Category: Religion

On the Mountainside with the Radical Jesus: Lent 15

Again, you have hear that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’…

Nothing separates the followers of Radical Jesus from the religious more than the appearance of continuity between their words and their actions. Jesus knew the difference between an external oath begrudgingly kept and the internal motivations of the oath maker. His followers would not be people who had to slavishly embellish their truth with claims on what rightfully belongs to God. They would radically be known as people whose Yes was Yes and their No, No.

Where do you stand today? If you committed to a sacrifice during this Lenten observation, did you present it publicly as a struggle when privately you knew it would be a cakewalk? Your other brothers and sisters might be fooled but Jesus is not. He wants all of your commitment and all of your faith. When He asks you, ‘who do you say I am?’ can He trust your answer? Is your Yes, yes Lord real?

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TULIP Taunting: An Unbecoming Challenge

As rancorous as the Calvinist / Arminian debate has become, a recent post at The School of Hard Knox caused me to wait for a few days before responding. I waited because of the frustration and disappointment that it evoked in me. Perhaps it was the author’s intent to be so provocative as to incite a flurry of quick responses either for or against his position. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, blogs are full of cheap jabs written solely to ignite unmeasured response, but this debate pertains to the eternal destination of people’s souls. Calling out those who do not share your theological position with what amounts to taunts of ‘chicken’ or diminution of their abilities to arrive at the correct conclusion has no place in Christian discourse.

What am I referring to? Here is the culmination of the author’s argument for all to accept the Calvinist theological system over the Arminian:

Face it. To reject Calvinism is to reject the whole of Scripture. You know this in your heart of hearts.

There’s one reason why you don’t believe in Calvinism…

You simply don’t want to believe it.

Now, please note that this is an excerpt and you should view the entire post to see it in context but I believe it is fairly presented here. After further belittling any careful exegetical efforts that may have gone into the development of a non-Calvinist position, the author again simply dismisses the possibility that another position could be valid with the childish taunt:

Come on…you know it’s true. Just admit it.

Just admit it, likening the correction of Arminian thought to some kind of addiction treatment. As if that is all that is necessary for those in the Arminian parts of the Body to absolve themselves of their silly fantasy system and come over to reality.

Is this the ultimate state of the discussion regarding these two theological systems? The author makes quite a claim at the beginning of his essay, stating that the positions of both sides are well known:

We know each other’s arguments inside and out and more importantly, we know what Scripture says.

Well, I can agree with that statement in part; both Calvinists and Arminians know what Scripture says. Sadly, what the author fails to recognize is that there is valid exegetical disagreement of how it is to be interpreted. (But I suppose all of those people who don’t agree with him should ‘just admit it’ and get over their stubborn invalid positions.) Further, if one were to sample the extent of knowledge regarding competing theologies, one would find that this is largely untrue. Arminian theology is regularly misrepresented by Calvinist adherents and Calvinism is often misunderstood by Arminians.

He casually throws out some loosely worded proof texts that are supposed to finally persuade the Arminian to cast aside their measured beliefs and come over to the right side. He says for example:

We know Scripture says that those He foreknew He also predestined.

The Calvinist will say yes, scripture says that God’s foreknowledge here represents his election of some to salvation. But wait, says the Arminian, foreknowledge is God’s ability to foresee those who will accept his gift of grace and the election under consideration is conditional upon that fact. Perhaps the best way to resolve this would be to turn to the usage of the word in our Greek New Testaments and discover that it has both connotations as used in NT writings.  Of course, this interpretation is open to further debate but hey, let’s stop all this egghead stuff and ‘just admit it.’

The author’s penultimate dismissal prior to the aforementioned ‘just admit it’ is this:

You don’t want to believe that God has created some for glorification and some are created for damnation. This doesn’t fall in line with your view of what is “fair”.

Indeed, double predestination is a distasteful topic to have to explore. To consider that the God Who is Love creates some specifically for perdition really has less to do with God’s fairness or His sovereignty and more to do with His character and whether one believes that He efficaciously willed the Fall. But then, the discussion must turn to whether or not He is the author of Sin. This seems a bit more complex than ‘just admitting it.’

This post and others like it have no place within the Body. While I support the author and his freedom to believe and write whatever he wishes, we as disciples of Jesus Christ must also consider the greater good before we take off on a rant. There are innumerous other avenues of division besides those generated by Calvin and Arminius that weaken our ultimate witness to a needful world. Taunting from such a precipice leaves one open to a fall and clothes no one, offers no companionship to the imprisoned, will fill no stomach or offer one drop of water to the thirsty, admit it. 

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On the Mountainside with Jesus: Radical Lent 14

You have hear that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Again, Radical Jesus preaches on the hillside that it’s what’s in our hearts that corrupts us, not just our external actions. He makes it clear that our motivations are not hidden from Him and that discipleship at His feet consists of more thatn just implementing a scaffold of rules to control our behaviors. Following Jesus means, literally, to get down to the heart of the matter.

Following the Law with regards to adultery meant that one was not guilty until the act was consummated. Sadly, in humankind’s broken state, this becomes license to uninhibited fantasy and the resulting objectification of others. Radical Jesus says that this pattern of thought is incompatible with the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Transformed. Discipleship means that we cooperate with Him in performing the radical housecleaning necessary to form the undivided heart of Love.

Walking toward the cross weighted down by unholy motivations results in slow progress. Our radical guide says to strip off this unnecessary burden and cast it alongside the path. It will hurt, but tearing it out and leaving it behind as we press on toward the goal is a small sacrifice.

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On the Mountainside with Jesus: Radical Lent 13

You have hear that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother , ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool! will be in danger of the fire of hell.’

Radical Jesus has always turned lives inside out by contrasting God’s true expectations of us with the human constructions that we build up in support of our desires for the way things should be. The Law told humankind not to murder and we built an elaborate scaffolding of intricate rules surrounding the act in order to justify numerous life taking events. Jesus doesn’t work on the outside though. He sees through the constructs that we use to hide the hatred in our heart and confronts us there.

Murder, hate, racism, anger; all of these start in the heart and Jesus calls us to a radical reordering of our lives that starts there, instead of taking the easy route of simply addressing the outside of the cup.  Cleaning the inside begins with rediscovering the source of Love and allowing that love to work on our heart, working out the hate that coats it and softening it towards our brothers and sisters.

Radical Jesus never makes things easy does He? He is not interested in looking back at His followers following Him to the base of the cross and seeing bright, shiny outsides with corrupted insides. Jesus demands that we start our transformation on the inside and that we start with our broken hearts that lack love for our fellow man and woman. A better sacrifice than television this week is to take the anger and discord in our hearts to the altar, don’t you think?

 

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On the Mountainside with Jesus: Radical Lent 12

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

The radical Jesus overturned the tables of complacency within the religious community of His day. Where the Pharisees saw Him only as a threat to their traditions, practices, and power, His was a ministry that upset the equilibrium that they so desperately craved. So long as they could separate the secular and the holy, the Religiousists would be able to keep God tucked safely away in His Temple, accessible at certain times and in certain ways.

Jesus knew otherwise. God never intended to be separated from His space and our space; it is all His space. There is no sacred and secular in God’s economy, it is all sacred. Jesus was, and is, about total commitment rather than practice. Ritual is good, but living moment by moment with God at your side is far better. Rules and rituals become benchmarks against which we measure our religiosity. The sad thing is, we can excel at the practice and fail in the ultimate test by using ritual and rule to cordon off our heart from the radical effects of Jesus.

I hope we will all grow weary of temporary sacrifice that changes nothing in our lives. If our Lenten surrender is composed of nothing more than a practice that we will soon resume shortly after Easter, doesn’t it seem a bit empty? Jesus brought full meaning to the Law by infusing right practice with right purpose.  Shall we join Him and radically change the world, or turn aside from M&Ms for four more weeks? Any takers?

 

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Third Sunday in Lent Readings

This morning we read from Exodus 3:1-15 and Psalm 103 in response.  Though our burning bush experience may not be as dramatic as what confronted Moses, there should be no doubt that God will be trying to get our attention from time to time. The question we need to ask of ourselves is whether or not we are spiritually aware enough to notice. If we have allowed our lives to be consumed by the things of this world there is a good chance that they will drown out enough the brightest blaze that God puts before us. On the other hand, if we are diligent about our spiritual formation and ever increasing in our relationship with I AM, even the sound of a feather dropping from the sky will be sufficient to rouse our attention.

On the Mountainside with Jesus: Lent Reflection 11

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Most people exposed to Christianity for any length of time have heard the ‘salt and light’ refrain in a variety of contexts. There is little doubt in this passage that the Savior calls His followers to be active components in their community. Why then, we reflect this morning, has this passage had so little effect on the development of the Church through the years?

The missional church movement is a response to the insular form that the church of modernity. Movements are good but individual commitment to our individual call is better. Have you lost your saltiness? The Holy Spirit awaits the opportunity to refill the shaker. Has your light been dimmed? The Fire is available eternally and all it takes is for you to reach for a spark.

We meditate through the Lent period on the commitment of Jesus as He proceeds toward the cross. Perhaps we should meditate on our commitment as well.

 

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No god but God by Reza Aslan

In the current discussion surrounding Islam and its adherents, a charitable work that covers the Prophet, the formation and sectarian split of the faith, and its effects on believers is difficult to come by. There are apologists and fundamentalists on the side of the faith that seek to polish or fortify the image against the stream of diatribes published regularly so finding a work of religious history that speaks with a balanced voice is particularly welcome. Such is Reza Aslan’s book No god but God.  

Starting with the polytheistic traditions of the Arab peoples and igniting the story at Kaba (the cubicle containing the deities in Mecca), Aslan begins the story of Muhammad as an orphan dependent upon the largesse of an Uncle for his survival. Before God speaks through him, Muhammad’s reputation is already on the rise as a skilled merchant among the social strata of Mecca. He is able to view firsthand the disparity among the people of the city, some being enriched at the expense of others while poverty is impressed upon others and his mind is occupied with concern over this and the other societal problems brought about by adherence to cultural traditions. 

Islam germinates deeply embedded in this form of Arabian culture when the prophet is seized by the first of the crushing revelations. “Recite” the voice commanded and, as would follow hundreds of times, Muhammad spoke the words that he felt etched on his heart. Collected long after the Prophet’s death, these sayings compose the whole of the Koran. Unlike other sacred texts, the Koran does not present a progressive revelation from start to finish. Instead, we discover that it is the product of the Prophet seeking guidance for addressing specific, timely situations and the revelation he received in response. 

Aslan is a compelling writer and he carries the story of Islam through the Prophet’s life and into the internecine battles that have divided the religion since his passing. The divisions occur along leadership lines (Shiite / Sunni) and belief lines (Suffi). The reader comes to understand much of what the modern world is witnessing in the intra-Muslim violence that is so widespread and we can formulate a response as to why an Islamic reformation is long in coming.  

The latter chapters are especially instructive as Aslan helps us to understand how Islam, in its divided state, combined with imperialist and cultural conditions fomented the radical Muslim so often in the daily news. It is crucial for modern non-Muslims to grasp the intricacies of this religion and its traditions in order to understand its radicalization and Aslan traces these well. Often unknown for example is the hadith, the collected sayings and stories of the Prophet and his early inner circle, that often supplements the surah of the Koran in order to arrive at Islamic positions and beliefs. Were the hadith products of a single author and time with a direct witness relationship to the saying or event? The answer to this and other questions helps us to form a more complete picture of the religion that is front and center on our newspapers every morning.

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On the Mountainside with Jesus: Lent Reflection 10

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 The notion of being persecuted because our Faith is often foreign to modern American Christians. The Church is so bland and non-threatening that most of us run little risk of being insulted, let alone persecuted. Therein lies the problem.

We have lost the dangerous ways that once made the Church a threat to the empire and the hope of the oppressed and impoverished. The Church was persecuted because it not only protested these social injustices, it moved to eradicate them and shine a light on their source. The Christians were persecuted for their role in restoring justice to the world, and they were blessed for it.

Lent is often a period in which we sacrifice some personal comfort in order to focus our hearts on the ultimate sacrifice at the cross. Perhaps this Lent we might consider sacrificing more than our personal comfort, perhaps we can give up our fear of being uncomfortable and each of can step out against an injustice in the world. Pray for the persecuted church. Cancel Sunday worship and spend the day with the poor of your community. Be dangerous.

 

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Embracing The Real Mary

With many satisfying books that you are hesitant to place in the library, there is a tendency to linger with the volume, realign the jacket perhaps, smile as you recall some especially poignant passage, and maybe scan Amazon for the author’s other works to be added to your wishlist. Such is the case for McKnight’s The Real Mary. His scholarly habits in place, McKnight closes this thin volume with a summary chapter. His heart for God, His Church, and the role that Mary plays in its history wins out and this final chapter becomes a summary call to remembrance and embrace.

The final chapter reads as follows:

“Perhaps on a day dedicated to honoring Mary we could be empowered to dream the Magnificat dream for our society. Perhaps we could be encouraged to let our hearts and minds swell with bigger thoughts for our world. People of courageous faith change the world.”

The evangelical church can and should embrace Mary for her courage and faith. She is a model for us as we struggle to sort out what we ‘know’ about Jesus and what God reveals to us as we shuffle along, growing in our faith. Mary has numerous dimensions that instruct us in how to relate to her Son as His relationship to us transforms through our discipleship. The Mary that we hardly know shows us what it means to answer ‘Yes’ to God when we are unable the scope of the mission but our faith says we must proceed.

Scot McKnight has done a service to both the evangelical and Catholic communities, bridging the deep chasm that divides them by bringing clarity to the truth of the beliefs and traditions surrounding The Virgin. This alone may offer opportunities for dialog that were absent in the past and may foster a more ecumenical future.

Embrace Mary as you comprehend the scope of her role in the ministry of the Savior. Honor her for her faith in the face of danger and rejection. Allow her to touch your own life and feel the sword the pierced her soul. Know the agony of kneeling with her at the foot of the cross. See Jesus through a loving mother’s eyes.

 

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