hullabaloo

christianity 101

Over the years in church, either as a child or young adult "in" the church, or as an adult "leading" some aspect of church, I've come across many things that have puzzled me.  But the one that puzzles me most is the one that is most associate with consumeristic, capitalistic western culture, and much less to do with actual christianity.  This, of course, is the need for "more".  Please dont misunderstand, sometimes more is good.  I, for one, want "more" of Jesus.  That's pretty much it.  Anything else I want more of is most likely evil, and rooted in self-service.  I want to see him more, be him to another more, understand him more, love him more.  That sort of thing.  But more often than not, when I hear of wanting "more", it's tagged with things like growth, depth, truth, spirituality.  That is, "I need 'more' depth, truth, growth, spirituality, etc."  And the need or desire for that is most likely not so much in error, as is the method by which it is sought.

I've heard things like, basic v. advanced christianity; going to the next level; christianity 101; growing deeper in my walk.  You've heard it too.  The idea that some things are for "new" christians, and other things are for older, or more experienced ones.  I would contend that only applies in the area of service.  

Put it this way.  In terms of teaching, there are probably two main methods.  One is strategic-building.  Take for instance math.  I won't start you out with calculus, or trigonometry.  Rather, I'll start you with basic numbers, counting.  Then simple addition.  Then multiplication, division.  Then, if I really dont like you, eventually I'll move you on to algebra.  Marital arts is the same way.  The other method would be full emersion.  I'm told a second language is best learned this way.  I mean, if you want to eat....

When teaching about Christianity, don't we have to do full emersion (Baptists, beware.  I'm not talking about baptism here =]).  Do we say, "Jesus loves you", and leave it at that for now.  Then later on, convince you that you are sinful and in need of restoration?  Like, that's a 3rd year sort of thing?  Or do we just fully emerge you in the whole story.  God authored creation.  Man messed up.  Since then we've been trying to either be God or reconnect to him.  We fall short.  Jesus came to fulfill the law showing our need for him.  He died violently, fully satisfying God's wrath towards evil (not towards man, but towards those things in our hearts that are evil and lead us to injustice and inhuman acts).  Our only requirement is to acknowledge our need for him, repent, and surrender ourselves fully to his service and his fame.  I mean.  From there, everything else pretty much falls in line with figuring out how to make me less, and him more.  Unless I missed a piece.

C.S. Lewis says is like this in Mere Christianity, as quoted in A Year with C.S. Lewis, "We were considering the Christian idea of 'putting on Christ', or first 'dressing up' as a son of God in order that you may finally become a real son.  What I want to make clear is that this is not one among many jobs a Christian has to do; and it is not a sort of special exercise for the top class.  It is the whole of Christianity.  Christianity offers nothing else at all....The Christian way is different; harder, and easier.  Christ says 'Give me All.  I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down" (191).  

The way I see it, there are really two "levels" of christianity.  Nominal christianity, and the one who is fully devoted.  Nominal christianity will offer small pieces of himself here and there.  The fully devoted will say, here I am, send me.  The nominal christian will want to take a season "for me" which is rationalized to say that we are growing deeper, more spiritual, more knowledgeable and ready to "give a defense", accumulating and "being fed" more and more.  The fully devoted is interested in growing, grasping deeper truths, gaining more knowledge of historical and theological christianity; it's just that this knowledge and depth and truth and understanding isn't required to actually do the things Jesus has called him to.

If there were a difference, it would be the extent to which a person is willing to die to himself (that is, to remove from center stage the things that he most needs or wants and thinks important for his own benefit) and allow Christ in him.

Wanting "more" depth and truth aren't wrong, or even a bad idea.  But if I were to want to make my car last longer, I might use synthetic oil, not tint the windows.  No doubt tinting the windows will improve the quality of my drive, and might even make me want to drive it longer, but it will do nothing to improve the tenure of the engine.  

None of this is to say that we should not desire study - far from it.  Much of my philosophy of ministry is, and always has been, that we should be teaching much less morality, and much more theology.  The first is about my behavior and the latter is about God's nature.  One is me-centric, the other, theo-centric.  I'd love for everyone who attends PHCC to consider themselves a theologian.  Not that they have it mastered.  But that they are brave enough to tackle the difficult things.  The stuff that just doesn't make sense.  After all, one of the greatest attributes of a theologian is her ability to say, "I don't know, but I'm willing to try and find out".  

Growing in Jesus simply means one thing.  Growing in your love and passion for him.  But it snowballs.  Because increased love and passion for him, means increased care and compassion for those around you.  That is to say, true christian depth is in further giving one's self away, rather than increased and continued accumulation.  Oh, may we grow in deed!  May we eat to live, and not live to eat.

a "childlike" faith

In Matthew 18:3-4, we read, "and he [Jesus] said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

As a result, many of us prayed something like, "God give me the faith of a child".  We have desired childlike faith.

Until I had kids I thought this meant something than I realise that it means today.  Before I had kids I thought it meant something more like a soldier would say.  "Mine is not to question why.  Mine is but to do or die".  That's the way I remember it being taught, after all.  So many of the preachers I've ever heard have explained that Jesus was telling us not to doubt him, but to just trust and follow.  "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, but to trust and obey" as the old hymn tells us.

But like I said.  Then I had kids.  I didn't ever think my kids would question my directions to them.  Well, I knew they would as adolescents.  Certainly as teenagers.  But as babies?  Toddlers?  No way.  It would be obvious to them of my innate intelligence and their God-given, neigh, God-mandated, desire for complete and total allegiance to thine, oh dearest father.  I was wrong.  First time for everything.

My kids don't always, or normally, just do what I say without questioning my orders.  In truth, it annoys me.  They should just fall in line and do what I tell them.  It's why I'm a hypocrite, actually.  Because my most valued trait is my need to question.  My need to wonder if this is the best laid plan of action.  My need to doubt the norm, and even suggest that I might need understanding.  That is, I'd really like to want to do something, rather than just do it because it's proper.  Call me crazy.  Yet, you'd think I'd love the fact that the fruits didn't fall far from the tree in my home.  That, like their old man, my kids want to know why.  Sometimes they should just trust me and do what I say.  But sometimes, in order to grasp a heartfelt desire to do what I really want them to do, they need to know why.  They need to ask questions.

Now, let me tell you what my kids most certainly are.  They are absolutely, totally and completely dependent on me.  Well, on me and Amy.  Just the other day, I had to change Bristoe's diaper.  You'd think after 2+ years the kid could do that on his own.  Oh and a few weeks ago, we were at a restaurant and I asked Kylie if she wouldn't mind paying this time.  She said, "sure!"  And asked for my credit card.

Hmm.  A childlike faith.  A faith that asks questions, has doubts, needs answers, wants understanding.  But one that acknowledges ones complete, total and absolute dependence on someone else.  That someone, indeed, being Jesus Messiah, the one who takes away the sins of the world.  The one who set everything in motion, and continues to realign, readjust and reconfigure the things we continue to do to set the world off track once again.  Yes.  This is a childlike faith.  One of dependency.  Not one of blind, mindless followship.

what is a church?

"I go to church."

"I'll see you at church."

"Can we borrow some tables from the church?"

"What time is church?"

"What's the church's address?"

"Let's meet up at the church."

"I want to have my wedding at a church."

"Is the funeral going to be at the church or a funeral home?"

Over the past many years, people have been talking about what the "church" is, and what it is not.  We say that the church is the people of God, not an institution, building, or service event.  We tell people that go to church, "the church does not exist for you.  You are the church, and the church is here to serve the needs of the world".  That make sense.  Sort of.

Because the "church" is still a 501(c)3 organization.  The church [sometimes] is represented by a building, and most of us still host worship gatherings on sunday mornings.  

But I wonder what the church would be, or should I say, how we would describe the church, if we were forced to remove words from our vocabulary like "building", "meeting", "sunday", "non-profit", "tax exempt", "pastor"; and limited our vocabulary to words like "body", "hands and feet", "the bride of Christ", "hope for the world", "light in the darkness"?

If you could wipe your memory of everything you've known of "church", then met Jesus all over again, how would you then organize people to the missio dei, the Mission of God, keeping in mind "mission" really means "sending"?

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