Faith, Hope, and Theology

Sometimes we make theology the discipline of thought or study. The greatest theologians, however, have always been those facing the real issues of their days. St. Augustine faced a crumbling way of life, church heresy, and a collection of pastors asking, "How do we live as Christians in this time?" John Calvin lived in the aftermath of Luther's Reformation and the wars that plagued Christians because of disagreement in doctrine. Karl Barth pastored and taught during WWI and II asking how a Christian lives and acts in Germany in his time.

Great theology, you see, is done in the nitty-gritty of life, where God is involved for radical and life-giving change. Those who have faith, who have love, and who have hope are in the best vantage point to do theology because faith, hope, and love are the attitudes that truly show us God; and when can you hope, but when hope seems lost? When do you best love but when loving is difficult? And when do you have faith but when there seems to be no road? It is in these times that God proves himself strong.

So, with that in mind, I close with this quote:

"Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; faith is having the courage to dance to it today." ~Peter Kuzmic

How does love fit in with hope and faith in this music analogy?

new kid in the story

Well, we'll see how this goes, but I wonder if people would mind sharing some stories that tell the personality of Calvary Community Church. I am trying to jump into the story of the gospel exemplified in our church, and would be greatly helped by hearing some of the stories that are the exemplification of the gospel in this church. How have we condemned sin? Forgiven of sin? Embraced sinners? I guess I could also ask, "Who is this church?"

The brutal necessity of honesty

In his book Till We Have Faces, a fiction book, C.S. Lewis highlights the nature of real relationship. The book's main character, Orual, demands a meeting with the gods regarding the unfair death of her sister, Psyche. The relationship between Orual and Psyche is a strange one: Orual is ugly, while Psyche is beautiful; Orual is militaristic and a strong leader, while Psyche is sensitive and well-liked. Yet Orual, in spite of the jealousy, loves Psyche and so demands a hearing. Through the jealousy, however, Orual puts on a mask and wears it almost constantly. Finally, the gods will hear her complaint about Psyche's death. Yet in this hearing Orual doesn't receive an "answer" to her sister's death, but the realization that she will never understand the gods "face to face" until she herself takes off the mask.

This got me thinking about the masks we wear--and the vast majority of us do wear them. Sometimes they are necessary. Sometimes they are a hindrance. They always hide who we really are, though. A week ago I heard John Ortberg say that to experience God we must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives. I think it's also true to say that to experience God, we
must ruthlessly take off our masks. C.S. Lewis once said that next to the sacraments of baptism and communion that the face of another human is the closest we come to God. How important to have people with whom we must never wear masks! How can we see God face to face, until our face is no longer hidden from other people?

Sinners, saints, and the struggle

Sitting in Wild At Heart (WAH) group yesterday, I was reminded of a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. (Actually, I was also reminded of it during Class 201 on Saturday. But WAH brought it all together. Great group, great leader.) The following is a paraphrase, but it's close:

"We must remember that we are first a community of sinners before we are a community of saints." This is true.

What triggered the quote was something one of the guy's said in WAH. What he said was quite profound. He said, "The courage is not implying that we live perfectly; the courage is in admitting we're weak and we struggle."

I agreed wholeheartedly (his point was right on; what I am about to say only springs from it). The only thing I would have changed is to say: It's even worse! We don't just struggle; we sin. We're not just weak; we're sinful. We're not just 'not good enough;' we're sinners.

Now, this is emphatically not the last word--that we are sinners. It's the first word--and likely the intermittent word as well--on the road to becoming the community saints by God's grace. If we only struggle, we can try harder. If we're only weak, we can get better coping mechanisms and become stronger. If we're not good enough, then we can get better--or give up. **But** if we're sinners, then we're the people Christ died for (Rom. 5:8); we're the people he gives his Spirit to (Acts 2:1-4); we're the people he's called and justified (Rom. 8:30).

This is why the gospel is not self-help, but is good news.

What does 'Lord' mean?

Just finished talking about the real world. Had a good discussion with Marcia Lorraine about it, too. Anyway, this morning I read something on another blog that I think ties in quite well.

What do we think about when we hear the word, "Lord"? Typically, it carries negative overtones. Lord Vader...Lord of the Sith...to "'lord' it over someone"...etc. (Excuse my Star Wars jargon!) Anyway, I think at times we do one of two things with Jesus: Either we make him our best friend who is just like us in everyway or we make a strict overseer. I think both are wrong, but have the seeds of truth, as well.

This morning I read a blog that I think combined the two wrong notions, taking their true and valuable points and excluding their negative, wrong, and weak ones. It talked about that "Jesus is Lord" carries with it the notion of "Lord for...." Jesus is Lord and his victory is given to us: So, Jesus' victory over sin carries with it his desire to be Lord over sin for us--to give us victory; his victory over racial barriers (Gal. 3:26-29) is for our victory in this way, etc. Now, this is much beyond a best friend who is in the same predicament we are in, and it is much different from a detached boss who abuses his/her power. This is a Lord who is for his subjects!

Let this notion of what it means to be Lord influence and change the negative thoughts that are something associated with it. Seeing what it means to be lord in this light is part of what it means to live in the real world ;)

the real world

I'll post it here again today. If anyone has any thoughts on this, feel free to share them. If not, I'll try to think of something much more profound and meaningful to spur discussion! :)

What is the real world?

Since moving to Johnson City, I have become a little more acquainted with the area: its unique customs, its interesting history—all the things that make Johnson City what it is. Every city and town has certain qualities in a certain combination that make up its personality and identity.

I recently overheard a student sharing about his inevitable return to university after Christmas holidays. He said, “Yeah, I have to go back to the real world.” In other words, “Vacation isn’t the normal world; it’s not the normal pace of life. Hard work and stress and conflict is the real world.” This got me thinking: How do we know what the ‘real world’ really is? Why is stress and conflict the real world? Could the world of stress and conflict, just as easily, be the fake world that we live in?

Some of you are thinking: “Just wait till he’s lived a little longer! He’ll know what the real world is!” And there is some truth to that. But here’s my point: We don’t get to decide what the real world is. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” God wants to give us a new world to live in. Just like Johnson City has its own history and customs, its own struggles and personality, so does God want to show us a world with its own history and traditions; customs and practices; personality and flavor. This is the world of his Kingdom. God is about bringing his Kingdom—a new city, a new world. And if God is doing this, then I think it time we called his Kingdom the real world.

Kingdom of God and repentance

Hey friends,

I am curious to hear of any thoughts and comments regarding yesterday's service. This can be a somewhat objective response--relating to style, structure, etc., or it can be more subjective--relating to God's Word confronting our church and our duty to be shaped by it. Even better, we can continue talking about repentance and Kingdom of God. Thoughts? It would be great to hear from some new people! Also, please sign a name to save me the time taken to search through the directory to decipher initials!!! :D

What about preaching?

After considering the "listening" post, I am now going to listen to your thoughts on PREACHING. Does it seem backwards that if listening is so essential and vital to being ministers that preaching is what the Reformation Church is known for? I have some thoughts, but will reserve them until I have listened for a bit. I am anxious to hear from lots of different people on this one.

Listening, Healing, and Ministry

There is no question that we all need affirmation and attention. No question, at all. A little bit of this was highlighted in the quote about welcoming a baby into the world, showing them that they are welcome. Opticalwaveguy stretched the discussion a bit by talking about adults. One of the best ways to "welcome" an adult, to express worth to them is by listening.

Keith Wales said a few weeks ago that listening to people tell their story brings healing. This has fascinated me ever since I heard him say it. Giving people the attention and opportunity needed to speak in meaningful ways, to tell their stories, brings healing. It is thereby ministry.

I have often fallen prey to the desire to "do ministry" rather than **be** a minister. Doing ministry is much easier than being a minister. Doing ministry has start and stop times, goals, dates, "jobs well done" at the end. Being a minister is ongoing and extensive; it requires creativity and availability; it may get no "jobe well done" whatsoever.

The connections between being a minister and listening, I think, cannot be exhausted. May God make us a community of listening people--a community of ministers. Amen. (And thank God for the listeners he has placed in our midst, already!)

Long time, no post

First, my apologies for being too long between posts. 'A quiet blog is not read,' is a rule of thumb, so I'll have to improve.

This week I am at Asbury Theological Seminary taking a class called, "Emotions, Feelings, and Passion." It is a philosophical and theological exploration of emotions, feelings, and passion and their role in theology. Excellent professor for the class (Larry Wood) which makes it good.

Anyway, I have a question in mind for next week, but until then just some periodic updates and some quotes that I think are worthwhile putting down in cyberspace. Here's the first, a paraphrase from psychologist Frank Lake (any counseling people heard of him?):

"The first lie told to a person about God is when, as a baby, they are not welcomed into the world." I think some simple parallels come to mind when considering welcoming strangers into our worshiping community.

On Bible reading...

Here is a direct quote from another blogger, an administrator of another denomination:

"When I was in seminary, I got the impression that my job as a pastor was to help lessen the gap between the Bible and the 'modern world.' [T]here was the Bible, mired in the First Century. Here was the skeptical, critical modern world. The pastor, through preaching and various acts of pastoral ministry, labored to lessen the gap, to bring the gospel close to where modern Americans lived. Since then I have come to the conclusion that today's faithful pastor ought to clarify, accentuate the gap between the Bible and the modern world rather than lessen the gap. Evangelism calls people, not to agreement, but to conversion, detoxification, the adoption of practices meant to save them from the deceits of the 'modern world.'"

In seeing the gap between myself and the Bible, I am able to hear its voice calling to me all the clearer. I am not able to say, "I am not much different from the person God is seeking to make through this story," but have to come to grips with how odd and different I often appear next to Jesus. Notice that the emphasis is on "clarifying" and "accentuating" the gap; not making the book as difficult to understand!

What do we think? How does this tie in with the discussion below? What do we like/dislike about this position?

Spiritual formatilities

Well, since no one wants to talk about unity :), let's try something else. I read this earlier in the week about personal spiritual formation. People have been seeking more historical and "outside the box" ways to connect with God. (Nothing off-base or "goofy." Just things that were common, but are not anymore.) A couple of examples are burning candles and incense; celebrating weekly communion; doing lectio divina (divine reading--reading the Bible and meditating on a short passage to see what God speaks to you). What do we think about this? Any practices that anyonre here uses?

Question this week: What unites us?

I have been thinking and hearing about unity lately. People talk of John 17, and Jesus' prayer that his followers would be one as he and the Father. In other words, we are to be unified. [Realizing that some smaller questions could--and likely should--be asked here (Who are the 'we'?, What does 'unity' actually mean?, How do we know if we are/are not unified?, etc.), I prefer to jump ahead and ask a bigger question!] :)

What is it that unites us? Doctrine/belief? Mission? Creed? History/tradition? Place?
Something else?

Question of the Week: Is the Church like a Hospital?

Is the Church like a hospital? If yes, how so? If not, why not?

Some things to consider:
o What is the Church's mission?
o Does being a Hospital describe all/part/any of the Church's mission?

Everyone's a Theologian

Some of you are thinking, "I’m a Christian, but I am not a theologian." Let me tell you a secret: Everyone is a theologian. There is no question that you are a theologian; the only question is whether you are a good or bad theologian! Let me explain.

I have a three year old nephew named Calvin. Calvin is energetic, inquisitive, and friendly. You can spend several afternoons being bombarded by his questions. "What is that?" "Why?" "Who’s that?" "Why?" Asking questions helps him find out of the whats, whys, whos, and hows that enter his mind. He even asks questions about Jesus, prays, and says grace before meals. This means that Calvin is a theologian! The questions he asks and the prayers he prays show how his theology is forming—that he believes things about God.

So, everyone is a theologian. Why? Because everyone has questions and beliefs about God, and many people pray. Even atheists have beliefs about God, and not just that he doesn’t exist. It is often poor theology that leads to disbelieving in God. How we pray shows many things about our theology: what God cares about; that he listens; that he is alert through the day and night; even that he understands English! Yes, everyone is a theologian. If you pray to, have questions about, or believe things about God, then you are a theologian.

Many times people don’t care how they learn about God. Radio, TV, Oprah, Dr. Phil, friends, the President, and others all form some people’s theology. Our goal is to learn on purpose about God, combining devotion and theology to read Scripture better, and to live more faithfully. Ask questions! Share thoughts! We’ll become better theologians—better prayers and Bible readers—together.