[Note: these Lenten blogs may seem redundant to my readers
(both of you). Remember that these blogs journal a personal spiritual journey. I
revisit previous material, sometimes to refresh, sometimes to check out, “Did I
really get that right?” etc. Each re-visitation takes me deeper into
understanding. Hopefully, my reexaminations are not distracting for my
readers.]
The Millennial Generations [Generations “X” (born 1965-1981) and “Y” (born
1982-2000)] are turned off religiously by rules, doctrine, institutional church
polity and judgmentalism. Come to think of it, so am I.
Millennials want a simple,
honest spirituality based upon following Jesus. They want a faith with
integrity—one that is lived, more than preached. Come to think of it, so do I.
But for me the idea was still
mostly cognitive (head stuff) until my nephew (a “Millennial”) began developing
the idea of spending a year trying to experience what it means to follow Jesus—truly. Here’s a link to his "Jesus Project": My Jesus Project
I don’t believe in fate—that
life is scripted and everything is planned and “meant to be.” I believe things
happen because we make choices: some good; some bad. Life is the complex
network of consequences resulting from human choices.
And I don’t believe in
luck. I believe "Luck is where
opportunity and preparedness meet.” (source unknown)
But I also believe that
God is present in all of this, calling humanity to follow a particular “Way.”
The clearest articulation of that divine invitation is Jesus of Nazareth.
God has a plan, and
invites us to follow that plan. When we accept God’s invitation, life makes
sense, at least more often than when we choose our own way (and each of us at
some time thinks, “I have a better idea”). When we choose our own way a complex
network of consequences confronts us with confusion, distrust, fear and occasional
violence. Human culture is the mix of consequences of diverse human choices.
But, again, while I don’t
believe in fate, sometimes life happens in unexplained ways: some good, some bad. Long ago I gave up the need to explain everything in life; and, “Why?” is a useless
word in most cases of the unexplained.
So, recently my attention
was tweaked while looking for a book to download. I’m following my nephew’s
“Jesus Project”, and even outlining a series of sermons on following Jesus. So,
my eye was drawn irresistibly to part of a book title that read, …And Why We All Need to Learn to Read the
Bible Like Jesus Did. (my underlining)
It seemed like a “God
Moment,” so I downloaded it, and within a few pages I was being “Led by the
Spirit” into the wilderness of my Lenten journey.
Derek Flood, the author,
takes on the Old Testament contradictions that have troubled people of faith for
centuries. For most of my adult life I've understood them as the residue of a progressive human understanding of God, the earlier understandings reflecting a
more violent, vengeful, warrior God and the later understandings moving toward
Jesus’ articulation of God as merciful, redeeming Father.
Flood doesn't try to make
the contradictions go away. Drawing from Walter Brueggemann, he submits that
the contradictions are an intentional and essential part of Scripture.They represent an ongoing debate as people
of faith try to comprehend the nature of God. One side of the debate reflects a territorial, vengeful
warrior divinity who demands violence to the point of genocide.
The other side, quite
possibly emerging from the faith of Melchizedek (Gen 14:17-18; Ps 110:4;
Hebrews 5-7), posits a God who enters into covenant with humanity: relating and
sustaining, holding humanity accountable to the covenant, but always offering
grace and redemption when human faithfulness wavers.
The Scriptures offer these
contradictory images, says Brueggemann, as testimony/counter-testimony, as in a
courtroom debate. The dispute was ongoing in the adversarial relationship between
Jesus and the Pharisees, and continues today in the polarization between
conservatives and liberals of the faith.
The gospels seem
unavoidably obvious as to which side of the debate Jesus took. And yet, the
debate continues to divide the community of faith that gathers in his name. In
most cases it’s a matter of emphasis: grace vs. law, faith vs. works. Virtually all Christians
talk about “salvation by grace, through faith;” but, some say that repentance
must precede grace, while others say that grace is the power that enables
repentance. [You say tomato, I say to-mah-to… and how many angels can dance on
the head of a pin?]
The debate, itself, has
become the contradiction and distraction at the heart of the sixty-year decline
in the North American church. The “spiritually yearning, institutionally
disillusioned public”[1] is
growing, and its discontent is finding voice in those who cry, “The
grace/law-faith/works debate has distracted the church long enough! Is your
faith in Jesus or in the correctness of your doctrine?”
In many ways we've confused faith with the content of belief. But faith is a verb. Faith is the
living out of belief. Belief, no matter how fervently held, puts one on the
same level as the demons, who also believe (James 2:19). Belief is “talking the
talk.” Faith is “walking the walk.” And a whole generation, joined by a few of
us older types, is confronting a divided, bickering Christianity, saying, “Shut
up and walk!”
Imagine the consequences
if we really did that.
That’s the way I see it
through the flawed glass that is my world view.
Together in the
Walk,
Jim
[1] Thomas G. Bandy, Christian
Chaos (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999). This population is mentioned and described in this and several other of Bandy's books, including, Coaching Change, Kicking Habits: Welcome Relief for Addicted Churches, and others.
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