Actually, John, I DON’T Want to be a Slave

Okay sooooo…

I first need to say that I suspect that John MacArthur possesses an intellectual prowess and spiritual fervor far greater than my own. Nothing I’m about to say is meant to disregard that.  There. There’s my disclaimer. 

But I read this article the other day by Mr. MacArthur, and it made me bristle.  It’s not that anything he said was out of order.  I just…sometimes I’m just amazed by how little attention people pay to language.  MacArthur’s article may be summed up by this line: “So understood correctly, the gospel is an invitation to slavery.”  I don’t mean to take this line out of context.  But I think MacArthur uses the word “slavery” far too flippantly throughout, especially in an article with an American audience (presumably).  Here’s the problem.  In our country, and in our culture, the term “slavery” carries so much weight because of this country’s history of absolutely atrocious injustice of the slavery era (and thereafter, if we’re keeping it real).  MacArthur is an old white man, and, as such, he is not deeply wounded by the mere mention of slavery.  It was not his people chained, brutalized, and dehumanized for hundreds of years. Of course an invitation to slavery sounds great to him. I wouldn’t insult his intelligence by assuming he is not privy to these matters.  But how utterly careless of him to talk about the concept of “Christian slavery” without dealing with the weight of that word and all that it conjures up in the mind of the American.  And what of the Black American?  What in the world sounds appealing about an invitation to slavery?!  I get it. It’s not about sounding appealing.  And I don’t think the point of the article should be dismissed. But…it was quite disappointing to read such clumsy writing with such little concern for how the language of slavery affects people and from such a prolific and highly regarded person in the Christian community.

Two Guys With Ties

…showed up at my door this evening.  Mormons. I invited them inside (crazy, I know).  We had an interesting conversation, although it felt a bit like talking to two, socially-awkward robots.  Everything they said made sense, and yet I don’t believe any of it. Funny how that works. They are coming back on Friday to check back with me.  So I’m hoping to have some worthwhile questions to ask them about their religion.  It was all very odd.

Has anyone else talked with Mormon missionaries?  Tell me about your experience.

2073

I don’t really know what to type.

I just got home from a month-long visit with my parents in Georgia. It was a good but far too fleeting visit.  One of my friends from TX came to visit while I was out there and that was…I don’t know.

I feel like I’ve been jarred back into the reality of school, bills, life by myself, etc.  ”Unprepared” would be the word.  I need groceries and sleep and solitude and money and…lots of other stuff.  Where is Jesus?  Where is my motivation to get back into the swing of things?  Mmmbaaaaah-I don’t know.

The Ted Haggard and Oprah Winfrey Showdown

Oh brother!  This is super painful to watch.

So Oprah is interviewing Ted Haggard and his family even as I’m typing this.  Oprah has asked him a lot of questions about his affairs with gay men, etc, etc.  Two things are clear to me from this interview: 1) Oprah doesn’t really understand transformation in a Christian context and 2) Ted Haggard has a powerful testimony.  But it was painful to watch them try to understand each other.  So much bypassing!  I’m not sure they ever made it onto the same page.

It’s possible that this show is going to ignite many conversations–public and private–about sexuality, Christianity, transformation, etc.  We have so much to learn from each other.  At this point in my life, I have learned that sexual orientation is complex.  Judging and pretending to understand yields so little fruit. In no area of my life has transformation happened rapidly, and I am crazy for expecting it to be any different in the lives of others.  And what about the some people that don’t/won’t/can’t change? Well, I won’t try to do God’s job, so that’s between God and those people.

 I think Ted Haggard’s story is heartbreaking but really interesting. I’m glad that we has bold enough to go on Oprah and talk so openly both about his shortcomings (perhaps an understatement?) and about the grace of God that saves, heals, reconciles, and restores.  Oprah didn’t get it.  I have a friend that often says “You’ll get that in a minute.”  I hope Oprah gets that in a minute.  I hope Christians continue to learn how to show grace when people–famous, infamous, and ordinary–fail us.  I hope we learn how to be honest about issues that make us uncomfortable, stuff we don’t understand, stuff that is real, complex, and messy.  God’s grace is never too far away.

A Dose of “Toze”

Lately (roughly the last 7 days), I have had an overwhelming and unexplainable desire to read A.W. Tozer.  I suppose I could have picked one of his many classic books to read, but instead I chose an anthology of sorts. Something like a compilation of excerpts. I’m quite excited to start reading it.  It’s been a while since I’ve read a Christian book that I could really sink my teeth into.  I get the feeling that reading Tozer will be like eating celery…You kind of chew it for a while before you swallow it.

My hope is that these readings will bring fresh inspiration, insight, challenge, passion…or something
And I hope God honors my desire to push toward Him and wrap myself around the gospel even while it wraps itself around me.
Surely, God has bent my heart towards these writings, and I pray that every word that glorifies Christ would take root in my heart.

Confused and Awed

The more I ponder on the work of Christ on the cross, the less it makes sense to me.  And that worries me.  Am I losing what little understanding I have?  Am I regressing?  Is this a gradual blindness to the things of God?

Or is it awe?

The mystery, the wonder, the absurdity of the son of God crucified to redeem the world. I mean…WHAT?!  What is that?  And then there’s this Spirit that lives inside of us.  It’s wild!  God is crazy! (And I mean that in all reverence.)  I’ve been saturating myself with The Word for the past few days, and, I confess, there is an anxiety swelling within me, because I am perplexed by the things of God. I read. I study.  Why am I perplexed?  But my faith remains and is even strengthened, perhaps.  

Maybe this is the beginning of child-like faith. How humbling.  Everything I believe doesn’t “make sense”, yet I believe it anyway!  Maybe this is awe.

Who Shows Up?

“When they had crossed over, the landed at Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country.  People brought all their sick to him…” (Matthew 14:34-35)

Who shows up in your life?  Fabulous people?  Sometimes we are fortunate enough to be surrounded by wonderful, great, fabulous people.  And thank God for that. But is that all?  See, if we are like Jesus, I think we’ll find lots of people of a different sort showing up in our lives.  Sick people.  People with physical ailments.  Despairing, rejected, dejected, outcasted, “abnormal”, unclean people.  So, look around.  If you don’t see these people, maybe it’s because they don’t see Jesus in you.

Construction Workers

It has never been a one-man project.  The building of the temple, I mean.

The Book of Ezra…

The king of Persia issues a decree allowing the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the altar and the temple.  This Cyrus was not a man of The Holy God of Israel.  (It’s amazing who works in your favor when God engineers your circumstances.) Anyway, these exiles had been taken captive and had their holy place pillaged by that king of Babylon, Nebucha-what’s-his-name.  Now they are going back.  Returning.  Rebuilding.  There was Zerubbabel.  There was Ezra and later Nehemiah. But there  were others.  Thousands of others.

I was struck by how many people the project of rebuilding required.  I mean, hey, this was no weekend side-gig. Round up the jocks from the remnant and throw some stones together.  Quite the contrary.  The exiles settled, they gathered supplies, they planned, they assembled.  This was a long endeavor.  This was a communal endeavor.  Carpenters, masons, musicians…(oh my!)  The dwelling place of the Most High is too grand for two hands.

And yet somehow we ourselves, as temples of the Living God, undertake our building and rebuilding on our own.  Here’s the thing. The book of Ezra is historical. It’s not allegorical.  It’s not metaphorical. But it does provide some powerful imagery concerning the temple.  Do we notice how much manpower the rebuilding of the temple demanded?   May I suggest that building temples is no less communal now than it was then!  I’m not talking about constructing church buildings;  I’m talking about our lives.  All of our talk about “Christian community”…It’s not just about having like-minded friends.  It’s not just about sharing prayer requests over Starbucks lattes.  Why do we need community?  Why is this work communal?  Because the work of a holy place is arduous and requires a multiplicity of skills that no one man possesses. It is not work we can do on our own.

As I examine my life today, I see the lack.  A lack of diligent workers who will convene with unified purpose to help build me, this temple of the Living God.  My prayer today is that God would bring people into my life (and carry me into others’ lives) that will dirty their hands  in the task of rebuilding me as a holy dwelling place for my God.

Vacation

It’s been a while.

I’ve been on the go.  Not really by choice.

When things settle, I’ll write.  I’ve been collecting ideas.

And Jesus is working on my heart.

Tasty Quote

I saw this quote on my homepage today.  Kind of loved it.

"If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty."
-Rilke

Hmmm…how ’bout that?