| Rhett Smith:. Transitioning Life's Journey – Reflections on Writing, Therapy, and Faith |

How can you enjoy the benefits of Christ if you detach yourself from the living Christ?

January 11, 2005 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

That is the closing question from Tim Stafford, senior editor of Christianity Today, in his latest article titled, “The Church, Why bother?”

As you may have noticed from my last post, the topic of community, and its relation to church has been on my mind a lot. Or more appropriately, our relationship to Christ, and the role that the church plays in that.

Without dissecting that too much, let me say a few things, taking off from a quote by the 3rd century bishop and martyr, Cyprian.

“YOU CANNOT have God for your Father unless you have the Church for your Mother.”
Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church

Obviously from this quote, it would appear that one cannot both be a Christian, and yet not seriously consider the role of the church body in your spiritual walk. Just as everyone has a mother and father, so is there also a link between you as a Christian and your churchgoing…your role in church community. And though some of us might not have an intact family of both mother and father, or though we might have a family that does not always get along, so it is with the church at times. But nonetheless, you are family. And nonetheless, as a Christian, you are part of the church family, in which you are a vital member of it’s body, as Paul so cleary demonstrates in I Cor. 12:12, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

Stafford, nor I would question a person’s authenticity in relation to their conversion, or salvific experience, but what would be questioned is one’s commitment to Christ, if he or she is not involved in a church body. A church body provides many things, from encouragement, to growth, to accountability, an avenue of worship, and on and on. These are things that one cannot attain, or hope to aspire to outside of a body of believers in the church.

Stafford says, “The church is the body of Christ, and it carries his wounds. To know Christ is to share in the fellowship of his sufferings–even if the suffering comes at the hands of the sinners who sit in the pews or preach from the pulpit.”

To skip out on church, so as to avoid pain, suffering, disappointment is impossible. But rather, as believers in Christ Jesus, we have the greatest potential to grow spiritually through the testing, and trying of our faith through enduring patience within the context of the church community. “Somehow long-suffering is appropriate to a place and a people who worship Jesus. ‘How could we experience him in his death,’ Lillian wants to know, ‘if we could not tolerate some little deaths of ourselves?’”

As Christians, we have the unique opportunity to be a light to the world around us by the way we not only live in peace and joy in community, but also by the way we live in strife, and suffering, and patience with one another. In the Four Loves, C.S. Lewis states CT ’03., “Nature cannot satisfy the desires she arouses nor answer theological questions nor sanctify us. Our real journey to God involves constantly turning our backs on her; passing from the dawn-lit fields into some pokey little church, or (it might be) going to work in an East End Parish.” There is something bigger out there, pulling us into something that may seem small, and rigid and cooped up, like a church, when in reality, church and the community within let’s us experience and fulfill our greatest desires of belonging, even though we may at times be disillusioned by the reality only we can see.

Bonhoeffer puts it this way CT ’03., “Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it.”

These words seem very much like the words of most marriage counselors when a newly engaged couple arrives to their office. The couple may have all these lofty and unrealistic ideas and expectations of what a relationship should look and be like, without having even considered the hardwork and effort that is put into that relationship. In marriage, like in the church, we may expect a bed of roses and heaven on earth all the time, without realizing that those things are products of the hardwork, trials and suffering that are a part of the journey. For the counselor, this is their attempt to “burst the bubble” as they may put it, and help the couple correctly understand the greatest potential they have together when they understand the reality of all the hard work and joy and effort and happiness that is put into that relationship. With a correct understanding of disillusionment, where reality is put into context, greater potential is able to come to fruition. This is truly a movement from me, to we. And so this is often the case with our relationship with the church as well. A move more me in the church, to the we in the church.

In a CT article from June 23, 2003, titled “Suburban Spirituality, David Goetz states, “Disillusionment with one’s church, then, is not a reason to leave but a reason to stay and see what God will create in one’s life and in the local church. What I perceive to be my needsâ’I need a church with a more biblical preacher who uses specific examples from real life’âmay not correspond to my true spiritual needs.” CT ’03..

When we honestly reflect on our relationship with Jesus Christ, and the role our church community plays in that relationship, do we have a Gnostic faith as Tim Stafford states. “I would call it Gnostic faith. For them the spirit is completely separated from the body. They think your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way.” Or, can we honestly reflect and say that their is an integration of both body and soul, of how we communicate and live before God, and how we communicate and live before those in Christian community.

Read in full the article The Church, Why bother?.

And for more quotes on the importance of the church in our spiritual walk, read Reflections: The Church.

Community? What is it?

January 9, 2005 in Ministry-Theology with 1 Comment

Well, I’m not going to answer that question in this blog, but rather steer you towards some resources. As a lot of you know I have been struggling with what community is: What it looks like? How it works? Etc., Etc.

Most of these questions are coming out of my desire to better understand the role of the church in this postmodern age, and especially as I struggle to understand God’s desire for The Quest at Bel Air. As the church grows, it has been continually difficult for people to plug into community, or to feel any sense of belonging. Some of that responsibility falls on those sitting in the pews on Sunday, and their responsibility to get involved and take opportunities that are offered. And some of that responsibility falls on the church as it tries to figure out “who it is”, “what it looks like”, etc. Both parties, extending hands out to each other, and taking hold of one another. That seems like the proper analogy for me.

Well, I haven’t figured out these answers yet, but am searching. But today I was in Dallas, TX visiting my fiance’s parents. And we went to church at The Village Church where I heard a great sermon from the lead pastor Matt Chandler (check out the sermon for 1/9/05 when it posts). He’s in the midst of a series on love, and today he discussed the role of community in our love relationship with God. He began with a quote from John Calvin in Volume 4, Section 2, Chapter 1, where Calvin stated that God is Father, and the church is mother. (After further information, I have tracked that quote has been attributed to Cyprian, not John Calvin.

This quote got me thinking a lot about the importance of church, and the community found in church. Sometimes we can get so down on the church, and community, because we feel like our needs aren’t being met, so the first thing we often want to do is complain, or be bitter, or usually, go find another church.

But the quote from Calvin expresses the important unit of father and mother, and our relationship to God and how it is tied to the community of church. In Donald Miller’s latest book, Searching for God Knows What, he quotes Augustine as saying, “The church is my mother and a whore.” I can’t find that quote anywhere…so if it’s true, obviously I haven’t read Augustine well enough, or done my Google search that well. But I would say that that quote that Miller attributes to Augustine summarizes our feelings about church at times. We both adore her, and at times, can’t stand her. (If you know where this quote is located, you will have some type of prize).

These are just some thoughts to ponder as we all continue to ask questions about church and community and as Bel Air heads into a six week home group Lenten series. Hopefully this will be a time where people who feel outside of community can get plugged into it, and those who are in it can continue to grow and encourage the church.

If you are looking for some resources or a good book on the role of community in church, start by reading a book by the pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church, Tod Bolsinger. His book is titled It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How The Community of God Transforms Lives.

The Movie: “Constantine”

January 9, 2005 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

I have been hearing a lot of buzz about this movie Constantine, especially in Christian circles, as it deals with the themes of spiritual warfare and casting out demons, etc…and in Los Angeles. How relevant for us.

Craig Detweiller has an interesting article in the new hardcopy issue of Relevant Magazine. You won’t find the article in the online magazine though.

Dating & Marriage: Is It Love Or Infatuation? And What’s Important…Fear of God, Looks, Money, Power, etc.

January 7, 2005 in Marriage-Family with 0 Comments

If you are like me, living in LA, it’s hard not to be star struck, even if you have lived here for years. The fascination may have waned over the years, but you still get a little excited when you see someone out in public. Like the time i saw Adam Brody, also known as Seth Cohen from the O.C., out at the Coral Tree, and in line with Dustin Hoffman. Or the time I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger and his family at the Coral Tree as well. Hmm, maybe that’s a good place to see stars, which is probably why I stopped going there.

And with our fascination comes our tendency to elevate them to a certain status level, where we want to read all about them, dress like them, go where they hang out, and eat and drink. Why do you think the tabloids sell so much? We want to be like them. And because of this fascination and curiousity to catch up on what they are doing we begin to build a sort of false familiarity and intimacy, thinking we know who they are, what they are like, based soley on their public persona, and no first hand experiential knowledge.

I do this. We all do this. So I was somewhat surprised when I was driving to the gym tonight and I heard on KROQ that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston split. I was sort of shocked because I thought they were different. They seemed like an ideal couple. But how would I know? I don’t know them. My perception of them and who they were, and are, was solely shaped by the movies they were in, the photos we saw of them, the interviews they gave, and the things People, Us or In Touch magazines touted about them. Hardly credible evidence to claim any knowledge of someone.

Ultimately, I think most of us were infatuated with Brad and Jenn, “the couple”, and who they were as status symbols of looks, money, power, fashion and more. We all want to have that sort of image to those around us. We all want to be in a relationship that has some of those qualities. But as a Christian we are also looking for something different. I don’t know anything of Brad and Jenn’s spirituality, but I do know that for those of us who want to seriously consider dating someone, the other person’s spiritual life plays the most important part. Or does it? Should it? Is it balanced out with other components as well? Wherever you come down on this issue, I think we often sacrifice the spiritual role in a relationship for the more immediate and tangible things.

Much of scripture has many different things to say on this issue. In the Old Testament Proverbs 31:10-31 makes the case for a woman who fears God over charm and looks:

30Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.

The woman to be admired and praised

is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-GOD.

31Give her everything she deserves!

Festoon her life with praises!

In fact, if you think looks are so important over and against everything else, you better take a look at the humorous comment earlier in Proverbs:

Proverbs 11:22 (New International Version)

22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout

is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

So when choosing a “Wife of Noble Character” as Proverbs describes it, or a husband of the same quality, fear of God seems to be the overriding factor. Not looks, money, power, sex, fashion, etc., etc. Why? A simple but true statement would be to say that most of the Bible proclaims a fear of the LORD as more important than any other quality one can have. I guess that’s why I was somewhat surprised at one of our online Quest polls a couple of months ago. When asked what quality was the most important when finding a boyfriend or girlfriend, the response “seeking God” finished tied for second with “intelligence” while “attractiveness” finished in first, almost five percentage points ahead.

So how does this play out in my dating life? What about dating non-Christians? What about marrying non-Christians? Well, a proper answer would take more time and space than this entry will allow, so I will turn your attention to Paul’s writings in 2 Corinthians 6:14 (New International Version) where he states the following:

14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Wow! That’s a difficult statement to understand and read at times. So I will allow you the thinking and reflecting and praying about these issues that have been discussed. Ultimately, I think that just as we were infatuated with Brad and Jen and their supposed ideal relationship, we too become infatuated with someone, sometimes being blinded in our infatuation to what God’s Word says is really important.

I am no expert in this field. I have just recently gotten engaged to the woman I have been dating since May of 2003. But through our relationship I have truly learned what is important for us as a couple, and what things fade and are inconsequential, and what is meant to last and endure and prosper. I am almost 30, so I have waited a while to find myself in this position, but many of you are dating, or are thinking about dating, and you may never know when that times comes. That’s why it’s important for you to develop and form healthy dating habits now, because it’s not like one day you will just decide to throw on the switch and make the right decisions in relationships.

So as we soon head into a series on sex, talking about dating and marriage, and as we get closer to that much loved, and much hated holiday, Valentines Day, I know that dating is on your minds. That’s why I would like us to be in open dialogue about these issues, as well as providing some resources for you.

The first article are questions that one should consider asking of themself when they are thinking about dating someone.

12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Someone You Might Date

The second article is about 12 Tests that can help determine if your relationship is based more on love or infatuation.

12 Tests of Love by Chip Ingram

I as well as others would like to hear from you. So fire off any comments you may have.

In the Aftermath of the Tsunami, God is in the Forefront

January 5, 2005 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

We seem to be people with a very short memory at times. It was only a little more than three years ago that the Twin Towers in New York came crashing down in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, yet we seem to have moved on in certain respects which are beneficial, and in others which are not.

We have picked up and moved on, making new what was possible in the wake of the terrorist attack. And we have also moved on in our discussions about God since then as well. That was until an earthquake, followed by a tsunami wreaked havoc in parts of Southeast Asia. And now God is all of a sudden back in the headlines.

God has always been there, but like the tourists lying on beaches, not knowing what lay ahead, so it is with God sometimes. He is always present, but we tend to easily submerge him under the surface, and out of our minds, and out of our dialogues. Then without knowing what happened, there God is in the forefront again. Whether God is present in our minds and civil discourse may be a matter a free choice, or a matter of not knowing where else to turn when such devastating things happen.

The brilliant French Jesuit philosopher, paleontologist and biologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin had a great quote when he said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” So though God may not be always be in the forefront of our discussions, unless there is a disaster, nonetheless He is always present.

And it seems that these last few weeks have awakened our spiritual beings with the plight of humanity, begging God, and anyone and everyone for some type of answer to what has happened.

Any tragic or devastating event can raise all types of theological questions, but the most pressing seem to be the following:

The Problem of Evil The Sovereignty of God

The theology and conversation pertaining to this disaster, and these theological issues is broad and diverse, but to begin a dialogue and discussion on these issues there are a few good sites to visit:

Dr. Mark Roberts
Dr. Al Mohler

I hope that these sites, whether you agree with them or not, spur you on to begin to ask questions in the wake of such devastating loss.

Are All Sins Equal? Theologian J.I. Packer Says No, And He’s Right!

December 29, 2004 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

In the latest issue of Christianity Today, renowed theologian J.I. Packer addresses a question from a reader on whether or not all sins are equal. This is a question that I get pretty often from students in The Quest Ministry, to non-students, to Christians, to non-Christians. It’s a tough question, and I have thought about it a lot, but you should see what Packer has to say.

I think there are a couple of things to keep in mind that I have thought of though when asking yourself this question:

1) All sins are equal in the sense that they are a violation of our relationship with God. When we sin, we violate the boundaries in our relationship with God. Read Romans 1.

2) All sins are not equal in relation to the violation and it’s consequences. Packer will spell this out more detailed. But for example: To think a murderous thought towards someone is not the same as murdering that person.

3) Jesus in Matthew 5:27-30 speaks on the relational aspect of sin. Of tying a thought into actual sin. In this context he is speaking of a man lusting in his heart, and committing adultery. But this context does not so much relate to Packer’s thoughts.

4) Sin must be looked at from a personal, initmate aspect, and not from an impersonal violation. When we think of cheating on a spouse, or having sex outside of marriage, we understand the intimate, personal relationship, and how sin violates it. But often, when we do something like dowload illegal music, we do it very impersonally. What we must realize, is that all sin, regardless of whether someone personal or intimate is involved, is a violation of our intimate relationship with God, breaking the fellowship we have with Him.

5) Saying that all sins are not equal, is also not a time for us to judge others, measuring their sin against ours. For example, saying something like, “I haven’t had sex, or been drunk,” even though you may be a hypocrite and religious zealot who Christ has some harsh words for as well.

6) As Christians, we have to quit measuring our sense of morality and sin against that of the world, those around us, or even our past lifestyle. I think we as Christians have a strong tendency to justify our own behavior because we may think that what we are doing is not as bad as what others are doing, or it’s the same as what others are doing, or it’s not as bad as how we used to live. Living this way does not in any way help us or encourage us to live a more Godly life, where we look at God’s Holiness as something to be of great value. Just look at Isaiah 6:1-7.

So check out his article, and let me know what you think regarding his words on whether or not All Sins Are Equal and I would be interested to hear your feeback and dialogue on this issue.

I was having trouble linking the article: Here it is,

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/001/19.65.html

Having God Down To A Formula?…Donald Miller: A Fresh Voice In The Wilderness!

December 27, 2004 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

“So if the difference between Christian faith and all other forms of spirituality is that Christian faith offers a relational dynamic with God, why are we cloaking this relational dynamic in formulas?” (Donald Miller in Searching For God Knows What)

Anytime a student comes and meets with me, and makes the statements, "I am having a hard time hearing God. It doesn’t seem like God is speaking to me." My initial response is to run down the evangeiical checklist of spiritual disciplines that we equate to being able to hear the voice of God, which in turn equals a healthy spiritual life. So I ask the student a barrage of questions such as, "Do you have a quiet time? How long is your quiet time? What are you doing in your quiet time? Are you spending each day in prayer, and meditation upon God’s Word, etc., etc., etc." Then I close the meeting by telling them, "Well, only if you did all these things, then God would speak to you, and you would fully understand everything. You will have all the answers just like I did my first couple of years in seminary." Well, if you sense the sarcasm, good, then you are sensing right. Because I think we have a bigger problem when it comes to hearing God speak in our lives than just readjusting, or changing, or "perfecting" our spiritual practices, which are all good things. The problem is not that God is not speaking, because He is always speaking, but rather we have got so accustomed to expecting what we want out of God, and how He should speak, and what He should say, that we leave no room for God to truly move through our lives. God is not some "cosmic vending" machine, that when we insert the proper change and push the right buttons He dispenses to us what we want and desire! God is not a formula to be worked out, but rather a relationship to be lived in.

Why is this on my mind? There are many things that I have been thinking about and processing for a while, not only alone, but with others. Yet it seems when you look around at our churches, our spiritual lives, our Christian books, and mainline evangelicalism as a whole, there is little dialogue and lesser listening going on. Sure, we are discussing things, and books are being written, yet most of it seems to be on the level of the status quo as we regurgitate the same old stuff, afraid to be challenged, out of fear that we might have to actually think through things, question our faith, and wrestle with God.

One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is found in Genesis 32, when Jacob wrestles with a man until daybreak:

24 But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.

26 The man said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.”

Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me.”

27 The man said, “What’s your name?”

He answered, “Jacob.”

28 The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.”

29 Jacob asked, “And what’s your name?”

The man said, “Why do you want to know my name?” And then, right then and there, he blessed him.

30 Jacob named the place Peniel (God’s Face) because, he said, “I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!”

31 The sun came up as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip. 32 (This is why Israelites to this day don’t eat the hip muscle; because Jacob’s hip was thrown out of joint.)

This passage is so beautiful on so many levels, and the Hebrew play on words in this text makes the passage come even more alive. But what I am struck by is the relentless passion and pursuit of Jacob wrestling with this man, with God until daybreak. And when it is over, and Jacob is given a new name, Jacob too wants to know the man’s name, but Jacob is given the response, “Why do you want to know my name?”

Or how about this passage in Exodus 3:12-14, when Moses encounters God in a burning bush.

12 “I’ll be with you,” God said. “And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain.”

13 Then Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, “The God of your fathers sent me to you’; and they ask me, “What is his name?’ What do I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, “I-AM sent me to you.’”

Another beautiful passage of God appearing to His faithful servant Moses in the desert wilderness, promising Moses He would be with Him, yet Moses wants more, and do we blame Him. When Moses approaches God with the question, “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you; and they ask me, What is his name? What do I tell them?’” God only responds with, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM….I-AM sent me.” Seems more of an answer to go on than Jacob received, but still not a lot to work with.

But here I am left with what I think is one of the fundamental problems with Christianity today, which is a very broad and sweeping generalization. But it seems to me that when we look at how we practice both our private and corporate faith, especially here in the United States, we are most concerned with comprehending God, than we are with apprehending Him. That may seem subtle, but what seems subtle I believe has huge ramifications for our spiritual lives.

Comprehension involves complete understanding. Apprehension involves mystery. Comprehension involves grabbing and securing control. Apprehension involves a grasping at, but never controlling. One is playing God, the other is allowing God to be God. Jacob wrestled with God, and was given a new name, but he never comprehended Him, only apprehended Him. God did not allow for comprehension, but only for apprehension when Jacob asked for His name, and it was not given to Him. Moses saw God in a burning bush, and tried to comprehend God by asking His name, but God did not allow for that, only stating, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM.” Apprehension. To name something is to have knowledge of something, or understanding of something, or maybe even control of something. One of the first tasks that was given to Adam in the garden was the naming of animals. In Genesis 2:18 GOD said,

“It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.” 19 So GOD formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn’t find a suitable companion.”

By naming the animals, Adam had comprehension, had understanding, and control of them. But God can not be fully known, can not be controlled, and can not be comprehended. If you think so, you might want to see how God responded to Job . Rather, our understanding of who God is, is more like that of Jacob’s, wrestling all night with God, but never able to fully gain control over the situation, and just when we think we are about to overtake the situation and figure God out, He eludes our grasp, not even giving His name, but instead naming us, knowing us, comprehending us, blessing us. But always faithful.

It seems to me that a lot of our Christian lives have boiled down to trying to comprehend God any way we can, especially through formulas. So we have three point sermons we preach, so that God can be comprehended in three easy steps on Sunday morning. We have cool footnotes in cool Bibles, with all the right answers in the margins so that you don’t have to think about comprehending God, someone else can do all the hardwork for you. And some of us even go to seminary (me) and take systematic theology classes so that God can be categorized into very easy to follow steps, so that when I graduated I had completed comprehension of who God is. I mean, what kind of pastor would I be without complete comprehension and understanding of how God works, and who He is in every situation? I mean, where would the people in the pews be? And what would become of their spiritual lives?

This is what Christianity has become in many places, but a few are speaking out against this method, against this formula, and are providing fresh voices for a new generation of Christians who realize that God is much bigger than the boxes we have placed Him in.

There are voices out there like the writer Donald Miller whose two books, Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What have been very influential to not only me, but to countless others. He is a fresh voice in the wilderness that needs to be read, re-read, processed and heard. Unlike many vocational “theologians” who must wrap up everything in their books, putting all the good and right answers on every restless question that we have, Miller raises the questions we need to be asking, and instead of supplying us with the answers, he allows us think on, work out and process the answers in the midst of our relationships with God.

In “Searching for God Knows What” Miller tells of a conversation he had with a friend who was trying to understand the reductionist and formulaic statements he was given about God from a Christian organization and how that correlated with what God said in the Bible. The conversation goes something like this, (pp.152)

“Earlier that same year I had a conversation with my friend Omar, who is a student at a local college. For his humanities class, Omar was assigned to read the majority of the Bible. He asked to meet with me for coffee, and when we sat down he put a Bible on the table as well as a pamphlet containing the same five or six ideas Greg had mentioned. He opened the pamphlet, read the ideas, and asked if these concepts were important to the central message of Christianity. I told Omar they were critical; that, basically, this was the gospel of Jesus, the backbone of Christian faith. Omar then opened his Bible and asked, “If these ideas are so important, why aren’t they in this book?”

“But the Scripture references are right here,” I said curiously, showing Omar that the verses were printed next to each idea.

“I see that,” he said. “But in the Bible they aren’t concise like they are in the pamphlet. They are spread out all over the book.”

“But this pamphlet is a summation of the ideas,” I clarified.

“Right,” Omar continued, “but it seems like, if these idas are that critical, God would have taken the time to make bullet points out of them. Instead, He put some of them here and some of them there. And half the time, when Jesus is talking, He is speaking entirely in parables. It is hard to believe that whatever it is He is talking about can be summed up this simply.”

As Donald Miller shares that story, I can’t help but wonder if we have made others, as well as ourselves think that God can be summed up so nice and neat, with a bow wrapped around the package so that there are no loose ends. That story that Miller tells, helps make his thesis, “So if the difference between Christian faith and all other forms of spirituality is that Christian faith offers a relational dynamic with God, why are we cloaking this relational dynamic in formulas?”

I am not saying that there are things we cannot not know about God, but rather, being a Christian is more about being in relationship with God, and living in the midst of this dynamic relationship of trying to apprehend God, rather than living a static Chritian life that is already all figured out because you have comprehended God through all your formulas.

The Christmas Season As A Time To Shift Paradigms

December 25, 2004 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Every year another Christmas passes, one celebration after another, with little change. After all, Christmas is a holiday, filled with tradition, hardly a time for things to change, or new thinking to take place. We go to church on Christmas Eve, we sing the same songs, we light the candles, to Silent Night of course, and walk out the door. That service would have been proceeded by a dinner, maybe the same dinner we have been eating for years. Then we would drive home from church, looking at some lights, open one gift before bed, and wait for Christmas day to arrive. And Christmas day would be much of the same things we have been doing for years. Get up, eat breakfast, open gifts, eat more, turn on a football game, fall asleep on the couch. Repeat. Repeat.

So it was hardly that I would have expected to walk away from the Christmas Eve service last night, in a church in Redmond, WA, that I would have begun to think about something new. The service was structured around five passages of scripture reading, all focusing on what they deemed, “Passages of Interruption.” Five different readings, where people’s everyday lives were interrupted, and taken out of their normal movements. Everyone from Mary and Joseph, to the shepherds, to the wisemen, to the disciples, and on and on and on.

That seems like a very fitting description of the arrival of Jesus Christ into this world. Interruption. People’s lives would never be the same. They have never been the same since the creation of the world and as God spoke to His people for thousands of years. But something about the arrival of God, in flesh, lying in a manger is not quite what we had expected. And when something comes along that we do not expect, it seems like a major interruption, because it does not fit into our reality of life.

This Christmas season, I am more and more impressed with who God is, and how He chose to reveal Himself in the form of a baby. That does not seem that unusual I suppose until one has spent some time around babies. Being around my fiance’s newborn newphew (which is my soon to be newphew) I am struck with just how helpless a baby child is. All they do is eat, and sleep, and other things, all day long. Repeat. Repeat. So helpless, dependent on others for every little thing. That is why I am so impressed with the fact that that is the way God entered into the world. As a little baby, dependent upon others for every little thing. A definitive portrait of a humble king (Phil. 2).

And this Christmas season, I am more and more impressed with those around Christ, whose lives seemed interrupted. For Mary, a young woman in her teens, who is found pregnant, even though she is a virgin. In a culture such as that, she could have been stoned to death for having a child outside of wedlock, or being found to have a child with another man. Surely Joseph had some questions. For Joseph, whose life as a carpenter seemed to be interrupted and uprooted, as he had to cope not only with his soon to be wife being found pregnant, though he had not had sex with her. A man who trusts God, as did Mary, and flees for their survival. For the shepherds, who seem highly unlikely to be the first to receive the good news.

Our God is an amazing God, and I am reminded about how to easy it is for me to get caught up in my routine, my reality of how life is supposed to be, that I hardly rely on God anymore, because He seems too much like an interruption, and I instead rely on myself.

So it is this Christmas season that God and others are challenging me to see Him with new eyes, in a new light. To break out of the sterile religious routine that we often find ourselves in, because basically, it’s just easier that way.

Merry Christmas this year, and may God show reveal Himself to you in many ways that you had not expected, and may you be open for your religious and life routines to be interrupted.

Living Within The Boundaries Of The New Year And The Christmas Season

December 22, 2004 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

It doesn’t take one long to figure out that we are people that like to live within certain boundaries. And here I am speaking of the boundaries of a start and finish. We enjoy starting, heading out into something new, and we look forward to finishing the course or task that we have set out on. We start books, and feel unsettled if we don’t finish them, though they might be terrible reads. We start movies, and finish those, whether they are good or bad. We start races in the blocks, and our goal is to cross the finish line bursting across the tape. And we are people who read a Bible with a beginning, Genesis, and with an ending in Revelation. Start. Finish.

As we approach the end of the year we are quickly approaching another finish that we started almost 12 months ago. Some of us started last January 1 with high hopes about the start we would have, and the accomplishments that the finish of 2004 would bring us. And we are looking forward to the fruit of that labor. Others started the 2004 year on January 1 with the same desires, but as we look back, we wonder went wrong, and are even having questions about whether or not we will finish this year out at all.

Luckily for you and I, we worship a God who is not only into starting something, but into finishing it as well. In the Epistle to the Philippians, Paul proclaims to the church in Philippi, “I think my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:3-6).

Did you catch that? Partnership. You and I as followers of Christ are in this journey, this race (I Cor. 9:24-27) together, in partnership, not only with each other, but with Christ. In fact, we have an advantage, as we come to realize that the One who began this work in us, who started us out on our journey, is also the One who will carry us through to the completion of the journey. From start to finish, we are in partnership with Christ, the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8), the One who knows no beginning (John 1) or end.

Every year we are given a new chance to start over. To start the new year, with so many uknown things, and to finish it at the end. So why is it that every year we start off with such good intentions to do things different? Maybe spend more time with family. Maybe spend more time with friends. Maybe set better boundaries at work. Maybe volunteer your time. Or maybe we determine not to be so concerned with our looks and body image as we were the last year, but instead, we have made the resolution to spend more time with God, in His word (I Timothy 4:8).

We are all full with good intentions as we are about to close the chapter and finish up another year. And we are excited about starting a new year and the propsect of a new and exciting life that awaits us. But as this year winds down, take some time to reflect on this past year, and the things you succeeded in, and the things you failed in. Take some time to reflect on your relationship with God, and what part He did or didn’t play this last year. Most of us will be able to look back if we are honest with ourselves, and see all the things that we took out of God’s hands, and tried to do on our own. We had a willing partnership with the One who knows us more intimately than anyone else. With the One who started the things in our life we are passionate about, and the One who will bring those things to an end. But eventually, going too long without that partnership leaves all of us exhausted, tired and worn out in many, many ways. So in this New Year that is upon us, resolve to make God a bigger part of your life, realizing that He is your life, and your start to finish will only be as successful and rewarding as the partnership you carry on with Him.

And like the people in Philippi, remember too, that God has put people in your life, in your community to be in partnership with you. You are not to go this next year alone, but in partnership with the community that God has blessed you with.

The Scriptures seem to teach us about relationship, about being in partnership with each other, whether it’s the relationship of David and Jonathan (I Samuel 20), to the fellowship of the disciples. And there is no more poignant moment than the relationship/partnership between God and Jesus (Col. 1), or the union of the Trinity (Mark 1:9-11) at the baptism of Jesus.

So head out this year in partnership and relationship with God and the community around you, so that the journey between the beginning and the end of 2005 will be more fulfilling.