Conversations
Growing up in a fairly conservative home, and adopting very conservative views, and voting for “conservative” officials has been my MO. And it will most likely continue to be my MO. The issue I continue to face, though, is that having “family values” and believing in “little government” and being a part of the moral majority continues to erode my ability to have spiritual conversations.
I first heard of Ron’s 4 part story from Rob Bell last summer when he did a series based upon the four parts and it enabled me to make new connections between the OT and NT that help more clearly define what Jesus did and is doing and wants to do now through His people.
The article has also brought to the surface one of my major concerns with how we “bring people to Christ.” Although it wasn’t a focus of the article it still is of great concern to me. In reading two other books recently the view of God as a judge ranks significantly higher in prominence in Christians and non-Christians. The prevailing view of Christians of what it means to be a Christian daily has an unhealthy focus on not sinning. It sounds nothing like the abundant life, a life free from the bondage of sin, and really causes me to ask the questions “Are these people really saved? Has Jesus been submitted to completely and does He live in them? or have we made this coming to Christ thing a little too elementary and have we made a huge mistake in divorcing works from salvation.”
I’m not saying that we are saved by works, but what I am saying is that a desire to do work that ushers in the new culture of Christ, this new Kingdom of Heaven on earth, must accompany salvation. If it doesn’t then as James says, the faith is dead, and in fact never lived to begin with. Because of that many look at “church people” and see no change, and so there is no obvious advantage to the outsiders of figuring out who Jesus is.
What is frightening is that I perceive that very few “church people” can have the four part discussion, or would even want to.
Where do we see the first person conversations and how do we join it and expand people’s understanding to move toward a conversation that includes second person dimensions?
What do you think?
Comments are closed.
As far as the environment is concerned I have come a long way. First of all let me say that as a scientist it is hard for me to call the “research” some are proposing as science. And it is very difficult for me to accept their conclusions that the Earth has never been this warm before, or that the greenhouse gases are reaching some critical state that would impose a permanent impact upon the Earth’s current, somewhat predictable, environment.
I honestly have been anti-environment in the not so distant past because of the liberal tone this movement has adopted. Liberal in theology, not politics.
As an American Christian I cannot divorce the fact that my consumption of goods and energy could be having a significant impact on the lives of an already impoverished population in other parts of the world. I cannot expect to have a voice that represents Christ in the environmentally concerned arena if I do not accept that it is possible that my choice to consume may have a direct impact on the quality of life of someone. I think that the church is beginning to find out that we can disagree with the so-called secular scientists about the history of the world and whether or not warming has ever happened before, but we can agree that slowing our consumption rates and investing in renewable resources is good. And if humans are even partially responsible for the warming trend then we have a responsibility to do something because of the impact it will have on a family living on $100 a year in a country half a world away.
So, although I do not agree that the Earth is entering a critical environmental state. I do agree that climates seem to be changing and are very different then they were even 10 years ago. I also agree that this change will have a severe impact on already unstable and impoverished countries. So, as a Christian I must try to take steps to care for ALL of His creation. It’s why we as a family recycle, use fluorescent lighting, and are beginning to ask hard questions about our consumption.
On the side of those who are born again I don’t think that the problem is solved by making people aware of their “godliness.” Instead it will always be whether a person wants to accept the responsibility of being a small representation of God. If more people walked the planet under the impression that they had the authority to perform acts of God while maintaining their humility a radical change would take place in the Church and in the world.
For those not yet born of the Spirit we need to help them understand that God lost a part of Himself when Adam and Eve sinned and that Christ’s advent, death and resurrection happened so that God might recover what hid from Him.
I think one of the reasons that Christians focus on the Fall and Redemption parts (and neglect the other two) is that our view of Salvation is something that is to be achieved in the future. Salvation is viewed as one time event that affects the eternal destination of our soul. The question people ask “When were you saved?” reflects this view of salvation. The saving becomes the focus and the end result is the only result that really matters. This can be seen on some mission fields where physical needs are neglected for the sake of saving souls. We fail to see that the life here and now that God created may be as equally important to him as our final destination. Creation was the first of many events in which God revealed Himself to the world. He poured his time and energy into creating this ‘good’ world and he took the seventh day to enjoy His creation and rest from His work. This goes back to an earlier article but why do so many Christians seemingly not care about the environment and the issues surrounding it? Why are those issues more important to secular society and Hollywood? Could it be this same way of thinking…that we live for another world and the here and now is not nearly as important as our eternal destination. People are not nearly as interested in God saving their souls as how God can help them through this life. Death is a far off reality with people living to be 80 years old or older. What matters to them is right now – Life. If we begin with Creation as the starting point for conversation we cannot ignore the world in which we live. Certainly God cares about our eternal destination but I think He also cares about how we live right now. He wants to restore us in our current situations. It is not something that just happens sometime in the future upon our death.
This approach is breathtaking, and as I heave a sigh of relief, thoughts of past conversations in which my apologetics were so dogmatic come flooding back. What an amazingly open way of entering into dialogue with someone who may be on the far end of faith than I am, putting us close enough together that not only do we have something ENORMOUS in common as both being imago dei (mind blowing concept) but we can talk about it in an unoffensive, nonjudgmental way.
This idea is not new to me but yet in the past year it seems as if God has opened my eyes and heart to a new way of experiencing Him in such a fullness of His glory that in turn I have been yearning for a way to share that with others. With the current 2nd person God philosophy, it is virtually impossible to reach anyone at a level in which they feel loved and an actual part of God already.
If we as Christians embrace this idea of being one with God, being so close to Him that we are perrpetually surrounded by His glory and are capable of exuding that toward others, I think it will revive the faith, personally and as a church. Just writing about it gives me joy and confidence that with this perspective, even if I mess up, I can go back to God and I can try again with less fear of judgment or failure.
The question I pondered as I was reading this was which part of my faith do we start with? Do we start with the outward reaching of services and acts of faith? Or do we start inwardly, absorbing the glory and joy of that personal, intimate, inward bond with our Creator? As I write I feel as if I have answered that question, and perhaps the question Robert posed about “faith without works.” It seems to me if we start inwardly, grasping at the least a primal understanding of our connection to deity as mini gods of our Creator, we can in turn bring that overflowing love and glory towards others with the fruits of the Spirit that we are emplored in the NT to portray…and they may come so much easier than if we are terrified of a God that is keeping a tally of our screw ups and making sure He gets His licks in on our backside when it’s all said and done. Now, I don’t believe that anyone can know for sure whether or not someone is saved. That is between them and God. But if you have not love, you are a resounding gong. Here is the love, the joy, the happiness we have been lacking in our walks. Time for a retreat…to our God that’s been here the whole time.