Category: kingdom

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Repost: Falsetto Spirituality

First posted August 6, 2008.

In Soul Graffiti, Mark Scandrette writes, “A fascination with the supernatural can be a sign of spiritual fragmentation, a falsetto spirituality that strains to reach beyond the normal”. As I pondered that statement, I realized that it is so true in much of what is called Christianity.

The obvious examples of this “fascination with the supernatural” are those who run from place to place seeking signs and wonders and “fresh anointing” from God. The supposed moving of God can keep arenas, and ministry accounts, full for months as people swarm to experience a touch from God to lift their lives above the ordinary sameness of their daily lives. While some would consider these events on the fringe, there are other examples that hit a bit closer to home.

Mainstream evangelicalism is concerned with showing people how to have their best life now, with programs that will enable folks to experience a life that rises above the ordinary. Church leaders are given opportunities to learn the secrets of success from The CEO: Jesus. Congregations strive to be extraordinary and have bigger and better facilities and programs. Supernatural power that gets prayers answered and our needs (wants) supplied is constantly sought.

Even those of a more conservative, fundamental bent are not immune to a hunger for the supernatural. They seek a home far away in heaven, a home where the physical no longer matters, a place to escape this broken world. Many of the rules and regulations in fundamental groups seem designed to limit contact with this physical world and its “corruption”.

I’m not saying that the supernatural does not matter. I am awed when God performs genuine miracles of healing, and when he provides for his people in supernatural ways. I rejoice when prayers are answered and when godly leaders influence others to follow Jesus Christ. I too believe that this world is broken and corruption runs deep.

What I am saying, and what I think is the point of the quotation from Scandrette, is that the normal, ordinary parts of our lives matter. We are called to follow Jesus here and now, not in a future existence outside of this world. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom was here, that the King had arrived. Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, but it does have an impact on this world. We have been given the commission and privilege to participate in the work that God is currently doing in this world.

If we look around us with eyes that can see, we can notice how God is working in the day-to-day of our lives. In fact, I think the really supernatural and miraculous thing is that the Creator of all things uses broken, ordinary people like us to do the work of restoring his creation, a work that will finally be complete when Jesus returns. The work of the Kingdom is not just those things that we see as “spiritual”. It sometimes involves getting dirty and dealing with ordinary things. But, then again, Jesus used ordinary things. He used spit and dirt to heal a blind man, for goodness sake! Why do we think we have to “rise above the ordinary”.

Look for God at work in the ordinary, and ask him where he wants you to fit into what he is doing. Don’t run after the supernatural. Remember, many times a falsetto voice doesn’t sound very good.

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Working At Cross Purposes

Last week, there was a somewhat comical scene on the shuttle bus. There were two brothers sitting in the seat just to the right of my seat. A parent brought a snow cone machine for me to take to camp, so I asked the boys to move to another seat. That’s when the fun started. The younger brother, who was sitting on the inside, decided he was going to go first. As he headed into the aisle, his lunchbox became hung up on his older brother’s leg. The older brother could not move his leg because it was blocked by the younger brother’s backpack. The younger brother couldn’t move either, because he was hung up on the older brother’s backpack. All the while, I’m standing there with the base to a snow cone machine in my hands hoping for a place to put it down quickly. As I surveyed the situation, I came up with a solution. I began to direct the brothers on what to do, but they simply tried again to get out of the seat at the same time. Of course, the results were the same. After a couple of minutes of directing them, they finally extricated themselves and moved to another seat. My comic relief for the day had come early.

As I thought about it later in the day, I realized that the problems the brothers had were a good picture of what happens so often in our lives. It can happen in the workplace, in the home, in relationships, or in churches. Sometimes it seems that we are just working at cross purposes with other people. We think we know what needs to be accomplished and how it needs to be done, but we just can’t seem to get the other folks to see things the same way we do. We also can’t see past our narrow perspective. Fortunately, the brothers on the bus didn’t do what we so often do. They didn’t get mad at each other, start hitting each other or flinging cross words. Neither of them walked away from the other and refused to sit with him. The rest of the week they got along great with each other. Unfortunately, we often do those very things, even in the church.

The brothers just needed someone to direct them and tell them what to do. Of course, they also needed to listen to the directions, or the results would have the same old same old. We have One who has given us directions to follow when our purposes and those of others end up getting tangled. Jesus gave us a few things to keep in mind that I believe will help us keep peace at the very least, and will allow us to do what is really important. Our Master told us to love one another as he loves us, to lay down our lives for others. That may include giving up our plans and trying to see another’s perspective. We are told to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness first. I’ve found that tends to radically change my way of looking at things. We are called to consider others better than ourselves, and to have the same humble, sacrificial attitude that Jesus had. Paul also tells us that what really counts is faith working itself out in love.

An attitude of sacrificial love will enable us to work together with others to solve problems that come up. I believe that this can work in every area of our day-to-day. I especially believe that it is a mandate for the church. Those outside the church don’t have the same command or motivation to love, but those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus must seek to settle differences and try to work together for the good of the Kingdom. To do otherwise is to give the world a reason to wonder if we really belong to Christ.

God help us to submit our purposes to our King, for his glory

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Something Quick

Sorry I wasn’t able to get Weekend Wanderings up this weekend. I’ve been crazy busy. I thought of something tonight as our church looked at the parable of the sower. I’ll leave you with this:

Jesus did not come to make us happy and comfortable, to give us the American Dream. He came to turn our lives upside down and inside out and give us the Father’s dream of a Kingdom where the paltry treasures of this life pale in comparison to knowing and loving Him.

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Son Screen? Really?

On the bus route that I drive this summer, I pass a church that sometimes has interesting messages on their sign out front. The current message reads, “Son screen prevents sin burn.” Really? Comparing the Son of God to junk that people put on their skin so they can spend time in the sun? Not only is the message degrading to our Savior, it’s just plain cheesy.

The other problem with the message is that it seems to be denying the existence and effects of sin in the life of the believer. That evidently is a popular way of thinking and preaching these days. I have read and heard that because of God’s grace in Jesus, we are no longer under the law, therefore there is no sin for those who are in God’s grace. The reasoning goes that since sin is the breaking of law, and we are no longer under law, there is no law for us to break. No sin. The biggest problem I see is that this is contrary to the entire context of the New Testament. We are not under the Law of Moses and all that went along with it. That law can never make us right with God. No regulations or human effort can make God be pleased with us. That only comes through God’s grace in Jesus’ blood shed on the cross.

But, we are under law. *gasp* We are under the law of love. Jesus said that the greatest commandments were to love God with everything we are, and love our neighbor as ourselves. Those cover everything. I believe Jesus took the command to love our neighbor a step further when he told us to love each other as he loved us. That means laying down our lives for others. Now, we keep the commands to love because God has loved us and not to try and earn his favor, but because we are not perfect and there is still the presence of sin in us, we sometimes fail. Anything we do or say that does not show love to God or to those around us is a violation of the law of love, and is sin. This sin does not change our relationship to our Father, although it may cause us to feel distant for a time. The violations of the command to love others can and do burn. They burn those we are in close relationship with and they burn those who are looking at those of us who say we are following Jesus. They also burn our own consciences, at least they should. Jesus said that the world would know we are his by our love for one another. When we fail to love, the world has good reason to wonder if it’s really worth it to give it all up to follow Christ. That burns the cause of the Kingdom.

We are all guilty of burning others with a lack of love. I know I am. Even though we belong to the Son, sin still rears it’s ugly head from time-to-time. May we grow in our love for God and for those around us.

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How God Became King 2

In How God Became King, N.T. Wright states that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was the inauguration of the kingdom, that “The cross serves the goal of the kingdom. just as the kingdom is accomplished by Jesus’ victory on the cross.” Jesus’ victory was accomplished by taking the worst the kingdoms of this world (symbolized by Rome) and the one behind those kingdoms (Satan) could throw at him, and coming out the other side, having conquered death and hell. The establishment of this kingdom was not what everyone expected. It was a kingdom based on sacrificial love, rather than a kingdom like all the other kingdoms.

Wright goes on to state that Jesus followers saw themselves as participating in Jesus’ kingdom through their suffering. Jesus was very clear that following him meant suffering. We here in the West seem to have forgotten that. One one side are “Job’s friends,” who see any suffering as a result of some sin in the individual’s life. On the other side are those who see all suffering as coming from Satan, so all we have to do is have enough faith to “speak” the suffering away, in effect pretending the suffering doesn’t exist. Of course, if you don’t have enough faith to speak the trouble away, then it is your fault just as it is on the other end of the spectrum. I believe both ends of the spectrum miss the boat.

I was having a short on-line discussion with a friend the other day about an article I had read about a theology of suffering. The article stated that we need to teach that God doesn’t always heal, but that he is always present with us in our suffering. My friend made the comment that it can be as damaging to believe in a God who is present but doesn’t heal as it is to have a God who can heal but lets us suffer because of our lack of faith. I agree with that. This is where the idea of suffering as the means by which God’s kingdom comes to earth changes a lot of our thinking and practice. If we suffer, and the kingdom advances through our suffering, then we can say with Paul, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5) 


Paul also stated that he wanted to know Christ, to know the power of his resurrection. We have no problem wanting that as well. But then Paul goes on to say that he wanted to participate in Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. We have a hard time getting hold of that. But if the suffering of the followers of Jesus advances his kingdom, then we shouldn’t see it as a result of our sin or an attack of Satan (although those may be contributing factors), but rather see it as something that will bring glory to our King and good to his kingdom.



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For the Kingdom

From Media Change:

Francis Chan tells an oft repeated story about a child who is told to go clean their room. The child leaves and comes back to say, “I memorized what you said…I can say it in Greek! In fact, some of my friends are going to come over tonight and do a little study on what it would look like for me to clean my room!”
The simplicity of carrying out the Great Commission can often get overlooked, which is why this upcoming story is just plain refreshing! Please meet one of the sweetest missionary couples out there serving Jesus. It is with joy and simplicity they live out the gospel. If you have a moment, grab your cup of coffee and see what I mean. It truly is worth your time:

There’s a bigger picture happening in this video—one I pray you’ll see. The day-by-day manner in which the Martinezs live, brings light. The gospel is preached through simple words and simple actions. Yet the impact of what they’re doing is so huge. Think of it –they’ve reached an unreached people group!
Not just any unreached people group—but a group of people who have access to five more unreached groups! And they led the chief and his wife to the Lord no less!
Here’s what Alfonso said when asked how much money he lacked to complete the well, and how much money he and his wife still needed to raise for financial support:
$600 was all he needed to complete the well, which Media Change has provided.
$300 a month was the amount he and his wife still needed to raise in order to continue their work.
Not only do they live simply, there needs are simple. If you’d like to support the Martinez family, tax deductible support can be sent to:
New Song Christian Fellowship
f.b.o. Alfonso Martinez
705 Heritage Court
Franklin, TN 37067
If you’d like to send a prayer or a word of encouragement to Alfonso and Erika, please write them at jcdministries[you-know-the-symbol-]hotmail.com
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Sermon on the Mount

In our Sunday gatherings in our house, we’ve been looking at the life of Jesus. We’ve been going through the Gospels in chronological order. About 4 weeks ago, we came to Matthew 5, where Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God.

Growing up, I was taught that the teachings about the kingdom of God were essentially for the Jews of Jesus’ day, and that when they rejected Jesus that kingdom was essentially postponed until the Millennium. They were not really for the church, other than as an example for us to follow. We were taught that if we became poor in spirit because of our sin, we would then mourn over that sin, and so on. All of these things would lead to us being “right with God.” The other teachings were pretty much new laws for us to try and follow. Still, not a lot was said about the kingdom.

In recent years, as I’ve studied Jesus and his kingdom, I’ve come to different conclusions about these teachings in Matthew, and in other passages. I believe that Jesus is teaching about the kinds of people who are welcome in his kingdom, and through whom the kingdom will come. The poor, the left out, the outcasts, are the ones who are in the kingdom, as opposed to the elite, the self-sufficient, those who have it all together. These are the ones through whom the Spirit moves, and the way these folks carry out there day-to-day is completely different from the way those in the kingdoms of this world operate. Instead of pride, there is humility. Instead of “justice,” there is mercy. Instead of revenge, there is forgiveness.

We also saw that so much of the way God’s kingdom works on this earth has to do with relationships. We are told that seeking forgiveness and reconciliation is more important than worship. We are told that treating others in a loving, forgiving manner is more important than following some rules that allow us to avoid love. We are taught that a righteousness that comes from inside is better than one that is simply external.

Jesus took the “traditional” definition of God’s kingdom and turned it upside down. He said that the kingdom was here, but not in the way it was expected. The religious leaders (the righteous) missed it. It was the “sinners” who got it. It was not the best and brightest who followed the King. It was the folks who had been told they were not good enough. The early church was full of these. Somehow, we’ve taken Jesus’ teachings and basically forgotten them. We follow the preachers who are the most articulate speakers, the ones who can command an audience of thousands. We use others for our own purposes, rather than love them. We want God to give us everything we want, instead of being willing to suffer for Jesus’ sake.

If Jesus is the King, if we are part of his kingdom, our lives will be such that the world will think us strange. Our values, the way we treat others, will seem upside down. Our righteousness will go far beyond a righteousness that is determined by law. It will be a righteousness that comes from inside, from the Spirit that is in us. We will indeed be agents of a kingdom that is not from this world, and a King who has already conquered the powers. As we look for the ultimate setting right of all things, we will see, and provide, glimpses of that final, full fruition of the kingdom of God.

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How God Became King

I’ve started reading How God Became King, by N.T. Wright. So far, I’ve read the first three chapters and I can tell that I am going to like this book. The basic idea of Wright’s latest work is that the church has, over the centuries, forgotten the “middle” of the story of Jesus in the New Testament, that we have left the question of “why did Jesus live?”.

As I grew up in fundamentalist churches, I remember hearing a lot of sermons about Jesus coming to earth to die for our sins so we could live forever in heaven. I remember singing a song in a Christmas cantata that stated that Jesus was “born to die.” A lot of energy was spent studying Old Testament passages, the epistles of Paul, and passages about the “end times.” We also heard messages on the parables of Jesus, usually with an attempt to apply them to 20th century life. I don’t remember hearing a lot of sermons or Sunday school lessons on the teachings of Jesus about the Kingdom of God. Those that were preached usually asserted that those teachings were about the future millennial kingdom.

As I have read N.T. Wright, Scot McKnight, and others, I have come to the belief that Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth. The Sermon on the Mount is about the kind of people through whom the Kingdom will work and how the people in the Kingdom will live. As I read the Gospels through a new lens, I see better how it all fits together. Not only do the Gospels make more sense, but the entire story of Israel and the promise of the coming Messiah comes to life in a way that goes far beyond “accept Jesus and go to heaven when you die.”

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book. From time to time I will post things that are meaningful to me or that I think may help explain the idea that the Kingdom is here, right now.

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You Want Me to Do What?

In John 13, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. The Master washed the feet of  his followers! This was something that was was normally done by a household slave. When guests came to a house one of the slaves would wash the dust and dirt off their feet. It was an act of courtesy in that day. I can’t think of anything we do today that would be comparable.

We can’t grasp the significance of this ordinary show of hospitality. In the first century, most people walked everywhere they went. The roads on which they walked were dirt, and were either dusty or muddy, depending on the weather. There was also the good chance that they stepped in some animal droppings along the way. So, to be the foot washer meant that you would have to clean the feet of folks who had dust or mud, mixed with sweat, mixed with who knows what on them. It was not at all like taking someone’s hat and coat as they come into your house. It was a dirty job. Peter knew this. He possibly felt shame and humiliation at his Lord taking on one of the dirtiest jobs in a household. Peter told Jesus that he was not going to wash his feet! Only after Jesus told Peter that he had no part in him if he refused did Peter submit.

In John 13:14 & 15, Jesus says that he was setting an example for us to follow. Some groups take this as a literal command and have services in which they wash each other’s feet. I believe that there are a couple of layers to  this example. One is connected to Jesus teaching that those who lead in the kingdom are to be those who serve. Jesus said that if he, their Master could serve them, they were to serve each other. Paul wrote in Philippians that Jesus took on the form of a servant, and that we are to have the same mindset. Paul also wrote that we are not to think too highly of ourselves, but rather be willing to do menial work. This example of humility is one most of us think of.

I believe the example of foot washing and service also is connected to the command to love others. In Luke 7, we have the account of a sinful woman, possibly a prostitute, crashing a dinner and washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and putting expensive perfume on them. Jesus, in talking to the host about this, says that it was her great love that drove her to do this. She loved much because she had been forgiven much. In John 15, Jesus says that the greatest love is (disagreeing with Whitney Houston here) when a person lays down their life for their friends.

Jesus calls us to love others in the same way that he loves us. That means we are to be willing to lay down our lives for them. I believe that laying down our lives for our friends means that we are willing to do whatever it takes to do them good. That means we may have to do dirty jobs, jobs that no one else would even think of doing. It means that we should be the first to humble ourselves and take a lower spot on the totem pole.  It means that we put our brothers and sisters first, even when it may cause us pain. We do this because of the great love we have for Jesus. That love is to extend to all the other members of Christ’s Body. We are to be like the woman in Luke 7, who loved much because she had been forgiven much, not like Simon, who loved little because he thought he had little to be forgiven.

I don’t want to see something that’s not there, but I wonder if Jesus statement to Peter that if he didn’t let Jesus wash his feet he didn’t have any part in him could be seen as saying those who refuse to humble themselves and love others enough to lay down their lives and serve others don’t have any part in Jesus either. I don’t know. I just know what Jesus commanded.

 

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World Vision Wednesday

See how the gift of a cow changed the lives of a family in Sri Lanka

To find out more about giving to help the least of these around the world, see this.