What might some concrete expressions of this humble response, this in-breaking of heaven on earth, look like?
--Pray. Talk to God. Acknowledge your need for Him. Ask Him to lead you and guide you. Praise Him for His goodness.
--Seek out a mentor. Find someone who walks with God, someone from whom you know you could learn some things, and ask to spend time with him or her on a regular basis. This takes intentionality. You have to go after it. It's not easy to find someone and get going, but the benefits will prove to be more than worth the effort.
--Get involved in a church. By "church," I mean a group of people following God together. This can look different in different circumstances; it might be Sunday morning in a pew or Tuesday night in someone's living room. The important thing is that this group is seeking God, doing life together, and loving the people around them. In addition to its own benefits (see part four on needing other people), this is probably where you'll find a mentor.
--Read the Bible. The Bible is a record of God revealing Himself to humanity, and it serves as our primary written guide for life. It's also a "living book," because as you read it, you will find it changing you in ways other books do not. For better or worse, it's not a simple book to read. There's no one perfect place to start, but many people recommend the book of John (the fourth book of the New Testament), and I suppose that's as good a place as any to get going. As a supplement, consider How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.
If you have reservations about following this path, ignore them. Wait... no... that would be ridiculous. Explore your thoughts and feelings. What gives you pause, and why? Talk with someone about it. (I'm available! Blog comment, email, phone...) For intellectual reservations, a good place to start is The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel.
I'd like to address one common reservation. If you genuinely consider this good news I've been sharing, you have probably recognized that following Jesus is an exclusive path. The idea of any spiritual path being true at the exclusion of other paths is highly unpopular in our world today, but I hope you can see why this is the better way to see things. Frankly, the pluralist perspective ("all roads lead to God") is existentially unsatisfying. In its attempt to validate all spiritual paths, it actually robs every single spiritual path of its meaning. Yes, there are common threads in many religions and philosophies, but the fundamental differences cannot be ignored. To say that it doesn't matter if one is a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, humanist, hedonist, or nihilist is an insult to followers of all of those paths (except the nihilist, of course).
Those who believe in a single path above other paths are often accused of being closed-minded or conceited. I am not trying to make a statement of cultural superiority. (How could I? My culture doesn't embody this good news.) This is a statement of the superiority of Jesus of Nazareth. Also, while following Jesus is the exclusively true path, it is not a path of exclusion. No person is barred from following Jesus by nature of their birthplace, ethnicity, gender, past evildoing, or any other trait. All people are invited to follow Jesus.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Good News: Part Four of Four
So, even though we have corrupted God's beautiful creation, He has pursued us and made restoration possible. Jesus - who is God in the flesh - has shown us the way to life and satisfied God's justice against evil.
How are we to respond to this unfathomable love?
First, any response must be truly humble. It should be clear by now that all goodness comes from God; even those remnants of goodness that we find in ourselves in our tainted state can come from no other source. How could we possibly respond to this true, infinite love that covers our brokenness with pride? Get out of your head (and heart) the idea that you are worthy of even a sliver of the love God lavishes on us.
A humble response consists in acknowledging and acting upon one's needs. Our foremost need is for God Himself. We need His forgiveness for our self-centeredness; we need His enduring, loving presence to fill our lives with true meaning; we need His guidance for every moment from now on.
We also need other people, and we need God in the midst of our relationships. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. How could we love one another without... one another? And how could we expect to follow the demanding path of real love in a world of hatred, division, and counterfeit love, apart from surrounding ourselves with others who shared this vision for real love?
Oddly, a third thing we need is work. We need a mission from God, and the mission He gives us is broader than you might think. It includes the work of empowering the weak, giving a voice to the voiceless, proclaiming that which is good, denouncing evil, teaching about the ways of God, and inviting others to join us in this mission. It also includes creating things - works of art, inventions, organizations, new life, and more. Really, any form of service is a part of God's mission for us, from cleaning house to filing taxes and just about anything you can imagine. When we engage our work God's way, following His leading, this work is transformed. The mundane is infused with value. Where we would once cut corners ethically or engage in outright evil practices, we can now be used by God as agents for that which is good and true, and God can even use us to pull others from evil actions to beautiful actions.
This is heaven. It is the generous gift of God. It starts on this earth for those who embrace Jesus and follow Him. It continues into the afterlife, where it will be freed from the messiness that yet corrupts it in this life.
How are we to respond to this unfathomable love?
First, any response must be truly humble. It should be clear by now that all goodness comes from God; even those remnants of goodness that we find in ourselves in our tainted state can come from no other source. How could we possibly respond to this true, infinite love that covers our brokenness with pride? Get out of your head (and heart) the idea that you are worthy of even a sliver of the love God lavishes on us.
A humble response consists in acknowledging and acting upon one's needs. Our foremost need is for God Himself. We need His forgiveness for our self-centeredness; we need His enduring, loving presence to fill our lives with true meaning; we need His guidance for every moment from now on.
We also need other people, and we need God in the midst of our relationships. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. How could we love one another without... one another? And how could we expect to follow the demanding path of real love in a world of hatred, division, and counterfeit love, apart from surrounding ourselves with others who shared this vision for real love?
Oddly, a third thing we need is work. We need a mission from God, and the mission He gives us is broader than you might think. It includes the work of empowering the weak, giving a voice to the voiceless, proclaiming that which is good, denouncing evil, teaching about the ways of God, and inviting others to join us in this mission. It also includes creating things - works of art, inventions, organizations, new life, and more. Really, any form of service is a part of God's mission for us, from cleaning house to filing taxes and just about anything you can imagine. When we engage our work God's way, following His leading, this work is transformed. The mundane is infused with value. Where we would once cut corners ethically or engage in outright evil practices, we can now be used by God as agents for that which is good and true, and God can even use us to pull others from evil actions to beautiful actions.
This is heaven. It is the generous gift of God. It starts on this earth for those who embrace Jesus and follow Him. It continues into the afterlife, where it will be freed from the messiness that yet corrupts it in this life.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Good News: Part Three of Four
In the midst of the bad news, the love of God is not absent. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Though we have ignored Him, His eye is on us. Though we flounder without Him, He continues to bless us in spite of ourselves. Though we have insulted Him, He pursues us.
His pursuit of us was most dramatically demonstrated two thousand years ago. The incorruptible God of the universe took on corruptible flesh. He voluntarily left the comfort and exaltation of heaven to become one of us. He gave up everything to demonstrate His love for us in a manner we could grasp.
What a beautiful love He has shown us! It is not the self-centered bastardization of love we worship in our culture today. It is a deeply emotional love - God is truly enamored with us - but it is so much deeper than a merely emotional love. It is a volitional love, a faithfulness to us regardless of our faithfulness. The compassion of this love is not so empty as to ignore our faults: God forgives our faults, then empowers us to overcome them.
This is Jesus of Nazareth. He healed the sick. He proclaimed freedom to the oppressed. He gave us a new standard for good, beautiful, and true. He spoke with authority, but as a servant rather than a despot. He taught us how to love one another.
His love is sacrificial. While our relationship with God was yet divided in a way we could not restore, Jesus made restoration possible. He satisfied God's justice against our twisted, broken, self-centered hearts and minds when He was tortured and killed. He was innocent; we are guilty. We deserved what He got. He took the punishment for our crime on His shoulders.
On the third day, He rose from the dead. Historical fact. Proof of His victory over death. We can now have hope that our suffering on this earth means something - it is an opportunity to identify with Jesus in His suffering, and He is our model that suffering has been defeated and will one day disappear. Futility has been defeated and will disappear. Self-centeredness has been defeated and will disappear. Division has been defeated and will disappear.
His pursuit of us was most dramatically demonstrated two thousand years ago. The incorruptible God of the universe took on corruptible flesh. He voluntarily left the comfort and exaltation of heaven to become one of us. He gave up everything to demonstrate His love for us in a manner we could grasp.
What a beautiful love He has shown us! It is not the self-centered bastardization of love we worship in our culture today. It is a deeply emotional love - God is truly enamored with us - but it is so much deeper than a merely emotional love. It is a volitional love, a faithfulness to us regardless of our faithfulness. The compassion of this love is not so empty as to ignore our faults: God forgives our faults, then empowers us to overcome them.
This is Jesus of Nazareth. He healed the sick. He proclaimed freedom to the oppressed. He gave us a new standard for good, beautiful, and true. He spoke with authority, but as a servant rather than a despot. He taught us how to love one another.
His love is sacrificial. While our relationship with God was yet divided in a way we could not restore, Jesus made restoration possible. He satisfied God's justice against our twisted, broken, self-centered hearts and minds when He was tortured and killed. He was innocent; we are guilty. We deserved what He got. He took the punishment for our crime on His shoulders.
On the third day, He rose from the dead. Historical fact. Proof of His victory over death. We can now have hope that our suffering on this earth means something - it is an opportunity to identify with Jesus in His suffering, and He is our model that suffering has been defeated and will one day disappear. Futility has been defeated and will disappear. Self-centeredness has been defeated and will disappear. Division has been defeated and will disappear.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Good News: Part Two of Four
This is the bad news part of the good news.
You shouldn't be alarmed by that. If you've been around this world any length of time, you know all too clearly that there's a lot of bad news. You also know that much good news tastes sweeter because of the contrast between bad news and good news. As finite creatures, we experience the brilliance of light more deeply in its contrast with darkness.
So, what is the bad news? You don't need me to tell you. Famine; war; disease; oppression; murder; adultery; jealousy; hatred; greed; lust; pride. Good things tainted, twisted, warped, and broken. In the work of our hands, it means futility. Within our hearts and minds, it means self-centeredness. In our most sacred relationships, it means division.
This includes division between us and God. In our natural state, our self-centeredness is a slap in the face of the God whom we should rightfully consider the center of everything. This self-centered condition creates an enduring division between us and God, as we proclaim by both action and inaction that we do not need God. He is justifiably angered and grieved, and we continue in a state of empty narcissism.
This is hell. It is our just reward. It starts here on earth. If nothing changes about this state of affairs, it continues into the afterlife, where it will be robbed of the shades of light that can yet be known in this life. In our natural state of being, there is nothing we can do on our own to climb out of this pit.
You shouldn't be alarmed by that. If you've been around this world any length of time, you know all too clearly that there's a lot of bad news. You also know that much good news tastes sweeter because of the contrast between bad news and good news. As finite creatures, we experience the brilliance of light more deeply in its contrast with darkness.
So, what is the bad news? You don't need me to tell you. Famine; war; disease; oppression; murder; adultery; jealousy; hatred; greed; lust; pride. Good things tainted, twisted, warped, and broken. In the work of our hands, it means futility. Within our hearts and minds, it means self-centeredness. In our most sacred relationships, it means division.
This includes division between us and God. In our natural state, our self-centeredness is a slap in the face of the God whom we should rightfully consider the center of everything. This self-centered condition creates an enduring division between us and God, as we proclaim by both action and inaction that we do not need God. He is justifiably angered and grieved, and we continue in a state of empty narcissism.
This is hell. It is our just reward. It starts here on earth. If nothing changes about this state of affairs, it continues into the afterlife, where it will be robbed of the shades of light that can yet be known in this life. In our natural state of being, there is nothing we can do on our own to climb out of this pit.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Good News: Part One of Four
Before the beginning, God is love - Father, Son, and Spirit living in perfect community, perfect harmony. Out of the overflow of this love, God created the heavens and the earth. Everything that exists is a result of His love and finds its meaning in Him.
You are a result of His love, and your true meaning is in Him.
Your family, friends, community, and any work that you put your hands to are the results of His love, and they all find their true meaning in Him.
You are a result of His love, and your true meaning is in Him.
Your family, friends, community, and any work that you put your hands to are the results of His love, and they all find their true meaning in Him.
Good News: Preface
As we've been seeing friends and family in Colorado and Wisconsin, it's been an honor to hear many people say that they've been reading the blog throughout the summer. Thank you! We're blessed to know that so many people care. (You care. Thanks.)
I'd like to take a few posts to talk about our base motivations, the deepest truths that drive us to do what we do. Some of you share these motivations, and others do not. It is my prayer that those of you who don't share them will genuinely consider them. I ask this not because my thoughts are anything special; while the words here are mine, none of this is truly original. To say it another way, this is very personal, but it is not unique to us - it is God's truth for all people as He has revealed Himself throughout human history. So, please chew on it, and feel free to ask questions if you have any.
I'd like to take a few posts to talk about our base motivations, the deepest truths that drive us to do what we do. Some of you share these motivations, and others do not. It is my prayer that those of you who don't share them will genuinely consider them. I ask this not because my thoughts are anything special; while the words here are mine, none of this is truly original. To say it another way, this is very personal, but it is not unique to us - it is God's truth for all people as He has revealed Himself throughout human history. So, please chew on it, and feel free to ask questions if you have any.
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