To What End

I wish I could give credit where it is due, but I often have things swimming around in my head that I am unclear where they originate.  I recently heard someone answer the question of God's existence.  They said that such a question was boring and that a better question would be, what would be the reaction of people who believed in and worshipped a God of love?  So instead of the answer leaning to apologetics, theological debate or a long list of other ways to debate the issue, what if we looked to ourselves (if we are believers).  Pose the question, what would my life look like if I believed in this God?  I've been asking myself this question lately and I have to say that I am not totally pleased with my answer.  To be honest, my life doesn't usually look like someone who believes in God.  So I dig a bit deeper.  Why do I ask myself this question?  Is it the same reason that people ask the God question in the first place, because they are wrestling with uncertainty and doubt.  Is it because we are looking for affirmation in our lives that we really are good people at the base of it?  Is it because we know that the answer to the question and we just needed someone to put it to us in that way?  Whatever my initial motivation for going down this road was, I see that a partner question to the question of God's existence should be, to what end.  The end, for me, of this question is awareness.  If I believe in God but don't care about people then what does whether I believe in God matter?  If I confess Christ as my Lord and Savior but don't even look at the homeless man on the street as I step over him to enter my place of worship then what does it matter?  I'm a believer but to what end? I applied this train of thought to many practices in the church and I think, to what end?, is an important question to ask in all of our practices.

Why do we study scripture, to what end?

If the answer to that question is to have ammunition that can down our most fierce competition in a debate then I think we have it wrong.

Why do we ask questions, to what end?

If we are asking questions, with our desired answers in mind, then we aren't really asking questions we are looking for our answers.  The tricky thing with that is that you can, if you are really looking, find a lot of harmful answers.  I have heard of a congregation who was getting ready to study women's roles in the church.  They were going to do a lengthy study of scripture that would hopefully lead them to the "right" answer.  I believe it was an elder of the church who asked "if we do this study and come to the conclusion that women should have equal roles in the church, will we change our position?".  He was asking the question, to what end?  Sadly, they decided to just not do the study.  Maybe they weren't ready for the answer.

Why do we go to church, why did I start that non-profit, why am I thinking of moving, why am I staying, why am I giving in the offering, why do I have this job, why do I prefer hymns, why do I like instrumental worship?  The list goes on and on.  We make decisions on a daily basis that have an impact on our lives and the lives of those around us and I would be willing to bet that most of us have never considered why, to what end?

The love of God is so transformative and beautiful that if we are fully embracing and operating in it, the world should be a better place because of it.  The end should be that life is springing from dead relationships and dead ends.  The parts of you that used to seek favor and gain are now humble and serving.  The parts of this world where death and destruction is a daily reality should not be full of people thumping bibles but instead pounding hammers, building schools and wells carrying life giving water.

To what end?  I say this world should be better because of the reckless love of God and the people who say they believe in Him.  That is the type of answer to the question of God's existence that may make a difference.

The Problem With Big Ideas

The problem with big ideas is that they are held afloat by the often coercive and careless care of a single human.  This same human, assuming he is indeed human, has only two eyes.  Behind those two eyes he has but one brain.  That single brain is fed by one set of lungs breathing in air from a particular place.  The concern of this one human is to keep hold of this one idea and to keep others interested and occupied by their "big idea".  Others will invest their time in labor to keeping this one idea rolling.  By no fault of their own, these employees of the "big idea" may neglect their families and communities, they are only trying to serve something larger than themselves.  If this "big idea" is successful, people will pat these laborers on the back for selflessly serving something larger than themselves and making such a lasting impact on the world.  If this "big idea" fails they may retreat to their family and community for a time until the next "big idea" comes along.  Somehow the reality of whether or not anyone is really making a difference is lost in the tension between success and failure. Success frequently becomes just being allowed to keep doing the work behind your "big idea" even if it has no positive impact. What is called failure may just be your "big idea" being put out of it's misery. Wendell Berry often speaks of the importance of humble and small beginnings and speaks out against the concept of "big ideas".  Much of my thoughts on this matter are greatly impacted by his.  The real danger with getting behind big ideas is that it takes away our responsibility for real involvement.  I think our churches are guilty of trading in real, individual involvement for laboring behind a "big idea".  Too often our church members are so exhausted from the support of a Pastor and his big idea that they don't have the time and energy to engage their community in any sort of effective way.  The vision behind this "big idea" that everyone is scrambling to support or keep afloat, quite often comes from a very narrow place.  What is seen as a big idea is not nearly large enough.  There is nothing larger than fully realizing the way that our day to day lives can impact our community.  The way that we get groceries and gas, the way that we pick-up and drop-off our children, how and what we eat, the way we treat waste and surplus, all of these things have the potential to change the lives of the people and places we are surrounded by and they are often the things that are neglected by our support of a single "big idea".

So what is our way forward?  I realize that there can be ideas that are worth the support and service of a congregation or community but how do we avoid the pitfalls and potential damage from our "big ideas"?  I'm still reflecting on that question but I would like to share a few conclusions that I have come to in my reflection.  First, if a "big idea" is hatched out of the mind of an individual with little to no input from the community that it intends to serve, it should die before it inflicts inevitable unintended damage.  Second, "big ideas" can exist in a healthy way but only if they are made up of the small, humble and simple ideas of co-laborers and the communities that the idea intends to serve.  Third, the person holding the position of servant leader of a "big idea" must have an ear for correction.  The danger of holding on to an idea much larger than yourself without the wise council of some people who care for you and the community, is too great.  Many good people have fallen because they got too big for their britches.  The moment you feel your spirit "rise up" when someone dares to question your path and your motives may be the moment you need to take a step back for a time.  Lastly, always keep in mind that your "big idea" is never anything more than a collection of small actions and decisions.  From the moment that you first dream this "big idea" and share it with a friend, to when you finally make choices and changes that serve something greater than you, realize your idea is nothing without small choice and change.  Never lose the pulse of the community, the vision that got you started, or an ear for correction.  Something big truly can survive and live well but only if starts and stays small.

It's like...

  It's Like...

My oldest son, who is eight, always begins his retelling of a bible story or his reaction to a devotional  with the words, "it's like".  It may seem like a simple thing that has little meaning to you but to me it is everything.  He takes these profound verses and devotionals and puts them into his own words.  Images take shape in his mind which are transformed into spoken word and he dares to speak of God.  His retelling may reference, aliens, Minecraft, zombies or a friend at school but it always points back to the scripture or topic we are discussing.

This is how we end every day in my home.  Gathered in the room that my daughters share, we read scripture together, pray and sing to God.  Without being overly critical of the church in the west, it seems that this is what is lacking in our gatherings.  The gospel is only a concept unless it collides with our lives, our understandings, or our favorite video games.  The collisions can be moments of hope where we see that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ has been made to shine out of a dark place.  The collision may be a prophetic vision calling us to repent.  Sometimes "it's like" we are the woman at the well in the noonday sun and sometimes we are the people she is trying to avoid by drawing her water in the heat of the day.  Sometimes we are the well that is cracked and leaking or too deep for the thirsty to draw from or maybe we are the bucket that will help bring water from the deep well to cracked lips.

If we gathered together, to read and share in this way, I believe we would find we are drawn into scripture in real and exciting ways.  Perhaps more importantly, we would find that in hearing each others stories, the moments where we say "it's like" this moment in my life or my day, we are drawn to each other.

and that.

The biggest challenge in this type of sharing, listening and reading, is the plurality of voices.  In our study we have put the work of reading and interpretation into the hands of a few paid professionals.  These pastors, elders and teachers have sifted through the text, the lexicon, the commentaries, and the truth has supposedly risen to the top.  This one thing that the text is saying is shared and people take notes next to that scripture in their bibles.  The next time they study on their own they don't hear the voice of the Spirit, they hear the voice of their paid professional.  When you hear from everyone, the paid professionals and the first time visitor, you are forced to say "yes it is this but maybe it is also that".  That, is a challenge.  Everything inside of me is grasping for some sort of concrete certainty but I'm finding the list of things that are concretely certain is growing shorter and shorter.

I hope this blog helps some of you begin that work in your congregations or maybe just in your home.  Dropping, if even for a moment, the way that you have understood or are understanding God and His word to be able to truly hear someone "other" than you.  I'll bring to this blog, some of the things that I am seeing and hearing in text and life around me and look for signs of God in the middle of it.  Let's do this work together.

Grace and Peace!