Complexity

Awhile back I came across this quote. Which got me thinking that this is something that needs to be addressed. While I cannot speak for all religions, I will speak for the one that I chose.

"Religion leaves no room for human complexity." - Daniel Radcliffe, actor

As a believer it would have been very easy to dismiss his words, and become defensive. Especially since Mr. Radcliffe has a history of turning to alcohol to deal with the complexities of life. However, acting as if you are beyond reproach is not at all helpful in creating better understanding of your beliefs. If anything, such attitudes are more likely to cause people to dismiss what you are trying to endorse. I see just that all the time, not just in my own belief either.

Yet, speaking as a Christian educator, I can see why he would say something like that. Not because I think he is right, but from a shortcoming in the way people sometimes follow the gospel. One thing that I have learned in trying to expand people's knowledge of the gospel, is that many people are content with their two-dimensional faith. There is little desire to explore the depths and complexities of truth. By keeping their beliefs shallow, they never have to challenge themselves or accept any kind of spiritual responsibility. Such people offer Jesus as a blanket answer with no specifics or practical application. For someone who is facing truly complex problems, such broad non-specific answers are of little help. If anything they are discouraging, and create people who think like Mr. Radcliffe. In the end, it is uninspired followers who are not addressing human complexity, not the gospel that they say they are following.

For many, the only exposure they get of Christianity is through the unmotivated people who claim to follow it. But, as I have often said, you cannot judge any belief system by those who claim to follow it. (Yet they do.) No matter how good and true it may be, people are still people. They are imperfect and prone to error. Being a disciple does not automatically make us immune to error overnight. Let’s not pretend otherwise. Just look at Peter, he was known for his mistakes.

This is far too complex an issue to address exhaustively in a single post, so I'll be writing a whole series on where the church needs to delve into the complexities of truth to a greater depth.

The Visual PARABLEist

How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? -Proverbs 1:22 

click to enlarge

Offering Salvation

   Salvation is a vital element of Christian theology. Of course, this is not news, and this has not changed at all over the centuries; nor should it. However, the world has changed a lot, and has made people rather immune and prejudiced towards the concept of salvation. I say this for the simple fact that the world is telling everyone that they don't need salvation. They are being told to embrace self at face value, brokenness, and all. Including the self-destructive behaviors we tend to adopt to cope with our brokenness. Also that anyone who is saying otherwise is an intolerant hater. Which people are believing, because they want to believe it, since it caters to the tendencies of human nature. Such reckless self-indulgence is only proving to magnify all the hurt, pain, and suffering in the world. 

   This is something that we the church really need to keep in mind in our outreach efforts. To go deeper than merely saying they need salvation, and to start explaining why they need salvation. We can start to do that by recognizing and being empathetic towards the pain, and suffering of the lost. Rather than criticize people for the sinful ways that they are dealing with their hurts. Since behind much of our sin, is a spiritual, or emotional wound. Much of the bad we do services a need in an artificial way, by provoking a feeling we wish we had, or covering up a feeling we wish we didn't. Judging such people is like slapping someone for having cancer, or forcing a person with a broken leg to run a marathon. Which is not helpful or beneficial for the individual being judged, or the church the judge represents. If anything it creates the illusion that the world is somehow right in rejecting the notion of sin and salvation. As well as redirect the failure of the worlds ways back at the church, by making it seem that the only thing keeping it from working, is the lack off acceptance of church people. A falsity the world is exploiting rather effectively, and many in the church are unwittingly reinforcing it with their unloving ways.

   As tough as it may be, sometimes we must allow people to suffer the consequences of their own actions, as God often did. It is the only way for people to see their actions for what they are. When that moment arises, we need to be prepared to help, not hurt. 

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. -Romans 1:24-25

Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” -Judges 2:20-22

The Visual PARABLEist

click to enlarge

Hardened generation

   In a world so overrun by anger, hatred, criticism, and violence; and so much of it being done in the name of reason, love, and tolerance. It leads one to ask "what is up with the world?" Well Jesus had this to say about such misguided attitudes.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people’s heart has become calloused;

    they hardly hear with their ears,

    and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’

 
-Matthew 13:14-15 niv

   The key phrase here being "Calloused heart." Apparently, a literal translation from the original Greek would actually be "Fat heart." However, culturally speaking a literal translation does not have the same impact in English. So many translators give it a functionally equivalent word instead. Other translations have used words like heavy, dull, stubborn, gross, and hardened. To give you a better idea of what Jesus was trying to tell us about the heart of humanity.

   Yet, what is even more striking, is the implication that this sickness of the heart will indeed put a blockade between us and God. That if we hold onto a heaviness within an area of our hearts. It will prevent us from receiving spiritual healing. That those who have hardened hearts will be completely blind and deaf to the truth. 

   Which reveals a lot about how we should and should not deal with this affliction of the heart, weather it is with others or even ourselves. What value are things like impatience, unkindness, rudeness, anger, criticism, and mere definitions with the hard of heart after all. Yet that is often just what we do in the face of the spiritually blind, and emotionally deaf. If anything, such callous treatment will likely make the sickness worse.

   I dare say only love has any hope of softening the hard callouses on the hearts of the lost. Which makes Jesus' emphasis of the subject rather relevant and appropriate. Which can be a very long and slow process, but necessary if we want any real and lasting results. Granted we have decades of poor methodology in love, correction, and teaching to contend with. But we must restart somewhere.

The Visual PARABLEist

click to enlarge 

While the hard-hearted might seem impervious, keep this in mind. The harder things are, the more brittle they become.

Talentless?

The English word talent is defined as a natural aptitude or skill. The word is actually derived from the parable of talents. (Matthew 25:14-30) Which is what the parable was metaphorically talking about. But literally speaking, the Hebrew word talent was a unit of money equal to 6,000 drachmas. To give you perspective of how much that really is, one drachma was a standard days wage at the time. (Some newer translations replace the word talent with something more recognizable, like bag of gold.)

The aforementioned parable is probably more relevant today than ever. Since we are truly living in an age where most bury their talent in the ground only to falsely accuse God of not giving them any talent, just like the unfaithful servant does in the parable. But why is this? The parable itself says he did it out of fear of failing the master, which still rings true today. Church people are often too afraid of putting their talent to use for fear of judgment, or messing up and displeasing God. Not realizing that not trying, disappoints God far more than failure ever will. (See also Matthew 15:1-20 & 16:5-12) Yet it goes much deeper than that, so let me address these fears and perceptions about being talentless with a little science that just happens to make the truth of this parable come to life.

A group of developmental psychologists seeking to answer the question, is creativity inherent or merely learned, embarked on a long term study of the subject. They did so by observing many different children over the course of years. Their conclusions were, all children are born creative, it's non-creative behavior that is learned; REALLY. All their observations indicated that all children start showing signs of creativity very early, but things like routine and structure tend to teach us that creativity has little use. Also, a lack of encouragement, and a desire for acceptance teaches us it's better to forsake creative efforts. To just bury that part of our lives in a hole if you will.

Which is why so many creative adults tend to be loners. I say that because the trait that makes loaners the way they are, is that they are not as motivated by acceptance as the average person is. They would much rather be true to their gifts than compromise themselves for the sake of social integration. A tendency that they are often criticized for, which only reenforces their behavior, not change it. Since that constant criticism teaches them that relationships are a source of misery, not fulfillment.

Which is a huge obstacle for the church. Since the Biblical model for church (1 Cor.12:12-31) of sharing our diverse talents through service of one another, so that all benefit (Rom. 12:10, 1 Cor. 12:7) completely defies human nature and social norms. Since the people who are most self-aware, and have developed their talent often feel out of place within group dynamics. Where the ones who want to be part of a collective, tend to not be self-aware enough to know what they have to offer the group. So as you can see, we need more than mere human knowledge to make this lofty model for church work. However, the church was never meant to use human understanding to apply the unity in diversity concept, but rather scripture reveals that it's the Holy Spirit that makes it work. And guess what, the Holy Spirit will not necessarily revolve everything around your comfort, or your preferences, and he definitely will not direct you towards uniformity of gifting, which is what most people prefer, and are comfortable with. Nor, will he tell you to leave your talent buried in the ground and merely warm a pew every Sunday. That is not what the biblical model of church is about.

As you can see, discovering our talent isn't just a learning process, but an unlearning process as well. Unlearning what the world has told us about our talent, and a matter of remembering when we chose to forsake it, and where we buried it. A matter of embracing a role of a servant, not an entitled consumer. A matter of embracing all our diverse skills, not seeking a one size fits all church.

The Visual PARABLEist

Click to Enlarge

. . . throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. -Matthew 25:30

Anxiety

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. -1 Peter 5:7

   The above verse is a very popular and often quoted verse. But, how does one actually do that? Not long ago I was discussing this verse with someone. In that conversation they flat out admitted that they had no idea how to apply it, or how it is supposed to work in a practical sense. I didn't have an answer for him either. 

  Well in my routine reading I came across this very verse, and noticed something about the context that I hadn't before. Which I might not have if not for that earlier conversation. This verse is actually part of a larger passage on the subject of humility. Take a moment to contemplate that.

   Casting our anxiety upon God actually requires humility on our part. Which brings up the question, have you been treating it that way in application? Or are you just pleading with God to take your anxiety away without having to humble yourself, or admit to anything. The very fact that a believer is experiencing anxiety, might very well be a sign that they are taking part in a less than Christ like attitude in some way. Like giving into fear, not truly trusting in God's provision or council, confusing your preferences for principle, not correcting in a loving manner, or basing your happiness on human approval rather than being God's heir. These are all things that need to be repented of, and apparently repentance requires having enough humility to address misguided behaviors and willful sins honestly. 

   While this one detail may not be all there is to know about 1 Peter 5:7, but it is a start that needs to taken into consideration.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. -Romans 12:3

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. -James 4:10

The Visual PARABLEist

click to enlarge

Servanthood?

 The other day in my routine reading I came across Mark 10:35-45. Which got me thinking that within the church, the idea of leadership training keeps coming up more frequently all the time. Sometimes a church will even go as far as to have a workshop or host a seminar on the subject. Yet, Biblically speaking, shouldn't it be servant training? Service is a rather crucial part of discipleship after all. A very neglected part of discipleship I dare say. Which begs the question, why is this?

For one, servanthood has a rather negative stigma in our self-indignant culture. If we did indeed try to host a servant training seminar, rather than a leadership one, how much response do you think we would seriously get. Yet are the kind of people who would be turned off by the humble role of a servant, the kind of people we would want as leaders of the church. Yet, aren't such people the ones with the most influence in the church right now? Is this not a sign that worldly values may have too much influence within the church? 

However, the desire to possess authority is not the only thing that dissuades people from servanthood. Sometimes it is just the opposite. There are plenty of people who have absolutely no desire to take on the daunting task of leadership, but such people are not necessarily interested in the responsibility of servanthood either. Presently there is a rather large group of people in the church that only wants to be served. An attitude that stems from a sense of inadequacy, brokenness, or they are just too wrapped up in their battle with self to get involved with servanthood. A sign that far too many people are fighting their battles all alone. Which is an indicator that our leaders haven't served the church the way they should be, by standing by them, and advising them through their battles with the flesh. Nor have we taught them to walk with God or seek his council in our spiritual struggles in a practical enough a way. 

I contend that if we were embracing Biblical servanthood as we should, we would be inspiring people to become servants themselves. Plus, we would be getting past this shallow faith that is so common right now. Instead, I see a bunch of broken soldiers. Many of which are going awol when our leaders push them onto the front lines of outreach. The ones that remain seek only the emotional boost the church offers once or twice a week. A boost that they have grown dependent upon to ease the pain of their wounds, since their two-dimensional doesn't get them any farther than that. 

I think it is time we consider the role of servanthood in our discipleship again. Without it, we will remain stuck where we are. 

Jesus' example on servanthood 

John 13:1-17

Joshua's instructions for taking over Moses' role as servant.

Joshua 1:1-9

The Visual PARABLEist

Click to Enlarge

Fear of Self

For Lent this year, rather than giving up something, I set a goal for myself. To make some real progress on something that I started, but have been neglecting. I must admit I did not get off to a very good start. Rather than beat myself up over it, I asked myself why am I avoiding this particular journey. I processed the answer through art, as I often do. Hence the drawing below, which I call Annabelle's Box. Which is a take off of the myth of Pandora. (Annabelle, being a recurring character that represents the lost part of ourselves.)

Click to enlarge

The simply stated answer being, The task requires facing some difficult questions about myself. I'm sure many believers have some virtual Pandora's box in our lives. That one thing we fear facing because of the pain behind it, and try to pretend is not there. The issue we would just assume leave alone, because we may let loose something too dangerous to contain again. Not that ignoring anything ever helps. It's not as if we have to acknowledge something in order for it to have an adverse effect upon our lives.

Yet, what this attitude may reveal is that we are choosing to believe in the shame, and weakness we feel about ourselves, rather than have faith in God's promises about forgiveness, deliverance, transformation, and the strength he offers those who seek him. 

2 Corinthians 4:1-12 & 12:1-10, Psalm 33:1-22, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Isaiah 53:1-12

Or even worse, we are treating God's comfort as an excuse to avoid, rather than a means to overcome. Take Elijah; for example. When he sat under the broomtree, he was clearly looking for a way out. Like we look for ways out of our spiritual responsibilities, including facing our brokenness. But, what Elijah got was the strength to press on. (1 Kings 19:1-18)

Consider this Jesus may be placing something before you right now, a scar from your past, a self-destructive behavior, an error in the understanding of your beliefs, a bad attitude, an unanswered call, something you want to forever leave locked away in your heart.  Like he did with everyone from the teachers of the law, to the rich man in Matthew 19. The question is, will we respond as the pharisees did, and maintain a cosmetic righteousness that only camouflages the wickedness in our hearts. Or will you respond like the woman at the well did, and embrace it as an opportunity to overcome.

I can only image how much these attitudes of avoidance have paralyzed the "Body of Christ." Just imagine what the church could accomplish if we had the courage to finally face ourselves, and deal with the things that impede us.

By the way, I am in deed moving forward on my goal again.

The Visual PARABLEist