big “blog reader”, so I post these for you, my dear non-bloggers…..

Shahshanked Redemption says:

May God have mercy on us for taking a passage, which is supposed to bring healing and restoration to the body of Christ to YET AGAIN another tool of destruction, humiliation and above all, control.

Take a few minutes to read this post on how we in the church handle sin.

Ok, now I know that John Smulo is listening in on my conversations. (Hey, John…stop it!)

My husband and I were talking last night about…well…I guess in the broadest sense…God. And our theology. And where our theology comes from. And how often we don’t think about where our theology comes from. Many Christians wouldn’t categorize their beliefs as theology or doctrine… but it is.

Though I never would have categorized it as such, up until a few years ago, my doctrine was something like this:

I believe in penal substitution. (OH-and if you can’t name the exact time that the substitution took place, well….perhaps you had better think again)

I believe in voting Republican. (GET behind me, DEMOCRAT!)

I believe in voting anti-abortion.

I believe that homosexuality is wrong. (Remember the SODOMITES!)

I believe in Quiet Time. (Insert angelic choir sounds here)

I believe moralism=good Christianity.

I believe in avoiding hell at all costs.

I believe that Scripture is the AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD. (And useful for teaching and beating people with.)

I know this seems ridiculous, and frankly, asinine. However, it’s the truth. Much of my belief system was rooted in the NO’s, as John points out in his post. Could it be that much of the negativity that we see in Christianity, the focus on behavior modification is because our theology is rooted in the fall? I’ve been mulling this over for a couple of months now, and at least for me, it has some traction. If my theology ceases to be rooted in the fall and is now rooted in redemption, doesn’t that change everything? It does for me. Though I’m still working things out in my mind (just ask my good friend TA), I think my doctrinal statement would look a little more like this:

I believe that Jesus died for my personal sins, but the gospel is SO much more than Jesus coming to die for my sins. It was the inauguration of the redemption of the whole world.

I believe that the Church should NOT be partisan. We should be purple. We should be calling both sides to justice, honesty and morality.

I believe that as a citizen of the new Kingdom, I cannot withdraw from society, huddled into a bible-study bunker. We, as citizens of the new Kingdom, are to live in a way so as to work alongside of God to achieve that redemption.

I believe that how I live is as important as what I believe. The power of my life is my best apologetic.

I believe that I have no business talking about hell in the life while ignoring hell in the here and now.

I believe that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Many thanks to both Scot McKnight and N. T. Wright for my burgeoning suppositions.

Oh, and to the aforementioned TA, for so graciously listening to my rantings and being patient, loving and NON-judgemental when I go off track. TA-it ain’t over yet.

Technorati Tags: Scot McKnight, NT Wright, religious right, republican, democrat, theology, doctrine

Craig Ferguson, a late night TV host, made an absolutely brilliant statement. Probably one of the best statements I’ve heard recently, and as far as I know, he’s not a Jesus follower. He was doing a bit on Pat Robertson’s recent prediction of mass killings at the end of 2007.

Ferguson said,

“I think what happens is that some of these televangelists, they prey on the good-will of the congregation… People flock to these preachers, cause they want someone to tell them everything is gonna be all right. But here’s my thing, you can’t have certainty and faith. You can’t. You can’t have them at the same time. If you have faith, you don’t need certainty. If you have certainty, you don’t need faith. They can’t coexist. It doesn’t make sense. You can’t be hungry and full. You can’t be drunk and sober. You can’t be fat and thin. It doesn’t make any sense.”

This is an absolutely fascinating statement. If we have faith, we do so many of us flock to those public figures that predict the future through “prophecy” or promise the “best life now” or promise healing. Where is the faith in that? Are we not simply running off to soothe sayers? What is the difference, other than some use the name of Jesus and others don’t?

It reminds me of Job’s story, in some ways. It all came crashing down on poor Job. When I think I’m having a bad day, I just think of Job…puts things in perspective. Job lost his house, his children, his wealth, and then to make a bad day worse, his wife tells him “Why don’t you just curse God and die.” My husband loves when I say that to him.

So, there Job is, when his friends show up. The see how absolutely miserable he is. Scripture says that he looked so bad, they hardly recognized him. His friends sat with him for 7 days, mourning with him. But 7 days of mourning was about all they could handle. I think that we are not much different. We can only stand someone else’s grief for so long before we have to jump in and “fix it”. But that’s a story for another day….

His friend Eliphaz (I’ll call him Eli) jumps in and says, “Hey, Job, do you mind if I jump in here?” From there, Eli goes on to tell Job that the innocent prosper and the wicked get what they deserve. Hmmm…what was Eli implying?

Then old Bildad (Bill for short) weighs in. He suggests that perhaps Job’s children deserved to die for their sins and that if Job would simply repent, then certainly God would restore him.

As if this isn’t enough, then Zophar (Zoe for short) jumps in. He proceeds to tell Job that he is a mocker and a babbler and that he got LESS than he deserved from God as punishment.

Round and round it goes….for chapter after chapter. Eli, Bill and Zoe accuse and condemn Job (apparently, these guys have never heard of a fair fight). Job doesn’t fear God, Job is wicked, Job is clearly not listening to God. Of course, Job spends much time attempting to vindicate himself before his 3 “friends”. However, at some point the convo stops, because his 3 friends were disgusted with Job, as he was “righteous in his own eyes.” Then, to Job’s delight I’m sure, another friend swings by Job’s pad. I’ll call him Eli Jr. (no relation to the older Eli). Junior is already in a right state by the time he speaks. He was ticked with Job for justifying himself. He was ticked with the older 3 men, because they were unsuccessful at proving Job wrong. Junior takes 5 chapters and just lets Job have it.

And then…..drum roll….blowing of the shofar…..

Jehovah shows up.

I just love God. He has a fabulous sense of humor. So, God shows up and speaks to Job out of the storm. Even this is a clever little play on words. I think when God shows up, He must show up in the midst of a tempest, but Job was experiencing quite a tempest of his own. So God tells Job …
“Ok, Mister Man…get ready for me. I will now ask the questions, and YOU can answer.” God proceeds to ask Job questions like “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the world? Can you create lightening so that it says to you ‘Here I am?” Stuff like this. I’m thinking Job was feeling a bit humble. About halfway through God’s tirade, Job breaks in and says “Ok, Ok, You are right, God, I’ll shut up”. But God isn’t done with Job, yet. God continues to question Job with more humbling questions. One of my favorite questions that God asks is “Will you play with the leviathan like a bird, or put him on a leash for your girls?”. That’s funny. I don’t care what you say.

So, as the story wraps up, Job repents. He admits that he had no business questioning God or His purposes. Then, here comes the beautiful part, God totally OWNED Job’s friends. He tells them “that you have not spoken rightly of Me and that Job has. IF Job will pray for you, I will accept Job’s prayer and not deal accordingly with you.” BURN. I bet that Job’s friends were glad that Job was not the vindictive type. Job DID pray for his friends and God accepted Job’s prayers.

So, if you’re still with me, you may be wondering, “What the heck does this have to do with Pat Robertson and Craig Ferguson?” Well maybe, not much. However, I think it speaks to this need for us to have all the answers. Pray and God will heal. Be holy and God will bless you. Seek God and He will tell you the future so you can prepare.

God is not a gumball machine. We can’t stick in a quarter (the right action) and expect a gumball (the thing we want) to pop out. God is God. Who are we to question?

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Technorati Tags: Pat Robertson, prediction, Craig Ferguson, Job, prophecy, healing, prophetic, Joel Osteen,

Phil Wyman has called for synchronized blogging on syncretism in the Church. Though I’ve not been asked to post on this topic, leaving the matter to those more educated than I, it has caught my attention nonetheless. And for those that don’t know me, I do have trouble keeping quiet

Individualism:
~ a social theory advocating the liberty, rights, or independent action of the individual
~ the principle or habit of or belief in independent thought or action.
~ the pursuit of individual rather than common or collective interests; egoism.
Philosophy.
a. the doctrine that only individual things are real.
b. the doctrine or belief that all actions are determined by, or at least take place for, the benefit of the individual, not of society as a whole.

Individualism is the cause of many of the ills we see in the American church. Our churches stress and teach individualistic notions as the primary message of the Gospel. In our atomized society, church and God have become a quick pit stop where we can fill our individual spiritual tanks. “Salvation” has become a completely independent experience and excercise. There is no sense of the communal sense of salvation; as we join with Christ, we are joined with the Body, in which Christ dwells.

An individualistic society stresses independence and individual achievement versus interdependence and group success. I was recently talking with a group of 30 or 40 Christians about world poverty and the churches role in eradicating poverty. Someone said, “Well, it’s not our responsibility to take care of that.”

An individualistic society stresses private property, ownership and upward mobility versus group property, ownership or economic commonality. Think about how often one of the first major tasks a local church takes is working towards setting up the building fund. We must own something. We have to have a place to call our own. Without regard for how this “need” might affect the Church worldwide or it’s mission in the world.

In every study done on American parents, compared with other nations, even industrialized nations, US parents overwhelmingly stress the goal of making their children independent, both socially and economically. I would add, as Christians, we also work towards spiritual independence. The church has become the classroom, where personal holiness can be individually mastered.

We do not see the Church as something that trancends geography, economics, education, time and space. The church is now a group of individuals gathered around a doctrine, a ritual, a person or an ethical code.

I stand alone before God, giving my 10%, reading my bible, confessing my sin, and receiving personal forgiveness. And then, I go to heaven.

Personal Salvation~what more do I need?

Technorati Tags: syncretism, personal+salvation, church,

This video sums it up. I have nothing to add.

Technorati Tags: law, religion, freedom, Derek+Webb, mockingbird, New+law

A really funny article on cussing….On Swearing. And another here …. Cussing Christians.

Technorati Tags: off the map, burnside+writers+collective, Pam Hogeweide, Jordon Green,

If you don’t like Lewis Black’s edgy humor or you DO like Jerry Falwell. Don’t click the play button

Technorati Tags: Lewis Black, humor, Jerry Falwell