Following Jesus into the Kingdom of God

It seems to me that some folks love to come to church and hear how good it is that they are going to heaven and how bad it is for those "others" who aren't because they don't believe in Jesus (like they do) and "Please, please to anyone who doesn't accept Jesus as their savior, won't you do it now so you can go to heaven, too (and not suffer eternal torment from our angry God for not believing in Jesus)."  "All you have to do is say the sinner's prayer and you will be born again."  Presto!

As familiar as this may sound to many people, I no longer believe this is the gospel of Jesus. I believe Jesus calls all to follow Him by believing in His Father God whose kingdom is near and spreading peace, hope, justice, and love.  Jesus offers all to follow Him in spreading healing, reconciliation, community, and goodness among all people.  God's salvation is not just about getting my sins forgiven so I can get to heaven after I die.  My salvation is about joining in God's mission to restore the goodness of life and creation that God intended from the beginning.  To be a part of God's mission I must turn my back on selfishness, pride, and a host of behaviors and attitudes that keep me at odds with others so I can become part of God's good community where there is unity, harmony, and love reigns supreme; where the "rule" is to live for the common good of all, including the living and non-living.

How About a FAST?!

The weekend of April 27 - 28, 2012  15 youth of my church did a World Vision 30 Hour Famine Project to raise money to help the poor of the world.  A large part of this was to fast for 30 hours.  When I heard about it, I knew I had to join on the fast.  Below is a report I wrote for our church weekly newsletter.  Since writing it, I thought of at least one more thing that came to me during the experience: in our country we live in a sea of food that is over-grown beyond all reasonable proportions.

I spent much of the weekend with the youth taking video of them and their experiences that is on You Tube at 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30C4alTDXJY

Youth Leading Elders

This past weekend our youth led me to a place I’ve never been in my spiritual journey with God. Almost 70 years old, I considered myself a Christian most of my adult life. But I have only fasted maybe twice in all those years - and then for just one meal.
When I heard that the youth were going to fast for 30 hours, I felt compelled to try it, too. So here I am, an “old timer” Christian, only now seriously observing one of the ancient practices of my religion. I didn’t know how I would do and if I could go that long without food. I thought I might get a bad headache or get too weak to continue. Neither of these happened, perhaps because I prayed much more than usual. I spent much of the time with the youth taking video. That was easy and fun. The toughest time for me was going through the kitchen at home, with all the food staring at me.
What I learned while fasting:
(1) How it feels for almost a billion people on the planet who go hungry every day. It is not pleasant!
(2) As one appreciates feeling healthy after being sick, so now I am more thankful to God for a simple meal.
(3) How blessed we are as a people, and how ashamed I feel at how much we consume our blessings just on ourselves.
(4) That I must do more to help the needy; and that this is the work of Jesus in the world.
A few others participated in the fast with our youth. Next year, when they do it again, I hope even more of us “old timers” will try it.

The False Teachers of 2 Peter

I think I might have a clue into what the false teaching was in 2 Peter. This letter has never rated very high in my estimation because almost half of it is consumed in a rant against some false teachers. Yet it never comes out and states plainly just what the false teaching actually was. The reader is left to wonder and guess. Since my Wednesday morning Bible study group is on 2 Peter, I've been reading it many times and wondering, and well, here is my guess as to what the false teaching was.

First, the false teachers were people in the church, not outsiders. See 2:1 - the false teachers are “among you.” See 2:13 – they were participating in communion, i.e. “love feasts”. See 2:20 – they are ones who have “escaped corruption of the world by knowing our Lord.”

Second, the false teachers were probably quoting scripture to make their claims and defend their position. This is inferred because twice 2 Peter mentions the use of scripture. See 1:19-21 and 3:15,16. Especially interesting is 3:16 where the writings of the Apostle Paul are “distorted by ignorant and unstable people.” (Isn't this still going on?!)

Finally, what exactly was the false teaching? It can only be assumed from the whole letter. My best guess is that the ones being accused were quoting scripture and sounding very religious yet they were missing something very crucial. They were not producing the character of Jesus in their lives. They might have talked about the Way but were not living in the Way. The first followers of Jesus were called people of the Way. The “Way” was defined by the teachings and life of Jesus. Perhaps 2 Peter 1:3-9 is a very condensed version of the Way. I think that maybe verse 1:9 is aimed directly at the false teachers: “if anyone does not have them (i.e. “these qualities in increasing abundance”) he … has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”

My guess might be interesting, but it is just information until we begin to consider ourselves. This brings me into very treacherous territory where people shoot Bible verses like bullets condemning others while claiming their own doctrinal purity. It's like Jesus said about criticizing the speck in someone else's eye and ignoring the log in my own. Jesus also warned of false teachers who sound very religious saying “Lord, Lord”. So here I go with fear and trembling.

There seems to me to be a “conventional wisdom” about Christianity that seems very religious, uses the Bible extensively and yet misses the spirit of Jesus. There are at least two aspects that result in current false teaching:

1. we have disconnected “getting saved” from living in the Way of Jesus in the spirit of Jesus and growing in the character and mold given to us in 2 Peter 1:3-9 (among many other verses). What I hear being offered most frequently sounds more like a ticket to heaven instead of an invitation to participate in the life of God (2 Peter 1:4).
2. we have disconnected “getting saved” from entering into the mission of God in Jesus.

I offer these thoughts for consideration. We consider ourselves to be “true believers”. But what if there is a log in our eye that is so big we can't see it? I claim there is plenty of false teaching going around today and that I am entangled in it. The path forward is illuminated by the Bible. Where ever the path leads it will produce a life that looks more and more like Jesus, demonstrating unexpected love at great cost (quoted from Ken Bailey).

How Are We Saved? What Is Salvation?

The Bible has at least 2 views on this.

1. The most prominent understanding goes like this:
   We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. God, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the Creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, declaring, “Jesus is Lord.” you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in Heaven.
   
2. Here is another understanding:
   We are saved by turning our back to the world and our old self, accepting the teachings of Jesus and following Jesus into God's mission to love the world back into harmony with God's good intentions for all His children and all His creation from the beginning of creation.
   
   This is not a simple prayer formula that secures my ticket to heaven and leaves me to go about the rest of my life as I please.  This invites me into a new life that is lived for the common good of all people as God intended from the beginning.  This calls me to be not just a recipient of God's love and grace but a dispenser of the same as well.  This is a call not to escape the world some day to be with God but to be with God now and become part of His redeeming process in the world.  This calls me out of my little self and my immediate circle and even my nation to embrace all people everywhere as God's children.
   
   

The first focuses on human sin and God's judgment, and fear of punishment.

The second focuses on God's goodness and purposes and draws all people into the overwhelming love of God.

The first focuses on the individual.

The second focuses on all creation, living and non-living.

The first lacks any purpose after dealing with individual sin except to spend eternity in heaven.

In the second, humanity is called upon to take part in all of God's good intentions for His creation.

The first deals only with individual sins to the neglect of sins of systems and society, sins of nations.

The second leads to a remaking of all society to be in harmony with God's good purposes for all people.

Finally, there is something else very important, yet hard to describe. No matter how we might understand or explain salvation, it is finally an act of God. Think of the first disciples of Jesus before and after Pentecost. Whatever happened there caused a transformation in their lives from cowards to courageous, from fearful to daring, and in Peter's case, from being an arrogant bully to a person of humble love. Which of the two ways of salvation is more likely to lead to this kind of transformation of the heart? Pick your choice, but if this transformation does not happen, then I have to ask what does it matter?

If the church's dominate teaching is about a prayer that secures my eternal life in heaven, then we are missing out on an even more compelling invitation to join God's salvation for the whole world, including myself.  The gospel invitation of Jesus is so much more than getting to heaven!

Judgment Day

I'm marching up to that Great White Throne and I know I'm ready.  I've been looking forward to this all my life.  I've believed God's word just like it says, every word, yes sir!  I've defended the faith against people who were against it.  I've spent the equivalent of years in church, singing Lord, Lord with the best of them and waving my hands for Jesus.  I just knew Jesus would return any moment and kept myself ready.  O, I know I'm ready to meet Jesus.

And now, it's my turn.

How many cups of water did you give in my name?
How many of my gifts to you did you share with my other children
  and how many did you keep for yourself, just you and your family?
When you died, how many coats were in your closet?
How much food was left in your pantry?
How many of my downtrodden little ones did you lift up?
How many of my sick ones did you visit?
Why don't I see these things that I told you about?

How Are We Saved?

This post is replaced by the one above.
I'd delete this if I could figure out how!

Hello, Blog World!

Well, after several years of writing and thinking I should be blogging, here I go.  And now that I'm here, I can't think of anything to write about.

It rained today.  But the drought in central Texas continues.
I hope it's wet enough this winter to stimulate the bluebonnets in March.  Last year there were hardly any bluebonnets anywhere.  I had a new DSLR camera to try to do justice to their beauty, but for naught.  Come on Bluebonnets!