seethrough

(i wrote this for my column in the church newsletter - but it didn’t fit in with this edition’s theme…  still, it is a reflection on an amazing staff meeting a few weeks ago where we - multi-lingual, multi-cultured, multi-racial and multi-aged team of colleagues - began to reflect together on the call to journey together down the perilous road toward real community, behind the masks, below the surface…)

I don’t believe that going to church can earn you a place in heaven. Church is sometimes not heavenly at all! So why do I pour myself into building Christ-following community?Every spiritual journey may be unique, but no spirituality is complete without the challenge to move from me to we - from a preoccupation with self to a new appreciation of self amongst others. And it’s not a simple or easy journey.

Many of us are involved in groups, but things can be largely superficial. The group has never faced a difficult conflict or ventured beyond the safety of superficial topics and conversations. M. Scott Peck, in his book A different Drum reflects on the stages of community building. He suggests that an event – planned or unplanned – usually throws the group into Chaos. This is potentially painful or frustrating. People are tempted to withdraw from the group. Many people move to other churches when a church community goes through a difficult time. Chaos can be hurtful and disorientating. And yet it is also a necessary stage leading to the next important stage: Emptiness.

Peck uses the word Emptiness to refer to the Jesus call to sacrifice. Before real community can be born, all of us will need to let go of something. Peck invites everyone in the group to ask themselves: “what do I need to empty myself of?” Before real community can be born, we will need to carefully navigate through the difficult waters of Chaos and Emptiness…

The good news for those of us who long for real, safe, healing, generous, meaningful community is… it’s possible. It isn’t just an idealistic dream. Real Community may not be as “pretty” as we hoped… getting there is arduous. But it is real. And in a world of superficial facades and masks and pretence… something real is valuable. Like an old worn pair of jeans: not the smartest pants in the cupboard, but always our favourite! St John’s continues to call people from the safety (and loneliness) of our self-ish ways into the challenges and complexities and joys and benefits of community – from “me” into a real expression of “we”.

[ref. Peck, M.S.  The Different Drum  Touchstone:NewYork, 1987]

i am slow to learn.  most of the people i bump heads with are probably not actually that far away from me (in the sense that we probably live out of very similar values and choices).  the way we choose to express our convictions leads to conflict…

what has become clearer to me is that certainty produces bad fruit.  good fruit does not grow from the tree of certainty.  the spiritual quest for truth (if that is in fact the heart of the spiritual quest) is not a quest for certainty.

it’s a quest for righteousness.  it’s a quest for the good.

“everything you know is wrong” is a provocative claim that U2 uses at their live concerts.  it’s a statement that denies certainty.  but it’s so certain about it’s claim that it ends up denying itself.  but of course, the opposite can’t be true: that everything you know is right!

it’s a fantastic example of a statement that doesn’t have to be true to do it’s work. it’s precisely because it’s false, that it expresses the truth…  that certainty, the quest for certainty, and all (ignorant and arrogant) claims of certainty are not only false, but they cause pain.

recently i stumbled on the bible’s alternative to certainty.

conviction

certainty is like perfection - it’s all encompassing conclusiveness is static.  nothing more to be said, nothing more to be learned, nothing more…

conviction is attractive.  it’s motivating.  it’s energy.  it’s the Spirit of God moving us out of our static complacency.  we don’t have to know it all.  we don’t have to nail it all down before we act.  we act because we sense a conviction.  we don’t even know that we are right about or conviction.  we test our motive.  we share the conviction with friends who care.  we wait and we pray.

but in the end, without 100% clarity, without complete knowledge of the implications of the journey, without a clear picture of the road ahead…

…conviction takes a first step

how do we face a tragedy?  I say we need to engage our hearts - allow ourselves to feel the tragedy and weep before the bodies lying in the streets - or hanging from a cross…  (see tragedy part 1 below)

So how do we survive a tragedy?

Our natural survival instinct suggests run - run away from any danger, threat or potential difficulty.  We assume hope is found at the top of the mountain - where the outlook is great and the view inspiring.  But experience - painful experience - teaches that hope is born in the valley.

In the valley of the shadow of death we learn how to trust.  “Into your hands I commit my spirit”.  It’s in the darkest place that we learn to surrender and we start the most profound season of our faith-life journey.  Perhaps that what is meant when U2 sing:

“midnight is where the day begins” (from Lemon)

Rather than running from the place of our pain, we may find we have to return there - not to be retraumatised - but so that we can begin the journey of hope, which begins in the valley.

a friend and I were speaking yesterday about money and generosity - and we concluded that the practice of generosity has to be learned when you have very little.  Somehow having a lot, more than enough, makes it more difficult to learn generosity!  is it the same with hope?

[One caution: some people are so overwhelmed by their pain or trauma that to “return” or to face the pain and acknowledge the grief will be too much.  perhaps it is important to recognise that sometimes our survival may require a period of “numb-ness” - a time of denial - just to survive the overwhelming emotions that threaten to wash over and drown us.]

i dunno why i do it.  but i get drawn into debate with colleagues who are strongly opposed to same-sex relationships in the church.  anyway, sometimes the writing stimulates thought which i do appreciate.  a few days ago, in conclusion to a response to a particularly feisty person in the debate i wrote the following:

tomorrow… we celebrate the marriage of two women who have sought God’s heart, allowed the scriptures to shape their characters, served the faith community with giftedness and our country in self-sacrificing ways in their secular work…  and have shown their faithful commitment to loving each other well.  the witness of their lives has done much to help many of us reconsider our unkind dogma and will allow us to acknowledge (whether we like it or not) God’s Kind and Tender Presence in the ceremony tomorrow… far more Kindness than we ever seem to be able to muster ourselves…
and so we did!!!  we toasted to Love and to Life and we celebrated the marriage of phillipa and natasha.  and i think God smiled…

(hopefully there will be photos soon and we’ll post a link…)

every now and then someone asks a REALLY GOOD QUESTION… the question may not seem significant if it doesn’t search within you… but if it hits the spot, if it turns you inside our and won’t leave you alone, then it’s a really good one!

a few days ago i came across one of those questions:

Who am I when no one knows what I do, what my name, or nationality are? Who am I when I am just a face in the crowd? Who am I then?

When I am not… Who am I?

This question hasn’t left me alone the past few days. When one surrenders the things you do as a basis for determining and defining one’s identity, what’s left? Is my identity primarily and finally determined by the roles I assume and the functions that I take on? And is there a person under the pile of roles and robes, that’s actually quite… quiet? gentle? patient?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one…

a friend of mine recently read a book by Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion - which has unsettled her. i think (she can correct me if i’m presenting her wrongly) it’s a good unsettledness but nevertheless, an unsettledness which is usually challenging.Dawkins is “anti-theist” - he’s not just a non-believer - he’s opposed to religion. I haven’t read the book but from various reviews and articles I gather that he includes an Appendix for those “needing support in escaping religion”. I think it’s enough to say he has an agenda. just as the Bible and other “authoritative” texts will be scrutinised for signs of personal and societal prejudices presented as “from God”, so Dawkins work - if it is to offer itself as a help to those “imprisoned in religion” - will surely be treated with the same scrutiny.

But I think the source of the unsettledness for my friend is that Dawkins makes such a strong and convincing argument for the Theory of Evolution . Christians have taken the question of “the Source of things” so for granted that this presentation of how things came to be seriously challenges old paradigms and begs the question - is there a place for faith in God in a Reality shaped by Evolutionary Progress.

so is there? it’s a challenging question! I hope to speak with my friend again and will report how she’s living with the question. but one thing that is becoming clear to me is that faith in God shouldn’t require a rejection of scientific knowledge. If we have placed our faith in something that is believed (by reasonably tested and commonly accepted scientific opinion) to be false - then we should consider the real possibility that we placed our faith in something that was not reliable (sure?) enough to be termed “God”… the faithful person (i would like to suggest the biblically faithful person) can pursue the questions of science (observation and rational inquiry) without fear of ultimately losing Faith. but - i suspect - we must expect some deep challenges to old taken-for-granted “knowledges” that prove to be no longer helpful.

i recently was challenged by a comment made by Rob Bell in a talk i have on cd - he said (something like) “if someone is searching for truth don’t stop them - even if they are searching in weird places. If they keep digging, at some point they are going to reach bed-rock, and then they’ll know they truth”. and as scripture says - the truth will set you free. He is also quoted as saying that “I affirm the truth anywhere in any religious system, in any world-view. If it’s true, it belongs to God.” [ref]

if it’s true - it belongs to God. yeah!

yesterday elaine’s dad was caught by a veld fire and badly burned. at present he is “stable” in a hospital in Bethlehem. he may be moved to Joburg this morning. the outlook is very bleak. he has sustained 60% burns and quite severe internal injury. it will be a miracle if he survives this ordeal.

elaine and cate have just boarded a plane to joburg and will be with him by mid-morning.

henry was alone on the farm in Van Reenen when he was caught by the fire, but we have no clarity as yet about what happened. fortunately someone found him and a neighbour took him to the hospital.

my father-in-law is an extraordinary man. he is a strong and determined man who has had to work extremely hard from humble beginnings in his life. He is a courageous man and i pray today that his courage and tenacity will pull him through the perilous next few days…

(Aiden remarked, when reading another story that he “looked forward to turning the page”… so, with his encouragement, here is page 2…)

did you know that the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures use the phrases “do not fear” and “do not be afraid” 113 times!!! (those same scriptures use the phrase “love God” only 5 times…) So let’s make a humble assumption - spirituality that takes the Bible (meaning the Hebrew and Christian scriptures) seriously will be a spirituality that is Peace-producing. Essentially, I’m assuming that Biblical Spirituality will echo this sentiment - do not fear, do not be afraid, do not worry, etc.

the Christian scriptures tell us that Jesus is the “prince of peace” (i’m assuming that means that if anyone is going to bring peace it will be him..) it also tells us that “perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18) and goes on to make a clear observation: “for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”

the thing that I struggle with is that the “good news” that many Christians offer is highly fearful. The common story goes something like this: God created you. Things were good until you messed up. You sinned and God was angry. You had broken his Law. Justice was required so someone had to die. It would have been you (and it might still be if you don’t…) but Jesus died in your place to “absorb the wrath of God” (John Piper). To return to right relationship with God, you must repent and believe (presumably that Jesus died for you) so that eternal punishment can be avoided. If you do, God’s anger is avoided and heaven awaits. If you don’t, the just punishment for your sins will be your reward - that’s hell. (If “God is Love” he certainly has a big investment in fear and punishment in the universe…)

so here’s a question: what motivates your faith in God? why are you a Christian? is it to avoid the fires of hell - an eternal punishment? as I’ve indicated here i am an unapologetic follower of Jesus. I am willing to associate myself with him in every way. but I am simply not happy to associate myself with this common version of the Christian Story any longer. I think that there is another story which is desperately needing to be told - needing to be heard.

(some quick reasons why the new story needs to be heard:
1. i don’t think that the common version is doing our Great God of Grace justice!
2. many good, thinking, moral, faithful, did i mention good, people are simply not able to fathom a God who is so petty and, instead of looking deeper into the faith tradition, are choosing to live as moral atheists rather than associate with such a paper-thin version of a Creator God.
3. it is Fear Producing - which is exactly the opposite of what Biblical faith is supposed to do. Where is the peace? Where is the confidence?)

Here’s to another story! (I don’t call it a new story because I would like to argue that this other story has been around longer than the common one!!! it’s the old story, needing rediscovery)

my understanding of Jesus was that he chose to live and teach in the tradition of the Hebrew prophetic tradition - most significantly, the prophetic vision of Isaiah. His first public teaching in a synagogue involved a reading from Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:16) - a moving, inspiring vision about the “Year of the Lord’s favour”. (the interesting thing is that the phrase “and a day of vengeance for our God” - Is 61:2 - is omitted in Luke) This prophetic tradition includes moving passages about the coming of the Messiah who will bring peace - when the Lion will lie down with the Lamb (Isaiah 11)… perhaps the most moving passage for me is found in Isaiah chapter 2:

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

These are the passages that I believe inform the ministry of Jesus. When he speaks about the “Kingdom of Heaven”, I believe he is talking about this kind of Kin’dom… where Peace is found to be stronger than force, where love is eternal and cannot die…

In the light of these (biblical) observations, I want to encourage those who are dissatisfied with the common story to begin to consider Alternatives. I believe there are many other stories on offer in the Christian Scriptures. Paul’s writings do contain much that supports the common version, but he also transcends those thoughts in some of his writings, focusing more on the theme of Reconciliation. See 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. (I realise that it is possible to use this passage to underscore the common version of Christianity.) I believe it is possible to interpret this passage in a way that appeals to Loving Relationship as a motivation for Faith… (perhaps the topic of Page 3…) The Gospels are the best place to look though, because the parables and the ministry of Jesus are still being processed by the authors. The Gospel writers certainly include their own interpretations in the re-telling of the stories (which explains some of the differences in the four gospels) but the interpretation can be said to be “in process”. This gives us a glimpse into the early Christian community of people who were not called “Christians” - they were simply people of faith who had decided to follow the teachings of Jesus. They were best described as “those belonging to the Way” (acts 9:2)

What are some of the attributes that I think Another Story might include?
1. i think it must choose to be faithful to the teaching and example of Jesus. this might involve a revisiting of the gospels and a decision to take Jesus at his word. or as Albert Nolan says to “take Jesus seriously”.
2. surely it must work out a new motivation for Faith. If we aren’t following Jesus to “avoid hell and earn our ticket into heaven”, what will be our primary reason for following? it might return to a much more wholistic understanding of the word “believe” which embraces the whole self, heart, will, mind, body, in place of a modern understanding of the word which reduces believing to mental (intellectual?) agreement. To say “I believe in Jesus” would be more akin to saying “I commit my whole self to Jesus”.
3. it must strive to be all-embracing, not sectarian but able to embrace variety so that it can become a story of Peace and Unity. surely if God’s Kin’dom is going to be eternal we’re going to have to live side-by-side then… why not start finding a way to live together now…?
4. it might formulate a different understanding of authority. for instance, it may choose to view the Spirit of scripture as a higher authority than the historical written text. This might include the recognition that not everything that is biblical is consistent with the teaching of Jesus i.e. Christian
5. Another Story might re-emphasize the importance of being good - what Jesus meant when he spoke about the fruit that a tree bears. the Common Story has used the Fear of God (of hell) to motivate people into believing, and has unwittingly encouraged people to “believe” at all costs, but has paid too little attention on the thing that Jesus asked us to do: “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28) disciples are learners, and presumably that means learners of The Way. Evidencing the Fruit of the Spirit - the signs of a transforming life - will become the essence of Another Story.

What do you think might be some of the attributes of Another Story? OR, what would you LIKE to see being addressed by a different kind of Spirituality? (that you feel has been neglected by the Common Version of Christianity in your experience?)