Working Theology

Church Clothes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Do you "dress up" for church? I mean, do you have "church clothes" or a special dress code to which you hold yourself for your church services? Maybe, like me, you've even had somebody comment on your attire and subtly added guilt to your church attire.

One Sunday, I was feeling particularly casual and wore jeans, t-shirt and hiking shoes to church. One of the elders of our church strolled by and, jokingly, said, "I wasn't aware that today was dress-down Sunday." Of course he was joking, but we all know that there is truth in all jest.

Honestly, one thing I absolutely despise about going to church on Sunday mornings is "dressing up." It is so uncomfortable. True, there are some churches out there that are surprisingly casual, but even at those churches there will be people that "dress up" to go to church.

I used to be a staunch believer that one should wear nicer attire to church services. For me, it was a sign of respect to God and to others. For me, someone that didn't wear nicer clothes to church was lazy, disrespectful... a "slacker." There was no reason to behave that way, in my thinking at that time. I looked down on those that wore t-shirts and jeans.

I wasn't always this way. In my early church life, I attended a special kind of church comprised of bikers. Yes, real, gritty, former-convicts, Harley-ridin', leather-wearin' bikers. Never, did a church service at this church, look like a fashion parade. All of the clothing was practical and fitting for one riding a motorcycle, not for looking good as the world deems it.

Somewhere along the way, I became rigid, white middle-class and very conservative (in a bad way). I'm not sure exactly where it happened, but my values and beliefs fell in line with a very vocal minority in this country. Honestly, looking back, I'm not very fond of that part of me.

Truly, there is no good reason to dress up for church. It poses all kinds of problems. In my former thinking, it was a sign of "respect" towards God and others. Respect towards God? God is not concerned with outward appearances, but with the condition of the heart. Why would God care if I wore jeans and a t-shirt to church? Or, how about shorts and a t-shirt? If truth were told, it was entirely for the purpose of "fitting in" that I wore nicer clothes to church. I was trying to please men (read: all human beings, not just males) and not God. If I'm wearing nice clothes to church, it is because I feel pressured to conform. It is because I am trying to please others and I am concerned about what others think of me.

For some people, the choice of clothes that they wear to church are a way of bragging about how good they look, or how much money they have. For others, it is about doing the proper thing in terms of tradition and society. All of it is contrary to Scripture. There are words in Scripture about dressing modestly in the presence of others. This didn't apply to just public appearance, but also to our "gatherings." Scripture's talk of modesty isn't just sexual, but related to monetary modesty. In fact, James is pretty clear that the way we dress is bad for us and especially bad for outsiders when he says:

"Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here’s a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor." (James 2:2-6, NIV)

Truly, dressing up for church is a bad thing. Why do we do it? I'm sure there is all kinds of sociology and history involved in answering that question, but the short answer is that we are human and we are prone to this kind of behavior.

I pray that I never judge a person by his or her clothing, but that I can connect with them at their heart. I don't want to be the kind of person that looks down on somebody for how they've dressed. Or worse, I don't want to look up to someone for the same reason. Especially in our "assemblies," "gatherings," or "meetings." This is a terrible imposition of human requirements. God has no such requirements for His Kingdom, why should I?

I also pray that I can come and go in God's places (which is all places and everywhere) wearing the clothing that is right for me and not based on what I think others will say about me. I pray that I can dress comfortably enough to Worship God in everything I do and ignore the scoffers.

I pray the same for you and yours.

Why Don't You Quote Scripture?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Imagine if you will, someone visiting my blog and disagreeing with some of the things I'm learning. Theologically-speaking, I may sound a little wishy-washy to a lot of conservative die-hards. They are able to quickly dismiss what I am saying because I "don't quote scripture" as they put it. Some of you, now that I've pointed it out, might be asking the same question, "Yeah! Why don't you quote scripture?"

Well, the short answer is, "I quote scripture all the time. I just don't reference scripture with chapter and verse at every turn." But this answer isn't very satisfying for me. Nor, would I guess, is it satisfying for you, my dear readers. So let's dig into the long answer to this question and realize that this question isn't very fair to ask of anyone.

Several years ago, I was in a Bible study with 15-ish other men. I was caught-up at the time with a fierce battle for who-has-the-best-doctrine-award. One of the men in the group reiterated a rule that he once held in some college group. He said, "If you don't know the book, chapter and verse of what you are saying, you can't use it in a discussion." "Of course," I thought at the time because it seemed a reasonable check against quoting scripture in an invalid way.

I'm learning differently lately and I've reached a point in which I wholeheartedly and adamantly disagree with that statement. There are several problems with insisting that we reference chapter and verse for every bit of scripture. The first is that chapter and verse are not inspired and are not really a part of scripture. Chapters were first created in the 13th century and verses weren't complete in the New Testament until the 16th century. Prior to this time, there were no numbers utilized to segment the Bible except in the few cases of using the Hebrew alphabet as an acrostic. The people involved in segmenting the Bible into chapter and verse never claimed that their work was inspired. In fact, in some cases, they did a very poor job of locating and placing divisions.

Take a look at the end of Genesis, Chapter 1. Beginning in verse 31 and reading to the end, you will see that there is a cohesive thought that continues through chapter 2, verse 1. The first verse of chapter 2 completes the thought that began in 31. For most English readers, this division in chapters makes it very difficult to read with continuity. The same thing happens in Philippians chapters 3 and 4. Take out those numbers and you will see a cohesive thought running right through to where chapter 4, verse 1 ends.

I think the modern age puts undue value on chapter and verse.

Secondly, we have examples from the Bible on how to "quote scripture." Jesus frequently quoted scripture when He spoke. For obvious reasons, He did not reference chapter and verse, but more importantly, it was a fluid part of His speech and thought process. So much so, that sometimes it is difficult to see when He is quoting scripture.

For most modern academic types, scripture is the 'zinger' at the end of their thought that serves as proof that they are right. When we look at how the Apostle Paul used scripture, it is almost as if the Scripture is an integral part of his thought process and he doesn't distinguish between his thoughts and Scripture. Indeed, when I read verses like Acts 14:15, I see Paul letting Scripture be a natural part of his speech and thought.

We are encouraged to let the Word of God dwell in us and to meditate on Scripture. We are not instructed to memorize scripture as an intellectual exercise, but to let it be an integral part of our spirit. Chapter and verse make it intellectual and encourage us to use it as proofs for our thoughts. Rarely, in this way, does it encourage us to allow Scripture to drip from our souls because it has soaked us through.

It is in this manner that I see the prophets and apostles of Scripture make use of other Scripture. It is in a way that Scripture is at the heart of their thinking and feeling and not just tacked on for good measure.

For me, there may be times in which I will reference Scripture because I believe it will aid the reader in some way. Other times, I will quote Scripture because it has become an integral part of my soul. In those moments, I will not reference chapter and verse because I believe it detracts from the thoughts and feelings I am expressing.

For many, referencing chapter and verse is important for them to believe that I know what I'm talking about and helps them feel better about the truth. For them, I cannot win. In my experience, referencing chapter and verse is actually a turn-off for outsiders. It's a demonstration that we know something they don't. The postmodern culture that is growing in this world does not value the rigid, rational, academic approach to thinking and referencing Scripture seems to be a very sterile, modern approach to thinking.

For me, it disrupts the heart process (not "thought process") that I believe is key to this blog. So, I will continue to quote Scripture in the same way I always do and occasionally, I may reference Scripture, if I believe that it is useful.

Tell me what you think. Leave a comment, even if you disagree. I'm open to discussion, so let's hear it.

5 Verbs: Adore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:38:00 +0000

"Love" is one of those words in the English language that has a bizarrely broad definition. We appropriately say that we "love" our spouses and children. Some of us "love" our parents. My "love" for my wife and children are so great that I'm willing to die for them. But, I also "love" my dogs, not enough to die for them. And, I "love" pizza--especially Old Chicago pizza. (If you've never had and Old Chicago pizza, you don't know what "loving" pizza is like.) I've seen bumper stickers for people that "love" the Broncos, and Shelties, and renaissance festivals and even Obama. No matter how much you "love" our nation's President, I'm certain that it doesn't compare to your love for those closest to you.

As Christians, we are supposed to "love" God with everything we are. Is that like "loving" pizza? Or, is it like "loving" my family? We are supposed to "love" our neighbors; like I "love" dogs? Furthermore, we are supposed to "love" our enemies. Well, that's easy. I love my enemies about as much as I love Obama, but that's not saying much. I don't know Obama from anyone. If I were to love him, it would be an abstract, honorary kind of love or dedication to an idea. It doesn't compare to the love I have for my wife and children.

We have another word in English that we don't throw around as frivolously as "love." The verb is "adore." I "adore" my children. I "adore" my wife. But, I merely "love" my dogs. Do you see the difference? "Adore" holds a much higher significance than merely "love." This may not be the way it was meant to be, but that is the way it has ended up. I have yet to meet someone that says that they "adore" Obama (I'm sure there are people out there). Unfortunately, with "adore" comes "adorable" which is a word we use for cute and cuddly little things, but for some reason, in the verb form, we don't use "adore" in quite the same way.

So, how does God "love" us? God is "love." Is that "love" as in pizza? Is that "love" as in Broncos? How does God "love" us? God "adores" us. God "adores" us so much that He suffered as a human and died. The difficult part here, is that "adore" doesn't show up in the Bible much. It is in the NIV only once and doesn't appear in the ESV, NKJV or NASB. It does show up in the NLT twice (once for a statement of elaboration that is not in the original language) and the NET thrice. In all the English translations that "adore" is used to translate, it is for the word, אָהַב (’aheb) in Hebrew. However, that Hebrew word is translated as "love" hundreds of times. "Adore" is never translated from the Greek.

So, what about the Greek? Many of you probably know that there are several words in Greek that are translated as "love." The most common (in the Scriptures)is ἀγαπάω (agapao) which I think should be translated (at least more often) as "adore." We are called to "adore" our neighbors, our enemies and our God. I can φιλέω (phileo) my neighbors, but "adore?" (φιλέω (phileo) is the word Jesus used to describe the Pharisees that "love" to sit in the place of honor.) I can φιλέω (phileo) pizza (sorta). But, seriously, "adore" is one of those words I just can't see myself applying to a lot of circumstances. But, that's what God wants from us. He wants us to "adore" everyone. God wants us to do something that is impossible. This is why it is a miracle.

You see, when we recognize that it is impossible for us to obey the command to "adore" our enemies with a kind of adoration that is beyond our nature, we must come to a difficult conclusion: "I can't." When we look at the health of a relationship and community based on the thermometer that I discussed in mylast post, we can see that this kind of love is outside of our power. We must realize that God "adores" us. We are His sons and daughters and we are very important to Him. When we live long enough in His adoration for us, it begins to spill over into our relationships with others. It isn't a command that we can willfully obey. "I'm going to love that rotten, sonofa... even if it kills me." When you think of it, you can't command anyone to "love." If "loving" is done to obey a command, then it isn't really "love," is it? When we take it to the higher level of "adore," and try to "adore" someone because we are commanded to, then it looks nothing like adoration, or even "love."

This is The huge lesson I am learning. Most of the imperative statements of the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, are impossible to do with the right attitude. Unless you are living a life in which you know and feel and bask in the adoration of your Father in Heaven, these commands cannot be met or implemented. We need a miracle. We need God's love. We need God's adoring love. Then, and only then, can we even begin to obey His commands. Then we can have healthy relationships. Then we can have growing communities. Then we can be infectious in a way that brightens the world and actually makes it a better place.

Then, Christians will return to a place in which the world no longer hates and despises us, but yearns for the "adoring" love that they see.

I pray that I can live like I am adored by my Father and Savior. I pray that His adoration spills out of my life into my relationships. I pray that my adoration of others is infectious and desirable.

I pray the same for you, too.

Note to language enthusiasts: I know that my use of Hebrew and Greek is incorrect. I know that my use of tense, verbs and gender is off. Please allow me some latitude. I am attempting to make a point, in English for non-enthusiast speakers.

5 Verbs: Summary

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:37:00 +0000

Summary?! But, wait, we've only covered four verbs, not 5! Right. I want to summarize the four previous verbs before I get to the fifth verb. So far, we've explored the verbs, "reject," "tolerate," "accept," and "approve." We could stack these one on top of the other with reject at the bottom. It's like the "defcon" level or the "terror threat level" meters that we see in the news and in movies. As we move up the stack, the healthiness improves.

This can be used as a thermometer to gauge the health of our relationships, communities and society. Relationships that operate at the bottom of the stack aren't very healthy, obviously, and it can be made healthier by a single person moving up the meter to "tolerate." A relationship or community with only one person at the tolerate level may not be a great place to be, but at least the civility will improve; even if only a little.

If the whole community is operating at "tolerate" and one person moves up to "accept," that community or relationship will improve a little. The difficulty with moving a community or relationship up the stack is that it is far easier for people lower in the stack to "drag others down" than it is for people further up the stack "pull others up." It's like a big swamp: those that are drowning are likely to pull the others down as they thrash about struggling in the state they're in.

All of this is in the realm of human possibility. It is possible, although rare, to have a community of people that mostly operate at the "approve" level. If they will operate at this level within themselves and with outsiders equally, it is a healthy community, indeed. Unfortunately, a community like this is so attractive, that newcomers come in and don't understand the beauty. The newcomers are likely to operate at a lower level and they will begin to infect the community and bring it down. And yet, it is possible for a community of human beings to recover from these newcomers and continue to operate at the highest level of community health. It takes strong, consistent and intentional people that cannot be swayed to keep a community at the top of this thermometer.

In my experience, any community operating at the top of this thermometer doesn't stay there long. Even with people aware of the health of the community and an unconscious understanding of that which makes it healthy, it doesn't take long for them to be overwhelmed. In a sense, the top of the thermometer is peace and if the whole world would get to the top of this scale, we'd have world peace. What would it take for every human being on the planet to understand and behave at the top of this scale? It would take a miracle.

I know that I have been the newcomer dragging a community down; many times. I have also tried to be further up the stack, but I am so weak I can't stay there. I don't have the strength to pull people up, I am more likely to be pulled down. This is what so disappoints me about institutional Christian communities. The institution tries to be the conscience of the community that reminds them to move up the scale, but that's not what people do. Instead, it becomes a game of meeting the requirements of the institution in order to stay in the good graces of the communities, but secretly everyone devolves into the state of "tolerate" until someone finally falls into outright "rejection." It is quite sad and sickening to see.

When I am at the bottom, I am a terrible, wicked force working against the community. When I am closer to the top, I am too weak to stay there long. I have found that the only way to break free of this tension is to leave the community altogether. At least I'm no longer bringing others down. Lord, forgive me.

I know, it's depressing to think about the futility of human sociology like this. Wouldn't it be great if everyone could operate at the "approve" level? I mean, imagine a world where even half of the people operated that way. But, the reality is that this meter only shows health; it's only a gauge. There's no help for us in these four verbs. That's where the fifth verb is the miracle.

5 Verbs: Approve

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Unlike the other three verbs, the verb, "approve" is a little harder to grasp. Imagine, if you will, parents sitting down with their daughter and her boyfriend. The two of them inform her parents that they want to get married. Now, the boyfriend is a typical young man and is far from perfect. It would be understandable if the father strongly resisted the idea of his daughter marrying this young man. But for some reason, he says to his daughter, "I approve. I believe you've made a good choice." Turning to the young man, "I am happy to have you in the family. Everyone in the room knows this young man isn't perfect and has lots of maturing to do. So, this statement from the father is almost a surprise to everyone.

The father "approves" of his new son-in-law-to-be. This is beyond "accepting." He genuinely thinks well of this young man. Place yourself on the receiving end of this approval. If that imagery doesn't work for you, imagine that you and your biggest rival at work are contenders for the next big promotion. When the boss selects you to have that position, your rival approaches the boss and says, "I think you've made a very wise choice. I think [fill in your name] is the best choice for the job." Then, approaching you, your rival says, "I'm very pleased that you were selected for this position." You can tell by the sincerity in your rival's voice, and the look in your rival's eyes, that your rival truly means those words. "Acceptance" would be for your rival to simply move on without harboring a grudge, but "approval" takes it a step further and says, "you are worthy."

This behavior is almost un-human. We rarely see this kind of behavior in people and we generally are impressed when we see it. In fact, this behavior is so difficult to "fake" that we are almost assured that it is authentic when we see it. In many perspectives, this is how God views us. We are worthy of His personal attention. Even while we are sinners, we are worthy of His sacrifice and salvation. He adopts us as sons and daughters and we are worthy of all of the inheritance that belongs to Christ. Don't hear what I'm not saying. We aren't worthy because we deserve what we get, but God treats us as if we are worthy regardless of our actions. This is Grace (capital 'G' intended). This is the love of our Father.

When we are living in our Father's love, we can begin to "approve" of others. We can see them as beautiful eternal souls that are worthy of our Father's attention and affection. Those that know the Christ are also co-heirs with us and we can approve of their participation in the Kingdom of God.

Look around at your communities, fellowships and workplaces. Do you see people that genuinely approve of others? Oh God, I pray that I can learn to have this attitude towards everyone. Please teach me, and discipline me to be like your Son in this way. I want to this kind of person to everyone around me. I want you to use me to create communities and villages of people like this.

5 Verbs: Accept

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:13:00 +0000

In my last post, I spoke of the verb, "tolerate" and its condition in our social structures and relationships. That post followed a post on the verb, "reject." Now, I want to move on to the next verb, "accept." In my opinion, the "accept" verb is the very basics of Christian community. If we consider "reject" and "tolerate" as worldly, we can consider "accept" as godly in a small way.

Consider the following story.

A few years ago, I went to an investment conference. I wasn't sure of how to get to the hotel at which the conference was held, so I left early to give me plenty of time to find it. It turned out to be easy to find, and I arrived 25 minutes early. The organizers were kind enough to let me in early and I sat down near the isle around the middle of the room. The technicians were still setting things up and another early arrival came and sat across the isle from me.

I'm not usually one to hold conversations with strangers, but this man started a conversation with me. He started with asking me, "So, who are you?" I paused, wondering if he thought I was somehow involved with the conference organizers and he quickly added, "I don't mean what you do for a living, though why you do it might be interesting, but who are you when you get to be yourself."

I found this question intriguing because I had recently been mulling on the idea that: we are not what we do. His question seemed to be based on the same principle that we, as humans, are very complex and interesting and our professional vocations rarely demonstrate that.

I replied, "I'm something of a creative person and I enjoy inventing and creating things."

"Oh, that's really cool. Where do you get all of your creativity? What inspires you?"

"I think God gifted all of us with the ability to be creative, just like He's creative, and I enjoy that."

"God?" he queried. "An abstract God? Or a personal God?"

"God of the Bible." I replied, hoping that would answer his question.

"Are you a Christian?"

"Yeah. Christ is my Lord." I was beginning to feel good about this conversation, because it seemed "holy."

"Are you a 'born again' Christian?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"Are you a part of a particular denomination?" His questions started to worry me, like he had an axe to grind.

"No, not really, I'm more non-denominational."

"But you believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, and the Trinity and stuff, right?"

"Absolutely!" I agreed. He was no stranger to some Christian theology. I was wondering where this was going. "Are you a believer?" I asked in response.

"No, not particularly. I'd consider myself 'spiritual,' though." He responded, "Does that disappoint you?"

"No, not 'disappoint,' but I wish you had the blessing of His salvation." I was trying to find an opening to share the gospel, but I wasn't sure what to say.

"So now you want to save me, huh?" He grinned as he said this as if he knew exactly what was coming.

"Well, I can't save you, but God can. I just hope that you can respond to His gift." I was struggling. I really couldn't give this guy any information that he didn't already have. I felt obligated to try and evangelize this guy and 'win him over' to Christ. I had really messed up ideas about those sorts of things back then.

"Well, you can try to save me if you want," he said with a smile, "it doesn't bother me, and it won't make me like you less." I began to feel like I was getting evangelism tutoring from a non-believer. I was a little put-back by his statement when he said, "But, I'd rather talk about your creativity. What kinds of things do you do with your creativity? Do you paint? Do you draw?"

"I don't paint much, but I draw and write music and do graphic design and things like that."

"Ooh. Graphic Design? Do you work with Web sites much?"

Our conversation continued for 20 minutes or so as people shuffled in. He seemed genuine and winsome. He outmatched me, socially speaking. He never seemed disturbed by the fact that I'm a Christian and that he wasn't. It wasn't a point of contention and he never brought it up again.

The man in the above story that struck a conversation with our Christian narrator was genuinely practicing the "accept" verb. There was a potential point for conflict in the fact that he could have been bothered by someone else trying to "save him." But he didn't let it get in the way. He accepted the reality and accepted the other person as someone that was worth talking to. If we were to ask him, I'm sure he would admit that he didn't agree with Christianity and wasn't impressed by the salvation message. However, it wasn't cause for him to "tolerate" the other person. It was a "non issue" that he simply accepted and moved on.

It can be difficult to see the distinction between accepting and tolerating. One way to see it is that a person that "tolerates" another is insincere and inauthentic. There is no genuine desire to share company with the other person. With "accepting" another person, there is a sincere desire to spend time with another person, in spite of the contentious differences.

I must admit, I fail miserably, when it comes to accepting others. I find it very easy to argue and debate. I want to be right all the time and anyone that disagrees with me is an opportunity to prove that I'm right. This gives people ample ammunition to merely "tolerate" me or "accept" me. However, I do a poor job of "accepting" and moving on.

Another way to look at "accepting" is to have relationships with people and not feel the need to "fix them." There is no prerequisite to being in God's family other than to accept that you are in His family. I think of Jesus and Zacchaeus when I look for examples of "accepting." Although, I think Jesus did more than "accept" Zacchaeus. The basis of Jesus' attitude to Zacchaeus was acceptance.

I believe that God, through His Spirit, is teaching me about acceptance. All of the people that look different from me, that act different from me, and even the people that don't accept me, I am learning to accept them. I am at the beginning of this journey. What is God teaching you about the "accept" verb? Do you see acceptance in your communities, social circles, workplaces and relationships? In what ways can you yield to the Spirit to be more accepting. I warmly invite your comments.

5 Verbs: Tolerate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:49:00 +0000

In my last post, I covered one of the 5 verbs, "reject." This week, I will dive into "tolerate." If you haven't, yet, I recommend reading, 5 Verbs: Reject before continuing.

Let's do another mental exercise. Imagine yourself at a meeting of some kind. Something like a business meeting or a church committee meeting. You sit down at a table and you try to participate in small talk with everyone else that is arriving early. Now imagine that one of them—someone that has a lot of influence in the group—says to you:

"You know, I only 'tolerate' you being here. I make pleasant talk with you and I'm nice to you because I'm obliged to. You really aren't important to me and I'm not really particularly fond of you. If it weren't for obligation, I wouldn't spend time with you."

At first, you'd be a little astonished, nobody is that honest. But, if you're like me, you'll immediately feel hurt, disappointed, betrayed and even angry. Shortly after that person honestly shares, a few others in the room agree, "Yeah, I pretty much tolerate you being here, too," and "if it weren't necessary, I wouldn't be around you."

Now, this scenario is pretty unrealistic. People aren't this honest. In fact, when somebody merely "tolerates" another, they are typically engaged in some kind of deception.

In social contexts, in my opinion, "tolerating" someone is far worse than rejecting them. When one "rejects" another, it is pretty overt. As I said last time, it frequently isn't as explicit as saying "I reject you," but the message is otherwise clear. But, with tolerating someone, one is "putting up with" a person or behavior that one would otherwise scorn. This is dishonest to say the least.

This behavior is everywhere, this is the "polite" status quo. This is how the typical social environment of the world works. You'll find it in schools, in workplaces and most definitely in churches.

Now, without debating the definition of the word, "tolerate" and how it is frequently used, politically speaking, I do need to be clear about what I mean here. "Tolerating" someone is the act of allowing a person's presence and feigning respect for that person. "Tolerating" is not honoring or including, but simply accepting an obligatory association.

I'm not particularly good at "tolerating" people. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve and make it obvious when I don't like people. This makes it hard for me to fit into a lot of social groups. The worst part, though, is that I try to tolerate people because somewhere deep-down I believe that this is the way to behave.

Luckily, the culture in general and specifically the "postmodern" mood that affects culture is causing people to 'see through' the "tolerating" behavior of others. The inauthentic "niceness" that pervades social structures is becoming more transparent. In fact, I can tell when someone merely "tolerates" me, and it's depressing. I say, "luckily," because I don't believe that this attitude or behavior is very nice; I don't think it is godly, or "Christian" or even very good manners. It is rejection covered in deception. I think simple rejection would be better; at least it is honest.

When I look at how Jesus treated people, I never see the "tolerate" verb. I sometimes see rejection, in the case of the Pharisees, but never "tolerate." Even in the Old Testament, God does not merely tolerate people, but He makes it clear that He loves people and is willing to accept a contrite heart; no "tolerating." He "endures" His wayward people, but He is forthright about His thoughts.

So, the question is, why do we do it? Why is it perceived as "polite" to behave this way. I know for me, it is a part of my "working theology" that needs to change. More than refraining from rejecting people, I need to not "tolerate" people. It's dishonest and hurtful and I fear that it alienates people that God loves.

Of course, I can't stop doing it, but I'm pretty sure that the Holy Spirit has brought this to mind so that when I see myself behaving this way, I will have an opportunity to yield to the Spirit and behave differently.

Finally, to anyone that has ever felt that I merely, "tolerate" them, I am truly sorry. It was uncalled for and I pray it never happens again. I hope that I can rest in my Father's love enough to neither reject nor tolerate you. My next post will be about how I should be treating you. I hope you will return and read that post.

5 Verbs: Reject

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:02:00 +0000

Let's imagine together. Imagine that you are at a large gathering of people. Something like a high-school dance or a corporate holiday party or even a pro baseball game or other sports stadium. It really doesn't matter, just some place where you might be with a large group of people that you barely know.

Now, imagine that you are minding your own business, enjoying the event and somebody approaches you and says, "I reject you and everything you do!" How would you feel about this? If you're like me, you would probably respond with some defensive posture and rude (and sarcastic) retort like, "Yeah? Well, I reject you, too!" Or maybe, "Whatever." If you had any friends around, they might chime in, "What the heck was that all about?" Regardless of what is actually said, you'd be offended or hurt, but you'd quickly dismiss it.

As time continues, a few more people from the crowd approach you with the same words. It's different now, there's a few dozen of these people that make a point to tell you that they reject you. In fact, they reject your friends, too. At some point, your ability to dismiss the remarks as you did with the first person quickly fade into a deep hurt and complete loss of understanding. "Where is this coming from?" and "Who are these people?" As it turns out, these are the people for whom this event is tailored; it's their party; their event; their game. You are merely a guest.

There are a variety of responses to this situation, depending on what kind of person you are. Considering that you were invited to this event and you aren't crashing it, you'd be understood if you reacted with a little bit of anger. You would probably move into a mode in which you reject in return so-to-speak. With your friends near by, it might turn into a shouting match or even an all-out brawl. The situation would quickly digress to a war of "us versus them."

In my opinion, the "us versus them" mentality is a genuine cognitive bias (though I don't have any research to support this). Most people are guilty of it. It's the Ford vs. the GM guys; the Pepsi vs. Coke people; the Democrats vs Republicans; the Broncos vs the Raiders; you know what I'm talking about. It is an easy position to fall into, especially if you feel rejected by a certain group of people.

The "reject" verb infects communities, infects society and infects our relationships. We dealt with (or are dealing with) it in Jr. High and High School; we deal with it at work; and, we deal with it in the Church. It is a poison; a remnant of the first sin of humankind. It is everywhere and it destroys the thing that God wants most for us: relationship.

Unfortunately, the "reject" verb isn't as direct as our imaginary scenario. It is usually much, much more subtle. Even in it's most explicit forms, it isn't as outright as saying, "I reject you." Take a look at this picture below.

taken from: http://www.stickergiant.com/Merchant2/imgs/450/b9954_450.jpeg

If you're a Christian, you might have similar feelings to our thought exercise above. It is a not-so-subtle form of rejection by a group of people towards another group of people. But it certainly isn't one-sided:

taken from: http://contexts.org/socimages/files/2008/05/god_hates_fags.jpg

In fact, I think Christians are guilty of rejecting groups of people more often than other groups.

It breaks my heart.

Have you ever heard, "Love the sinner, but hate the sin?" In our imaginary scenario above, I made a point of having the antagonist say, "I reject you and everything you do!" For some, they think that by making a distinction between person and behavior that it somehow eliminates the rejection. But, think about it. If someone says, "I reject everything you do!" does that really make you respect them more? do you feel better about it? Right or wrong, rejecting someone's behavior in the current culture is the same as rejecting the person.

Look around you; in the communities and social activities in which you are engaged. In the political arena, in your congregations, in your work-place, and in public places. Do you see the "reject" verb in action? Does it break your heart like mine? This is a part of my journey that I have the most trouble with. I have become very good and rejecting people, and I am so sorry.

I want to be the kind of person that feels a deep empathy for the "rejected," the "lowly," and the "downcast." Regardless of who put them in that state (including me). I want to be a part of communities of people that have eliminated the "reject" verb from among them. Don't you?

Kirche-sprechen (Church-speak)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I am guilty. Guilty of dividing the Church from the non-church with terrible and cliché church-speak. You can see how those that aren’t familiar with the vernacular will mock the church-speak by peppering their speech with “thy” and “thou” and “hath” and “ye” and “yea.” It’s sickening really. Although, I don’t hear many of those words in congregations today , I do hear modern Christianity’s version of it. (I do still hear some. Try saying the Lord’s prayer without it.)

Nobody that is un-churched uses terms like, “blessed,” “exalt,” or “lifted up” unless they are trying to talk to- or about Christians. “Praise” is rarely used outside of church-speak and almost never in the way that church-goers use it. This list of phrases is almost endless.

Now, I’m not against saying these phrases. I think they can be meaningful, even beautiful. But, I think we use these phrases in trite and cliché ways. I think the effect is that we alienate people more than we invite them because we use insider jargon.

I want to stop. Not stop using these phrases, but I want to stop alienating people with these phrases. I want to use them only in contexts in which they are meaningful; and only intentionally. All of my speech should be straightforward to anyone listening and any kirche-sprechen should be well defined and clear.

Thankfully, God has already begun to make me aware of how I use this Christianese language. As time progresses, I will only use insider jargon when it makes sense and I will make sure it is understandable.

God willing, of course. And, what I mean by that church-speak is that I recognize that when I say, "I will..." that I am reliant on God's grace and providence for anything to happen in my life.

Well-intentioned Fellow Travelers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Now that I am making my journey more public by way of this blog, I’ve had a few conversations with people that are traveling on a similar journey. Everyone’s story is different and everyone has wisdom from their journey.

It’s no surprise to me that many of them want to help me. It is a gift of God to want to see people grow in their love of God. I don’t doubt or question their motives.

However, sometimes, I think they don’t fully understand my position. Some of them have taken different paths and some are still stuck in WIMP thinking and Churchianity.

To these people, I must say, I am so grateful for your help, enthusiasm and desire, so I say the following things with much trepidation and caution. I want to emphasize my position on a few things about my journey so that you understand me better and so that we can connect in more meaningful ways.

Some of you offer advice along the lines of, “You have a problem and it needs to be fixed.” You might even add, “I know God is going to help you through this struggle” and “you will be better for it at the end.” I heard similar contents from friends when I became a Christian, “Oh, it’s just a phase; it isn’t real. You’ll get past this soon and feel all better.”

Your intentions are well understood and I appreciate them. However to me, this is more of the performance thinking. This is more you’d-be-a-better-Christian-if-you-weren’t-going-through-this sort of thinking.

So, I want to be clear. I am not “struggling.” At least not in the sense that I think you mean. This isn’t going to end, and if it ever does, that is a sad day. This is the beginning of the rest of my life on earth. This is a new way that is better than the old way. I truly believe that this is a better way for me to live.

I don’t need sin management, or artificial growth. I don’t need to feed my intellect with sermons and Sunday school. I’m not looking to “fix this” as if something were broken. There’s no turning back, there’s nothing to fix. I’m not going to return to my congregation thinking, “Whew! I’m glad that’s behind me!” There’s nothing to get behind me, no moving on past this except death.

This isn’t a “recharge” or a temporary “retreat.” For the past three years I have seen and tasted the very tiny beginning of the life I’ve always wanted. All it takes from me to have that life is to give up on “fixin’” things and trying to make it work.

I am quite happy with where God is taking me and I don’t regard it as something I need to figure out or learn. I already know a lot. What I am after now is to radically change my heart. I want to move from a mostly-intellectual endeavor to a mostly-spiritual endeavor.

I apologize for this rant. I love you and respect you; all of you. I don’t mean to come across as ungrateful, or irritated, or anything negative for that matter. All I want is to clarify things for you.

Intellectual

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:41:00 +0000

I have a problem: I'm smart. No, this isn't braggadocios. As you can see, I'm calling it a problem. God has given me the gift of intelligence and for many years of my life, I acted as if that was what "made me special."

I was smarter than most of the people around me and I treated them that way. I didn't fit into the cool crowd, so I flaunted my intelligence to make them feel insecure. I didn't finish college, but I was so smart, I didn't need to. I used my intelligence to fill me with pride.

Why did I do this? Because deep down, I was very insecure about who I was and this was a defense mechanism built into my personality. I was always so very self-conscious about what people thought of me and I acted arrogantly to make myself better than them. It wasn't good for relationships on the whole and I always felt better by spending time on my own. Nobody could hurt me if I didn't spend time with them.

I would pursue things that would make me smarter, like reading and chess, among other things. But, I also fancied myself as an all-around artist, so I would pursue artistic endeavors like music, drawing and theater. I was better than most in those things, too.

It was actually very self-destructive. I based my entire value on how much smarter and better I was than the people around me. I used it to put a wall around me to prevent people from getting close and getting to know the real person inside. Granted, this began before I was a Christian, but long afterward I continued in this trend of pumping myself up to feel better about my insecurities.

It didn't take long for me to start hating myself. I was insecure and very aware of all of my shortcomings. I even knew that my arrogance was my greatest shortcoming. This only fed the self-loathing and the desperate need to feel better than others. What a wicked downward spiral.

Oh, and although I am speaking of the past as if it is history, I am well aware that I am still guilty of these crimes. However, now I am consciously aware of my Father's love. I'm not always mindful, but I want to place no value in myself except for that my Father loves me.

If I am intellectual, intelligent or smart, I want it to be for God's kingdom. If I'm not "smart for God," then I don't want to be smart at all. If I am a talented artist, composer or poet, I want to be artistic for the Kingdom of Heaven. If I'm not "artistic for God," then I don't want to be artistic at all. One of the writers of the Bible, Paul, said similar things about himself, so I know I'm not way off base here.

I have a problem: I'm smart. But, I'm praying that God will turn this problem into His Glory, for His sake. I want to have my only value be in Him. This is the cornerstone of this journey for me. I recognize that it will take the rest of my life on earth to realize the outcome of this journey, but this is the journey that I am happy to be on. I want to bask in the glow of my Father's love.

The Mechanics of a Working Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:28:00 +0000

I've taken too long to write this part, but I'm having trouble waking up early in the morning. Perhaps if I were more disciplined, I could get it done...

But there I go, thinking in the old way. There is this subconscious nagging that God wants me to be disciplined and shakes his head in disappointment when I fail to follow through. This is the old Working Theology that is still moving like a juggernaut in the same old direction. I've got to change; I can't keep going like this.

The reality is that God understands all of the struggle that I endure and He is by my side supporting me in this struggle. He has no cause or desire to wag His head or His finger at me. He knows what's wrong and He doesn't expect me to fix it. He is already working on changing me. It is I, myself that is wagging the head and finger, disappointed in myself for failing yet again. The truth is that I am ignoring the work of the Spirit and disappointed in me for not making more progress; which really means I'm disappointed in God for the lack of progress. How Backwards!

So how do we change? We are always looking for practical ways to make things better, aren't we? The fact is, we don't change on our own, but only as a result of God working on us. The trouble is that we interfere with God's work, run away from His love and try much too hard to do it alone. When we want to improve ourselves, we end up slowing the progress God is making.

So, here are the mechanics of a good Working Theology. This isn't work for you and I to do, but an understanding of how it works in our lives:

One: We must recognize that God has already done everything for us. We are welcomed in His presence and loved by Him purely based on the Cross. He doesn't expect anything from us that He isn't going to do through us.

We must focus our energy on a relationship with our Father, His Son and His Spirit within us. We must cultivate that relationship in any ways we feel the Spirit leading us.

We must recognize that He always loves us; adores us; treasures us in the deepest ways. He will never love us less or more. When we know that we are loved and accepted... when we truly know not with our heads, but in our soul, we will stop trying so hard and relax in the freedom of our salvation and His affection for us.

This is the rest that Jesus spoke of. I am convinced that there is no better way to live as a Christian than to live every moment in the subconscious and conscious realization that He adores us.

Two: As we begin to live our lives with the reality of God's love and stop trying so hard, the Spirit will lead us to think thoughts, have attitudes and perform actions that He wants us to think, have and perform. He will lead us to do good things. These good things will be a joyous privilege for us and will never feel like a chore, or like discipline.

This is where the trouble begins. It is in these moments that our old selves return to strike us with fear and self-centeredness. When the Spirit leads us to do something simple, like giving a gift to a homeless person, or to share a smile with a stranger, we freeze in fear and look for ways to avoid the situation. We know that we ought to do it, but find excuses not to.

God doesn't need us to feed the homeless and smile to a stranger. This leading is an opportunity for us to grow. God will accomplish everything He sets out to do whether we come along or not. But we will grow and experience joy when we participate.

To do this, we need to stop doing. We need to "yield" to the Spirit and how He is leading us. We need to let go of our own will, accept the difficulties we perceive and let the Spirit lead us in doing a good thing.

All of the dos and don'ts of the Bible are secondary to the central notion that we are loved by Him. If we get that wrong, then we are only deceiving ourselves and succumbing to guilt.

This, in my humble opinion, is the mechanics of living a Christian life. The relationship comes first, the "works" come second. This includes fellowship, community, discipline, the sacraments, and any other good work you can think of.

Don't agree? Think I've lost my mind? Leave a comment.

The Intricacies of Working Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:24:00 +0000

I heard a woman say to her child, "You make God frown when you do that." This was a well-educated Christian woman who is no slouch when it comes to theology. I pondered her phrase for quite a while because I thoroughly understood where she was coming from. I think the same way sometimes, but somewhere deep inside me that phrase seemed wrong.

She was well intentioned. She was intending to make the point that there are things in the Bible that God commands us not to do and other things He commands us to do. She was, in a simplistic way, instructing her young child that God is concerned with our actions and behaviors. However, the real interpretation of that phrase, especially from a child's point of view is, "Sometimes God smiles, but most of the time he frowns." Added to that, we are all bound to think, "Sometimes God approves of me, but most of the time He is unhappy with me."

We sit in church and we hear messages from the pulpit or from Sunday school that support this thinking. We hear words like, "duty" and "responsibility." We are bombarded with messages like, "making a marriage work" and "learning how to pray effectively."

The message is clear: the Church would be better if Christians got off their butts and engaged more; more evangelism-we aren't doing it enough; more missions-we aren't doing enough; more prayer-we aren't doing enough; more mercy ministries-we aren't doing enough; more helping out in the childcare center-we aren't doing enough; more this, more that.... "God is frowning on us! We aren't doing enough!"

You know what I'm talking about even though you don't want to admit it. You would be a much better Christian if you did more. We all would be better Christians if we did more. We all want to be better Christians, don't we? We all want God to smile on us, don't we?

But, is this really what God teaches us? Is this faith? Or, is this religion? Can we change God? Can we really make him frown? Does he only approve of us sometimes?

In our minds, we can work out the theology of all of this, and come to the correct conclusions (possibly after long deliberations and relying on Systematic Theology and the Westminster and Heidelberg confessions). However, once we figured it out intellectually, we would go on acting in the same old ways. We have the weight of thousands of years of religion pushing us in one direction... works-based mentality. Even though our intellectual theology is based on faith and grace, we revert back to our old ways when we aren't careful. I've heard it said, "choose your ruts wisely, you'll be in them for a long time."

Our Working Theology is the theology that our subconscious-innermost-deep-and-spiritual-soul believes and affects how we behave. It is the Christian part of our unconscious worldview. It is the part that drives our behavior and attitudes when we aren't thinking about our behavior and attitudes. There is a disconnect between our intellectual theology and our Working Theology. (For those of you that don't hold to the faith alone and grace alone theology, you probably suffer from the same disconnect with your intellectual theology and your working theology, just at different points than this.)

I've said it before, we are WIMPs, trapped in our own confusion. Frankly, it's driving me nuts. My natural instinct is to try and solve this problem with more intellectual pursuits; trying to better understand what is going on. It is my nature to want to understand something before I let it into my life.

As time passes, I am convinced that my Working Theology needs to change and that there is one small detail in my Intellectual Theology that is resisting this change. That one small change is how I view, intellectually speaking, the fullness of grace and the mechanics of living in it. However, I don't need to understand it intellectually before I start changing my Working Theology, I just need to "yield" to the Holy Spirit each and every time I feel His leading.

So, join me. Do you really, really believe that you are saved by grace? Do you really believe that it is no longer you that lives, but Christ that lives in you? Do you live that way? Are your attitudes and behaviors reflective of that? (Please excuse the church-speak, I'm talking to people familiar with the jargon.) If so, your Working Theology needs to change just like mine.

Let's avoid falling into the trap of thinking in terms of cognitive dissonance and cognitive biases for the time being and just focus on our Working Theology.

What do I mean by "Working Theology?"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:29:00 +0000

The trouble is that we know too much in our heads and our spirits remain uninformed. We understand so much and yet our spirits remain ignorant. Let’s do a little exercise. I promise, I won’t trick you into doing something you shouldn’t.

Imagine. Imagine as best as you can; as deep as you can. Wherever you are, imagine Jesus, in the flesh so-to-speak, right there next to you. Is there an extra chair nearby? Imagine him sitting there, or on the counter, or desk, or, even standing next to you with his hand on your shoulder. Imagine it.

Now, imagine him saying, “We haven’t had much time together lately. I miss spending time with you.”

Your response will likely be something like, “Yeah, I’ve been busy lately…” and you will probably think of all of the things that you have been doing that keep you from praying and reading scripture.

“Yes, but you find time for watching football,” He responds. (Instead of football, insert whatever leisure activity you engage in.)

“It’s not about time. It’s about fear. You’re afraid to come to me. You’re afraid that you aren’t worthy; that you’ve messed up too much. You think too much about what you do and not enough about who you are.

“You think you aren’t lovable; that, somehow, my love doesn’t apply to you like it does other people. You doubt that the love I speak of is intended for you. I know you and I do love you. I love you more than you will ever possibly know.

“I don’t need you to be worthy. I don’t need you to be lovable. I don’t need anything from you. I am The Lord. You are my son. I have adopted you, not because I needed to, but because of my deep and unending love for you. You are so precious to me and I very much want to spend time in your heart and spirit.

“You are mine. Let me into your life. Don’t worry about all the things I want you to do. We will get to those things in time. Don’t worry about all the things you do wrong. If you mess up and notice it, acknowledge it and move on, determined not to do it again. If you do it again, acknowledge it and move on, determined not to do it again. Don’t dwell on it.

“Focus on letting me into your soul. Focus on yielding to my Spirit. Focus on listening to my Spirit. Anytime you have a thought, share it with me.”

Now, come back to reading this. Take a deep breath. Did this touch you? Were you choked, even in the slightest? If so, you suffer, like I suffer, from a lot of the junk in Modern Churchianity; or “Brickianity” as Mr. Bell calls it. Out of Modern Churchianity comes WIMPs like me. A WIMP is a White Intellectual Modern Protestant. You are probably a WIMP, too, even if you aren’t white.

In the past 300 years, a whole lot of great things happened in the Protestant Church, but being filled with human beings, it isn’t perfect and a lot of junk came along with it. We think too much. We focus so much on having it right, that we forget the real “good news” of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, I think that when Jesus said that we must approach him as children that he meant that we need to stop thinking like rational adult human beings. Instead, like children, we must focus on the love of our perfect parent and trust that things are going to be OK, even if we don’t understand it all.

Just writing this tears me up.

And it should.

The more I mediate on the words and life of Jesus, the more convinced I become that he cares very little for what we do. Don’t get me wrong, our actions are very much important, but I don’t think that what we do is important. We sit in churches and in Bible studies learning about how we are saved by the Grace of God, and not of our own works and then minutes later given “practical application” on how to apply what we’ve just learned to our lives: so we can be better Christians. Does this seem wrong to you like it does to me?

I cannot escape feeling, “If I only did this more…” or “If I could only stop doing….” Followed by some non-articulated notion that we would be a “better Christian” or that we would somehow be more acceptable or more worthy to be in the presence of such great Christians. It isn’t spoken, it’s subconscious. Because, if we spoke it out loud, we would immediately recognize that it is bad theology; that we’ve “got it all wrong.” But, the truth is, we do “got it all wrong.”

There is a disconnect between our intellectual theology and our Working Theology. Our Working Theology is what happens in our sub-thoughts, our attitudes and our behavior when we aren’t trying to be good. You see, when we try to be good, we are not relying on God’s Spirit, so I’m going to say it. “Stop trying to be good.”

Instead, let’s work on improving your Working Theology. This is how I see it. We must train ourselves to feel God’s love in our spirit. We must recognize, on a daily basis, who we are. We must remind ourselves of the real “good news:” that God loves us and there is nothing we can do to change that. We can’t make God love us more or less. Nothing we do will change God’s love for us.

Nothing.

If you are God’s child, good behavior doesn’t buy you anything. Sinning doesn’t mess anything up. It’s not up to you!

Slow down and think about it.

…

Some of you have been well indoctrinated by Churchianity that the things I’m saying are making your blood boil. And, that’s exactly my point.

As a wise person has told me, “don’t hear what I’m not saying.” I am not saying that our actions don’t matter. I am saying that our actions are secondary to our relationship with God. I believe that when we truly yield to the Spirit, the good works will come easily, without effort and with enormous joy. I am saying that the Spirit will lead us and we will do great things. All of the things that we are instructed to do in the Bible will come as a result of having a good Working Theology.

This has implications for how we treat others, too. But, we’ll have to get into that later. For now, realize, in your innermost being, that God loves you very much and it has nothing to do with the things you do. There is nothing you can ever do to make Him love you less. There is nothing you can ever do to make Him love you more. His love for you is at maximum and it won’t change.

Working Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:37:00 +0000

This is my new blog called "Working Theology." I started this blog for several reasons. The primary reason is that I believe God is calling me to start this blog. I'm learning a lot about myself, about God and about the world through my prayer and meditation. My examinations of the Scriptures and my school studies at CCU are only amplifying and augmenting these lessons with veracity.

My audience is God, my wife, and me. All others are welcome to read and leave comments. I make no claims of perfection or correctness. I only hope that the lessons I am learning are valuable to you, dear reader.

If you find wisdom or encouragement in the posts that follow, by all means leave comments to that affect. If you are bothered by my posts, please contact me with your concerns so that we can reconcile the differences.

And, above all, please be civil, courteous and thoughtful in leaving comments.