That was my intended title for my op-ed piece published August 24. The editor at the Rochester Post Bulletin preferred his own title: "Don't base definition of Islam on the actions of a few extremists." That's fine, but I like the original better.
Kathleen Parker, (a syndicated contributor to America's major newspapers), lambasted Christian do-gooders who equate Allah, (the Muslim deity), with the God of Christianity. Contrary to popular belief, she said, Christians and Muslims do not share the same God. After all, Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God and Muslims think otherwise.
If that by itself were not insensitive and untrue, she illustrated her point by inserting the name
"Allah" in place of God and Christ in the content of the Apostle's Creed (and Lord's Prayer). With the glee of an O.J. Simpson holding up the ill-fated glove in a Los Angeles courtroom, she exclaimed, see, it doesn't fit!
Insert here my statement of faith for anyone who is unsure of where this is going. I believe in God, uniquely revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus. Furthermore, I believe that in Christ God overcame death and, once and for all, defeated the powers of evil. Furthermore, I believe that in overcoming death and evil, Jesus lives and his love is at work in the world today.
But if I were held to the Christian faith as many practice in today's world, I'd drop it like a hot potato. The Christ I believe in is a child of Abraham, the prophet in whom Christians, Jews, and Muslims have their birthright. If out of fear of Muslim extremists Christianity has become a religion of self-righteous finger-pointing, then I wish to be rid of it.
If you will excuse the expression, I consider myself a "card-carrying Christian." In all likelihood, never will I be constrained to "tear up my card" because, even if Christianianity did implode
as a result of "evangelicals" who arrogantly and violently exploit Christ's name, his living and loving presence in creation and in his most faithful followers will persist to explode in the world.
Yes, Christians, Muslims, and Jews share the same God. The God of Abraham and Moses. One day, as a result of the power of Christian love that is nothing short of contagious, I dream that we will become "card-carriers" of the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Because I do believe in miracles.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Observations on Water, metaphors for God
I've admitted I love water. This summer I wrote a post about water from seeing glacier streams in Montana. I'm spending Labor Day at a waterpark in Wisconsin Dells. I am energized by last week's Psalm 71 and the reference to the waters of the womb. The prayer over the water at baptisms is one of my favorite pieces of liturgy. My Advent devotional (I just got the catalogue for Advent today) is going to be The Womb of Advent by Mark Bozzuti Jones. Last weekend, water became a problem for many members of our congregation and much of Southeast Minnesota.
Last weekend, water changed things.
Maybe in some ways, water is like God. Water is usually comfortable, fun, and nourishing. we need water. Yet every so often, water changes things. The change is hard, even destructive.
Nope, I'm having a hard time running with this metaphor. I don't believe God is intentionally destructive. Do I scratch the metaphor completely?
Here is the rub when I try to talk about God. Often when I try to make a parallel or comparison, I find it doesn't fit right. I'm trying to put something into a form that is formless by design. I try to be really intentional in how I speak about God. I don't want people to draw conclusions from my words that I do not intend.
Is this something other people obsess over?
As I listen to people talk about God, especially in sermons (my own included) I'm listening with one ear wondering if the speaker meant to create the possibility for a particular conclusion. Metaphors are dangerous. But at the same time, sometimes they are very useful.
Rob Bell reminds me in Velvet Elvis that we struggle with "How to talk about God when God is bigger than our words, our brains, our worldviews, our imaginations." (23) That is pretty big.
I still maintain that we need to try. We have had some pretty powerful encounters with God. Even with our imperfect human understandings, and the limitations of our words, we should try to explain to others how our lives are being changed.
Even if we don't always get it right.
Even if we risk saying something we didn't mean. (We often find the opportunity to correct and refine our words later on.)
Do others struggle with this?
Last weekend, water changed things.
Maybe in some ways, water is like God. Water is usually comfortable, fun, and nourishing. we need water. Yet every so often, water changes things. The change is hard, even destructive.
Nope, I'm having a hard time running with this metaphor. I don't believe God is intentionally destructive. Do I scratch the metaphor completely?
Here is the rub when I try to talk about God. Often when I try to make a parallel or comparison, I find it doesn't fit right. I'm trying to put something into a form that is formless by design. I try to be really intentional in how I speak about God. I don't want people to draw conclusions from my words that I do not intend.
Is this something other people obsess over?
As I listen to people talk about God, especially in sermons (my own included) I'm listening with one ear wondering if the speaker meant to create the possibility for a particular conclusion. Metaphors are dangerous. But at the same time, sometimes they are very useful.
Rob Bell reminds me in Velvet Elvis that we struggle with "How to talk about God when God is bigger than our words, our brains, our worldviews, our imaginations." (23) That is pretty big.
I still maintain that we need to try. We have had some pretty powerful encounters with God. Even with our imperfect human understandings, and the limitations of our words, we should try to explain to others how our lives are being changed.
Even if we don't always get it right.
Even if we risk saying something we didn't mean. (We often find the opportunity to correct and refine our words later on.)
Do others struggle with this?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Observations on Wind
Observation #1
This morning I finally gave in and admitted in my journal that my current devotional plan isn't working. It worked for two solid years, but right now, it's not working. In my frustration I wrote, "Where is the breeze of the Spirit?" I immediately chastised myself. It's not that the breeze has stopped blowing. I'm doing something so that I can't feel it. Maybe I'm standing beside a bush and I need to move around a bit. So I'm changing my devotional pattern for the first time in two years. Maybe I'm in a rut.
Observation #2
Pastor John and I are finalizing our outline for this Fall's sermon series. We are looking at the Spirit in several areas: prayer, the consequent nature of God, wisdom. We had a great conversation on the "outcome" of prayer. The outcome is rarely exactly what we pray for. Stay tuned for this sermon!
Observation #3
Stu E. sent me a story about what to do when the wind blows. It makes an interesting contrast to my own personal reflection this morning of being in a still, breeze-less devotional pattern. What if the still I'm experiencing isn't the absence of the Spirit, or my own inattentiveness to it, but rather simply, a lack of stress?
Here it is:
SLEEPING WHILE THE WIND BLOWS
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.
He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.
"Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.
Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters.
He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming!
Tie things down before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.
Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.
To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops,and the doors were barred.
The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.
Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared--spiritually, mentally, and physically--you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?
The hired hand was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.
We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God.
We don't need to understand. We just need to hold God's hand to have peace in the middle of the storms.
This morning I finally gave in and admitted in my journal that my current devotional plan isn't working. It worked for two solid years, but right now, it's not working. In my frustration I wrote, "Where is the breeze of the Spirit?" I immediately chastised myself. It's not that the breeze has stopped blowing. I'm doing something so that I can't feel it. Maybe I'm standing beside a bush and I need to move around a bit. So I'm changing my devotional pattern for the first time in two years. Maybe I'm in a rut.
Observation #2
Pastor John and I are finalizing our outline for this Fall's sermon series. We are looking at the Spirit in several areas: prayer, the consequent nature of God, wisdom. We had a great conversation on the "outcome" of prayer. The outcome is rarely exactly what we pray for. Stay tuned for this sermon!
Observation #3
Stu E. sent me a story about what to do when the wind blows. It makes an interesting contrast to my own personal reflection this morning of being in a still, breeze-less devotional pattern. What if the still I'm experiencing isn't the absence of the Spirit, or my own inattentiveness to it, but rather simply, a lack of stress?
Here it is:
SLEEPING WHILE THE WIND BLOWS
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.
He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.
"Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.
Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters.
He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming!
Tie things down before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.
Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.
To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops,and the doors were barred.
The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.
Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared--spiritually, mentally, and physically--you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?
The hired hand was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.
We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God.
We don't need to understand. We just need to hold God's hand to have peace in the middle of the storms.
Friday, August 10, 2007
"By Faith, By God!"
Hebrews, Chapter 11 and 12, are well known for their "Great Cloud of Witnesses" of the Christian faith -- a running commentary on the Bible "greats" who have overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles by trusting in God at all costs.
With this "great cloud of witnesses" in mind, I would like to challenge you to ponder:
What is faith to you? Does it have "conditions?" Do you have faith because God has "come through" for you? Or do you hang on to your faith simply for the good of holding on?
Is the 35W disaster a "faith story?" If so, in what ways?
Is God sometimes misrepresented when disaster strikes? How?
Is God "all-powerful?" If so, how do you explain the existence of evil?
What "leap of faith" would you be willing to take?
What "leap of faith" would you dearly love to make?
Jesus said: "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe." (John 20:29)
What do you think he meant by that? As you think about current events in the
world and the challenges in your life, are his words of faith of particular value
to you? How so?
Check out the podcast of the sermon, "By Faith, By God," on the church website:
www.cumethodist.com.
And may you "keep the faith!"
Pastor John Darlington
With this "great cloud of witnesses" in mind, I would like to challenge you to ponder:
What is faith to you? Does it have "conditions?" Do you have faith because God has "come through" for you? Or do you hang on to your faith simply for the good of holding on?
Is the 35W disaster a "faith story?" If so, in what ways?
Is God sometimes misrepresented when disaster strikes? How?
Is God "all-powerful?" If so, how do you explain the existence of evil?
What "leap of faith" would you be willing to take?
What "leap of faith" would you dearly love to make?
Jesus said: "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe." (John 20:29)
What do you think he meant by that? As you think about current events in the
world and the challenges in your life, are his words of faith of particular value
to you? How so?
Check out the podcast of the sermon, "By Faith, By God," on the church website:
www.cumethodist.com.
And may you "keep the faith!"
Pastor John Darlington
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Invisible Saints
Jonathan Alter had an excellent commentary in Newsweek several weeks ago. In it he wrote,
Who? That's what I said. Alter rightly draws attention to someone who is doing very, very important work yet received almost no media attention.
What saints do we not see? How do we honor the people who quietly go about doing life-changing work? In what ways are we doing this kind of important work?
It's a trifecta much bigger and rarer than an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony. Only five people in history have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal: Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel ... and Norman Borlaug.
Who? That's what I said. Alter rightly draws attention to someone who is doing very, very important work yet received almost no media attention.
What saints do we not see? How do we honor the people who quietly go about doing life-changing work? In what ways are we doing this kind of important work?
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Baking Cookies
(cross-posted at the Covenant Discipleship Groups blog)
There's a scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy says she's cookie dough.
They write,
I think covenant discipleship groups are a cricically important place we nurture people in faith. When I was thinking about some of our most effective leaders in our church, I realized many of them are currently or had been in CDGs.
What if we intentionally started a new covenant group to prepare a new cohort of leaders? So that our current leaders would be able to take renewal leaves? Are there people we see who should be invited into such a group? People on the brink of deeper discipleship?
There is one place this entire analogy breaks down for me. . .I don't think we are ever done baking. God is continually calling us to become something new.
There's a scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy says she's cookie dough.
I'm not done baking yet. I'm not finished becoming . . . whoever . . . it is I'm gonna turn out to be. I've been looking for someone to make me feel whole, and maybe I just need to be whole.I've been reading a book on discipleship that sort of says the same thing. In Deepening Your Effectiveness: Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation the authors argue that there are stages of involvement in the life of the church that people go through as they become mature disciples of Jesus Christ. The authors argue that sometimes we push people into service ministries and leadership positions before they have the spiritual foundation to weather the storms these service and leadership ministries have. What if we are looking for something to make us feel whole, some activity, when it's really a spiritual hole we are trying to fill?
They write,
To insure a person's ability to maintain focus and discipline when he or she becomes deeply immersed in the body of Christ, we must emphasize spiritual development over service and activity and develop opportunities for learning and relational connection that are an irresistible attraction to new and rededicated believers. (76)Hmm. . . this could mean we'd have to be willing to say no to people who volunteered for really challenging ministries. What would it look like if in the first year of a person's membership or renewed commitment to the church we discouraged them from serving on committees? Rather their first time would be spent . . . baking? What if we gave people renewal leave after they leave a committee in the church? How do we create places in the church to intentionally nurture people in faith?
I think covenant discipleship groups are a cricically important place we nurture people in faith. When I was thinking about some of our most effective leaders in our church, I realized many of them are currently or had been in CDGs.
What if we intentionally started a new covenant group to prepare a new cohort of leaders? So that our current leaders would be able to take renewal leaves? Are there people we see who should be invited into such a group? People on the brink of deeper discipleship?
There is one place this entire analogy breaks down for me. . .I don't think we are ever done baking. God is continually calling us to become something new.
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