Surprised by Hope Part 2

A while back I did a post about N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope and promised a second post later. Well, I almost forgot but some things I've been thinking about lately have brought it back to mind. So here goes.

What is God's purpose for the world as a whole? Think about it, that question is probably what drives the way you live. It's a question that Wright brings up as well. There are two common responses to this question. The first is what Wright calls the "myth of progress." This is the idea that the purpose of humanity is to continue to grow, develop, and improve our current state until we arrive at some sort of utopian existence. You can see that this idea is quite attractive. We are constantly changing. We are learning new things as a culture. Technology is advancing and learning to deal with disease and sickness and food shortages and much more. We are better educated than ever before. Many Christians buy into this myth. We are told, and in fact we often believe, that if we can just control things enough, this world will get better. It's the "hope" offered by politicians. Vote for me, and all your wildest dreams will come true (thank you Pedro). Things will get better, we'll all be wealthier, healthier, and happier. And of course, if your particular candidate doesn't get elected, then your march toward utopia has taken a serious hit and will have to wait for at least the next four years. The problem with this myth is simple really - it isn't true. Not only that, but it doesn't have any ability to deal with evil in the world. How do we explain new atrocities like what happened on 9/11 or the genocide of Darfur, or the rise of nuclear threats, or greed in America, or father's abandoning their families, etc.? If the world is progressing forward, why are more people dying than ever before of needless disease and poverty? More on this to come.

The second thought that many have to the question of God's purpose for the world is this: The world is decaying and dying. The existence of evil and the cycles of life and death show us that we were made for something other. A world without space, time, matter, a world of pure spiritual existence. This idea says that eventually we will get rid of our mortality and our physical limitations and finally arrive in a sort of spiritual state. It also implies that therefore this world will pass away and be destroyed. This idea originates with Plato and his idea that the present world is simply a shadow of things to come. This idea is also popular among many Christians. I think of the more recent sticker, bracelet, t-shirt campaign seen on many Christian's cars and selves that say "Not of this World." While the phrase is clearly biblical, the implication is that "I'm leaving this place behind anyway so screw it." Maybe not those words exactly. But you get the point. The material world is bad, the flesh is bad, and the non-physical spirit is ultimately what is good. Someday all the "bad" will be gone and we'll be left with what is "good." "I'm saved and I'll be leaving this place and going to heaven when I die." This idea just isn't biblical. In fact over and over we hear about heaven coming to earth and the two being united in the New Jerusalem. We hear of God's plan of redemption for all of mankind. Paul says that all of creation groans in anticipation of this event. So where does this idea come from? It has close ties to Gnosticism, which was clearly shut down in the early church. It's as though this world is at best irrelevant, and at worst a dark evil place (Wright, 90). It seems to me that we see strands of this within modern Christianity today as it translates into how we live. Let's take morality for example. If I buy into this view of the world then my goal is simply to keep myself pure and far removed from the reaches of the splash of the pool of sin. I think this is what Jesus is addressing in the sermon on the mount. He confronts the Pharisaical teachings of the law over and over. "You've heard that it was said don't murder, but I tell you that hate is the issue." "You've heard that it was said don't commit adultery, but I tell you that lust is the issue." His point is this - we can try and control the flesh all we want. We can avoid doing specific things. But that doesn't make us righteous! The issue that we must still deal with is the heart. In fact in Matthew 15 we see Jesus saying "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile you; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile you" (TNIV). In other words, it isn't the physical stuff that is bad, it's our hearts and how we respond. So the idea that the physical world is evil and I'm just passing through - it just isn't biblical.

So what is the hope of Christianity? What is God's purpose for this world? Early Christians didn't believe the world was progressing toward a utopia. They also didn't believe it was getting worse and worse and that they ought to escape it. "They believed that God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter" (Wright, 93). RESURRECTION. REDEMPTION. RENEWAL. If God's plan and purpose for the world is redemption, how can we believe that He will in the end scrap the whole thing and start over? The hope of Christianity is that God is in the process of redeeming, reclaiming, renewing, rebirthing, and recreating all the time. As followers of Jesus, the one who put this plan into action in one redemptive act, we partner with him in the redemption of all things. We claim this world for Him, as we bring hope and healing to people, to the creation itself, and ultimately we help to bring about the very thing Jesus taught us to pray for - "Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." May it be so!

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Surprised by Hope

During my recent trip to California, I read N.T. Wright's latest book Surprised by Hope. It was a pretty powerful book dealing with death, life after death, and life after life after death. And no, I didn't just repeat myself. Wright is brilliant to say the least. His knowledge of the New Testament is pretty much without equal. Anyway, there are probably a dozen things I could write about from that book but I think I'll limit it to two posts.

Very early in the book, as in page 6, Wright points out what is one of his primary reasons for writing this book: One's view of death and what happens thereafter are critical to how we live life in the present. He spends the better part of the book explaining what he means, but let me try and flesh it out a bit here. If you believe that after death there is nothing - then this life becomes about having all the fun you can, indulging in any and every pleasure you want. If you believe that God exists and will ultimately forgive all people, then once again how one lives in this life is not all that critical. If you believe that after death, God will ultimately destroy all of earth and as a Christian you will be transported to heaven, then what you do on this earth today really isn't all that important. Who cares about being "green" or recycling or any of that. It's all going to be burned up anyway, right? For that matter, what good is it to seek justice or work for the poor or any of that when the physical world, along with all of its problems will one day just go away? Wright suggests a different option however. He suggests that the biblical model is that heaven will one day come to earth and God's kingdom will ultimately reign here in this place. If that's the case, then our lives here matter a great deal. For Wright, life in the kingdom here and now is about making the reign of Christ a reality here in the present. It's doing and being the answer to the prayer "Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." If this is ultimately God's intent, then our lives become about partnering with him in that endeavor.

The hope of the gospel isn't just a future state in some distant place. The gospel is hopeful now, here, in this place.

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UnChristian - Part 4

The next perception is this: "Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality."

The perception is that Christians are simple minded people who aren't very educated, believe in some silly things, and basically have no idea what the real world is really like. I have to say that in some circles of Christianity, that probably isn't too far from the truth. But overall, while the perception may not be true, the reality is that it's how we are perceived.

Here's the main thing to me - younger generations are more than willing to live in a world without all the answers. Previous generations have prided themselves on figuring it all out, from science to theology. Everything was neatly categorized and boxed. Newer generations are excitedly exploring all the intricacies of life, and are highly skeptical of anyone who says that they know the answers to life's most difficult questions. They are comfortable with difficult questions, with contradicting answers, and with the unknown. For me, this is a breath of fresh air. I love to hear people wrestling with ideas. I love that younger generations aren't satisfied with pat answers. I'm also really excited about a generation that is comfortable with a growing understanding of God. God teaches me new things all the time. My understanding of Him grows. And there is so much that I don't get. I just don't understand Him. And that's ok! Who wants to serve a God that we can completely understand and disect? I want a God that is Big. A God that I learn more about all the time. A God that surprises me in the ways that He does things. A God that speaks through people, and then bushes, and then donkeys. The day that I have God figured out and I have all the answers is the day that I have made God in my own image. He doesn't play by my rules, I don't understand Him, and that is beautiful.

I think what these generations are saying to the church is this: Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." It's ok to not have the answers. Don't take huge complex issues or ideas and boil them down to 3 easy steps, or 5 keys to this, or some funny clever acrostic. Share your opinions, share your journey as you've come to understand something, but don't be so quick to package it, and mass-market it. Younger generations love to hear your story, but they want their own story too. They want to learn and experience these things for themselves. They are eager for this. As the church we need to provide opportunities for people to explore, to ask questions, to grow and to wrestle with deep, difficult ideas. And if they leave asking more questions, that's ok too. Isn't that what we want? I'd rather someone come searching and leave with a hunger for more, than to have them come with real questions and leave with a bookmark. Let's not trivialize God.

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UnChristian

I'm finally getting around to reading David Kinnaman's book UnChristian. I bought it right after it came out, and then it joined the list of books to read at a later date. For those of you who may not know about this book, Kinnaman is a researcher who works with the Barna Group. This book is the result of research he did into the perceptions of 16-29 year olds on Christianity and the church. As someone who has worked with this age for the last few years, I'm finding the book to be an affirmation of so many of the things I have seen and heard in young people both inside and outside the church. So here's the plan - Kinnaman says that in his research there were basically six broad themes that continued to surface from people. Over the next week or two (depending on how long it takes) I plan on spending a little bit of time on each of those six themes. I'll review a bit of what he says, and try and give my own take on my own experience and perceptions. So anyway, here goes.

The first theme that he touches on is the perception that Christians are hypocritical. By that, he means of course, that we are perceived as saying one thing and doing something different. With that, is the idea that Christians pretend to have it all together and in reality they are just as messed up as everyone else. And the evidence backs that up. In just about every lifestyle activity, Christians and non-Christians are nearly identical in their behavior according to the research. There's a serious problem here. Of course the lives of Christians probably ought to be a bit different than the rest of culture. But beyond that, I'm more concerned with the fact that while most of culture is pretty open about their behavior, Christians (generally speaking of course) pretend that they have squeaky clean lives. In a culture that values authenticity and transparency, a little bit of honesty could go a long way.

Here's a thought, what if we stopped pretending and starting owning up to our own junk? How huge could that be to people who want nothing to do with us because we look down at them for their behavior and in reality our lives are generally no better? What if the church was a place of open dialogue about our struggles and failures as we attempt to follow Jesus? Kinnaman gives the example of a friend who taught a five-week series in his church entitled "Confessions of a Sinful Church." What a great idea. It reminds me of what Donald Miller and his friends did in Blue Like Jazz. They dressed up like monks and set up a confession booth in the middle of their secular campus. But rather than people coming in to confess sin, it was Miller and his buddies who did the confessing for all of the junk that Christians and the church have done in the name of Jesus.

My own experience has echoed this research too. I can't tell you how many conversations I had with students for whom this issue was keeping them from embracing Jesus. They were afraid to become like the people they couldn't stand. Other students who were part of our church already would often confront me when they thought I wasn't being real with them. I couldn't get away with anything. When I had a bad week, I better not try and put on a face and talk about joy. They could see right through me. I appreciated that about them so much. I learned from them all the time about living an authentic life. They seemed to have no problem living authentically. In fact, sometimes I wished they would put on a face a bit. Their willingness to be so authentic often led to situations of brutal, blunt honesty. That's fine when it's just you and them talking, but it's a whole different thing when you're in a group setting with other adults who don't share their willingness to be so transparent. But I think these students got it. They refuse to carry on a version of Christianity that is fake or forced. It's also why I think there is great hope for the church in the future. There is a generation of Jesus' followers who are forging a new path. I pray that we learn from them and learn with them as we advance the kingdom.

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Day of Silence

Today is what is being dubbed as the "Day of Silence". It's a nationwide (maybe worldwide?) push to bring awareness to the harassment, violence, and name calling that homosexual students face. It's of course sponsored and promoted by many groups. It's also of course opposed by many groups. Students in school are going to be silent for the day as a way to bring awareness to the issue and show support for those who are gay. As a youth pastor, I get lots of email and things in the mail from Christian organizations all the time. Many have focused on this day and warned of the slippery slope that a day like this can be. They have talked about the "homosexual agenda" and the "indoctrination" of our students. Many of these organizations have encouraged active opposition to our schools, including keeping kids home today. I was asked what I thought about it recently.

To be honest, I think that most of these issues that come up would just go away and not be that big of a deal if we didn't have such strong reactions to them. It's like when your mom used to say "they only make fun of you because of the reaction the get - if you stop reacting, they will stop messing with you." While I'm sure that analogy has its limits, I kind of feel like this issue is one of those things. We make it into a bigger deal than it really is. Many of the organizations I heard from were really hyping this thing up. I don't know if they had their facts wrong or maybe just my community is different, but many of the things they were warning about simply weren't true. There was no forced participation, there was no disruption of class allowed, there was no school sponsored events. It's simply a student club led demonstration of silence. What kind of indoctrination happens from people being silent anyway?

At any rate, I wrestled with what the Christian response should be to something like this. I definitely think the Bible is clear about homosexuality - it's a sin. But I don't share the view that somehow homosexuality is worse than heterosexuality outside of its proper context of marriage. I see pride, arrogance, envy, materialism, injustice, self-righteousness, hate, racism, lust, and every other sin as being right there along side homosexuality. In fact in the Scriptures it seems like things like being disobedient to parents is listed right along side homosexuality as sin all the time. I wonder why there is such a strong reaction to this particular sin? I understand for many they see it as an attack on the family. But so is divorce, and pornography, and selfishness, and lots of other things that we don't get that riled up about.

In youth group this week, I led a discussion about all of this. Our students really seem to get it. Most of them would agree that homosexuality is wrong. They believe the Bible to be their authority on that. And yet, they see that anger and protests really aren't the best way to respond to things like this. For one thing, they simply reinforce the picture that Christians are against everything. There is very little we are known for being in favor of. But secondly, they understand that grace is big. It's really big. It's big enough to cover my sin, as well as the sins of others. They also realize that the Scriptures are pretty clear about who gets to judge people for their sins, and it aint us. The Scriptures are also pretty clear about loving people, and that it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance. I love to picture Jesus when he was confronted with people in sin. Take the woman caught in adultery for example. Jesus agreed that the law said she ought to be stoned for her sin. But in an absolutely brilliant moment he is able to point out to everyone there ready to kill this woman that they are all guilty of the same law. When they all walk away shamed, Jesus turns to the woman and says "where are your accusers?" They are all gone, the woman responds. And then Jesus says "Neither do I condemn you." Wow! That is huge! Of course it doesn't end right there, because Jesus, like he always does, is constantly moving people closer to the kingdom and to Himself. He loves us way too much to let us stay where we are at, or to let us continue the way that we are living. He tells the woman "Go and sin no more." It's beautiful really. I don't condemn you, but take a step forward. Learn to live life better. There is a right way to live. There are things that are true. But Jesus seems to invite people to discover that reality rather than condemning and getting angry with sin. More than anyone else, it's the religious people that Jesus seems to get angry with.

There are many other examples of Jesus doing this same thing. The woman at the well who was on her 5th man, living with him, not married, divorced 4 times. There's Zachaeus, who was a well known swindler and thief. In fact his story is amazing. Jesus simply says "I must eat at your house tonight." Instantly, Zachaeus is transformed, voluntarily repenting of his sin and making restitution with everyone he had stolen from.

Well this is a long post. But I hope that the church will become more intent on taking on the name of Jesus than we will be with pointing out sin. Jesus - "Friend of sinners." How great would that be?

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