RABBONI...which is to say, Master

Do scare tactics work in religious matters? Tuesday’s post touched on this a bit, and here is a link that is a pretty interesting illustration of the point.

Barb and I are heading down to Chattanooga for a couple days. We have not had a vacation in years, so this will fall in to the mini-vacation category. Here is at least one thing we plan to see while there.

I had planned to take part in the Blog Day festivities for my post today, but time was just too short. Maybe I will get a chance later. So for now, take a look at Angie’s Aim.

“Sadly, for some Christians the story has stopped. God has done all that God is going to do, and God’s voice is embalmed in a book. This turns the work of evangelists into being the salesmen of a tradition, not Christ-introducers and life-connectors to an ongoing, never-ending story.

For some, the stories are frozen awaiting a future Parousia. The problem with freeze-dried stories is the same with anything that has the living water drained out of it: They taste dreadful, feel like brickbats, and crumble when you hold them too tightly.” (“Out of the Question…Into the Mystery, by Leonard Sweet).

You got’a get this book!

Those of us who are Fox News fans and were aware of the capture of Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig who work as journalists for Fox were relieved to find out that both men were released by their terrorist captors in the Gaza Strip and are now alive and well and perhaps on their way back to the United States. While their ordeal was certainly scary and traumatic, it was revealed that as some point during their ordeal they were “converted to Islam at gunpoint” and this is something that is relevant to our Christian faith as well.

When I was reading the story of Steve and Olaf’s release, and Steve was commenting on the supposed conversion, I was struck by a comment he made: “We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint… Don't get me wrong here. I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on.”[1] Evidently the conversion to Islam did not take, and maybe I am speculating, but I believe the guns perhaps had something to do with it.

What is to be noted about this entire event is the irony missed by Christians in what happened. Any one of us would think regarding a gunpoint conversion, “that is just a stupid thing to do” yet many of us practice and live this kind of conversion every day. Whenever Christianity will emphasize Hell as a motivator for conversion, it is in fact practicing gunpoint conversion. Actually, it is even worse than a conversion at gunpoint, because the danger of death is much more imminent than that of a distant hell-bound future. The very doctrine of Hell therefore, while attempting to be a real incentive for non-believers and believers alike, miserably fails to be the motivator intended to be, mostly because the incentive is not immediate and pressing, therefore causing Christianity to become powerless in the face of new social, cultural and moral challenges; the “you will go to hell” message always fails since it appears primarily to be a perpetually futuristic promise that nobody really gets to experience (unlike a gun pointed to one’s head).

The problem appears to be the same problem that Scot McKnight recently pointed out, in that that fundamentalism is again beginning to grip Christianity in a new way, perhaps as a reaction to the growth and success of postmodern Christianity. What we see as progress and growth, neo-fundamentalists mechanically see as dangerous and antithetical. This is the very nature of all movements that lack grace and love, and without failing, as Scot McKnight rightly pointed out, they always attract “angry, defensive, and mean-spirited individuals.” Such a majority manifestation in the Church will lead to Christianity losing touch with culture and science and leading to the creation of “Christians who are not free in the Spirit but who will be rigid and intolerant.”[2]

What inspired me primarily to write this was my five year old daughter Jade’s recent behavior. She has told me before that she loved me, but today, without being prompted, she crawled up in my arms as I was sitting on the couch, she put her little hands on my cheeks, looked in my eyes and said, “Daddy, I love you.” This was not in response to me telling her the same, but it came from her willing heart and that was what made my heart jump. This is a prime example of why Jesus put the child-like prerequisite on the entrance into the Kingdom of God.[3] The ultimate innocence, love and clear heart; loving like the child that does not ask questions, make demands or asks the question “I love you, but it depends what love mean?”

So then, if such hearts are demanded from us, why then do we continue to put our paradigms of Hell to the heads of our neighbors and demand conversion, or else? Why are we then surprised to see that many conversions are empty and meaningless? Are we not, in fact, letting eternal torment defining our faith, our relationships with friends and family? Has it not become the overriding factor in motivating us to do what is right?

I cannot think of one single instance in which Jesus claimed that being theologically accurate is more important than loving others; in fact, if we are going to be true to the first-century context of Christ’s message, we would be hard pressed to show that Jesus was every concerned with eternal torment. Not once has he used the point of eternal damnation as a motivating factor in one’s conversion. In fact, we see Jesus building relationships with those despised most by the fundamentalists of his days: homosexuals, prostitutes, women, tax cheats, thieves and politicians. This is the very nature of his Kingdom, a system of honest and genuine relationships energized by willing hearts rather than eschatological fears. Going back to the Song of Solomon would best illustrate the story of the Kingdom, in which a loving King pursued those in his Kingdom out of love, not our of vengeance and hate. Tim King bring this idea out best when he says: “God’s Story is the story of a King who came as a humble servant in search of a willing heart. It’s the story of a Lover who went to war with all the forces of darkness in order to rescue his fair maiden and bring her home. God’s Story is the Story of a Romance. A Romance to be embraced.”[4]

[1] Steve Centanni, From a live Fox News interview

[2] Scot McKnight, The Rise of Neo Fundamentalism, http://www.jesuscreed.org

[3] Matthew 18:3

[4] Tim King, Furious Pursuit: Why God will Never let you go, p. 26.

Some where along the line as I was growing up I got the impression that knowing the scripture was the same thing as knowing God. I made it my goal in life to answer my questions and the questions of others with a “scriptural” answer. Before long I had developed a “ready reference” to all the questions I might be asked. And it will not come as a surprise to most that I was also quite legalistic, and narrow in my interpretations and applications of the scripture to those questions. What followed next was a very judgmental attitude of those who might hold a different opinion or understanding from my own. I felt that what kept them from coming to the same conclusions was just their prejudice, pre-conceived ideas and error that someone had taught them. I knew a lot of scripture, but I did not know God, that is, know Him in relationship.

Jesus said to a group of folks in His day, with very similar attitudes as my own, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39,40). It is so easy to confuse knowledge of Scripture with knowledge of God. We can learn His attributes, the commands and directives. We can even learn to tell the same stories He told and still not KNOW Him in relationship.

“The Scriptures are many things—letters, parables, sermons, poems, histories, biographies, liturgies, songs. But behind all these multiple literary genres, the backdrop of everything is the greatest love story ever told. What if God means for all of Scripture to be God’s love story to us? What if God never intended the Bible to be strip-minded for propositions, or dissected and analyzed like a stiff leopard frog pulled from a bottle of formaldehyde? What if God never wanted the Bible to be turned into an interesting library of varied and profound literature or a stringent code of conduct?”

“What if the Bible instead is our shoebox full of love letters, our living library of family scrapbooks and diaries that connect us to our ancestors, helping us know them so we can know ourselves and understand what our family name stands for? What if its’ our storyboard of relationships from which we learn how to form friendships and deal with the people and problems we encounter?” (Into the Mystery…Out of the Question” by Leonard Sweet).

One of the most perplexing scriptures for me for many years was a statement from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. “Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matt. 7:22-23). These were obviously works for God! They were done in the name of God! But those who performed them were not KNOWN by God! How can you be a prophesying, demon casting, miracle performer and not be known by God? There was no relationship.

The angels of heaven are perfect in there obedience, but they were not created for relationship. They were created to obey. You and I, first and foremost, were created for relationship. If you don’t get everything else right—get that right!

I lost my dad over thirty years ago, but there is hardly a day that passes that I don’t think about him. Saturday would have been his 79^th birthday, and I always think about him a lot on his birthday. Dad and I had a turbulent relationship in my early years. He finally, much against his will, signed for me to enter the Army at the age of 17. While it did straighten me out, it caused a lot of worry for my dad.

Dad died way too early, as we humans count time, at the young age of 48. It was in his later years that we were able to communicate and I really came to appreciate my dad for who he really was. Our time together was limited because I got out of the army in 1965 a married man. I then went into the ministry full time four years later and we moved to Pennsylvania. I never had the opportunity to know my dad as an older man. I have often wondered what he would think about computers, cell phones, the war in Iraq, my grand kids and a host of other things he never got to experience, see or hear about.

You only get one earthly father.  If you still have yours be sure to ask all your questions now.

Through out the Gospels Jesus told stories that leave a lasting impression on us. One of my favorites is the story of the prodigal son, or sons is really more accurate. So much in that story speaks to me, because in many ways it was me. I have heard many lessons based on this story , but there is one aspect I don’t think I have ever heard anyone address.

When the prodigal son comes to the father demanding his inheritance now, before the death of his father, the father just gives it to him and allows him to leave; no questions, no argument and no discussion. There is no pleading to rethink his decision. Nothing from the father about the consequences of this fool hearty decision. He just lets him go!

Could it be that there are some lessons that are best and only learned the hard way. We do all we can to protect our children. We teach, we warn, we speak of consequences, we preach, but often the lessons are not learned until they reap the consequences. It rips at our heart, as it must have the father in the story, but we like he, can only stand, watch, and then wait. What do you think? Are there some lessons that are only learned the hard way?

“Biblical faith is not about living a moral life. That’s religion. Biblical faith is not about living the “good life.” That’s capitalism. Biblical faith is about living the GodLife. An abundant life with the living God is living in a Godlife relationship” (“Out of the Question…Into the Mystery”, by Leonard Sweet.)

The GodLife Sweet speaks of is about relationship – a relationship with God. The Bible is filled with stories of people who lived in laid bare relationships with the Creator of the universe. Would you dare think of laughing at something that God said? Abraham and Sarah did. Would you dare think of trying to change the mind of God? Abraham did. Would you in your right mind ever think of physically fighting with God? Jacob did. Could you in you wildest imaginations ever think you could win an argument with God? Moses did.

Take time and read through the Psalms and listen to the laid bare, honest, heart felt expressions of openness that comes from one who is described as a man after God’s own heart.

As you read thorough the Gospels, listen not only to the conversations between Jesus and the disciples, but hear also the relationship! Do you hear the relationship that had been developed over those years spent in the presences of the Master?

Listen to the words of the beloved Apostle Paul, one described as “untimely born”, one who never physically walked with Jesus in the days of His flesh, but one who knew Him intimately through relationship.

Can we develop a relationship with the God of Heaven like those we read in scripture? Yes, a thousand times yes, but not the way we have traditional sought it. “The power of living is incarnational and relational. God is present with us, which means that holiness itself is relational. Holiness doesn’t lead to the dogged mastery of rules, principles, or practices, but to a dynamic, life-giving communion with God. Seek holiness and you seek a relationship with the God who accomplishes holiness in you….God is present, and God is relational. This means that truth is relational, found in the give-and-take of honest engagement with God. Faith and obedience are not reflex actions, or blind and mindless conformity to rules and regulations. Faith and obedience are instead played out in a life in full pursuit of God, knowing that at the same time we are being fully pursued by God. Faith and obedience are found in listening to God, questioning God, being challenged by God and challenging God.” (“Out of the Question…Into the Mystery”, by Leonard Sweet.)

This is what being created in the image of God is all about. We were created FOR relationship.

Is your church a

Cruise Ship

or

a

Life Boat?

In yesterday’s post I talked about being made in the image of God and that it is more about "why" rather than "how" we are made in the image of God. One of my favorite passages of scripture from the Old Testament is Gen. 5:24 "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." I once heard someone say that Enoch’s relationship with God became so close that one day He just said to Enoch, "Let’s go home."

Our being made in the Image of God makes us capable of fellowship with the Creator of the universe. Having so created us, He draws us to Himself with the powerful story of the Cross. We come to realize that we are broken, helpless and dead in sin. We cry out in faith and trust and He reaches down and lifts us up. Now the "walk’ begins. The longer we are with Him, the more like Him we become. He never leaves us, He holds the forces of darkness at bay and only allow us to be tried within our own personal ability. He takes those periods of challenge, hardship and stress, that come our way, and uses them to mold us and to form us into the image of His Son.

And then one day we are walking and talking, and He looks our way and says, "Let’s go home!"

Scientific text books tell us man is just evolved like all the rest of living things. They would have us believe that we are just a step ahead in the evolution process from our ancestors the Apes. The story of creation tells another story. It tells the story of all things being created by God, but only one thing created for God. Man was created in the image of God. We have wrestled with what this means and untold books have been written to explain what it is to be created in the image of God. We are the crowning glory of all of creation.

Think of your life as a daily “conversation” with the Father. Everything you do, you invite Him to join you. Work, shopping, running the kids here and their, what ever your daily schedule entails, share it with Him. If something happens that makes you happy, share it with Him. If something concerns you, share it with Him. Picture the Father as your “unseen” yet ever present guess everywhere you go and in everything you do. That is relationship. I think that is what it means to be created in the image of God. More emphasis on what He was doing and less on what He was making of me.