A "Generous" Doctrine

"Many churches tend to invest a lot of time and energy emphasizing "sound" doctrine, while allowing doctrine to be the primary source for division.

Maybe our question or emphasis should become, "Is our doctrine making us 'sound'?"

Most theologian's define "doctrine" as Man's way of describing who God is and what he is doing. That's the short of it.

In this way, "doctrine" is a tool for centering ourselves around a common idea of who God is and what He is doing.

But consider the following about doctrine.

Paul's definition of "sound" doctrine in Titus

Speak the things which befit sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, honorable, sensible, healthy in faith, in love and in patience.

[Speak to] the older women, likewise, that their behavior be appropriate to sacredness, not false accusers, not prone to much wine, teachers of good things; so that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, pure, keepers of their home, good, submitted to their own husbands, so that the Word of God will not be blasphemed.

In the same way exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine, showing incorruption, integrity, sincerity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned… .

Encourage servants to be obedient to their own masters and to serve them satisfactorily in everything, not talking back and not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that they may honor the doctrine of God our Savior in everything. (Tit. 2:1-10)

Notice all the "to be's" rather than "to believe's"?

• James said that pure and undefiled religion is to support the widows and orphans and stay undefiled from the world (Jam. 1:26).
• When Peter says the end is near, he exhorts Christians to be sober, pray, and to love one another in order to cover a multitude of sins. No mention is made of correcting our systematic theology (1 Pet. 4:7-8).
• Jesus mentions coming back like a thief in the night repeatedly. In every case he warns us to be careful of our behavior, not our doctrine (e.g., Luke 12:45-46).
• The Book of Revelation has seven letters to churches from Jesus. All of them address the works of those churches, not their doctrinal teachings (Rev. ch. 2-3).
• Matthew reports Jesus as saying that when he judges the sheep and the goats, his only concern will be their kindness towards others (Matt. 25:31-46).

Doctrine according to Paul expresses much more about "Character" than it does belief.

So, show me a person who expresses love to people, and I'll show you a person with sound doctrine.

Show me a person in love with doctrine and see it as a unifying source for a church body, and I will show you someone who is missing the point.

Hammer Time

How do you define the word, "righteousness"?

Once upon a time, there was a very religious town called Pharisee-ville. The people there believed that God would be impressed if they kept the rules about the Sabbath. All of their rules about the Sabbath, (39 of them) involved what a person should NOT do during that specific day.

The 39th rule stated, "I shall NOT lift a hammer on the sabbath." Literally meaning, don't put the finishing touches on anything. Since this town believed so strongly that their rule-keeping made them "righteous", they had a meeting in their temple... about their hammers.

One man began, "If you want to be righteous, you should store your hammer away as to not even see it on the sabbath."

A competing voice replied, "Well, if you really want to be righteous, you will fashion a lock on the cabinet, storing the hammer, lest ye be tempted."

Another man chirped, "If you REALLY want to be righteous, you will not even own a hammer."

Finally, the angry stern Mayor of Pharisee-ville declared, "If you REALLY REALLY want to be righteous, you will protest in the city to get rid of all hammers."

So they all agreed to protest anyone violating ANY sabbath rule in town, especially the hammer rule.

Then one Sabbath (Saturday) a man named Jesus and twelve of his friends were munching on some grain at the edge of a field. (It was customary for a farmer to allow travelers to eat from the edge of their fields). Some of the residents of Pharisee-ville spotted them and said, "Look, why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" (Mark 2:24)

Jesus replies, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27)

In other words... the Sabbath is a gift... to you... from God.

A day to be restored after six days of hustling and stressing. A lot happens in six days. Chunks get taken out of you. Relational battles, pressuring job demands, family squabbles, deadlines, junk emails, and the cell phone glued to our ear. The Sabbath is a gift designed for you to receive, not control. The Sabbath wants things FOR you, not FROM you. A day to have your soul renewed and refreshed. So the question of the Sabbath isn't what you should NOT DO. Better yet, it is, "What do you DO to feed your soul once a week?"

Does reading a book feed your soul? Do it.

Does hiking feed your soul? Do it.

Does hanging out with your friends feed your soul? Do it

Does painting feed your soul? Does swimming? Landscaping? Eating? Building a fire? Detailing a car? Computer games? Fishing? DO IT!!!! DO IT!!! DO IT!!! The day is a gift.

According to a study by the Barna group on Church's understanding of the word "righteousness", 85% of Christians have a morality based interpretation of the word. Nowhere in the Bible is "righteousness" defined in terms of morality, good behavior, or keeping the rules, EXCEPT when there is reference to the Pharisees. The Pharisees always interpreted "righteousness" in terms of how well they could keep the rules. That is "SELF-righteousness".

If your Sabbath is a specific day that is about what you DON'T DO... then there is land for sale in Pharisee-ville where you can build your next home. Need a hammer?

More Than A Name

Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

He's talking about identities or labels here. Let's take this further. Neither Democrat nor Republican, Baptist nor Non-Denominational, Gay nor Straight, Single nor Married, Christian nor Muslim, Sinner nor Saint.

Maybe grabbing and holding to a new identity in Christ involves dropping all the other ones we have. Even the ones we think identify us as affiliated with Christ in some way. There are some who claim the title "Christian" who get trapped in their own doctrine, defending themselves from a corner they back themselves into. Just as there are "non-Christians" who seem to instinctively know how to form healthy relationships filled with care and love.

Sometimes, it seems It's all in the name we claim, then we define ourselves and others based on the cultural norms of that name. Maybe Jesus is striving to take us further than the titles we claim or place on others. Maybe the exclusivity of God isn't based on our titles, but a God given one that takes a lifetime to grow into.

Blurry At Best

I was looking at the moon the other night from my deck and the thought crossed me. What would it be like if we had some grainy video evidence of heaven. A sound byte even. Not testimonies of a bright light, or verses being slung at us. A grainy clip would do. Not like the Big Foot footage where you are left to wonder if its a hoax, but real confirmation. Then I remembered, "Oh yeah... the Church is to be that glimpse of heaven to people."

The problem is that the glimpse we are giving people of heaven is too grainy to make out.

So what is the practice of heaven? And would heaven make any sense at all if we don't know how to practice it here on earth? Will we arrive in heaven one day like its our first day of school worried whether we can do this? Does eternal love make any sense, if we can't practice it in this lifetime? In heaven, will forgiveness drip from my soul like rain, because I allowed that to happen on earth?

Maybe the barbarian call of unleashing an untamed faith in the here and now involves me being the grainy glimpse of heaven. Loving my enemies. Forgiving those who in my power I can't forgive. Empowering the poor, giving drink to the thirsty in my life. Actually becoming the video footage that heaven is real, and, being OK that this footage will be blurry at best.

Love My Enemy?

This post is pertaining primarily to the issue of celebrating the death of Bin Laden. I am still trying to sort through my thoughts on this. Not only am I a pastor of twenty years, but also a veteran.

In short, two feelings. Grief and Grateful.

A few of my friends told me they watched the celebration on the news and then felt odd about what they were viewing. They voiced they simply felt odd in that they weren't sure how to feel about celebrating a death, even of a known enemy.

Some reasons may this death may not settle well might be because we have a feeling that we have been misinformed, or having doubts due to the lack of inclusion into the story via footage and such. Another reason for a follower of Christ is the conflict that rises from the very words of Jesus. It's all through his teachings. "Turn the other cheek, pray for those who curse us, bless the persecutor, it's easy to love those who love us, love your enemies... And so on."

Another challenge might be all the "Us verses Them" nationalism that creeps it's way into many sermons in America. Similarly, the early disciples, when hearing Jesus talk about his Kingdom, tended to think like the Zealots expecting Jesus to raise up Jerusalem by overthrowing Rome with the sword. Instead Jesus went the opposite way of the sword. He went the way of the cross. Which raises the question... Did Christ die to raise up one of our Kingdoms, or just His?

In the past week, I read nearly a hundred messages where Christians spoke of how God will wipe away the evil on the earth, and use his people to do it as he did in the Old Testament. The problem with pulling verses out of the Old Testament to support violence toward our country's enemy is absolutely NO different than what the Fundamentalist radical Taliban did with the Quran. Its the age old practice of using verses to support one's opinion, instead of allowing one's opinion to be shaped by the verses.

Yes, there are passages in the Bible, that when interpreted from one angle, can certainly justify war today. For example, Deuteronomy 7 speaks about "TOTAL destruction of the enemy." However, context still matters, and passages like this should remain in context with the Abrahamic Covenant and the Hebraic lineage, not 21st Century terrorist groups. Most conservative and liberal theologians agree that in that particular narrative, God was trying to protect his Hebrew children from pagan influences, knowing that if one was left alive, the Hebrew children would begin to turn. And they did.

These particular passages aren't meant to be used to blanket current matters of wiping out evil. These verses aren't meant for blanketing or supporting wiping off an entire people in todays age, just because we see them as evil. Context still matters, whether its the Quran or the Bible. Mainstream Islam discredited the interpretations of the Taliban for that very reason. Again, its an age old practice to use the Bible as a weapon, and verses like ammo. This is why so many people want little to do with God, because his validity is trashed when we make him in our image.

Anne Lamotte wrote, "You know you have created God in your own imagine, when in fact, he hates all the same people you do."

I saw in our local paper a quote from a family member of one that was killed during 9/11 that read, "The Evil Is Gone". This is a great example of what a wounded judgmental society does with evil. We attach it to people, instead of their deeds. If we return evil with a slaying, is evil really gone?

I mourn the loss of those killed on 9/11. It was unjust by any standard, and a pure dose of evil unleashed on innocence. But at the same time, I cannot block out of my mind that in Africa over 6,000 people will die of preventable diseases EACH DAY. That's more than two 9/11's per day over something we American's could fix with the same amount of money we spend on Ice cream each year.

So... are we a part of a system that is unjust or evil from the perspective of another country on the same planet. Is eating ice cream now evil? Situations like 9/11 can be isolated so much that we miss a bigger picture that remains. Evil isn't gone. We could burry a thousand Bin Ladens and evil and it's effects would remain in this world. The real question seems to be, Where is the good? Or, in my opinion, where is the Church? Not the nationalistic religion we hear so much from, but the Church that "destroys evil with good."

We humans are real quick to cry "Justice". Our bloody history is mostly due to the fact that we rarely know how to carry out justice. I do believe Jesus taught about a justice birthed not from hate, as we often try to employ, but a justice birthed from love, designed to restore.

One more thing. I taught one Sunday on the parable of the lost coin Luke 15:8-10. The silver coin in question was called a drachma. Sort of the minimum days wage in 1st century Palestine. Like a penny.

The traditional reading of this passage doesn't really capture the personal dimensions of the story. The Jewish audience hearing Jesus tell the story would have known this woman as a bride to be, and that the one coin that had gone missing wasn't her life savings, instead one of ten coins found on a betrothal necklace given to her by her groom to be. This makes sense as to why its a woman in the story, and why its a silver coin, and why she throws a party in the middle if the night inviting everyone over to see that she found "her" coin. A drachma. Jesus was telling this story to Pharisees who were complaining about him "eating with prostitutes and tax collectors." People they considered to be of "low value". Drachma people.

Jesus was making the point that God is like this bride-to-be searching frantically for those considered to be of low value to the religious world. People who hadn't earned it. Drachma people. People that the religious community had no problem referring to them as hell bound.

Since all of this was still fresh when I heard the news of Bin Laden, I couldn't help but think of the drachma. Many believed him to have no value, in terms of the evil he ushered into this world. And a part of me wants to agree with that. However, in terms of God's kingdom, I am of no greater value than he was. God is a frantic bride-to-be turning the house upside down to find what the culture says has no value. Maybe this is the practice of heaven.

In regards to Osama Bin Laden's death, I feel grief because this was a situation of evil that was handled with evil, instead of "good". This was a human being that God created for a very different purpose than what he actually fulfilled. But at the same time I am grateful that justice was served for the folks who hurt from their loss from 9/11. A truer justice would have been if he was allowed to stand before a judge, however, this situation is more of an action of war than it was true justice from a legal stand point.

Bottom line... those who claim to follow Christ are still left with a sermon on the mount to contend with. A sermon that says, "LOVE YOUR ENEMY."

Dancing on a Van

I googled images of "Church Vans" and found this interesting picture.

Church is often very confusing, but not just for people outside the church, who may see this photo of a church van parked outside an adult book store. Church confuses me as well. I had my first sexual encounter on a church van at age 15. Turned onto marijuana at age 17 by someone in my church youth group. Now, you may be asking, "Where the heck is this church?"

Well... that was many moons ago in a very average, status quo, ultra-conservative, Southern Baptist church. This church strongly emphasized that us kids grasp a foundational "belief system" about God. They worked to ensure we were prepared if challenged by any sort of spiritual terrorist that could attack and steal our dogma. In other words, we were taught to major on our doctrine or beliefs. Maybe instead, they should have majored on chaperoning and doing more "hand checks" on the van.

What makes more sense to me now, than in my teenage years, is that maybe there is more to this life with Christ than just "believing" certain precepts about God. I have grown to understand that there is a long van-ride between what is "belief" and what is "faith." It could be argued that faith is believing in something with very little evidence. And, it seems the less evidence, the stronger the faith can and must be. In terms of religion, faith has come to mean having assertions of doctrine that evidence alone could not allow us to affirm.

The apostle Paul asserts that faith is more like participating in a different kind of reality altogether. A reality that has nothing to do with our beliefs about God, yet a reality, that can in fact exist without all our beliefs about God. Isaiah 55:9 says what God thinks about our thoughts on Him, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Paul writes of this new reality, the "Life with Christ" as something I participate in, where my confusion about God and Church may even deepen further still. We can only join in this cosmic dance together with a triune God, as it has been through the ages. A dance, not reliant upon my understanding everything. It's like "throwing down" or "breaking off some moves" (or whatever the kids call it these days) without caring if there are particular steps to this dance.

I write all of this to say, the life with Christ really isn't about clearing up all the confusing stuff about God. It's about having faith in God in spite of the confusion. In spite of our beliefs. It is dancing with this cosmic stranger, who already knows we have a long and bumpy history of confusing matters and missing the point. Life with Christ is embracing our doubts and disbelief while tucking in our shirt for one more ride. It's having faith that God already knows how confused we are, yet he refuses to let us sit this ride out. No matter what van we've been riding in.