Faith Venture

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

September 13, 2012

There are a couple of influential researchers and thinkers whom I respect. They capped their careers with interesting comments. These are Karl Barth, scholar and theologian, and Carl Jung, psychiatrist.

There was some point when I started noticing people rather than things, so I started studying psychology instead of engineering. I read a lot, but mostly I read (I think) everything that Carl Jung wrote. He was deep. Now I caution you, be careful reading “Jungians,” or followers of Jung. Many people took up part of his ideas and ran with them in some really weird directions.

But Jung was curious about the emotional/psychological afflictions of his patients and set out to explore the inner life. After a long career of research and writing, he was asked if he believed in God. The quote I saw from him was, “Believe? No, I don’t believe. I know.”

Karl Barth also was a scholar and writer. I have not read everything he wrote. Just some. But I also liked the comment he made toward the end of his career after writing thousands of pages of the results of his scholarship. Someone asked him to sum up his work, and he replied, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” (You know, the little song we teach children.)

Those two comments have had a lasting influence on me. A life with God begins with knowing God. And realizing His love. And then just living as He guides. And to me, that’s freedom.

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We Think Too Much

September 12, 2012

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Give up? My answer to a famous old argument among some theologians is–who cares? What did that argument–or most any other theological/philosophical argument–do to help me live a better life closer to God.

I guess I’m just curious. And interested. I’ve read many, many books by famous and not-so-famous philosophers and theologians. Taught the Bible for over 35 years. The conclusion of a life of research is that we often miss the point.

In the pastoral letters of Paul to Timothy and Titus, Paul warns several times about those who love to argue over words. He was right. Those arguments over words (perhaps coupled with the cultures that grew up around them) led to hundreds of years of bitter fighting with much loss of life in Christian Europe.

What’s the point? Look at Paul’s description of a model church. Outside of a few fundamental beliefs–Jesus was real, Jesus was resurrected, the Spirit lives, and God’s grace saves us–Paul mostly wrote about or described people who lived a life with God and for God.

There has been a strain of Christianity since around 340 AD that holds that to be a Christian means to adhere to a doctrine. You just publicly state that you agree with the doctrine and you’re a Christian. Some people still believe that today.

I don’t agree. I think to be a Christian means that we’re living a life with God where Jesus shows us the way. It’s not theology. It’s life where God is real.

This line of thinking is as old as Christianity itself. It has been written more and more often in the United States since the early to mid 60s. Here are some lyrics from a song written by Paul Stookey of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary entitled Hymn that captures some of the idea:

I visited some houses where they said that You were living
And they talked a lot about You
And they spoke about Your giving.
They passed a basket with some envelopes;
I just had time to write a note
And all it said was “I believe in You.”

Passing conversations where they mentioned Your existence
And the fact that You had been replaced by Your assistants.
The discussion was theology,
And when they smiled and turned to me
All that I could say was “I believe in You.”

Posted in Christianity, Faith | 3 Comments »

The Real Revolution Is Within You

September 10, 2012

Those of us who identified as “peace and justice evangelicals” in the 1970s and 1980s always struggled with Paul’s writings. A superficial reading of his work, especially the pastoral letters that I’m reading through now, makes it appear that he supported slavery, thought women should be “seen and not heard” and “barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen” (an old phrase I heard as a youth from somewhere), supported corrupt governments, and more.

My views began to change with deeper reading of his works led by some eminent thinkers and theologians. But even moreso as I contemplate on the two letters of Timothy, Titus and Philemon.

Model of a cool church

In these letters Paul describes a lot about what a “cool” church would look like. What a model of Christian leaders would look like. And then in Philemon, where he describes a relationship.

Philemon was a well-to-do Christian who owned slaves. One of his slaves “escaped” and lived with Paul for some time. The time came for Onesimus to leave Paul and return home. Paul writes a personal letter. The arguments are pretty cagey. But it’s the relationship that is interesting.

The Real Revolution

The real revolution wasn’t in Paul and the early church directly attacking the foundation institutions of the dominant culture–family relationships, economic relationships including slavery, and the like. The real revolution was in how we treat each other. It all starts within the person.

Read Philemon to see what the relationship between a master and slave could be. Not tyrant to subject; but fellow Christians working together. Each had a role, but the power dynamics of the roles were undone.

Jesus didn’t teach a single course on organizational dynamics that I recall. Jesus also knew the power of changing people one at a time.

The real revolution doesn’t come with weapons, hatred, power relationships. The real revolution is within me, and you, and everyone. We change people and then we change society.

Look at the changes in society led by Christians. Abolishing slavery. An equal role for women (OK, there are still some place that need change, but change does come painfully slowly). Better justice (although we still have a long way to go). Reducing insidious racism. Health advances available to more people. Feeding people. Caring for people.

Posted in Ethics, Faith | Leave a Comment »

Illusions of Discipleship

September 7, 2012

Are you under the illusion of being a disciple of Jesus?

I’ll give you a moment to contemplate that idea.
Many of us see ourselves as better, smarter, more attractive than others see us. Probably not all that bad within some limits. We need to be optimistic. The unfortunate people are those who are opposite. That attitude can get in the way of living a joyous, serving life.

Then there are those people–you’ve met some, I’m sure, I know some–whose view of themselves bears little resemblance to reality. Maybe they are not “diagnosable” under some term of the DSM. But still, they can be difficult to be around.

Worse yet, is when that gets in the way of their spiritual relationships and life. They keep telling themselves and others about what a disciple they are. Their actions and words tell an entirely different story.

We all need reality checks at times. Taking a time to pause and reflect on what we really do and really say. Few people take that time. Doing that will help you keep on the right path.

Robert Burns, the Scottish poet said it well a few years ago:

“O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion.”

Posted in Disciplines | Leave a Comment »

Don’t Let Spiritual Practice Become Spiritual Prison

September 6, 2012

Dr. Henry Cloud was speaking recently about spiritual growth. If you don’t know him, pick up one of his books. He is a psychologist and has keen insight into people. He pointed out in the talk that at an early stage of spiritual growth, people become fascinated with practices such as prayer and study. They think that if everyone prayed and studied, everyone in the world would be saved and live in peace.

Unfortunately, at some point we begin to realize life gets in the way. We also, if we are not careful, slip into a pattern with our prayer and study. We say the same things in prayer. We no longer read with joy of learning new things, rather with the expectation of seeing things that reinforce what we know.

In a word, we become rigid.

I’m preparing my mind, heart and Spirit to begin leading a group in learning the Spiritual Disciplines (or Spiritual Practices). Cloud’s words are a reminder to not let our practices become rigid. We need a prayer that reminds us to open up our hearts to the teaching and guidance we need to grow.

It’s not just prayer–it’s a new conversation with God every day. It’s not just study–it’s opening our minds to see new ways God is speaking to us. It’s not just attending a celebration–it’s singing with joy. It’s not just service–it’s caring for others.

Jesus said he came to set the prisoners free. Sometimes the prison is our own mind.

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Distance Provides Perspective

September 5, 2012

I took the weekend off. Actually started with half of Friday and then took half of Tuesday. Had almost no access to the Internet. Hiked a bunch of trails around the Old Man’s Cave area of Hocking Hills in southern Ohio. Read a couple of good books. (“False Economy” about choices governments and societies make that lead to economic success or failure; “Distributed Computing and the Cloud”–pretty geeky, but I need to try to stay abreast of technology; also read through Paul’s pastoral letters again, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus)

Did you take off a little time? You can get so close to your work that you get lost in the details. A few days away can give you space and distance from which to view where you’re going.

I’m involved in lots of things. Evidently I’m only happy being involved. It was a time to take a break and then contemplate the bigger picture of what I’m doing in each area of my life. I do this a couple of times a year–the other time being the space between Christmas and New Years.

The main focus of the weekend was gratitude. I could say I’ve earned what I have. That would be only partially correct. Certainly I work hard and never stop learning. But people have come into my life at various times to point a path. I’m grateful for every one of them.

I just saw one couple that had great influence on making me a leader and (slightly) more social. Typical of seeing old, lost friends, this was at a funeral. Most unfortunate sudden loss of another long-time friend.

So, my meditations involved remembering those who have influenced me being grateful for everything God has placed before me. It’s a great way to take a break.

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Bible Study and Christian Service

August 29, 2012

Bible study as a culture neutral experience? Or, better said, cross-cultural experience. Bible Study magazine has an article this month on the organization InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. This is an organization for college students with local associations run by students.

It raised an interesting point. For many students, going away to the university (for my international readers, we use college and university interchangeably over here) is perhaps the first experience in multi-culturism. Perhaps it’s even the first time associating with people of different Christian persuasions.

The idea that the Bible is actually neutral in that regard–where you can gather groups of people from different cultures and different denominations in an honest and deep study of Scripture–never dawned on me. Not that I don’t approach it that way. But as a philosophy, that’s cool.

Perhaps since I was raised Methodist (4th generation, I’m told) with two Baptist minister uncles and then taught in a Catholic school, I regard all these and the rest as just different manifestations of how to worship God. Often it’s a matter of culture and upbringing. Fortunately in the U.S., outside of bouts of discrimination toward new denominations, we have not fought any religious wars along sectarian lines. In Europe, there’s an entirely different experience, which I’m sure deeply influences things there.

Just start with small groups and a Bible. And a passion for learning.

Service opportunities

Thought I’d pass along some reading I’ve done. There is a Website called “Lifehacker.” The hacker part comes from the technology sector where people “hack” electronics and programs to make them better. So Life-hacker is site that offers tips on how to live.

One of the Spiritual Disciplines is service. Many people are either confused or apprehensive about service opportunities. This Life hacker article discusses How to Find a Volunteer Gig You’ll Enjoy. Maybe it’ll help push some of you over the hurdle into a life of finding satisfaction in volunteer service.

Posted in Disciplines, Service, Study | 1 Comment »

Argumentative Just To Be Argumentative

August 28, 2012

Looking at Paul’s instructions to Timothy about his vision for a local church, Paul talks about idle chatter as I discussed yesterday. He could also be referring to his comments a little earlier about those who teach something different from Paul’s teachings having a “morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words.” He also calls those people conceited and “understanding nothing.”

Learning comes from study plus discussion. Maybe the discussion is held through reading many books. The discussion could also be among people–say in a small study group. Someone says, I just read this but I don’t understand exactly what the author means by this. Another says, I think it means that. Still another refers to an ancient source that offers an interpretation.

We don’t enter the world as humans knowing everything that everyone has figured out before us. We must learn it for ourselves. That is hard work that many do not wish to undertake. Many just say, tell us what to believe and we’ll be happy.

Dostoevsky tells a story about Jesus meeting the Grand Inquisitor in medieval Spain in his novel “The Brothers Karamazov.” (Read the book, don’t watch the movie.) In the story, the Grand Inquisitor tells Jesus that the people just want to be fed. They don’t want freedom. So please just go back to where you came from and let the Church tell people what to believe.

Other people are rebellious. They don’t want to follow the leader. They just like to argue. I have known these people in both church and business. Even in soccer. They just seem to like to argue. They absorb a lot of your energy just dealing with them.

I’m with Paul on this one. If you have someone who is just plain argumentative–maybe because they just need the spotlight focused on them–you’re better off without them around.

I don’t think Paul would dislike the honest discussion of seekers. It’s those “conceited” people who just like to argue who are the problem.

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Connecting or Profane Chatter

August 27, 2012

Dilbert: So you say whatever pops into your head?

Dilbert’s date: That’s called conversation.

In the popular cartoon strip, Dilbert is the typical engineer. If you work with engineers and wonder about their personality, read this strip. I know it enlightened one of my sisters-in-law.

Some of us don’t really like “idle chatter” that others call conversation. We tend to like this thought from Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), “Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss activities; Small minds discuss people.”

In 1st Timothy, Paul advises his protege to “avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” I’m not sure these thoughts are linked, but Paul didn’t like bickering, argumentative, opinionated people.

Ever have a conversation with someone who does say whatever first pops into their head? Often, all you hear is opinion not based on facts or learning. I’ve heard two people go back and forth for a half hour and never say anything substantive.

An idea worth pondering: Are our conversations too shallow? Are we failing to connect with others because we are in a rush to just say something? Rather, a conversation should take some time, but not too much, and include listening, then thinking, then response. It’s hard to connect with someone when conversation is like a ping pong match.

Posted in Listening, Living | Leave a Comment »

Connecting With Other People

August 24, 2012

Jesus looked at the rich young man, and he loved him. The young man had followed all the laws for his entire life. He was earnest. He was religious. He wanted assurance of eternal life. Jesus looked upon him and connected spiritually with him and loved him. But…

Jesus loving him and connecting with him was not blind to the entire person. Jesus saw that there was something holding back the young man. He did all the right things, yet he felt no assurance of eternal life. He did, yet he did not feel. Jesus saw that and went to the root cause of the problem–the man’s wealth. It stood between him and salvation.

Today’s point is that we can learn connection from Jesus. It doesn’t mean analysis. It doesn’t mean ignoring unpleasant truths about the person. It means we connect at a deep level and come to understand the other.

Henry Cloud talked about happy people connecting with others, as I wrote the other day. This could almost be seen as a revolutionary statement in today’s American culture, not to mention many other cultures to be sure. He was speaking to Baby Boomers–often called the “Me Generation” after their orientation. The “It’s all about me” generation. And then there are kids of Boomers supposedly raised to be narcissistic. Once again, self-centered. Can people who worship themselves connect spiritually with others?

I don’t think that this orientation is unique to people born over the past 60 years. When you read ancient books–for example, the Old Testament–you see that self-centeredness is actually just a human condition that God wants us to overcome.

Our church sponsors a summer camp experience for teens. The theme used to be (I have no idea any more what the themes are), JOY–Jesus first, Others next, Yourself last. An apt teaching.

There are people who think they connect with others, but they are far from the mark. A long time ago (30 years?) I had a boss whom I kept admonishing to stop making agreements with himself about other people. You sort of need to include the others if you’re making agreements. He didn’t connect. In fact, his failure to connect with others drove the business to bankruptcy.

Check yourself. Are you trying to connect with others? Are you deluding yourself into thinking you’re connecting when you’re not really? Do you practice this piece of wisdom from Ernest Hemmingway, who said, “When others talk, listen completely”?

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