Quote of the Day 4/27

"Psalm 122 reminds me that we’re made for “shalom”.  We translate the word as “peace” in English, but that’s sorely inadequate because our notions of peace have been reduced, largely, to absence of conflict, in the same way that health has been redefined as absence of disease.  I can find mere ‘peace’, at least for the moment, by building big fences, gated communities, and having the biggest military budget on the planet as a means of protecting my stuff.  But let’s not confuse that with ‘shalom’, which envisions a robust wellness, rooted in justice, hospitality, and an ecological interdependency between the earth and all its creatures.  Shalom requires sharing with the poor.  Shalom requires caring for immigrant.  Shalom requires generosity, and recognizing the limits of growth, one of which is embodied in the call to sabbath and jubilee.  When this works properly, everyone has a calling/vocation that contributes to the common good.  People’s lives aren’t enslaved to mind numbing or body destroying work which fills the pockets of the few while the many remain trapped, through debt and poverty." - Richard Dahlstrom

Quote of the Day

"If orthodoxy seems puritanical to you today, maybe it’s less because it’s inherently anti-fun and anti-feelgood than because we live in a society distinguished by such extraordinary excess—gluttonous, libidinous, avaricious—that what a different era might recognize as a healthy balance between asceticism and indulgence looks like hopeless prudishness instead." - Ross Douthat
From this Slate discussion.

Tension

The way that I am wired, I don't feel at rest unless i've gotten something done. Outstanding tasks wear on me. One of the most tiring things I've found at work are soft deadlines, which often means it is unclear when tasks end. This drives me crazy because I want to identify what I have to do, know when it is due, and prioritize it accordingly. I also really like to make lists and check off all the things I have done and have an idea of what is yet to be done.

The problem becomes when I try to apply this approach to life and cultivating faith. I can certainly identify things I need to work on, but it isn't comprehensive. There is also no way of figuring out when I can get over a certain issue or struggle. The problem is that I know where I want to end up, but I really don't know exactly where I am. This makes mapping a solution impossible. It makes prioritizing hard. But living in tension of being someone who has not achieved "the goal" is part of being a Christian. When we look at ourselves with honest eyes, we all realize that we have not yet arrived to where we need to be. This is where I find myself at the end of my own strength.

Yet in this tension is where God meets me and points to the cross showing that my efforts will never be enough, but to keep striving, past my own strength and instead on his strength. 

Irresistible Holiness - Repost

A repost from my Spokane pastor Rob Fairbanks:

Irresistible Holiness

One of the most befuddling (when I say befuddling, I mean I just can’t figure it out) things about Christianity for me is the juxtaposition between Jesus’ holy and our holy.  When Jesus, the most holy and pure person ever, rubbed shoulders with the non-religious (“sinners”) they were amazingly attracted to him, but when most Christians come in contact with the non-religious (“sinners”) there are adverse reactions.  You’ve seen the reactions toward Christians – they are haters, homophobes, judgmental, bound up – all reactions to Christians trying their level best to be…you got it, holy.

There is consistent and strong evidence that suggests that most people still find Jesus incredible attractive, at least intriguing.  The evidence is even stronger that people don’t find Christians that way. Christ followers are to be holy yes, but there must be something different in the balance here.

In 1953, C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter:

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” 

Irresistible?  That might be worth rediscovering.

I believe that there must be a reorientation of our understanding of holiness.  Instead of an externalized “we have to look or act a certain way” type (usually a form created by some ecclesial authority), I really believe that we must look carefully at what our model, Jesus portrayed for us.

Here are a few ideas that might help:

1)    Never react

You have heard the saying, “Never let them see you sweat.” Well, I don’t want to be disingenuous, but it would serve us well to move away from our own reactive posture. One reaction generates another. I have made an internal vow that I will never react to someone else’s behavior, regardless if I am in agreement with it or not. I could be just freaking out inside, but on the outside, I want to behave and act with love and honor toward whomever I run across.  Why? See #2.

2)    Recognize the Imago Dei

Ever person you see, every man or woman you lock eyes with was created uniquely in God’s image. Sin has certainly injured that, but there is still a deeply embedded dignity, ontology worth…even in the worst of the worst (although how does a scale on this stuff really work when each of us have sinned enough to draw the holy Jesus to a cross?). The Imago Dei actually has profound implications if we can live into its truth. We can treat people different, with honor beyond what their behavior might warrant, because of who they are, not what they’ve done or are doing.

3)    Learn about humility

Part of the reaction Christianity gets is because of its desire for control and power. I know, you may not see it this way, but think about this.  Why do people get mad or reactive? Answer: Because something is being taken from them. For many, I might say, most Christians, believe that our country was started as a Christian nation (debatable, but not at this time) and feel like it is being hi-jacked by _________________ (you feel in the blank).  The upshot of this is a reactive posture toward culture.  Need I remind you that our battle isn’t against flesh and blood (Ephes 6)?

4)    Spend time pondering the Gospels

This is really the main reason I think there has been a “red letter” (reading Jesus' words, as opposed to Paul, et al) shift in many people view of Scripture.  We need to read the Gospels slowly, read them often, and read them believing. I read years ago in a Eugene Peterson book (from Eat This Book) that we are to read Scripture meditatively.  He described this notion with an ancient analogy. He said the idea of meditating on Scripture was liken to a dog gnawing in a bone. If you have ever seen that, the visual image lurches out at you. A dog tirelessly grinds on a bone in a hundred different directions, seeking to mine out every possible prospect of meaty goodness (you gotta think like a dog to really get it – ok, just like me eating a T-bone steak). When was the last time you meditated on Jesus’ life found in the Gospels? There is something captivating and reorienting about Jesus…how he lived, what he said, how he responded, how he showed compassion…

and yes, how he was holy.

Question: Have you ever been injured by Christians (or the church) trying to be "holy?"

Good Friday

For those of us in certain places in the Northern Hemisphere, Holy Week happens during springtime. I began to have a real appreciation for the metaphor of nature around me at Whitworth University where the beauty of nature burst forth after a dark and cold winter. It is a picture of how our own hearts are transformed by Christ; slowly, imperceptibly, yet steadily forward becoming something new entirely.

It is not a perfect metaphor though. Unlike the plants and animals, who sit by passively or follow instinct, we humans have work to do. We are the stewards of the earth and fishers of men. Yes, we are saved by grace, but faith without work is dead. This means letting go of our natural insticts. This means dying to ourselves daily. This means carrying our own cross. Thankfully, the power of Good Friday is this: Christ let go of his desires, he carried the cross, he died for all of us. Because of his example, we can faithfully follow through whatever lies ahead.

Community

Authentic community is a scarce commodity these days. Even in the church, where we are called into fellowship with one another, many people are hesitant to get plugged in. Part of this may be a cultural issue; think of what we glorify as a culture: a big house, nice car or two, financial independence. All of this points to a goal of being the masters of our own destiny, unburdened by others to follow the path of  our own choosing. If you have read CS Lewis' The Great Divorce, then you may think of the picture of purgatory or hell that he describes there, where all the inhabitants have everything, materially, the move continually outward of a great grey city, looking for a place where they don't have to be involved with any other person ever.

I am beginning to realize that perhaps being in real community may be one of the better ways to show the world what the love of God is all about. I could talk about lots of theory behind the importance of being in a community, but what has been on my heart recently is the clear realization that Jesus reveals himself to us through his body; which is to say, we see Jesus in one another when we are looking for him.