This is a question I have been asking myself ever since I was engaged in a Scripture dialogue on Acts 10. Here we find a story about a Roman centurion (soldier) who received a call from God to go send for the apostle Peter. Before Peter received the centurion's servants he himself received a vision from God about a number of animals that were unclean for any Jewish person to eat, with the command from God to, "Kill and eat." Though Peter protested, this vision appeared three times with God responding in the same way.
When Peter made it to the centurion's house and learned why he had been sent, he began by stating, "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean." When the centurion shared with Peter what had precipitated his invitation, Peter began preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to them. But before he could finish, we read in Acts 10 that the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. Peter and those who had come with him were astonished that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on these non-Jews, these Gentiles.
But Peter's response reveals that we should not stand in the way of whom God accepts. Upon seeing that God poured out his Spirit on the centurion and his household, Peter declares, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
Too often it is difficult to accept people who are different than us. I am not merely talking about people from different cultures or ethnicities or races, but people who even "sin" differently than we do. Without getting into pitting one sin against another, whether one is worse than the other, or whether one can be a follower of Christ and still struggle with a particular sin -- especially if it is a sin involving sexual matters (these seem to be the ones that bother us the most), I would like to suggest a different approach.
It seems that the beginning point for receiving others as brothers and sisters in Christ has more to do with God's acceptance than what we are comfortable with. If we see, witness, or discern (as Peter did) that God accepts a person, who are we to stand in the way of whom God accepts?
Now I do not dare speak for God as to whom God accepts, but I have a hunch that God accepts far more than I am capable of. I may disagree with a person's perspective, a person's choices, even a person's behavior, but if I witness that God has poured out his Spirit upon them, then, no matter how uncomfortable I am with them, I need to be open to accept them as God has.
This creates a different standard for judgment. It is not my place or right to pass judgment on others. Rather, as I take note of the actions of God in relation to others, God's actions alone become the basis for my response to others. What I am discovering is that God accepts many more people than I am able to. In fact, God loves even those who reject an overture of relationship with him -- so there is no one outside the bounds of whom God loves.
Therefore, whomever God loves, whomever God accepts -- are persons I am called to love, I am called to accept.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
A Diffferent Way of Living
I was reminded this week of how walking with Jesus does not fit well into the many ways that people choose to live, especially if we choose to live in light of polarities -- you know taking one side over another, such as being conservative or liberal, being pro-choice or pro-life, being capitalistic or socialistic. On the continuum of polarities I find that people tend to gravitate to one end or the other -- somehow that provides a place of comfort.
What I encountered this past week that caused me to notice this once again was visiting a college with my daughter who is entering her senior year in high school. The college was a Christian college, which had numerous rules regarding behavior, socializing, and dress codes. We have visited other colleges which were on the other end of the spectrum which had far fewer rules, or at least different kinds of rules -- dealing more with discrimination and tolerance, than personal lifestyle choices.
Where my thinking is going on this is that people either prefer to have a set of external parameters (rules) to guide their living and thinking, or do not want to be constrained by externals so that they can choose whatever they wish -- to be guided by their own desires and wants. I have found my self in both contexts over the years, and I have been uncomfortable in both. Perhaps the problem has been trying to be a moderate, one who is in the middle. What I am coming to realize is that such polarities and such continuums are contrary to walking in the way of Jesus.
Often times in Scripture, Jesus was confronted with two choices -- one on each end of a continuum, "should we pay tribute to Caesar or not?" Jesus response was one that was not to be found on that continuum between obedience to the State or not, but he created a whole new paradigm for engaging life. His response whether to pay tribute was, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." This is no "whatever" response, or one that skirts the issue, but presents a very different way of living.
It is a way of living that is not guided by a set of external rules, nor guided by our own often selfish whims -- but it is a calling to live in step with the Spirit of God -- to discern a way of being in life that exemplifies a way that brings wholeness and peace.
In such an approach I find, if we still need to use polarity labels, that I am at times conservative, and at other times liberal. For example, I am pro-life, but I find that following Jesus calls for me to be pro-life in all of life -- not just at birth. There are many pro-lifers who demonstrate against abortion, but are pro-capital punishment. To be consistently pro-life, in my mind, is to seek life in all the contexts of our engagement with society -- not only to protect the fetus, but also to protect children in poverty, spouses and families in abusive relationships. It means we seek to wage peace, rather than waging war against our enemies, it means we do not take an eye for an eye, but seek justice in such a way that life is honored.
Such a way of being does not easily fit on a continuum, but presents an alternate way of being in the world. It is a way of being not hemmed in by rules that alleviate any discerning on our part, or even a way of being that is libertine in which we are only constrained by our desires with no concern for the other. Rather, it is a way of being that requires an ongoing connection with the God who created us, so that our living, our choices, demonstrate a way of being in this world that fosters life, that fosters peace, that fosters hope, that lives out love.
This is not an easy way to live, because not many will understand your not siding with them -- you will be an alien, a stranger to people -- but in this way of living, as we rely on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we will live in such a way that enables people to see what life and peace really look like.
Living in the Spirit calls us to find comfort, strength and direction in yielding to the Spirit, rather than in external rules or in our own estimations of what we think is right. We focus too much on establishing rules, or demanding our rights and freedoms, rather than cultivating a sensitivity to the things of the Spirit, and the courage to heed the Spirit -- a really different way of being in this world.
What I encountered this past week that caused me to notice this once again was visiting a college with my daughter who is entering her senior year in high school. The college was a Christian college, which had numerous rules regarding behavior, socializing, and dress codes. We have visited other colleges which were on the other end of the spectrum which had far fewer rules, or at least different kinds of rules -- dealing more with discrimination and tolerance, than personal lifestyle choices.
Where my thinking is going on this is that people either prefer to have a set of external parameters (rules) to guide their living and thinking, or do not want to be constrained by externals so that they can choose whatever they wish -- to be guided by their own desires and wants. I have found my self in both contexts over the years, and I have been uncomfortable in both. Perhaps the problem has been trying to be a moderate, one who is in the middle. What I am coming to realize is that such polarities and such continuums are contrary to walking in the way of Jesus.
Often times in Scripture, Jesus was confronted with two choices -- one on each end of a continuum, "should we pay tribute to Caesar or not?" Jesus response was one that was not to be found on that continuum between obedience to the State or not, but he created a whole new paradigm for engaging life. His response whether to pay tribute was, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." This is no "whatever" response, or one that skirts the issue, but presents a very different way of living.
It is a way of living that is not guided by a set of external rules, nor guided by our own often selfish whims -- but it is a calling to live in step with the Spirit of God -- to discern a way of being in life that exemplifies a way that brings wholeness and peace.
In such an approach I find, if we still need to use polarity labels, that I am at times conservative, and at other times liberal. For example, I am pro-life, but I find that following Jesus calls for me to be pro-life in all of life -- not just at birth. There are many pro-lifers who demonstrate against abortion, but are pro-capital punishment. To be consistently pro-life, in my mind, is to seek life in all the contexts of our engagement with society -- not only to protect the fetus, but also to protect children in poverty, spouses and families in abusive relationships. It means we seek to wage peace, rather than waging war against our enemies, it means we do not take an eye for an eye, but seek justice in such a way that life is honored.
Such a way of being does not easily fit on a continuum, but presents an alternate way of being in the world. It is a way of being not hemmed in by rules that alleviate any discerning on our part, or even a way of being that is libertine in which we are only constrained by our desires with no concern for the other. Rather, it is a way of being that requires an ongoing connection with the God who created us, so that our living, our choices, demonstrate a way of being in this world that fosters life, that fosters peace, that fosters hope, that lives out love.
This is not an easy way to live, because not many will understand your not siding with them -- you will be an alien, a stranger to people -- but in this way of living, as we rely on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we will live in such a way that enables people to see what life and peace really look like.
Living in the Spirit calls us to find comfort, strength and direction in yielding to the Spirit, rather than in external rules or in our own estimations of what we think is right. We focus too much on establishing rules, or demanding our rights and freedoms, rather than cultivating a sensitivity to the things of the Spirit, and the courage to heed the Spirit -- a really different way of being in this world.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
"Playing the Game"
It has been over a year since I left my previous position at Northern Seminary to explore new directions in my life, seeking out the doors God is inviting me through. It has been quite an adventure and as I reflect back -- through this journey is still scary at times -- it is one of the best decisions I have made -- No regrets!
I recently heard of a comment a former colleague made concerning my supposed "inability" to make it at Northern. He made it to another colleague of mine when they met at a conference this summer. He mentioned that he had become aware of some of the issues I had voiced regarding my time at Northern, to which he stated, "Roland did not know how to play the game."
My friend passed on my former colleague's greeting, as well as this comment he made. I remember my immediate retort -- "Well who wants to play the game?"
I have come to realize that life is too short to playing games when there is life to be lived. Game playing is okay when you are sitting around a table with friends playing cards, Monopoly, or whatever other game provides an excuse for friends to get together just to be with one another.
But when "game playing" becomes a technique we engage in to make sense out of our contexts, be they relationships, family, work, church, etc., then we miss the point of living in ways that not only sets us free, but enables others to be free around us as well. Now I know freedom involves responsibility, but responsibility need not require ways of being, ways of acting -- "game playing" if you will -- that necessitate the enslavement of ourselves in order to have an existence within a context.
Also "game playing" is often associated with "playing politics." As a mentor of mine once expressed, "Politics is all around us. The point is to know how to respond with integrity." Politics is not always a four-letter word, because what "being political" means is "being intentional." In that sense of the word, political action is intentional action -- and I believe all our actions ought to be filled with intentionality and with purpose. However, "game-playing" is also a form of intentional action or politics, yet it thrives on maneuvering and manipulation so that one finds their way through the maze. And if one person is "game-playing," others have to as well.
Game-playing also needs to be distinguished from being discerning and tactful. Game-playing requires persons to put on different personas, to hide behind masks, to create facades, which protect us from the game overwhelming us -- by hiding who we are, we learn to play the game. However, we can refuse to play the game, and yet still be discerning. We can read situations, the powers that seek to direct situations in certain directions, and we can navigate such "waters" by speaking truth and naming life. Now one does not need to be boorish in doing so, but the truth-speaker is one who refuses to play the game and yet seeks to reveal a different way of being grounded in a different reality.
"Game-playing" also is a distrustful activity -- one relies only upon themselves. Game-playing does not lend itself well to trusting others. To get ahead in game-playing one has to know how to manipulate the situation so as to gain the advantage over others.
Contexts which require "game-playing" hinder us from being persons of integrity. When contexts require us to play games to survive, we create facades -- to be persons who we really do not want to be. Such contexts stifle our humanity, diminish a sensitivity to the Spirit of God, and force us to be people who fear to be open, to be transparent.
Life is too short not to be playing the kind of games that enable us to enjoy one another's company.
For me I am discovering that seeking to live out the Gospel as I follow after Jesus Christ -- is a life that is contrary to "game-playing." Following Jesus and living in the way of Jesus calls for an integrity, a transparency, a trusting in God, rather than ourselves, an attitude of servantship, rather than one of gaining an upper hand. Now it may not seem to be the way to win in this life, but it reveals a different reality to live in this way -- which in the long run enables persons to be more humane with one another, and enables us to be in community with one another, rather than in competition.
Yes, by refusing to not play the game, I may never win, in fact I am sure never to win, BUT that is okay with me. I am discovering its not about my winning, its not about me, watching out for myself, gaining an advantage over another, etc. Such an attitude is the root of broken relationships and mistrust.
I am coming to discover that its about what I can contribute to what God is doing in this world as I love the Lord my God with my whole being and love my neighbor as myself. In taking the focus off of how I need to play the game, I am set free to live this life, to have a sensitivity to life all around me -- and by demonstrating a different way to be with others -- indeed the way Jesus was with others (and by identifying with him I am enabled to live in this same way), others can begin to see, to discover that there indeed is another way to live and be in this world.
I recently heard of a comment a former colleague made concerning my supposed "inability" to make it at Northern. He made it to another colleague of mine when they met at a conference this summer. He mentioned that he had become aware of some of the issues I had voiced regarding my time at Northern, to which he stated, "Roland did not know how to play the game."
My friend passed on my former colleague's greeting, as well as this comment he made. I remember my immediate retort -- "Well who wants to play the game?"
I have come to realize that life is too short to playing games when there is life to be lived. Game playing is okay when you are sitting around a table with friends playing cards, Monopoly, or whatever other game provides an excuse for friends to get together just to be with one another.
But when "game playing" becomes a technique we engage in to make sense out of our contexts, be they relationships, family, work, church, etc., then we miss the point of living in ways that not only sets us free, but enables others to be free around us as well. Now I know freedom involves responsibility, but responsibility need not require ways of being, ways of acting -- "game playing" if you will -- that necessitate the enslavement of ourselves in order to have an existence within a context.
Also "game playing" is often associated with "playing politics." As a mentor of mine once expressed, "Politics is all around us. The point is to know how to respond with integrity." Politics is not always a four-letter word, because what "being political" means is "being intentional." In that sense of the word, political action is intentional action -- and I believe all our actions ought to be filled with intentionality and with purpose. However, "game-playing" is also a form of intentional action or politics, yet it thrives on maneuvering and manipulation so that one finds their way through the maze. And if one person is "game-playing," others have to as well.
Game-playing also needs to be distinguished from being discerning and tactful. Game-playing requires persons to put on different personas, to hide behind masks, to create facades, which protect us from the game overwhelming us -- by hiding who we are, we learn to play the game. However, we can refuse to play the game, and yet still be discerning. We can read situations, the powers that seek to direct situations in certain directions, and we can navigate such "waters" by speaking truth and naming life. Now one does not need to be boorish in doing so, but the truth-speaker is one who refuses to play the game and yet seeks to reveal a different way of being grounded in a different reality.
"Game-playing" also is a distrustful activity -- one relies only upon themselves. Game-playing does not lend itself well to trusting others. To get ahead in game-playing one has to know how to manipulate the situation so as to gain the advantage over others.
Contexts which require "game-playing" hinder us from being persons of integrity. When contexts require us to play games to survive, we create facades -- to be persons who we really do not want to be. Such contexts stifle our humanity, diminish a sensitivity to the Spirit of God, and force us to be people who fear to be open, to be transparent.
Life is too short not to be playing the kind of games that enable us to enjoy one another's company.
For me I am discovering that seeking to live out the Gospel as I follow after Jesus Christ -- is a life that is contrary to "game-playing." Following Jesus and living in the way of Jesus calls for an integrity, a transparency, a trusting in God, rather than ourselves, an attitude of servantship, rather than one of gaining an upper hand. Now it may not seem to be the way to win in this life, but it reveals a different reality to live in this way -- which in the long run enables persons to be more humane with one another, and enables us to be in community with one another, rather than in competition.
Yes, by refusing to not play the game, I may never win, in fact I am sure never to win, BUT that is okay with me. I am discovering its not about my winning, its not about me, watching out for myself, gaining an advantage over another, etc. Such an attitude is the root of broken relationships and mistrust.
I am coming to discover that its about what I can contribute to what God is doing in this world as I love the Lord my God with my whole being and love my neighbor as myself. In taking the focus off of how I need to play the game, I am set free to live this life, to have a sensitivity to life all around me -- and by demonstrating a different way to be with others -- indeed the way Jesus was with others (and by identifying with him I am enabled to live in this same way), others can begin to see, to discover that there indeed is another way to live and be in this world.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Dancing in the Spirit
Many of us use the metaphor of "walking in the Spirit" to describe the kind of life we are to live as human beings -- of walking not according to our selfish ambitions, but to be led by the Spirit of God in all our encounters. Now I say "human" rather than "Christian" because I believe that to experience the fullness of what it means to be human we need to be connected to God -- we just cannot be human in the best sense without being in an engaging relationship with God -- because we have been created in God's image.
But I would like to offer another metaphor for our daily living -- the metaphor of "dancing in the Spirit." Dancing for me is more representative of life and the fullness we can experience in it. As human beings who identify and follow after Jesus Christ, we are more than metaphorically the Body of Christ -- rather we are the Body of Christ in that we are called to continue the ministry of Jesus in the world. The dance metaphor is one that I find more appropriate because walking can be done alone, dancing often requires an engagement with others. As the Body of Christ we are called to dance in the Spirit -- to the rhythm of the Spirit -- in all our encounters.
Often when we loose our focus as a community of Christ in the world, when we go about our own agendas, rather than God's purposes for the world, then our dancing becomes clumsy and we step on each others' feet, bumping into one another. But when we sense the rhythm of the Spirit, when we have ears to hear and eyes to see what God is doing in the world and where God is doing it and we find the "groove" to get in step with God's actions, God's mission we begin to dance very differently as a witnessing, worshiping community.
So then as human beings we are called to not merely walk, but we are called to dance in step with God and with our neighbors -- whomever they are. Conversion, repentance -- ideas that seem to turn more people off than on, are indeed invitations not to stumble around but to become a partner with the Spirit of God through whom we learn how to dance to God's rhythm. Conversion, repentance -- or whatever terms we use to describe a change of attitude, direction, perspective in our lives -- is to have well up inside of us the passion to dance in the Spirit in step with the rhythm of God.
Shall we dance?
But I would like to offer another metaphor for our daily living -- the metaphor of "dancing in the Spirit." Dancing for me is more representative of life and the fullness we can experience in it. As human beings who identify and follow after Jesus Christ, we are more than metaphorically the Body of Christ -- rather we are the Body of Christ in that we are called to continue the ministry of Jesus in the world. The dance metaphor is one that I find more appropriate because walking can be done alone, dancing often requires an engagement with others. As the Body of Christ we are called to dance in the Spirit -- to the rhythm of the Spirit -- in all our encounters.
Often when we loose our focus as a community of Christ in the world, when we go about our own agendas, rather than God's purposes for the world, then our dancing becomes clumsy and we step on each others' feet, bumping into one another. But when we sense the rhythm of the Spirit, when we have ears to hear and eyes to see what God is doing in the world and where God is doing it and we find the "groove" to get in step with God's actions, God's mission we begin to dance very differently as a witnessing, worshiping community.
So then as human beings we are called to not merely walk, but we are called to dance in step with God and with our neighbors -- whomever they are. Conversion, repentance -- ideas that seem to turn more people off than on, are indeed invitations not to stumble around but to become a partner with the Spirit of God through whom we learn how to dance to God's rhythm. Conversion, repentance -- or whatever terms we use to describe a change of attitude, direction, perspective in our lives -- is to have well up inside of us the passion to dance in the Spirit in step with the rhythm of God.
Shall we dance?
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