left behind

I’m not sure what the phenomena is, though I have an idea or two for writing on it, but I have always felt like sooner or later I am left behind. I don’t say that’s true across the board. But it seems like at a certain point one’s welcome is worn out. Or that I simply don’t measure up, or that I’m doing something wrong, or whatever. I think more than this being actually true, the perception of it has held me back over the years.

Paul certainly has few peers, and I’m most certainly not one of them, though I do aspire to follow his example as he followed Christ- from what we read in scripture. But I recall how he felt forsaken, but how the Lord stood with him. Paul also remarked that few, if indeed any were like his “son” Timothy, because most were attentive to their own interests, and not to the interests of Jesus. And I think of the body of Christ, how we’re there to support each other. We’re to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. We’re to exult when one of our own members is exalted for the sake of Christ.

While I’m a believer in solitude and silence, I’m not a fan of the spirituality which is not committed to each other, come what may. The spirituality of the New Testament is communal and messy. And above all, or perhaps I should say first of all, committed to the Lord and to each other in accordance with the will of God.

Of course there are so many things we don’t get right. We’re working on it. We need to be thankful for what is good in God’s grace and work in our midst, instead of dwelling on what we think is lacking. But just the same, we need to be committed to everyone with the goal of seeing each person fit in well, and flourish according both to the general calling to all in Jesus, and the specific calling each and every individual will have.

I write from experience. I have to say that as I’m weakened, of course I become weak. And yet I find the Lord’s strength in my weakness. We in Jesus are in this call together. We are broken not only individually, but so often communally. It’s a treasure when some unity is held on to, by the Spirit. It may be for a season, or for a specific work. But it should be part and parcel of us in Jesus. And actually is present in any church, including the church Deb and I are part of. We do well to enter more deeply into that. Because this is a mainstay of our life in God through Jesus by the Spirit for the world.

diversity in unity

Yesterday I complained about the divisions among us as Christians. They are significant and deep and do divide us in ways that are antithetical to who we are in Christ. Today I want to consider just a bit the rich diversity we find in the unity that is ours in Christ. I want to include not only individuals with all our uniqueness, but the different groups and traditions within Christianity itself.

Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Mainline Protestants, Protestant Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Anabaptists, etc. And within at least most of these categories, there are traditions in emphasizing or seeing certain things as important. Within Roman Catholicism there are the Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, just to name three. That church likes to emphasize its own unity, but it has plenty of diversity, in fact I think just as much as the Protestants, etc.

Where the error lies is when we don’t recognize the body of Christ, in other words others who are in Christ. That is the sin which occurred in Corinth which Paul addressed. There may be even some serious differences among us, but we do well to recognize, acknowledge and thank God for the rich diversity we find within the body of Christ, both local as well as in all of its universal expressions.

Many denominations or movements began from a sense of need. Or even in answer to a crisis of faith. Or with the desire to fully follow Jesus. I would add with insight from God. This is such a big subject, not something I will hardly scratch the surface of in a blog post.

What is crucial in all of this is that we don’t compromise and drift from seeing our unity in Jesus, from the gospel of King Jesus. This is the ecumenicalism that is needed, not a watering down of truth and what groups believe, but an embracing of all who hold to the faith which was once for all entrusted to us, God’s people. But for that to occur, there will have to be discernment, a return to first things. To what grounds and unites us in and through Jesus.

This post certainly doesn’t answer or even address the issues which divide us. But I simply make the point that within the one body of Christ, there is rich diversity. All from God through us in Jesus for the world.

our broken witness

If there is one scandal in the church which I think is worse than all the rest, and there have been bad ones, I really think the worst is the scandal of all our divisions within the church of Jesus. They are everywhere. As great as the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church is, and one time I considered considering becoming a part of that communion,  they refuse to share the Eucharist meal with others who they acknowledge as Christians (even if their official documents deny that we are). The other great Church of the Great Tradition, the Eastern Orthodox are divided from the Roman Catholic communion having some notable differences with them, but by and large on the same page, and something like first cousins. Protestants of course are divided from the Roman Catholics. And within Protestantism there are numerous divisions. Among the evangelicals within Protestantism there are hundreds and more of divisions. One denomination (or you might say group, or tradition) alone has numerous divisions.

I’m not so worked up about our divisions if we work at unity, at living out the unity we have in the one faith we share in Christ, by the Spirit. But so often there are splits among us. Our witness is thus broken. Because part and parcel of that witness is how we live together, our life together in Christ. This is no less than a commitment which we are called to live out, work through and maintain.

On personal levels, we don’t take seriously the words of Jesus. That if a brother or sister holds something against us that we’re to go to them and be reconciled with them before we can worship. This is a tough one, and some people are going to refuse reconciliation no matter what. That’s between them and God, but we must do our part, whether we like them or not. Love lives beyond that, love reaching out even to enemies. But when brothers and sisters in Jesus are divided, that is nothing less than dividing Christ himself. And therefore not presenting Christ. Christ is known only where his Body is one in heart, mind, life and commitment together.

By this will all people know we are Jesus’ disciples, if we love one another. And we are to be brought to complete unity, in order that the world may know that the Father sent the Son. If we refuse to obey or take seriously these words of Jesus, then our witness is broken. Christ will not be presented in the way that he is, because we insist on living apart from his Body. Christ is thus broken as far as the witness to the world is concerned.

The Spirit works in spite of this. But the Spirit is grieved as well, and often quenched by us to be sure. Nevertheless God is faithful. His grace in Jesus is powerful. There is a love and witness in Jesus right within and therefore through his Body. A love that is meant to be shown to the world. And in that love Christ is made known. The love we are to pursue and be committed to, together in Jesus for the world.

 

Rodney Reeves on where true love is found (for those married, and for everyone else)

It’s one of the great ironies of our time: the famous “love chapter” written by Paul is commonly recited during wedding ceremonies. I think the apostle would find the custom very strange. That’s because he wrote 1 Corinthians 13 to remind his converts that true love is how the church reveals we are the body of Christ. (It comes in the middle of his teaching on spiritual gifts not marriage.) As far as Paul was concerned, true love isn’t found in marriage or in family, in words or in miracles, in knowledge or even in self-sacrifice. (See 1 Cor 13:1-3.) True love is found in Christ. Therefore true love is to be found in his body, the church. Really? Not marriage, not romance, not children, not parents—true love, pure love, godly love is found only in Christ and his church? That’s hard to swallow (especially for those who have endured abuse not only in marriage but also in church). All the more reason Paul believed we all need to change our perspective, not looking at things “from a human point of view”; “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might  live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view” (2 Cor 5:14-16). That’s the difference between us and the apostle Paul. He saw all things—yes, even love and marriage—through the lens of the new creation. Husbands were to see their wives as members of the body of Christ—when they loved their wives, it was the same as Christ loving the church (Eph 5:25). Wives were to submit to their husbands as members of the church submitting to Christ (Eph 5:22). This was life in the Spirit; this was how members of the church submitted to each other “out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). They didn’t do this to make their marriages better (even though that is often the case—I have noticed that I’m a lousy husband when I’ve lost my first love). Rather, husbands and wives are to love each other because they are brothers and sisters in Christ. We love because he first loved us. Christ and his church define the marriage relationship. In fact, that’s why Paul found sex outside of marriage so reprehensible: it polluted the body of Christ.

Rodney Reeves, Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ, 136-137.

God’s consolation

We live in a troubled world, and when we are committed to follow Jesus, we run into more trouble. Remember his words and the context:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

God’s consolation includes wisdom in knowing how to be as wise as serpents, yet as harmless as doves (again, Jesus’ words). We need that in this world, in fact it seems at times even in our relationships with other believers. It seems in our highly individualistic society, we’re hardly aware, much less committed to living as a body in unity in Jesus in this world. And yet the Spirit in us works to that end, while at the same time we’re told to make every effort to keep that unity of the Spirit.

Of course there will be spiritual battles out there. Perhaps largely under the radar- hardly known to us, once in a while- in our face.

God comes to us with wisdom and often with consolations. Sometimes, and maybe for some of us during some seasons, quite often, our perspectives are laden with fears about what might happen if we act faithfully. And sometimes we’re not sure just how to act to be faithful. Too often I’ve had it in my head in the past that this is plain like a science, but there’s an art to it as well. I’ve always thought it should be done in love, but sometimes just how to do it seems to have eluded me. Because it would not come across well when I did it, no matter how loving I tried to be, or at least humble in expressing it.

God brings consolation in the sense of wisdom over time. We want to be obedient, but not according to our understanding, but in the Jesus way. Submitting to him in every situation. Too often we think that we simply need to do something when within ourselves God’s work needs to be done. And for that to happen, we need to be open, to humble ourselves and listen, ready to repent and change. A change of heart, and then of life, of actions.

Of course inwardly we need to repent of any wrong we have inside or out which we’re aware of. And to pray the prayer of examen from the psalms that God would indeed search our hearts and know our anxious thoughts to see if anything offensive is in us, and then to lead us in the way everlasting. We need to take it slow in trying to correct a problem with another, and yet we need to be committed to that end.

God’s consolation. For us together in Jesus as his light of love even through us to and for the world.

the skeptic in me

I used to be, and maybe to some extent still am a skeptic by nature. Just because something is supposed to be true, and nearly everyone I know accepts it, doesn’t make it so to me. I want to ask questions. I want to know why others dissent. I want to be open.

This has got me into heaps of trouble in the past, when I’ve openly expressed views at loggerheads with established views. Be they political, or perhaps even faith related. I realize now that oftentimes it is not worth the grief, it’s not necessarily my calling, and the more I know, the more I realize there is to know.

I still am a bit skeptical by nature I suppose. I want to examine something for myself, part of that investigation finding out what others say, especially those really knowledgeable, weighing everything, and coming to some sort of position. Often a lean one way or another, with varying degrees of certainty.

I think the skeptic in me has given way to a significant extent to the realization by faith that God knows. God knowing does not mean God wants us to dispense the responsibility we have of making judgments in regard to truth claims. It does mean that we can be confident that God can guide us now, in spite of our inevitable mistakes, and that in the end, God is sovereign so that everything will be taken care of for good, in and through Jesus.

Therefore, I won’t lose sleep over who wins the next presidential election of the United States (where I live and am a citizen of), figuratively speaking, though I may be up later that election night to see how it’s going. I won’t worry about those who sharply disagree with me on matters of politics or faith. I want to listen, be respectful, even when I completely disagree. Knowing that sometimes I’ll learn something new, which at least will help me better understand the position that is held.

The bottom line for me always ends up being Jesus. Simply Jesus. God’s grace and kingdom come in him. That is the bedrock and foundation on which I stand. Informed on that by scripture. Living that out in the context of community, through the Trinity, and Christ’s body. Knowing that all that is good, right and true is somehow related to and fulfilled in Jesus.

And so we follow. To whom else shall we go? Jesus indeed has the words of eternal life. A life as big as every issue under the sun and then some, as big as all of creation. Yes, even in the darkness we in Jesus go on, following him together and for the world.

fellowship

We’re in need of fellowship with each other as human beings. And this is no more so than in the body of Christ, the church. It can make all the difference in the world. Night and day.

It is a humble fellowship, a kind of in Christ as in immersed together in Jesus by the Spirit. It is meant to be a part of our church life. But it doesn’t automatically happen, though it’s as near us as the brother or sister is, in our gatherings. And yet we can be so far away. We can indeed withdraw and  then miss this life altogether.

But only in this life do we have light. If we insist in isolation, we obscure the light. If we hate our brother or sister, we live in darkness, as John tells us.

To be in Jesus means to be members together of him. When we are joined to him, we’re joined to all others who are in him. We don’t do well to be isolated from any one of them. Full reconciliation should be the goal. Even if it is incremental, involving a process and growth over time.

This is something to be treasured and guarded. When a church doesn’t practice this, it is not living up to its calling. Indeed it is not living out what it is as Christ’s body.

When we live this out to each other, we’re then living out the gospel to the world. I just touch on the most basic level of this: heart to heart communication. It will work its way out into all kinds of practical ways in helping each other. The world needs to see this through us. And when they do, they’re seeing the work of God through Jesus by the Spirit. A part of our calling in Jesus together for the world.

not discerning the Lord’s body

When the Corinthian church ate together in what was perhaps called a love feast, a full meal, we read that the wealthier folk arrived first and instead of waiting for their brethren, ate and drank, even getting drunk. They were sinning at the Lord’s Table, failing to discern the Lord’s body.

Into the history of the church we see different interpretations as to what the Lord’s body in Holy Communion means. For the Catholics the bread and wine are transubstantiated, or changed into the actual body and blood of Christ. Those who do not accept that dogma by faith are not allowed to participate in the sacrament. The Lutherans barely departed from that with their doctrine of consubstantiation. Ditto with the Roman Catholics except that the Lord’s actual body and blood are with the bread and wine. Of course miracle and mystery accompanies both understandings.

John Calvin and others provide a better understanding, though I’m not sure it can be supported by scripture. By the Spirit we share in the heavenly partaking of the Lord’s body and blood in some mystical sense. So that in Holy Communion we do partake of Christ’s body and blood spiritually, though not materially. That interpretation would seem to reflect the Lord’s words in John 6 that when he was referring to the necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, his words were spirit and life. This understanding is also sacramental.

The Anabaptists saw Holy Communion as strictly an ordinance, not a sacrament. It was a memorial, remembering what Christ had done for them, for the world in his death. 1 Corinthians 11 and the gospel accounts of the last supper indicate that this much is true. It is indeed a memorial.

I have in the past adopted John Calvin’s view. But I wonder if that position isn’t saying more than what scripture actually says. 1 Corinthians 10 does indeed seem to indicate that we do share in the body and blood of Christ in partaking Holy Communion. But I have to wonder if that can be pressed beyond the idea that by faith we share in the benefits of his broken body and blood in our participation at the Lord’s table. I am thinking now, no.

There is one thing for certain. Not discerning the Lord’s body to the Corinthians meant that they failed to acknowledge all who belonged to Christ. After all, as the same letter says again and again, we are the body of Christ. It is God’s people through faith in Christ who are Christ’s body. The rich did not acknowledge their poor brethren. And therefore failed to discern Christ’s body. And as a result were judged by the Lord in their grievous sin.

What I take home from this is that Holy Communion is a participation together by faith in remembering our Lord’s broken body and poured out blood for us, so that by faith we are forgiven of our sins, and made one body, indeed Christ’s own body, by the Spirit. So that for me this practice becomes in a sense horizontal- with others in Jesus, as well as vertical- between ourselves and God. The Lord blesses this practice which actually he commanded, since his redemptive work is in large part about God making us one in him. So that in that sense it is indeed mystical, of the Spirit. A celebration and thanksgiving of this grace given to us, in and through Jesus. As we carry on as his body in and for the world.

Jesus: the human God

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

John 1

Sometimes we rightly criticize the human tendency, indeed our own tendency to make God into our image, rather than honoring God as God. Paul does this in Romans 1. In fact humankind stooped even lower, depicting God in idols of animals such as reptiles.

While that’s true and important, it is also true that now we know God through the face of a human, Jesus. God became human, and so became a human God. We as human beings are made in God’s image: male and female. And Jesus is the icon (eikon, transliteration of Greek word) meaning image of God. Jesus is that image and in him that image is to become all it was meant to be in the new humanity, beginning now, even in this life.

In Jesus we are shown the new Adam, the new humanity, the new way to be human. How that’s lived out now is by the Spirit in the one Body of believers, in Jesus. It is relational at its core: to God and to each other, as well as to others.

In and through Jesus comes the fulfillment of all that God created in the beginning. The goal is not a return to Edenic bliss, but rather the new creation. There we find a city, along with paradise in the renewed earth, after heaven and earth become one at Jesus’ reappearing.

God becomes one with us, that we might be one with him. Not becoming God ourselves, and yet partaking of his very nature, made his children as humans, through and through when it’s all said and done. All in and through Jesus.

And so as we celebrate Advent, let’s celebrate the wonder of the God who is human, the human who is God, in Jesus. Who became one of us to live with us, that we might be one and find our true life in him. Together with others in Jesus for the world.

community less

Spirituality from what I catch of it from the great Tradition of Christianity is largely in individualistic terms: the soul and God, or the individual’s relationship to God. Of course this is vitally important and can’t be set aside. And besides, we can learn much from this, there is much wisdom in the church to be gathered, albeit in these individualistic terms.

But in Jesus we are radically community. We are one Body in him by the Spirit. Jesus said that his mother, as well as his sisters and brothers are all those who do the will of his Father. That means in Jesus we are indeed family. And the “one another” passages in the New Testament are well known.

We need an overhaul in our thinking, or an undertow to sweep us off our feet and into the stream of spirituality which has at its heart community. Individualism is rampant in our society, inherited in part from our Greek, Platonic heritage, and in large part from the Enlightenment.

In Jesus we are all in this together. There is limited spirituality apart from this togetherness. This togetherness is both for ourselves, to grow us up into full maturity in Christ. And for the world, as we do this. In itself it is missional, that the world might see us together in this new way in Jesus, and believe.