…The Harder They Fall

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On my way home from church on Sunday I saw a Facebook message saying that the pastor of the largest church in the movement I’ve long been associated with had resigned due to moral failure.

I hate hearing this kind of stuff.

Over the last several days I have seen tons of posts on social media from other pastors about this pastor’s fall. I understand that they want to address what’s going on. I understand that they are upset and want to talk about it. I’m not sure if we should be posting that kind of news everywhere though. At what point is it just gossip? Gossip is still gossip if you present it as a “prayer request”. Isn’t it spreading sensational news about someone else’s junk that really has no bearing on us personally?

I opened the CNN app on my iPad on Monday, only to see an article on the front page about this pastor’s moral failure and resignation. Great – more fuel for those who are always looking for fodder against Christianity and the Church.

I’m upset that someone in that man’s position would risk his legacy, his family and the reputation of the Church of Jesus Christ for some fleeting moments of pleasure.

I am sad for his wife and kids who have to go through all of this in the public eye. I am concerned for that church, and pray that the people who attend there will have the maturity to walk through this process as a body, faithful to the heart and will of God.

I am glad to see that high moral standards are upheld, and exceptions aren’t made for someone because they are gifted, talented and popular. Personally, I loved listening to that man teach. He is truly a gifted communicator. I heard someone put it this way: “David kills Goliath no matter how you read the story, but some teachers are able to make the story come alive – whereas other teachers make you wish someone would hit you in the head with a stone and put you out of your misery.” This man is a great teacher. But I am glad that his skill and celebrity were not used as an excuse for making an exception to the rules for him when it comes to moral standards for those who will serve as leaders in the God’s church.

This situation is one more sober warning for Christians, and especially for those of us in leadership and ministry, that we must watch over our hearts with all dilligence, because it is from the overflow of our hearts that our actions proceed.

 

What is the Scope of Salvation?

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One of the things I’m intrigued by in the Bible is the meaning of salvation. I have noticed in myself and others a tendency to settle for a narrower understanding of the scope of the salvation that is promised to us in Jesus than the fullness of what is found in the scriptures.

Of course this is not to distract from or undermine the central concern for our relationship with God and our need to be put right with him (justification). But when you see the scope of salvation in the Bible, beyond saving us from damnation, it is exciting!

For example, in chapter 19 of the Gospel of Luke, Zacchaeus, having spent years ripping people off, turns to Jesus and repents of his greed and sin, and also shows signs of true repentance when he gives back the money he ripped off to the people he took it from, even though it may have happened years prior – and Jesus declares: “salvation has come to this house today” (Luke 19:9). Salvation for Zacchaeus was salvation for his soul, AND deliverance from bondage to vain things AND salvation unto a new course in life as a disciple of Jesus – which inherently means taking an active role in God’s mission to bring salvation to the world.

The very name Jesus means “Savior”!  Here are some quotes on the meaning and scope of the salvation that’s found in Jesus:

Salvation itself, the salvation Christ gives to his people, is freedom from sin in all its ugly manifestations, and liberation into a new life of service, until finally we attain ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God. (J. Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World)

 

In the Old Testament the word ‘salvation’ speaks of ‘shalom’, or complete wholeness of being, in every dimension of life. (A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah)

 

The three tenses of salvation – past, present and future – are united into an organic whole; they may be distinguished but must not be separated. The salvation that the gospel proclaims is not limited to man’s reconciliation to God. It involves the remaking of man in all the dimensions of his existence. It has to do with the recovery of the whole man according to God’s original purpose for his creation. (R. Padilla, Mission Between the Times)

 

The full gospel brought by Jesus Christ is both salvation from sin and salvation into the capacity to be fully human and truly free. (D. Webster)

Exciting? I think so.

How to Avoid Failure

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Kobe Bryant holds an NBA record. Do you know which one? Most missed shots. Of any player. Ever.

When Kobe set this record in the 2013 season with his 15,296th missed shot, guess whose record he broke… Michael Jordan. Until 2013, Michael Jordan had been the NBA player with the most missed shots ever.

Yet, Kobe and Michael are also 2 of only 5 players to ever score over 30,000 points in their NBA careers.

The other players? Kareem Abdul Jabar, Karl Malone and Wilt Chamberlain. Consequently, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul Jabar also hold the number 4 and 5 spots for most shots ever missed.

Long before he went on to reach the 15,000 missed shots mark, Michael Jordan said this in an interview:

Image

Proverbs 14:4 says “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.”

Nobody likes messes. Messes are messy. If you want to completely avoid messes, then here’s an easy way: never have an ox.  If you have an ox, you will always have messes to clean up.  BUT – if you have an ox, then you will also have increase and profit and great things. BUT you will also inevitably have messes.

There is a sure-fire way to never fail: don’t try anything. Play it safe. Don’t take risks, don’t take chances. Don’t get invested in anything. Don’t wade out into the deep water – just splash around in the shallows.

If you do that – you will never fail. You will never have to deal with messes. There will never be anything to clean up. BUT, you will never reap the benefits which only come to those who dare to take a shot.

“The tears of God are the meaning of history”

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An excellent quote and profound concept which I will be teaching about tomorrow at White Fields Church in Longmont.

Fr Aidan Kimel's avatarEclectic Orthodoxy

God is love. That is why he suffers. To love our suffering, sinful world is to suffer. God so suffered for the world that he gave up his only Son to suffering. The one who does not see God’s suffering does not see his love. God is suffering love.

So suffering is down at the center of things, deep down where the meaning is. Suffering is the meaning of our world. For Love is the meaning. And Love suffers. The tears of God are the meaning of history.

But mystery remains. Why isn’t Love-without-suffering the meaning of things? Why is suffering-Love the meaning? Why does God endure his suffering? Why does he not at once relieve his agony by relieving ours?

Nicholas Wolterstorff

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How Safe Is Longmont?

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Longmont seems to be in the news a lot in Colorado, but often for the wrong reasons. A few weeks ago a man stole a car in Longmont and led police on a high speed chase. This week a meth flop house was raided and shut down. There have been fatal stabbings and shootings. One can easily get the impression that Longmont is not a safe place to live.

One of my favorite features in the Longmont Times-Call is Johnny St Vrain, a column where readers can email in questions and get answers about anything Longmont.

One writer recently wrote in concerned about the question of public safety in Longmont. Check out that article here. The long and short of it?: Despite the bad press, Longmont is one of the safest places to live in the State of Colorado.

Here's a highlight from the article:

Longmont is statistically one of the safest cities in Colorado, a fact the Times-Call has reported. In December 2011, the city was named the second safest city in Colorado, based research by the magazine CQ. Last year, the Times-Call reported that major crime rates in Longmont have dropped 48 percent in the past decade, based on Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation numbers.

I have always felt safe in Longmont. This is a city of 90,000 people where if a bicycle gets stolen they report it in the newspaper! That says a lot about the city right there! In other places I've lived, I've had my house broken into, I've been mugged, robbed, assaulted – I even had a bicycle stolen, but those things didn't count as “news” in those places. Safe to say that Longmont's pretty safe.

How safe do you feel in Longmont?

 

The Open Market and Songs About God

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Following up on my recent post about Bono on Jesus:

I think sometimes it can be easy for Christians to forget what Romans 1:19-20 says: “For what can be known about God is plain to [all people], because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

What that means is that all people are grappling with ideas and questions about God. Christians can be quick to discount what people “outside the fold” think or say about God – but the truth is that sometimes they have some pretty astute and profound things to say, even though they may have no commitment to Jesus. On the other hand, I am sometimes frustrated with the trite nature and shallow lyrics of some “Christian” music.

The are some “secular” songs out there which put some “Christian songs” to shame, because they reflect a deeper, more sincere, more REAL engagement with questions about the person and character of God.

Here are a few examples for you. If you have any others to suggest, leave me a comment below!

First: Regina Spektor

Second: Dashboard Confessional.  Listen especially to the middle of this one, where Chris Carrabba is asking God to help him with the sin he wants to be set free from and talks about his struggles with unbelief.

Sundays Are The Worst

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Sundays Are The Worst

This website was created by a church in Tennessee as a forum for people in the food service industry, especially servers at restaurants, to tell their stories of how they have been mistreated by the “church crowd” on Sundays. The goal is to raise awareness of how Christians are often totally missing it in the eyes of people outside the walls of their churches by behaving badly.

Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Why Does it Matter What Bono Thinks About Jesus? A Few Reasons

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I recently ran across this video of Bono talking about his Christian faith in an interview:

A lot has been made of Bono and his faith. I have heard some Christians declare that Bono is their pastor; I know several Christians who don’t listen to any “secular” music, but love U2 more than their first-born children – these ones typically own a guitar, on which they can play simple worship songs AND a few songs by U2, which they would say are “kinda like worship songs, you know, if you really think about it.”  In fact, I have known of churches where the worship leader has lead the congregation in a chorus of a U2 song during worship.

All that goes to say: There are quite a few Christians out there. Why should it matter what Bono in particular thinks of Jesus?

As I listen to Bono speak about his faith, I feel that he is almost hesitant to admit that he believes Jesus is the Messiah. The way he talks about church kind of rubs me the wrong way too. Jesus didn’t come to establish a private religion that people practice alone or in their home with just their family – Jesus came to start a worldwide movement which has corporate expression. The church is not a somewhat-necessary evil, it is intrinsic to why Jesus came.

Having said that – here are a few reasons why what Bono has to say about Jesus matters.

Why does it matter what Bono thinks about Jesus?  A few reasons:

1. He is not American

I think a lot of American’s don’t understand how the world outside of America views us. I remember the first time I travelled abroad, right after high school, I had this unarticulated view of people in other countries, that they were basically ‘the ones who hadn’t made it to America yet’. American culture tends to not have a clear understanding of how people outside of America really think about America. Often it is assumed that people either hate America or love America. In reality, it is much more nuanced than that.

One of the main views on America that I have heard abroad, is that we are a very religious country – which, statistically is absolutely true. Thus, people outside of the United States are used to American celebrities and politicians talking about their faith, oftentimes their evangelical Christian faith. However, when a European – an Irishman in Bono’s case – expresses evangelical Christian beliefs, the non-American world stops to listen a little more. And this is a great thing actually, because it helps the world to see that evangelical Christianity is not just an American phenomena – it is the natural outworking of taking the Bible seriously.

2. He is a celebrity who does a lot of good things

Bono has credibility in the eyes of the world because he has been so active in working for humanitarian causes. One of the criticisms evangelicalism has gotten (whether deserved or not), is that we are a relatively apathetic bunch when it comes to major social issues facing people around the world, such as AIDS, lack of clean drinking water, etc. Once again, the case can be made that this is certainly not the case – but there is a sense in which this is the reputation that evangelicals have gotten: that they are only concerned with getting “goose-bumps from Jesus” and getting the heck heaven out of here, that they are not concerned with the plights and suffering that people are facing. Bono, because of his well-publicized humanitarian efforts is generally considered a credible person. <— this is something to take note of for those of us who want to be heard.

3. He understands the outsider’s perspective

This is perhaps the greatest reason. Bono knows how to speak in a way that relates to those outside of the fold of Christianity and the church. I believe there are a great number of people who have some kind of latent faith in Jesus, but are not connected to any community of faith, because they are afraid that structured religion will kill their faith. Bono has a way of talking about Jesus which retains much of the mystery and awe for him, which is often lost by evangelicals. Yes, he comes across reluctant and non-conformist, but guess what: that’s how A LOT of people out there feel. Bono is good at speaking in a way that is relatable to the “outsider” because he is able to see things from their perspective – a very important skill we could all afford to grow in, by the way! I believe Jesus was a person who was able to relate to “outsiders” well too – and that was part of his magnetism.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Bono and his faith below in the comments section!

 

Is Christian Evangelism Presumptuous?

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Evangelism, proselytizing, seeking to convert people to our faith – these are things which are inherent to Christianity if one is to take the words of Jesus as true and relevant.

However, some – even some Christians – feel that this is presumptuous; that Christians should just do their thing and let other people be drawn to it if they will – but not actively attempt to convert others to their faith.

I found this quote to give a helpful perspective:

A major aspect of the Great Commission is the emphasis that Jesus places upon his authority. This is vitally important, because unless Jesus has such authority how can he give such a command? This is a kingly command which assumes that he is Lord over all peoples. If Jesus is not the King, his Commission is presumptuous and without foundation. If he is King, then the whole of life ought to be subject to his royal authority. The fact that God is King is the heart of the Gospel message.

The authority of the missionary lies therefore in the very person of Christ. If Jesus is the King of God’s Kingdom then the missionary has the right, even the duty, to go to all people. If he is not King, then the missionary has no right to seek to take his religious ideas to others. Is Jesus Lord? This is the vital question.

– D. Burnett, “God's Mission: Healing the Nations”

 

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and to earnestly hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I suggest that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

I love this quote from CS Lewis’ The Weight of Glory. Unfortunately, usually only the second half of it  is quoted. I think the first part is perhaps even more important than the second, where Lewis states that the assumption that true spirituality consists of depriving oneself or pleasure, or that to seek pleasure is unspiritual, is not a Christian teaching, but comes from Kant and the Stoics.

I would add to Lewis’ comment that this is also rooted in Plato-an thinking, which holds the physical to be inherently bad and the ethereal to be good. Plato-an philosophy was also at the root of one of the first great heresies in the church – Gnosticism, and the lingering effects of this are still present in much thinking amongst Christians as to what makes one truly spiritual.

True spirituality is not found in depriving oneself of pleasure, but in walking in step with the Spirit of God to the point where your pleasures are re-aligned – properly aligned with the heart of God.