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Difficulty Trusting Christians

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Chris at Cognitive Discopants (I love that name!), wrote a revealing post on his blog yesterday about why he has difficulty trusting Christians. I am at a different place than he is on some of the issues he raises, but I think he is right on target with his concerns.

Here is some of what he wrote:

It’s been a few years since I began to see my truth filter for what it was. I’ve come out the other side like a Boy Scout after a geomagnetic reversal – my compass now points the opposite direction. In the same way that I once distrusted non-Christians, I now distrust Christians. That’s not to say that I think the average Christian is likely to lie to me. On the contrary, I find that most Christians do prize honesty and usually try to be truthful, at least on a personal level.

The problem is our willingness to lie to ourselves.

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God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics:

Two or Three are Gathered

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Two or Three are GatheredIn a previous post, I suggested that you do not go to church; the church goes with you. Or to put it another way, wherever you go; there goes the church.

This raises questions about Matthew 18:19-20, which says that wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, He is there with them in their midst. This verse is often used in one of three ways.

Matthew 18:19-20 – Three Uses

First, it is used to condemn lone ranger Christians. You know, the ones who have church by themselves on the ski hill, in the bass boat, or (most likely of all), asleep in bed. To these sorts of Christians, people quote this verse and then say, “You can’t have church by yourself.” Of course, they frequently go on to say that you can’t just be with one another believer, there also needs to be a preacher, and some singing, and prayer, and an offering, and communion, and… well, you get the picture.

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Being the Church Community

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Being the Church communityThere are two different ways of being the church community. The first way is by trying to go back to the way things were from about 350 AD to 1950 AD, where the church was the community center. The church was where the people gathered to celebrate and mourn. It was where people were married, buried, and baptized. It was where people went in times of crisis.

However, due to a wide variety of cultural and theological reasons, the church is no longer the center of our communities. Many pastors and church people mourn this fact, and make attempts to resurrect the community center model of church. But it is not working. Why? Because it is not so much that the community has abandoned the church, but that the church has not kept up with the community.

The church used to be the community center because there was not much else in the community. But now, people have a variety of options to pursue when it comes to looking for community — bars, coffee houses, soccer fields, and dance studios.

So rather than try to guilt people who have “left church” to leave their community and come back to church, it might be a good idea to recreate church around the current cultural forms of community.

This is the second way of being the church community. Rather than be a church which has a coffee table, we can become a coffee house that has a church. Rather than be a church that offers Wednesday night aerobics, we can become an aerobic and dance center that has a church.

This is beneficial on multiple levels. For example, the building doesn’t sit empty most of the week, the business helps pay the bills, and the gathering center creates opportunities to make connections with the community.

There are examples of this popping up all over the country in the past fifteen years or so. Let me point out one. Life in Deep Ellum is a Cultural Arts and Community Center in Dallas, TX. They have a coffee shop called Mokah, a state-of-the-art music venue for concerts, and an expansive gallery for art exhibits. The building also houses a film company, a graphic design company, and a life-coaching and counseling service.  Oh, and on Sunday, a church meets there too.

You see how that works? The church is not front and center, the community center is. The church is not the focal point of the building. The coffee shop, art gallery, and music venue is.

This type of approach will be one of the primary ways of being the church in the next fifty years or so. I wish I had known about this place when I lived in Dallas. I would have liked to have gotten involved.

Burn the Bible

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Burn the BibleI am horrified to learn that Pastor Pastor Terry Jones went through with his threat to burn a Muslim Koran.  On March 20, he held a mock trial of the Muslim Holy Book, and the jury — consisting of twelve people from his congregation — found the book guilty of five “crimes against humanity,” including the promotion of terrorist acts and “the death, rape and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith.”

One of the results, according to various news reports today, is that Muslims in Afghanistan killed 20 United Nations workers. We cannot, of course, blame Terry Jones for these deaths, but he had to know something like this was going to happen. Acts of hate against other religions never result in anything good. The hate just escalates until people get killed and war breaks out.

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They Want to See Jesus… But They Can’t See Past the Church

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My father-in-law is a “sayings” dad. He is one of those fathers who has funny saying for nearly everything.

If you stand at the refrigerator with the door open, trying to figure out what to eat, he’ll say, “Take a picture. It’ll last longer.”

If he is in the car and is second in line at a red light and the person in front of him is not paying attention when the light turns green, he’ll say, “What are you waiting for, an invitation? It’s not going to get any greener!”

If you stand between him and the television when he’s trying to watch a show, he’ll say, “You make a great door, but a lousy window.”

This last one really got me thinking. I wonder sometimes if the church makes a great door, but a lousy window. Though we can help people get to Jesus, they often don’t want to because we make it difficult for people to see Jesus.

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New Greek Manuscripts Discovered

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I learned from Alan Knox today that some new Greek manuscripts were recently discovered which shed light on how the early church practiced their Christianity.

New Testament scholars have been wishing for something like this for hundreds of years. According to Alan’s translation, here is some of what these manuscripts reveal:

There was also this alternative opening to Peter’s first letter: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ and Bishop of Rome…”

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Church Goes with You

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The church is the people of God who follow Jesus into the world, whether they meet in a building or not. Therefore, you cannot go to church; the church goes with you.

I believe there is only one church, the universal church (not to be confused with the Universalist Church) and all believers in Jesus Christ throughout time are part of this church. We are one body, united by one Spirit. Wherever you are, there is the church.

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The Practice of Love

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I am pleased to announce that The Practice Of Love, Real Stories of Living Into the Kingdom of God is available for presale.

The Practice Of Love includes 42 authors and 43 submissions. David Fitch, author of The Great Giveaway, and the newly released, The End of Evangelicalism? Discerning a New Faithfulness for Mission (Wipf & Stock, 2011) is contributing the foreword. Each story gives the reader a tangible experience in what it means to step into the Kingdom of God in a very real way.

The contributors include: Lori Wilson, Jason Coker, Alise Wright, Anna Snoeyenbos, Phil Shepherd, Raelene Roth, Kathy Escobar, Kara Maddox, Arthur Dimmesdale, Idelette McVicker, Kathy Escobar, Mihee Kim-Kort, Todd Hiestand, Rhonda delaMoriniere, Trygve Bundgaard, Neal Hager, Jennifer Luitwieler, Amy Moffitt, Dave Everly, Skyler Dresdin, Jamie Arpin-Ricci, Carol Howard Merritt, Cheryl Dack, Beth A. Orchard, Zihna Gordon, Nathan Colquhoun, Martin Turnidge, Annie Bullock, John Martinez, Marian Struble, Alan Knox, Trevar J Simmons, Jarrod McKenna, Brian Ammons, Mike Stavlund, Ron Cole, Naomi King, Jake Kampe, Jeremy Myers, Hugh Hollowell, Melissa Cooper, James Shelley, Neil Christopher, and Kris Socall.

The project is tentatively scheduled for May release. Pre-order it here.

Psychologist Advice for Every Situation

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I’ve spent some time visiting with psychologists and counselors. In general, I think we pay counselors for two things: to be a friend so we don’t feel lonely, and to be a listening ear. If you want to be a counselor, that’s really all you have know.

I know…what I just said is an oversimplification and an insult to all psychologists and counselors. It’s like telling a pastor he only works on Sunday. Psychologists and counselors have to do more than be a friend and a listening ear. They also have to give advice.

So if you want to counsel someone and never know what to say, here is some advice that fits nearly every situation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYLMTvxOaeE

New Theological Categories

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Systematic TheologyYesterday, I proposed some new theological categories that focus on the activity of God in history, rather than on abstract ideas about God. Hopefully, by arranging theology this way, the study of theology leads us to action, rather than to more abstraction as commonly happens with current theological studies. Studying theology this way will hopefully lead us to both know the truth and live it.

Below are seven categories (which have been revised from time to time since the original publication of this article), with a little more explanation. I’ve already made one change, from “Judging” to “Justice.” I did not like “judging” but I’m not fond of “justice” either for several reasons, but mostly because it is more of a noun than a verb, and I want the categories to be verbs. Any ideas? (Thanks Tim Nichols, for the suggestion of “Naming”!)

Also, following each explanation in parentheses is where discussion about some of the ideas from traditional Systematic Theological (ST) categories might be found.

It is also important to note that all seven of the following categories can be found in Genesis 1, the opening chapter of the Bible. These categories are all performed by God, and then (to one degree or another) passed on to Adam and Eve. This is what it means to be created in the image of God. We do what God does on this earth.

1. Creating

The Bible begins and ends with the creative work of God, and everything in history and in Scripture reveals that God creates and re-creates. He not only does this with the universe, but with mankind, the nation of Israel, and the church. Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation, and is called to be co-laborers with God in creation.

(ST: Theology Proper, Israelology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology)

2. Caring

Other terms for this include Relating, Loving, Multiplying, Providing, and Blessing.

God is nothing if not relational. The relational aspect of God is central to thinking about God and interacting with Him. God’s relational interaction include the Trinity, the angels, and humanity. The way God interacts in these relationships reveals much about God, and helps guide us in our own relationships.

Loving is also a huge topic, and would necessarily be divided into several subcategories, such as grace, mercy, and forgiveness. The love of God is vital for understanding why and how God acts. Themes about the love of God run parallel to the previous topic, the justice of God. Love, of course, should be a primary Christian action.

(ST: Theology Proper, Trinitarianism, Christology, Pneumatology, Anthropology,  Soteriology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Angelology)

3. Communicating

Communication is central to all of God’s relationships. With us, He communicates through nature, our conscience, Scripture, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and one another. Communication in its many forms and varieties is also central to being human.

(ST: Bibliology, Anthropology, Christology, Ecclesiology)

4. Seeing/Naming

This is seeing things as they really are and calling things by their right names. It is being able to accurately discern good from evil is something that only God can do. God, being holy, is also just, and must deal with all that is not holy. Humans participate in this, but due to our rebellion against God, came under His judgment, and unable to make right judgments on our own, and so our role in God’s justice is limited. The Scriptures are full of themes of God’s justice, both in areas of condemning the wicked and defending the oppressed.

(ST: Hamartiology, Eschatology)

5. Separating

In the beginning, God separates light from darkness, waters above from the waters below, the various plants and animals after their “kind,” man and woman, etc. But there are good types of separation and bad types as well. After sin enters the scene, humanity is separated from God, and man and woman become separated from each other.

The focus in the rest of Scripture is learning what to separate and what to join together. Sadly, religion often separates things wrongly, teaching us to join with what we should not (greed, envy, rivalry) and separate from what we must join together (other people, culture, creation, life).

(ST: Soteriology, Anthropology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology)

6. Redeeming

Redemption is the pinnacle of theological studies. It is both the goal and the means for everything else. Because of God’s love in all of His relationships, He seeks to communicate with us what is happening in our world as a result of His justice and love, and what He is doing to restore the perfect relationship that He desires. Those who have been restored are to actively participate with God in bringing the rest of God’s creation to redemption.

(ST: Soteriology, Christology, Israelology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology)

7. Ruling

We can also speak of living and serving.

Day 7 of creation is about God’s rule over the world He created. He also gave the sun, moon, and stars to rule over the heavens, and gave Adam and Eve the responsibility to rule and have dominion over the earth. To properly carry out our God-given function on this earth, we must learn how to properly live in this earth, with each other and with the plants and animals, and rule them as God rules us.

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What do you think of these six categories? Do they fairly represent the major activities of God in Scripture and in history, and also indicate the major ways that we are also to be involved in the world? Can you think of a different term for “justice” that is a verb?

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