Faith Venture

There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways.

So begins The Didache (The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles–pronounce did-a-key), a very early Christian document teaching about discipleship.

“Now this is the way of life: First, you shall love God, who made you. Second, you shall love your neighbor as yourself; but whatever you do not wish to happen to you, do not do to another.”

The teaching continues by describing a person who is humble, not angry; giving not covetous; speaks truthfully; peaceful.

“But the way of death is this: first of all, it is evil and completely cursed; murders, adulteries, lusts, sexual immoralities, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, sorceries, robberies, false testimonies, hypocrisies, duplicity, deceit, pride, malice, stubbornness, greed, abusive language, jealousy, audacity, arrogance, boastfulness.”

And he is just getting started.

Just as when I read John Climacus originally expecting to learn about how to experience God through meditation and learned about overcoming all my evil desires and emotions and how to cultivate the good ones, here I read the teachings about Jesus by the twelve apostles and learn (just as from reading the four Gospels) how to live my life beginning with love–first love God. Not belief. Lots of people believe all manner of things. It’s love. And then spreads from love to everyone we meet along the way.

Is that the missing ingredient in your life?

The first, second, and even third century Christians lived in such a way that people from the outside community at large were attracted to the Way.

They were attracted despite the periodic oppression by civil authorities that could lead to anything from penal servitude to (literally) being fed to the lions.

Reading the Didache, perhaps the oldest teaching document we have aside from the New Testament, which begins with the first commandment–love God and love your neighbor. Then it talks about giving gifts. And how to live a humble life.

Then in the fourth century the church became legal and by the fifth century Christianity became a “church” religion where most people were expected to go and listen to priests.

A question for us in the twenty-first century, especially in America–are we living in a way that attracts people or repulses people? Are we attracting people by our love or repulsing away the undesirable sinners? Or spending time trying to enact laws to force people to behave the way we think they should?

It’s all about the attitude of our heart. Our discipline is to practice prayer, meditation, study to open us to people rather than to fence us in to keep people we don’t like out.

When Luke described Jesus as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” and also “Prince of Peace”, he borrowed the phrase. He took an existing title and applied it in an entirely new and different way.

The title was used by the reigning head of state, the emperor of Rome, Augustus.

But early Christians took the bold step of saying there exists a Lord (the person who decides for us, the Master in a relationship) above the lords of the secular state. The Jews asked for dispensation from certain Roman worship rules based upon ethnic identity. Early Christians asked for the same dispensation, but not by ethnic identity but by a common community based upon faith in God and the resurrection of Jesus.

We are in danger of reading the New Testament overlooking the immense power of Rome and how Jesus turned everything Rome stood for on its head.

We forget at our own peril that Jesus was a different sort of lord. A different sort of ruler. Not one who demanded “lip service.” After all, he said, “Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father.” No, he wants your heart to be changed.

Jesus said his kingdom was a different kind of kingdom and he was a different kind of Lord. If we live there, then we’ll live a different sort of life. We will spread peace and justice wherever we go rather than discord and divisiveness.

Jesus turned Rome on its head. It’s not all about power; it’s all about love.

There’s a guy proclaiming some political opinions. Another guy disagrees. OK, so far, normal American discourse.

Then the second guy offers his opinion of the speaker’s IQ number–otherwise known as “flipping the bird” or “giving him the finger.” For sowing his opinion, he reaps a punch in the face.

Not liking that result, he complains. About getting punched. That’s what made it to national news. And I’m going like, “Dude!!! What did you expect? You engage in a vulgar and offensive gesture to a person and expect him to, like, change his mind and love you? I don’t think so.”

We’ve probably all been there. “What were you thinking?”

In my reading this morning, I was reminded of the little book from Brother Lawrence, The Practice of God’s Presence.

What if, instead of these hateful reactions to people’s comments and opinions, we actually practiced God’s presence.

After all, we are taught, if we but have eyes to see and ears to hear, that God is present everywhere.

What if we acted as if we are in the presence of God? What if we practiced bringing the temperature of the situation down–maybe to something like “you have an opinion, I have an opinion, I know yours, you know mine, now let’s go have a beer and discuss higher matters like how are the Red Sox winning so many games or like how do we practice the presence of God”?

Instead of sowing hate, maybe we sow peace?

I pay attention when several sources of learning come together into a common thread.

Yesterday I was thinking about a couple of articles I’d read about cognitive biases. How sometimes we just don’t see the obvious because we’re predisposed to look for something else.

Last night I was reading through my current notebook looking for themes for today’s business podcast and spotted a recent entry from an Andy Stanley teaching.

He said, “Prudent people hear what they don’t want to hear.” He was thinking of the Proverb, “When the prudent see danger, they take refuge.”

On the other hand, the simple (Proverbs is so blunt about character types!) either don’t see or don’t care to see, “The simple keep going and pay the penalty.”

Pay attention in your leadership roles. Does someone come to you with a disturbing message? How do you react? Brush it off? Or see it as smoke that could be leading to a fire? Maybe you should change directions (“take refuge”).

Perhaps you are on the board of an organization or church council or personnel committee. Are you perceptive to approaching danger? Do you ignore the warning hoping it will go away?

When the same message comes from multiple sources, this should be taken as a signal. Either to sharpen my knowledge or seek discernment to read the danger signs.

Then have the courage to act.

What’s the most unreliable testimony in a trial? Eyewitness testimony.

We don’t always see what really happened. We “see” what we think happened. In my latest soccer referee recertification we learned of studies that show at the millisecond level how the time from what we see to registering with the consciousness is long enough to distort our understanding. Maybe the player really was not offside.

Sometimes we take in only that information that reinforces what we already believe. Not consciously. Or cynically. It’s within human nature.

Sometimes we have so much invested in an institution or organization that information contrary to the perpetuation of the organization just doesn’t register consciously.

Perhaps that is why Solomon writes in the Proverbs to seek many counselors. Sometimes we need a group of people to help sort out facts and see what’s really going on.

But that group needs to include “outsiders” because a small group can, and will, exhibit those same biases.

In our life in community whether it be church, non-profit, business, or politics, we need to practice detachment, discernment, and diversity of advisors to keep us grounded.

And the courage to face up to disturbing news and take appropriate actions. Don’t think this applies only to those large organizations making news lately. It applies to you and me in our activities, too.

Most of all, it takes courage.

I’m going to take you on a strange journey today. But it will fit.

Detective novels are my recreational reading. Have been most of my life. During my high school years I discovered the Perry Mason series by Earl Stanley Gardner. Through the magic of Kindle, I’ve been reading through them again a few at a time when I want to focus on “whodunit” rather than all the thinking I do for work.

Wow, has the world changed since Gardner first wrote about the attorney/detective in the 1930s. The phrases he used that were common back then had pretty much dropped out by the 60s when he wrote his later works. Reading them today is a trip back to an entirely different era. The stereotypes of people with dark skin, or Asian people, or women–they are all in the past. Or maybe not checking last week’s news.

Recently, I ran across this quote from 1935 that is so current it could have been written yesterday. See if it fits you and the people around you. It refers to Americans, but I think too many people from other cultures have been adopting these American values.

We’re a dramatic people. We’re not like the English. The English want dignity and order. We want the dramatic and spectacular. It’s a national craving. We’re geared to a rapid rate of thought. We want to have things move in a spectacular manner.

Doesn’t that fit TV news today? Or even for the past 40 years?

We go to church–we want the dramatic and spectacular.

The hard work of spiritual formation through the practice of the disciplines–meditation, prayer, study, worship, service–those are for other people at another time.

Or, are they?

Observe what comes out of your body. These things signal your health. When there is a change take notice.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote to us to likewise watch what comes out of our mouth. These things signal the health of our heart.

We’ve been taught with stories for thousands of years about how words, once spoken, cannot be recalled. They’ve already caused hurt.

I’m amused by all the emails I receive “X desires to recall the email.” Too late. I’ve read it.

Today the “tongue” has expanded to social media.

As the old National Enquirer ad once ran, “Enquiring minds want to know.” Gain a little notoriety and someone is racing to search all your social media posts as far back as they go to get some dirt on you. Like Pink Floyd had it, people everywhere want your dirty laundry.

Sports stars posted trash talk when they were young and stupid. Suddenly, it makes headlines.

What if someone searched your social media posts? Would it reflect your heart as loving and spiritually inviting? Or, would it reveal hate, anger, fear, lust?

Ask the founder/CEO (former) of Papa John’s pizza about making crude and derogatory remarks in a meeting–that suddenly became quite public.

Watch what comes out of your mouth–or your fingers–for it signals the health of your heart. Perhaps it’s time for a change of heart?