Go Easy

Jude is a letter in the New Testament of the Bible.  It is one chapter.  A brief word.  The twenty-second verse says, “Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith,” (The Message).  The New Revised Standard Version puts it this way, “have mercy on those who are wavering.”

So, dear reader, who doubts.  Who is not sure what to believe.  Who wonders about God.  Or who doesn’t care.  Your hesitation in faith is a mystery to me, even as my own belief is a mystery.  I cannot NOT believe, and I cannot understand why anyone doesn’t believe.  For me the evidence of God is as clear as a gorgeous sunset, or a ruby-throated hummingbird.  How could this be without a Creator?

For me the evidence of God is as tangible as Jesus, who lived among us, as scripture says, “full of grace and truth.”  His life is undeniably unique, and dare I say it – Godly!  How could this be unless he was God in the flesh?

For me the evidence of God is as amazing as the addict who finds sobriety, as mysterious as the compassion of a Mother Theresa, as tender as kindness offered to a stranger.  How could this be unless there is a Spirit hallowing human life?

Still, some of you don’t believe.  Now, that’s the real mystery.  Some will point to the tragic, cruel, even wicked events and persons in the world as a denial of a loving God, but how do you explain goodness, truth, beauty . . . and mercy? 

So, I am dumbfounded by unbelief.  But Jude counsels me to go easy.  God went easy on me for several years.  Indeed, God has been easy on me my whole life.  I suppose I can go easy, too.  Isaiah the prophet said about the Messiah, “a bruised reed he will not break.”  Easy does it.  

A Matter of Life or Death

One of the main reasons I write this blog is because I want to talk about Jesus to the world.  Most of my work – as teacher, pastor, preacher – is aimed at people who already know Jesus, love Jesus, and want to follow Jesus (if though, sometimes, slowly and reluctantly). 

But out there in internet land are billions of people for whom Jesus is . . . well, I don’t know what you’re all thinking about out there when you do think of Jesus.  So many, I suspect, have a rather casual acquaintance with Jesus – someone to admire, someone whose example is noteworthy – but you are not ready to make the claim that Christians do – Lord, Savior, Christ, Son of God?

I was right there with you for several years of my life.  In my early 20’s I had become a respectful agnostic.  I had grown up the son of missionaries, with a Methodist preacher father, and while I was certainly influenced by the example of Jesus, I had turned my back on all the God-talk of my parents, and cast the church aside for sure.  How could any thinking person believe all that stuff?  I had read Bertrand Russell, and convinced myself I was too sophisticated for religion.

Hah!  Looking back I shake my head at how naïve I was.  Some of history’s greatest minds were unreservedly Christian.  Why?  Not because they came rationally to a conclusion that could be proven, but because they somehow encountered the living God.  I believe that happened to me.  Not in a burning bush, or struck-by-lightning-kind-of-way, but in a growing awareness that there was an authenticity to the life of Jesus – an integrity of word and deed that was unmatched in human history – and I sensed that his presence was still with me, with us, in some indefinable way.  And more importantly, I wanted that same sense of authenticity in my own life, so I made the decision to follow Jesus.  It was not a decision based on reason, but a hunch.

I only partially understood what following Jesus meant back then.  I know better now.  To follow Jesus is not without its pain (the cross is a vivid reminder of what following Jesus means).  But to follow Jesus is also a joy that the world cannot give or take away (the resurrection can be understood as a metaphor for that joy).

Some of you out there think that Christians are only concerned about heaven and hell.  So sad that you have perceived the gospel through the words of too many radio and TV preachers who are but caricatures of the real thing.  Heaven and hell act as symbols for life and death.  The gospel invites us to live, as Jesus says, “abundantly.” (John 10:10)

I am convinced that all of us are either living or dying.  We make decisions every day that are either life-giving or life-taking.  Sometimes by the choices we make the life we are taking is someone else’s.  Sometimes the life we are taking is our own (you know who you are).

But there are those who regularly, consistently, make life-giving decisions.  You speak words that encourage and affirm.  You take actions that enhance the lives of others, sometimes at sacrifice to yourself, and yet it seems a small price to pay.  Such actions prove the paradox of Jesus’ teaching that it is in giving our lives that we find life, as St. Francis of Assisi prayed, “it is in giving that we receive.”  And once in a while there are those words and deeds are in such harmony with each other that we are all ennobled by their example --- we see LIFE in them.

This is what God seeks to give us in Jesus – life to the full.  Life without guilt (forgiveness of sins).  Life without worry (trust).  Life with purpose (sacrifice for others).  Life full of joy (blessing and abundance).

Each Sunday I preach to a congregation.  Each Sunday I believe that what I have to say matters.  Indeed, it is a matter of life and death.  We are all, each one of us, either living or dying.  Jesus came that we may have life.  Why would you NOT choose to follow him?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belief: It's Not What You Know

          Early Christianity was not without its controversies and divisions, no less than today.  The apostle Paul’s writings to the Corinthians make this clear.  The disagreements continued into the centuries to come.  One early school of Christian thought came to be known as the “gnostics.”  Among their teachings was the notion that only a select few had access to the necessary knowledge, or “gnosis,” that would gain them salvation or escape from this physical world.

          In time, the gnostics were considered a sect that did not represent the core of Christian teaching, or “orthodoxy.”  However, there are remnants of Gnosticism that linger on.  One of the values of learning the disputes in ancient church history is the way those same issues arise among the people of God even today.  What’s new is old.

          There is a version of Christianity that suggests that you have to believe in certain precepts in order to attain salvation.  They may be the four spiritual laws, or twelve abiding principles, or seven habits, etc., but what they have in common is a presumption that agreement with these precepts leads to salvation.  Salvation becomes a head game, a matter of what you know, or what you think.  And if you don’t think like I do, or know what I know, then you are lost.

          Those last few sentences should sound familiar because they describe the practice of many contemporary Christians; and it is a modern manifestation of Gnosticism.  Almost every church has a few gnostics.  And some of them can be rather virulent. 

          There are passages in the New Testament of the Bible that seem to lean in a gnostic direction, as Paul’s words to the church at Colossae:  “I became [the church’s] servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints (Colossians 1:25).”   However, in context, the mystery that Paul is revealing is never intended for a select few but for all the world.  Paul is constantly crossing both geographical and socio-ethnic boundaries to reveal this mystery to all.  And the “mystery” is not so much a body of knowledge as it is a witness to the living presence of Christ available to every believer.

          Belief, then, is not about WHAT you know, but WHO you know.  Or rather, the assurance that you are KNOWN by a God who loves you enough to be with you in your darkest hour, even in the midst of suffering and death.  The essence of Christian belief is not a body of knowledge that sets you apart from everyone else, but the revelation that God loves the world so much that God enters into the worst aspects of the human condition in order to redeem, reconcile, and make new.

          The problem with modern versions of Gnosticism is that they still make salvation into something that believer has to do (or think).  But in orthodox Christianity, the source of salvation is always in what God has already done.  So, salvation is not about thinking the right thoughts, or even believing the right things.  Salvation is about trusting the love God has for us.  The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church, " if I understand all mysteries and all knowledge . . . but do not have love, I am nothing (1 Cor. 13:2)."

          I am reminded of the words spoken by priest, Blackie Ryan, in a novel by Andrew Greeley.  Father Ryan says that he doesn’t believe everything the church teaches but what he does believe in, he does so with all his heart.  I invite you not so much to agree with every doctrine of the church (though don’t be so hasty to dismiss it all), but to trust with all your heart the love that God has for all humanity, and thus, for you.  It’s not what you know, it’s Who knows you.

           

Belief as Relationship

          Belief is at least one of the buzzwords of the day.  Even non-religious entities want us to believe in them.  We are encouraged to “believe” in the car we drive, or to “believe” in the store where we buy clothes.  Actually, we often get the message that it doesn’t really matter what we believe in as long as we believe in something.

          No wonder people are confused.  Over 90 % of people in the U.S. say they believe in God, but most of those don’t want to be pinned down to any particular religious tradition.  Maybe you’re one of those free spirits. I offer to you the encouragement that belief does, indeed, matter.  And that belief in something “pinned down,” matters even more. 

          As someone once said, “If we don’t believe in something then we’ll fall for anything.”  So, belief in something particular, something “pinned down,” may matter a great deal.  In Christian tradition there are two ways of talking about belief.  One of these is belief as a body of doctrine.  We find this notion in the short letter of Jude, chapter one, verse three:  “Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”

          “The faith . . . once . . . entrusted to the saints,” is a statement about belief as a list of principles to be acknowledged and accepted.  This sort of doctrinal belief is important as a teaching tool in the history of Christianity but it is not, in my opinion, the key way of expressing Christian belief.

          In the Gospel of John, Jesus is constantly exhorting his followers to believe in him, not because of the signs he performs, but because of who he is.  Jesus emphasizes this point in seven different “I am,” sayings:  I am the bread of life, I am the gate, I am the good shepherd . . .

          Belief, as Jesus speaks about it, is not about a body of doctrine to acknowledge, but a relationship to be trusted.  Belief, then, becomes something personal – a living, breathing sense of community with another, rather than head-knowledge to be dissected, explained, and instructed.

          This sense of belief is what makes Christianity unique.  Christian “faith” is not ultimately a system of rules to follow, or a body of doctrine to give assent to, but a relationship to be embraced and lived.  As Jesus says in John, chapter ten, verse ten, “I came that they may have life and have it to the full.” 

          If your life seems to be missing something, I doubt that you need more rules to follow, or more principles to give assent to.  I suspect you just need a relationship that will give your life meaning.  Jesus can do that for you in a way the world cannot.  Jesus can do that for you in a way that even Christian doctrine cannot.  The relationship is what matters.  And it is a relationship you can trust.

Believing in Love

            Recently there was a ruckus in Charlotte, NC, where the Democratic National Convention is being held.  A national organization of atheists had posted two billboards, which were a slam against Christianity and Mormonism, as a slap in the face of both candidates for President.  I’ll quote only the attack on Christianity that read, “Sadistic God, Useless Savior, 30,000+ versions of ‘Truth,’ Promotes Hate, calls it ‘Love.’” (Their quotation marks let us know they aren’t buying what Christians are selling.)

            The purpose of the billboards was actually a slam against religious belief of any kind, inviting readers to put aside faith in anything.  “Join American Atheists!” it proclaimed.  Of course, as I wrote in my previous article, everyone believes in something so even atheists are expecting people to have “faith.” (I can play with quotation marks, too.)  But what they expect us to have faith in is easily as subjective as any religious belief. 

            A second point I would make is that both billboards are a caricature of religious belief.  They take some distortion of basic Christianity and present it as representative of the faith as a whole.  “Promotes Hate, calls it ‘Love,’” for instance.  Unfortunately, the atheists have taken down their billboard because of threats of violence they have received, thus, they feel they have proved their point.  But I do not concede.  (See my post on Who Speaks for Jesus?)

             There are a minority of renegade “Christians” (note the quotation marks) out there who have so distorted the teachings of Jesus that their actions represent more hate than love.  However, they are a minority who get a lot of media attention, out of proportion to their numbers.  Let’s call them the 1%. I dare say that the billboards may have upset my entire congregation, but none would have threatened anyone as a result; the point being that most Christians truly do seek to have their actions guided by love, as seemingly impossible as this might be to atheist imaginations.

            As opposed to the caricature of Christian belief proclaimed by the billboards, most Christians believe in a God of mercy.  We believe that all of humanity needs help, and thus a Savior is necessary.  We do not have 30,000+ versions of truth.  In fact, most churches of varying stripes have amazing unanimity in belief.  The differences between Christian groups have more to do with what we tend to emphasize rather than disagreement over basic belief.  And we do not promote hate.  We may not love as we ought, but we believe in a Savior who does, and I dare say the 99 % are trying to love in the same way.

            Christians deserve plenty of criticism since we fall short of loving in the way we say we believe.  G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and untried.”  In spite of how Christians have fallen short, to love in a self-sacrificial way as Jesus did still seems like something worth believing in.  And it certainly offers me more hope for the human community than anything the atheists are offering.  What do you believe in?            

A Reason to Believe

           Belief is popular right now.  I know it is early to talk about Christmas but it seems that Christmas is the season for believing.  Macy’s had a promotional campaign two years ago.  “Believe,” was emblazoned on their storefront in New York during the Thanksgiving Parade.  What were they asking us to believe?

           Last Christmas, Sears borrowed the idea and promised that they were a store that “gives you something to believe in,” (like great products at a great price!) – Oh, brother!  Coca-Cola advertises on their December billboards – Believe – accompanied by cola-drinking polar bears.

          The popular animated film, “Polar Express,” loosely based on Chris van Allsburg’s wonderful children’s book, takes up the theme of belief, as if it is enough simply to believe in belief, itself, whatever that means.

          For you skeptics out there, I guarantee that even the most cynical person believes in something.  Even atheists believe.  They believe in knowledge, or science, or reason, or . . . something.  I love science, especially the way scientists are always discovering new things that make the old things they used to believe no longer valid.  Recent discoveries about dark matter, string theory, and the possibility of almost infinite parallel universes have caused astronomers and physicists to scrap old theories and come up with new ones.  Hmmm, I guess we’re supposed to take the new theories on faith.  Ooops!  Did I really use that word?  Does that mean that even the scientific method depends on belief of some sort?  I believe it does.

          Anyway, belief is essential to being human.  And everyone wants you to believe their version of truth.  In a sense, everyone is an evangelist.  I met a small-business owner who is a true-believer in American capitalism, and he has an evangelist’s fervor when talking about our land of opportunity.  I know a foodie who believes that being a vegetarian is the only way to live, food wise, and she speaks with evangelical zeal as she tries to make converts of her friends and acquaintances. 

          Belief gives passion to our living.  But passion can also spill over into fanaticism.  And even hatred.  If you don’t believe like I believe then there must be something wrong with you.  And since I don’t agree with that last sentence, then that must mean there is something wrong with me.  Oh my, my.  Belief is essential to being human, yet belief also can contribute to our problems with each other.   Rodney King’s famous quote, “Why can’t we all just get along?” can be answered with, “Because we believe different things.”

          I hope I have your attention.  Belief can unite us.  Belief can divide us.  As a Christian, Methodist, and ordained minister, you may assume I have beliefs that are important to me.  Indeed.  But I also believe that what is essential to believe is that God formed us to be reconciled – that is, to be in relationship, in peace and harmony, with God and one another - maybe not always in agreement, but always in the spirit of reconciliation. 

          If that sounds like an impossibility, then I hope you will stay tuned.  I have more to say about this soon, if you are interested.  I want to give you a reason to believe.