Philosophy’s and theology’s recent return to emphasizing our human identity in relational categories makes a lot of sense. Here’s an article that seems to support this way of thinking about humanity from the earliest days of our development:

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9757396-7.html?tag=nefd.only

We can’t become better humans by ingesting more information. Development happens through human contact and interaction. Neat.

“In the night before his arrest, Jesus went into the garden of Gethsemance. He took three disciples with him and ‘began to be greatly distressed and troubled’, writes Mark (14.33). ‘He began to be sorrowful and fearful [troubled]‘ writes Matthew….Then he throws himself on the ground in horror and fear (Mark 14.35). Earlier too, he had often withdrawn at nights to the solitariness of some mountain in order to be united with his Father in the prayer of his heart. But in Gethsemane for the first time he does not want to be alone with his God. He is evidently afraid of him. That is why he seeks the protection of his friends. Then comes the prayer which in its original version sounds like a demand: ‘Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me’ (Mark 14.36) — spare me this suffering….

In fear that laid hold of him and lacerated his soul, what he suffered from was God. Abandonment by God is the ‘cup’ which does not pass from him. The appalling silence of the Father in response to the Son’s prayer in Gethsemane is more than the silence of death. Martin Buber called it the eclipse of God. It is echoed in ‘the dark night of the soul’ experienced by the mystics. The Father withdraws. God is silent. This is the experience of hell and judgment….

The Father forsook him and delivered him up to the fear of hell. The One who knew himself to be the Son is forsaken, rejected and cursed. And God is silent….

Finally, it is important to notice that it is only here on the cross that, for the first and only time in his life, the Son addresses God not as Father but as God (hebrew Eloheni, Aramaic Eloi). The prayer in Gethsemane was still addressed to ‘the Father’. But the Father did not hear the prayer. On the cross the Father forsook the Son and hid his face from him, as the sun was hidden in the deepest darkness on Golgotha….It is precisely this that is the cross in Jesus’ crucifixion; the being forsaken by the God whom he called ‘my Father’, and whose Son he knew himself to be. Here, in the relationship between the Father and the Son, a death was experienced which has been rightly described as ‘eternal death’, ‘the death of God’. Here ‘God is forsaken by ‘God’. “

from Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom, pg 77-80

Meal Group-ers These are some of the thoughts that I had after reading our book together. I was sad that we didn’t get a chance to talk about them in person, but I think our discussion yesterday was worth it. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone’s story better, and I look forward to next week when we can continue sharing our lives together!

Recap of Chapter 9 and 10 of McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian:

After recovering from his emotional outburst while on a walk with Neo, Dan invites Neo over for dinner with his family. A conversation ensues between Carol, Dan, and Neo. They talk at length about the relationship between religion and culture with paticular interest in syncretism (a theological term refering to a mix of biblical religous practice and pagan culture producing a dubious religious experience). Dan shares a story about a group of Native American pastors that he hosted. During their stay with him, he gained valuable insight into the cultural pressures these Native American pastors face. They grew up learning to distrust their spiritual heritage because outsiders said to embrace their heritage would be syncretistic. “The missionaries had told them it was all of the devil…” Dan shared this story as an example of how Western culture has suppress other cultures in the name of sharing the gospel.

In Chapter 10, Neo and Dan share a lunch together. During lunch, Neo explains his vision of the Kingdom of God and how it relates to the church. Neo thinks talking about the kingdom is a more accurate to Christ’s message than talking about ‘getting saved.’ Dan, however, is still primarily concerned with what Neo thinks about other religions and how someone gets saved. Neo gives Dan a sermon he preached on death and heaven.

Some Thougths

Syncretism is a significant issue in the Old Testament. God is regularly chastising Israel because they are taking up pagan worship practices. They build altars and sacrifice to a myriad of gods. They engage in worship activities with temple prostitues. Their desire for a king is said to be rooted in the fact that they want to be like the other nations. The entire book of Judges is structured cyclically to emphasis that every time God comes to their rescue it’s not long before the Israelites are back to worshipping idols. In light of this, syncretism seems like something worth avoiding.

Culture-Createdness: Colossians 1:16 talks about all things in heaven and earth deriving their existence and being created for Christ. We can therefore understand all aspects of cultures as being created for Christ. For this reason, Paul can go to the Greek and Roman cities and affirm the cultural practices of those cities. He sees in their statues to ‘an unknown god’ a reference to Christ himself even though they didn’t intend that. It therefore follows that if aspects of other cultures are created for Christ, the church should embrace these cultural practices and engage in them as a part of a worshipful life.

Our Biblical Culture/Worldview: When missionaries encounter cultures different from their own, there is a temptation for them to define their own church practices as biblical in distinction to what the church in the other culture is doing. However, this is naive because our expression of the church and of our faith is just as culturally entrenched as churches in other cultures. There is no over-arching biblical culture that we should shoot for, because there is no christian life that can happen outside of cultural-context.

In but not of the world: If we, as western christians, are not outside of and impervious to culture then what remains is a faithful witness within culture. Christ came to this earth as a 1^st century Palestinian Jew. He dressed, ate, talked, and lived within that particular culture (or mix of cultures since no culture is truly monolithic). His was a faithful witness in the world in which he lived. But Christ was also living for another world. He heralded the coming of a kingdom that is unlike any other kingdom on the planet. In this kingdom ethics are turned upside down (see sermon on the mount); the king is Jesus himself; there are no geopolitical boundaries; and it is open to people of all different backgrounds. As western christians we proclaim this kingdom by incarnating it within our own particular cultures just like Christ did in his culture. We live in this world but we are of another world. We live in this world but as citizens of another kingdom who are ultimately under the authority and reign of Jesus.

Please post a comment and let us know what you thought of the reading or respond to any of the comments I made above.

Self-hatred plagues our culture. So many people at our church, school, and even the elite in pop-culture exude a drive for perfection that betrays a deep-seeded self-loathing. After reading the paragraph quoted below, I think this self-hatred that I feel and I perceive in others is rooted in misguided self-love. A love that seeks repeated personal indulgences without regard for the well-being of others.

“It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we do this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement. But if we live for others, we will gradually discover that no one expects us to be ‘as gods.’ We will see that we are human, like everyone else, that we all have weaknesses and deficiencies, and that these limitations of ours play a most important part in all our lives. It is because of them that we need others and others need us. We are not all weak in the same spots, and so we supplement and cmplete one another, each one making up in himself for the lack in another.”

Merton, Thomas No Man is an Island. pg. xxi

A common phrase, often used by youth to exert peer pressure, “It’s worth it,” rarely lives up to expectations. If my memory serves me right, more often than not, it wasn’t worth it. My capitulation to my friends pleas, usually led me into something that got me into trouble or just failed to live up to its hype. Too many times, I found it wasn’t worth it.

But now as I reflect on my current life frustrations and difficulties, I hear Jesus say to me, “It’s worth it,” and this time I think I believe. Jesus says, that life will be confusing, frustrating, difficult, and pretty much just crappy, but he says the future reward is worth hardships now. The experience of heaven is worth…(you fill in the blank).

I’m reminded that there is no part of my thinking that takes place outside of tradition; there is no reasoning that I do in an objective sense. The way that I engage in critical thinking is traditional–meaning, it is a method of critical thinking unique to the cultures in which I have been taught.

I believe that some traditions of reason are better than others. I believe that individuals trained in the art of one reasoning tradition can effectively converse and even learn from those trained in other traditions. I believe there is an existential commonality that provides the groundwork for communication across traditions.

I believe it is dangerous, to say the least, to act like there are aspects of our reason that are outside the influence of tradition–to believe that there is a section of our understanding that is accepted a priori as objectively and undeniably true, and worse yet to maintain complete certainty about such reason. This is especially egregious when this supposedly certain type of reason is employed to critique relgious practice and faith.

I’m always looking for stuff. I’m not very organized. My apartment and work space reflect my apparent inability to put things away in the right and proper place. Consequently, I regularly find myself looking around for misplaced items. Sometimes I wish I could add a google search bar to my life. Something that would help me find what I’m seeking.

This is also true in the more abstract sense. There are a lot of things in my life that I am seeking, but I’m not sure how to find. I seek happiness, pleasure, satisfaction, money, material possessions, status, and a whole host of other things. My desire for recognition and accomplishment are like an itch that is constantly brought to my attention. I’m always seeking to alleviate the pain and irritation at my obsequiousness. My desire for pleasure can overwhelm me instantly. I forego moral boundaries and self-control as I seek to satiate them. The promise of happiness keeps me always seeking a better life, in a better place, at a better job, with better friends. The latest advertising campaigns have me seeking the newest toy, the fastest computer, or the hippest way to enjoy media. I am always seeking….and I’m finding it tiresome and quite unrewarding.

Over the past few days, I have repeatedly come across this verse:

All my desires, hopes, dreams and even lusts are fulfilled or erased here. Everything in my life that I covet or depend on meets it destruction or fullfillment in correct seeking. I want this so badly for my life. I long to be passionately and completely devouted to seeking God’s kingdom.

I want to decide to forego food as I fast so that I’m satisfied with the Bread of Life. I want to forego a higher paying job so that I can be released from bondage to money. I want to choose a less glorious ministry so that I can make a glorious impact on the lives I’m meant to touch. I want to pass up the latest Mac toy so that I can avoid being disappointed with it. I want to work hard at the relationships I have so that I don’t have to start over somewhere else. I want to make hard decisions based on a Kingdom ethic so that all these things will be added to me.

LORD, make it happen…change me….

I wonder how important reasons are? Let’s say I want to go and get ice cream. Mary might say, “John, I think you shouldn’t go and get ice cream because you’ve been complaning about your sympathy weight a lot recently. Eating ice won’t help you lose that excess weight.” This would be a good reason not to go and get ice cream. However, she could just as persuasively argue, “John, you really struggle to enjoy life. You are such a task-oriented person. I think taking a break to get some ice cream might really do you some good.” This would also be a good reason, but advocating an different course of action.

This is a simple example. My point is only that good reasons can be found for opposing actions. This is magnified when we considered more complicated situations like faith.

Why is ministry so hard?

Should I go on a missions trip?

God why don’t you heal my sickness?

Why do so many missionaries leave the field?

The more I turn to reasons to justify my actions, the more confused I seem to get. I go back and forth between callings, philosophies on spiritual disciplines, purpose and more. I have been a little bit frustrated and feeling a little hopeless.

Then, yesterday I read this from Kierkegaard’s “For Self-Examination” (he is talking about some who have doubted the Ascension, which stands for the supernatural in Christianity or really faith altogether, and how to overcome that doubt):

“So some have doubted. But then in turn there were some who sought to refute doubt with reasons. As a matter of fact the connection was actually this: first of all they tried to demonstrate the truth of Christianity with reasons or by advancing reasons in relation to Christianity. And these reasons fostereed doubt and doubt became the stronger. The demonstration of Chrsitianity really lies in imitation. This was taken away. Then the need for “reasons” was felt, but these reasons, or that there are reasons, are already a kind of doubt–and thus doubt arose and lived on reasons. It was not observed that the more reasons one advances, the more one nourishes doubt and the stronger it becomes, that offereing doubt reasons in order to kill it is just like offering the tasty food it likes best of all to a hungry monster one wishes to eliminate. No, one must not offer reasons to doubt–at least not if one’s intention is to kill it–but one must do as Luther did, order it to shut its mouth, and to that end keep quit and offer no reasons.

But those whose lives are marked by imitation have not doubted teh Ascension. And why not? In the first place, because their lives were too strenuous…And the imitators truly needed his Ascension in order to endure the life they were leading–and therefore it is certain (emphasis mine). But someone who sits in idleness and ease through good days or is busily astir in busyness from morning to night but has never suffered anything for the sake of truth actually has no need. It is rather something he imagines or something he lets himself imagine for money; he concerns himself with this Ascension more as a curiosity–and so, of course, he doubts, since he has no need(emphasis mine); or he invents some reasons…”

And so I find my answer: imitatio Christi. My life will be found when I lose it. My path will be straight and true when I am walking on the narrow path of suffering. My certainty will follow when my obedience leads me into the hard places of the faith–places where I have need of my faith and need of Christ.

In my pursuit of Reason, I’m abandoning my reason and taking up imitation.

Last night I went to sleep at 7:34pm. And, apart from the occassional wakings for Josiah, I didn’t really wake up until 8:00am. I got a full 12 hours of sleep. While this kind of sleep pattern would certainly be considered indulgent if it were a regular occurrence, lastnight I welcomed it as an rejuvenating spiritual practice.

I often find that my short temper, overly indulgent eating habits, and general orneriness can be attributed to sleep deprivation. Prayer, Bible reading and the like are solid helps to gaining in godliness, but sometimes, I just need to sleep to overcome some of my shortcomings.

Today, in light of my long night of sleep, I woke up in a good mood. I was eager to work out. I voluntarily cleaned the kitchen. I was patient with Josiah’s fussiness. I answered long emails. In so many ways I felt I had a positive grace about all my interactions. My normal despair vanished and I had a positive outlook on life. I honestly think it can be attributed to nothing more than just a good night’s sleep….hmmmm….

I should go to bed soon.

I’ve noticed that more and more regularly the word confused is coming up in my discussions with Mary and some other close friends. It seems to be where all my conversations and ponderings about my calling and future lead…confusion. I just don’t have a clear sense as to what I’m ’supposed’ to be doing.

I wonder what is God’s will? What has he planned out for me to do from before the creation of the world??? Wait, did he plan it out? If he didn’t, can I do anything? Well, I would want his input. I wouldn’t want to make a decision that would lead to unnecessary suffering, or worse less success. What if I chose a career path that didn’t allow much upward mobility? Could I recover? Could I still do all the amazing things I hope to do?

Is God’s Will even about all this?????

I have decided, not. God’s will is obedience. He wants me to be godly. Whether that means I am to be a godly business man, a godly husband, a godly pastor, a godly lawyer, a godly chef, or a godly whatever, God’s will is godliness in whatever profession I embrace.

So, for now, I feel like I have a sense of God’s will. He wants me to be a godly
-husband,
-college pastor,
-children’s pastor,
-and web programmer.

This is God’s will for me: godliness…I’m not sure he cares too much about the other questions.