There it was, in its usual place and in its usual color. Written in a blazing red ink was a simple letter. Just a letter mind you, but one that strikes fear into the hearts all people. In the upper right hand corner of my test was an abnormally large letter, “F.”
Feeling much like Hester Prynne, I understood my scarlet letter. I had failed my geography test, thus making me a failure.
No one likes to get answers wrong. No one likes being wrong, although it is a common occurrence. But is it as common as we think?
In school I was taught that while taking a test, if part of the question is false, the entire question is false. Likewise, if part of the answer is wrong, all of the answer is wrong. There are no points for good motives or intentions in academia. However, when comparing religions, seeking for truth and chasing after G/god, I think we need to take another look.
For a long time Christianity has been labeled narrow-minded for its belief in Jesus being the only true access to God and entry to heaven (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). In conjunction with this belief, Christians have spent a lot of time telling non-Christians (of all stripes and shades) that their beliefs are wrong.
Telling someone else they are wrong can be both an ego trip and a power play. The assumption is if you are wrong, then I am right. There is a clear hierarchy established when one claims the authority to distinguish right from wrong. Pointing out the failures of others can stoke one’s pride, while stinging another’s.
But, is there a way to endorse the intrinsic search for truth, love and the character of God, without condoning the extrinsic expressions of mistaken belief? Can we validate the search, but not its discovery? Is it possible to find a common foundation on which to dialogue about our (humanity’s) communal need for meaning, acceptance and mercy, no matter where our paths may diverge?
I think it is and I believe modern Christianity needs to find this ground in order to earn the right to speak Jesus’ love into the lives of others who missed his trail markers.
The multiplicity of religions, beliefs and philosophies about God stand as ready proof that inherent within humanity is a yearning to answer the nagging question, “Who or what is G/god?”
Some say G/god is personal, while others say impersonal. Some say he is singular, others say he is multiple. Some say he exists, others say he does not exist. Same say he is fact, others say he is myth. No matter what the answer is, humanity has always been asking the same question.
If modern Christianity would just see this fact and dismount from its high horse to join the rest of humanity in its quest for the divine, we would have a more receptive audience when we say, “Lets look over here!”
But it is when we simply shout, “You’re wrong!” that we lose credibility and opportunity. It is part of Christ’s mandate to love our neighbors no matter if they are right or wrong (Lk. 10:29). I believe this love will motivate us to separate the quest for the divine from some of the answers that are found.
It is hypocritical to condemn the search for love, truth and forgiveness simply because it leads to a different destination than what we have found. Isn’t this the very same worthwhile search what led us (Christians) to redemption in Christ and reconciliation with God?
Christians need to separate the motivation for religious union and the manifestation of religious beliefs. When we do this, when we seek out this common ground and treat all people as equally valued travelers on a spiritual journey, we act more like Jesus, who sought our common humanity, to share with us the love of God.
The search is good. The search is valuable. The search is basic to all people, irrespective of where it leads. Christians don’t have to pronounce the pursuit of God, “wrong” because we disagree with the end result. We should honor the quest; even foster it, knowing that those who truly seek God will find him among the imposters (Matt. 7:7-8).
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Dependency
I am pretty pissed at God right now. The reason and rational are the subject matter for another time. What I find interesting is that even though I am mad at God, I still find myself bumping up against him consistently. It is like being mad at a person you live with, when you both live in a 900 sq.ft. apartment.
The other morning at the peak of my anger, I still got up to read and pray before going to work. An odd thing to do for someone holding a grudge against God. But you see I am excited to continue my reading of Jeremiah the prophet.
Likewise, I found that through the day I was finding reasons to pray for people and myself. This required that I come face to face with the person I am angry with. For instance, last night I was preaching at the Portland Rescue Mission. Preaching for me is not a carefree endeavor. I am always nervous and humbled when being the mouthpiece of God while interpreting his Word. So, I normally pray a lot before preaching. But I found myself starting to pray and then saying, “Aghhh, I am mad at you, I don’t want to talk to you. But I need you.”
Today, I thought of Dustin who leads Evergreen's second site at the Hawthorne Lucky Lab. Tomorrow is the opening Sunday for this gathering and Dustin is preaching its first sermon. Yet again, as I prayed, I am angry with God.
No matter what I do, even as I write this, I am dependent on God.
I think these "run ins" with God will be good, even though they are hard to digest. They force to me deal with my anger and understand that the God I am upset with is the same God who is giving me the power/energy/ability to be ticked off at him in the first place. It seems that these "reminders" are God's way of proving that although I may want to emotionally disconnect from him, he is not willing to do the same.
The other morning at the peak of my anger, I still got up to read and pray before going to work. An odd thing to do for someone holding a grudge against God. But you see I am excited to continue my reading of Jeremiah the prophet.
Likewise, I found that through the day I was finding reasons to pray for people and myself. This required that I come face to face with the person I am angry with. For instance, last night I was preaching at the Portland Rescue Mission. Preaching for me is not a carefree endeavor. I am always nervous and humbled when being the mouthpiece of God while interpreting his Word. So, I normally pray a lot before preaching. But I found myself starting to pray and then saying, “Aghhh, I am mad at you, I don’t want to talk to you. But I need you.”
Today, I thought of Dustin who leads Evergreen's second site at the Hawthorne Lucky Lab. Tomorrow is the opening Sunday for this gathering and Dustin is preaching its first sermon. Yet again, as I prayed, I am angry with God.
No matter what I do, even as I write this, I am dependent on God.
I think these "run ins" with God will be good, even though they are hard to digest. They force to me deal with my anger and understand that the God I am upset with is the same God who is giving me the power/energy/ability to be ticked off at him in the first place. It seems that these "reminders" are God's way of proving that although I may want to emotionally disconnect from him, he is not willing to do the same.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Don't Go Multi-Site...
I went to a Northwest Church Planters forum today to hear about Multi-Site Church. The Pastor at New Heights Church, Matt Hannan, has led his church to 6 services, 2 video venues, with 2 more in the works. Here is what he said...
Don't Go Multi-Site...
...If you think it is cool
...If you haven't expanded at your current site (e.g. added more services around the prime church time, 9-11am on Sundays. Saturday evening are cool too.)
...If you don't have a three legged stool. (meaning: solid teaching, exceptional worship and good kids ministry.)
...If you aren't a strong teacher.
...If you think you know how.
...If you want to save money. (Matt said starting a service where the teaching is "exported to another site" runs a minimum of 100K.)
...If you think it's a fix for a building. (meaning: you need a building due to the "psychology of permanence" that exists in people.)
...If you only have adequate leadership.
...If you haven't assessed the technological cost. (Ask yourself, "how much staff could we get for the money we are spending on technology?")
...If you want simplify.
...If your culture isn't fixed.
...If your values aren't clear.
...If you want to grow. (Still the best way to grow is to planet a church. Then it is the church plant that grows.)
...If your leaders aren't deeply committed.
...If you can avoid it.
...If you think it is easy.
After spending an hour trying dissuade a room full of church planters, Matt said if we were still looking to do a video venue multi-site church setup he wanted to be a resource to help start them.
Naaaa, I thought. I am already convinced video venue churches are not a good idea.
Don't Go Multi-Site...
...If you think it is cool
...If you haven't expanded at your current site (e.g. added more services around the prime church time, 9-11am on Sundays. Saturday evening are cool too.)
...If you don't have a three legged stool. (meaning: solid teaching, exceptional worship and good kids ministry.)
...If you aren't a strong teacher.
...If you think you know how.
...If you want to save money. (Matt said starting a service where the teaching is "exported to another site" runs a minimum of 100K.)
...If you think it's a fix for a building. (meaning: you need a building due to the "psychology of permanence" that exists in people.)
...If you only have adequate leadership.
...If you haven't assessed the technological cost. (Ask yourself, "how much staff could we get for the money we are spending on technology?")
...If you want simplify.
...If your culture isn't fixed.
...If your values aren't clear.
...If you want to grow. (Still the best way to grow is to planet a church. Then it is the church plant that grows.)
...If your leaders aren't deeply committed.
...If you can avoid it.
...If you think it is easy.
After spending an hour trying dissuade a room full of church planters, Matt said if we were still looking to do a video venue multi-site church setup he wanted to be a resource to help start them.
Naaaa, I thought. I am already convinced video venue churches are not a good idea.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Questions
In taking with Dustin about starting a new Evergreen Community gathering we began to ask some questions that are hard to answer within the context of the church, especially without losing focus on being the church or why we exist.
The language of these questions is not refined and raw. It expresses what were thinking, not any kind of sensitivity to culture within or without the church. I would like to wordsmith these when I get the chance.
Here are some of the questions:
As we lead this new community…
…how do we know we are “winning?”
…how do we know we have accomplished something?
…how do we know where we are deficient?
…how do we celebrate growth/wins.
We want to seek answers to these questions and not rely on just some visually perceptible answer like numbers. (e.g. If we are growing we are healthy and what we are doing is good.) Plain numbers are a hallow indicator of progress and growth. There are so many other things that could be going wrong or not happening at all that would indicate unhealth, but are not perceived with counting bodies or dollars.
The language of these questions is not refined and raw. It expresses what were thinking, not any kind of sensitivity to culture within or without the church. I would like to wordsmith these when I get the chance.
Here are some of the questions:
As we lead this new community…
…how do we know we are “winning?”
…how do we know we have accomplished something?
…how do we know where we are deficient?
…how do we celebrate growth/wins.
We want to seek answers to these questions and not rely on just some visually perceptible answer like numbers. (e.g. If we are growing we are healthy and what we are doing is good.) Plain numbers are a hallow indicator of progress and growth. There are so many other things that could be going wrong or not happening at all that would indicate unhealth, but are not perceived with counting bodies or dollars.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Glenhaven
Since moving to Portland we have had to find a new skate park. So we checked out the closest one to our house, Glenhaven. It is pretty cool. We went early this morning in order to get there before most skater get out of bed. It just so happened Glenhaven was the spot of skate competition this weekend. So, it got crowded quick, with good skaters too!
Anyway, we skated a little, but will have to go back again during the week, until we get used to the park and its locals.
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