Being Christian in Society: Meeting on the Right Level

I was driving home yesterday from helping my brother move. On the way home, I turned on the radio to the local Christian station. As I listened in, I realized I was listening into a rare conversation - I felt like I walk into a funeral laughing. The program, which I failed to remember the name of and failed to find on the internet, was talking about homosexuality and how to deal with it. A guest "specialist" was on the air talking to a brave young women defending the right of a homosexual to live out their desires. What I found was a college girl who was more emotionally invested than intellectually, and a specialist who was more intellectually invested than emotionally. They weren't clicking. The young girl was saying how love should be respected and the specialist was saying how love is not the only thing at play here (which the specialist is right), and homosexuals are the main cause of HIV and so on (sounded like the specialist was saying over and over, "They are disease carriers!" The specialist did not say such a thing, but it came off this way).

This is the problem I find myself in often. I will talk to others about certain issues and become so intellectually invested that the emotional aspect of the issue goes out the window. I would say this is the problem for many Christian "specialists". There are also Christian generalists who usually turn out to be more emotionally invested in these issues.

It is the same for secularists too. The girl who bravely called into the radio station was emotionally invested and intellectually lacking. She was not dumb by any means, but she let her emotions dictate her thoughts. She was so focused on the idea of love prevailing and not being hindered that she failed to see, among other things, that good intentions do not always lead to good actions.

In John 8, Jesus was confronted by an issue. The Pharisees had brought a women to Him who had committed adultery. The law in Leviticus clearly states that this act deserves a stoning to death. As we read we find Jesus deals with the Pharisees upon which the grounds they raised the issue: intellectual and judicial grounds. "He who has no sin may throw the first stone," is all Jesus said to them. Jesus set a greater trap than they set for Him since those who judge others shall be judged. To the women, Jesus came to her at the level she was concerned with: the emotional. She knew her sin, and she knew her condemnation. What Jesus did was lift the condemnation from her emotionally and literally. "Women, where are they? Does no one condemn you?. . . Than neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin." Not only do we see the grace that was the fulfillment of the law, but we also see Jesus meeting and coming down to her level of emotion. "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?" Is the essence of Jesus coming down to meet us at our needs emotionally.

This the encouragement of having such an example in Jesus! When we find ourselves as believers in these tough issues, we must always remember to meet the other at the level they are at either intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. When someone is coming at you with emotional appeal we must meet that appeal and not move to a different level such as the intellectual. Let us learn from Jesus on how to live within our world in a Spirit-filled way!

Won't You Be My Neighbor? - Soulation Fledge

I was asked by my good friends, Dale and Jonalyn, from Soulation to write a Fledge. A Fledge is sort of like a conversational article written to followers of Soulation. You can follow the link above to join the list and to browse their many resources. I just want to publicly thank Dale and Jonalyn for this opportunity, what they mean to Savannah and I, and their continual friendship.






Here is the article:

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Savannah and I recently watched one of our favorite movies, Cast Away. Two characters unfold the story: Chuck Noland, played by Tom Hanks, and Wilson, played by a volleyball who becomes the only friend of Noland on the deserted island. As an inanimate object, Wilson pushes us to see our deep human need –relationships. When the ball floats away during their escape at sea, I feel sad—not for Wilson, but for Noland. Wilson was the only humanity he had left, his only companion.

This relational innateness of us, made in the image of the Trinity and stated explicitly in the Creation story and the law, is why Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Moreover, Jesus said that these two commandments are the hooks of which the entire law hangs. The law was given to God’s people to display to humanity worldwide what it looks like to be appropriately human. The canvas for this picture is love.

Let’s focus on this neighborly love. I had a conversation with a man who had a problem with “loving your neighbor as yourself.” To love others, he thought, you must be able to love yourself. His problem was that even the seemingly most selfless part of Christianity is egocentric - "What a gross commandment!" he said. I shared that he had a valid point if that was the meaning of the verse. But it is quite possible the commandment speaks much more about who we are than how we should balance out the scales in our love for ourselves and others.

Let us look closer at what Jesus is really saying here. The Hebrew word for "as yourself" – kamokha - is better translated as "who you are" This is the same word we find when the Prophets shout out in praise, "Who is like you God?" The word focuses on your nature and not your ego - not what we talk about when we say "I", but the very stuff that make's up that I.*

With this in mind, the commandment is better understood to say, "Love your neighbor for that is who you are." The commandment is not threatening you by saying, "I know how much you love yourself and you better love others the same amount." Nor is the commandment saying we are one in the universe, as some spiritualists would have us believe, connected by the awakened consciousness. In contrast, God is commanding us to live up to our humanness. He is not asking us to add on to our humanity a love for others, but to acknowledge our shared humanity by loving others. This is Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan. God is calling us to be human because to be human is to be relational and loving.

Since I was young, I have had a psychological connection with this commandment and Mr. Rogers. However simple Mr. Rogers seems to us now, he demonstrated the practical side of Jesus' meaning of this commandment. Everyday I stared at my TV while Mr. Rogers taught that everyone is his neighbor. All who are listening get invited into the loving question: "Won't you be my neighbor?"

That loving question is the call of the Christian. Bono said, "We discover who we are in service to one another, not the self."** As we seek to love others, we will find all the more what it means to be appropriately human.
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*This interpretation is built upon the view of Dr. David Patterson, Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Memphis, in his book, Wrestling with the Angel, p12.

**Bono. “A Time for Miracles”. Time Magazine. March 2007.

Jesus and Joshua

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen,

shouting:
"BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" - Luke 19:40

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This passage has always confused me. I've heard sermons where the speaker would say that we should take this literally - that God, through his omnipotence, would make stones have lungs and mouths and they will audibly shout. Now I cannot dismiss this straight out, but it seems like this exegesis has always been short of imagination and thought. Miracles are possible and have happened, but I have always thought that this is a far fetched and simplistic interpretation.

I have also heard some say that the stones represent creation's language talked about Psalm 19 (my personal view until recently). The idea here is that the stones will not literally cry out, but it is a metaphor and representation of all of creation's testimony of it's Creator. This, to me, has always seemed more accurate, but it still leaves questions. Why does he reference stones? Wouldn't it be more sufficient to talk about birds singing or a lion's roar? Matthew Henry came to a position in between these two where the stones or earth will quake (and it did when he was on the cross and all alone).

I think I may have come to a new light on the passage though. I am not saying I am correct, but I think this is worth considering:
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Then Joshua said to the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you." The people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD." Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses." "Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God." - Joshua 24:19-27

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I want to focus on verse 27, but the previous verses give the context, which is important. I am proposing that Jesus was making an allusion to this passage. Far-fetched? Sure, but interesting to examine. They stone's purpose in the passage in Joshua is to be a testimony to the covenant Isreal had made with God - to serve, obey, and incline their heart to God - or as Joshua put it, "do not deny your God." Now we must understand that any Jew would know this story well. It is a pivotal covenant made in the History of the Jews.

So fast forward about a thousand years, and Jesus makes a strange comment about stones crying out. I think he may have very well been alluding to this passage and telling the Pharisees (who for sure knew this passage in Joshua), "If these disciples do not praise me, then the stones will testify against you." In short, God would be denied if no one accepted Him when he came to earth. This allusion does multiple things, but most importantly it tells the Pharisees that he is God. Moreover, it tells them that they will be held accountable for breaking the covenant with God once again (the Isrealites broke this covenant shortly after they made it).

Now is this far-fetched? Maybe, its definitely different from anything I've heard, but we must remember Jesus' context. He was Jewish, talking to Jewish leaders, in a Jewish nation. I think it is easier to grasp in light of that and in light of the fact that we have no problem attributing other sayings of Jesus to be allusions to Old Testament passages.

With all of this said, the message is still ultimately the same: God has been denied and so the stones testify to that. Whether that means they literally speak, are representative, or an allusion to the covenant made with Israel is secondary. Just think about, comment if you wish.