Peter, Paradigm Shifting, and Inclusiveness

In chapter 10 of the Book of Acts, we see Cornelius, a Gentile and Roman officer; experience a visitation from God by way of a vision. In the vision, he is encouraged to call upon the Apostle Peter to come to his house and teach him and his family all that Peter has learned from Jesus (vv. 1-8, 33). Meanwhile, Peter is having a different kind of vision from the Lord. His vision includes a large sheet and many different types of animals typically thought of as unclean to practicing Jews. However, the Lord tells Peter that what He, God, has cleansed, is not to be considered unclean.

As this drama unfolds, Peter is standing front and center in the home of Cornelius and his family teaching them about salvation in Jesus Christ. To Peter’s astonishment, they all accept the free gift of salvation by believing on the name of Jesus Christ. The reason Peter knew this was because “the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word” (v. 44, ESV). God then and there confirmed to Peter that He was, is, and always will be the God all, not just the God of Israel.

However, as we read in Chapter 11, the leadership of the young and emerging churched birthed in Christ were not convinced; and when Peter appeared to them, they grilled him on how could such a thing as Gentiles being baptized be ordained of God. Peter gave an eloquent defense, concluding with the following:

“If therefore God gave them  the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

When they heard these things they became silent; and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” (Peter to the apostles and brethren in Jerusalem and their response, Acts 11:17-18, NKJV).

Silence and the work of the Spirit

I picture significant soul-searching and prayer going on in the phrase, “they became silent.” What Peter spoke to these men was a seismic paradigm shift; even though they had already witnessed Jesus reaching out to the Gentiles while in His earthly ministry, they still held to their old notions of exclusivity. These men had significant leadership responsibility in the emerging church and they wanted to do their best; but upon hearing Peter’s account they had to stop and deeply consider the serious implications of his words.

I imagine they were thinking something like this, “Could it really be true that those we’ve called ‘dogs’ are now part of the family?”  To agree with Peter meant inviting…them…into the very heart of life with God. But in that gap of silence it appears that the Lord filled these men with many words of confirmation, so much so, this record closes with cheerful expression of glorifying God (11:18).

My View vs. God's View
This record leads me to ask, “How does this apply to my Twenty First Century life?” It reminds me of the many times I have said to myself and to others, “Boy, if he’d just believe he’d be a great Christian.” Such a phrase has usually been applied to someone who is, frankly, like me; talk about exclusivity! Thankfully I have recognized this trait and have made strides of change. Besides, who am I to judge what a “great Christian” is or is not; no one except the Lord foresaw Paul and his conversion and subsequent impact for the Kingdom. Clearly this record shows that holding to notions of heritage or similarity as determiners of who will or won’t be in God’s family is absurd and ungodly. The early leaders of the church quickly recognized this and, as this record indicates, glorified God for His grace and mercy being extended beyond their original expectations. They had courage to respond positively to God, so we must as well.

God and Cultural Diversity

I’ve been away from blogging for awhile because I have again enrolled in Seminary, now I am at Corban University, School of Ministry. I just finished my first semester, and it appears I fared okay. Anyway, one of the assignments in my Ministering Cross-Culturally class was to speak about our impressions of a passage in Revelation 5.

⁹ And they sang a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.” ^(NIV)

All From Everywhere

While I don’t want to be trite I can’t help but invoke the tune “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe. The gathering described in this section is beyond imagination and instills in me a deep sense of awe and worship. As I think that one day I will be able to worship the Lamb is staggering; what’s more, is thinking about how I will be worshipping with my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord—astounding! Perhaps this is the core message of the genuine value of cultural diversity, that not only are we all made in the image of God, but that He wills that we are all saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). While not all will be saved, the picture is that God desires that they all be saved, and by “they” I mean all from everywhere, no respecter of persons, no hand-picking, no discrimination, no socioeconomic assessment and on and on….

An inclusive God is patiently waiting to have His family gathered at His throne, what are we (what am I) doing to facilitate that awesome and glorious gathering? And right now, even today, I may very well be the conduit of the Lord that draws another into the family to be at that great and glorious gathering. What, if anything, is standing in the way of me being that conduit? If there is anything standing in the way, eradicate it so one more soul can sing alongside me, “Worthy is the Lamb!”

The Lawyer, the Dawning and the Good Samaritan

Recently, in a class I’m taking at Corban University, the professor asked us to look at Luke 10:25-37, the parable about the Good Samaritan, as if we were reading it for the first time. As I attempted this, unexpected thoughts came flooding in.

 

I was raised by a lawyer, entertained going to law school myself, but have instead worked in government for over 26 years. I understand, have written, and enforce statutes, rules, policies, and procedures. So for the first time, I somehow related to the lawyer, maybe I never have before because I know we typically want to point our fingers at him to condemn him as arrogant and bigoted; he’s the guy we don’t want to be. Could it be, however, that we all have a little bit of this guy in us?

Insecurity or More?

I’ve read commentaries that state his question about “who’s my neighbor” reveals insecurity. They’re probably right because the commentators are smarter than me, but could it be that the guy was really confused and scared that all he knew could be wrong? Yes, he's testing Jesus, and traditional thinking suggests he's motivated by wanting to make Jesus look bad so that he can look good to the religious leaders. But consider for a moment that he could also have a deeper desire to know what is truly right and wrong; and his position allows him access to Jesus to pose such questions. Maybe he’s a bureaucrat that really wants to do the “right thing” but Jesus is clearly revealing that “right” is different than what he’s ever known. If so, insecurity seems too simplistic a description; maybe he really wanted to know the truth but when the truth was revealed it over-amped his ability to process it immediately. As the parable progresses, it only adds to his confusion, but if he’s willing, it will also illuminate within him a deeper understanding.

Then there’s the record itself. A “certain man” goes from Jerusalem to Jericho. I think by implication we can assume he’s a Jew. He gets robbed and beaten up pretty badly. This is an ugly scene, but hopefully the “good guy” will come along to help this poor soul. Well, culturally, the good guy does indeed come along, in fact, he comes along in two ways—a priest and a Levite—and neither one stops to help. In fact, each goes out of his way to avoid helping what we assume to be a person just like them. So who does help him, the culturally prescribed bad guy—a Samaritan. Jesus has completely reversed the stereotypes of that day. Frankly, he’s also reversed the stereotypes of our day as well.

The Dawning

The record ends with the lawyer admitting that the one, the Samaritan, “who showed mercy” was the neighbor to the one that had been beaten up. Even though the lawyer wasn’t quite able to say the word ‘Samaritan’, he at least seems to grasp the teaching—a neighbor, a person helping another person—isn’t based on heritage or status, but on need. To “go and do likewise” is to recognize that God is not responding based on culture or social status, but on need and we’re called to do the same. To be like Jesus we need to be prepared to enter into the other person’s world with a heart of compassion, not judgment or condemnation. As we do this, we’ll begin to better understand that God is the God of all humanity, not just the God of our church, or race, or country. And remember, God states very clearly in Genesis that we are all made in His image.  And Jesus, God in the flesh, served those in need, Jews, Samaritans, and even Gentiles. 

Jesus, the Centurion, and Cultural Engagement

I’m watching traffic on River Road flow by while sitting in an overly air conditioned Starbucks.

Would Jesus hang out at Starbucks? A stupid question, I know; but recently I’ve been studying selective Gospel readings (as suggested by Chris Webb in The Fire of the Word) and am being moved at how Jesus approached humanity with dignity, respect, and love.

Take for instance the encounter between Jesus and the Roman Centurion (see Matthew 8:5-13).  Jesus has travelled down a mountain, healed a leper, and is now entering Capernaum, a city on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. He’s tired, has grit in His mouth and is thirsty. Before He can find comfort, probably before He can even find shade, the Roman Centurion approaches Him. Now watch this exchange carefully.

“Lord,” says the Roman. “My servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Worry is etched into every line on the Roman’s sun-baked face while hope pools behind his dark brown eyes.

Jesus locks eyes with the Roman, and laying a hand on his shoulder he says, “I will come and heal him.”  Jesus’ tone is confident and unflustered.

I’m astounded by this exchange. Typically Romans are merely tolerant of Israel’s faith at best. They never seek any sort of guidance or help from the faith of the Jews. In fact, they dismiss their faith as archaic, preferring instead to place their faith in the ingenuity of humanity—mainly via engineering and government (eerily similar to our culture). Israel also has no love-fest for the Romans. To them, the Romans are a hedonistic culture of depravity that needs to be expelled from their land.

So the Roman Centurion has three strikes against him; he’s a Gentile, a Roman, and a high-ranking officer of the Roman army. If anyone exemplifies the Jews’ hatred toward the Roman occupation it would be this Centurion. To the Romans, Jesus has gone from being another self-proclaimed but harmless Holy man to someone who actually performs miracles while amassing a large following.  Therefore, He’s now on their “watch list” for His potential to stir civic unrest.

So back to our scene. Jesus enters the militarily strategic city of Capernaum and is immediately approached by this high-ranking Roman officer. It looks to be the development of a somewhat hostile encounter. The crowd gasps and stops in their tracks as the two men near each other, is this going to be high noon at the OK Corral?

But studying the men’s faces perplexes the crowd. The Roman’s face is pleading and not fierce; his eyebrows are moving toward his scalp rather than pinching down on his eyes. His jaw is loose and not clinched in gritted teeth and a sneer. Jesus’ face is relaxed as His nose bridge begins to wrinkle with concern. His eyes are looking straight into the Roman’s; there is no fear, only concern.

The crowd normally expects the Roman’s first words to be ones of challenge or threat; this time, however, they are stunned as the Roman addresses Jesus as “Lord.” Few Jews had even addressed Jesus as Lord, much less a Roman officer. In this one word the Roman is publicly proclaiming his faith in Jesus as the Messiah. But we will see later, that this is just the tip of this man’s faith.

Jesus’ first response is equally surprising; He proclaims that He will go the sick servant immediately. Jesus could have easily and justifiably told this Gentile-Roman-Officer to take a hike. But notice that Jesus cared for the man’s heart and did not judge him or react to him based on his culturally imposed labels.

As I begin to close this first of two installments about this record, I want to leave you with a quick comparison. Our culture has become more polarized than at any other time in my life (I’m 50, so I’ve been around a while). In today’s parlance, the two main characters could be a liberal and a conservative; or gay and straight; or rich and homeless; or a Yankee fan and a Red Sox fan. The point is that both of these men shed their cultural labels and biases toward the other to instead approach each other with respect and dignity.  Jesus Himself modeled this approach to humanity throughout His ministry. He still wants to model this approach to humanity by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit in each of our lives. Are we willing to cooperate with Jesus rather than succumbing to cultural labels and expectations?

The next installment, for the two of you that actually read my blog, will explore the startling conclusion of this amazing record.

Gag Orders and Wisdom

There’s a lot of so-called “hate-speak” out there today.  What’s disturbing to me is not so much the attacks on Christianity, as much as Christians engaging in the same tactics.  Must we stoop to the level of the world when trying to get our point across?  Do we have to criticize a YouTube presentation that extols Christ but condemns religion?  Doesn’t the criticism just support the very basis of the presentation? Wouldn’t it be wiser to just be an example of Christ while accepting that people have been badly hurt in the name of religion?

I realize that our culture is just too darn sensitive. Or stated more honestly, the influencers of our culture—celebrities, media, politicians, and even some religious icons—don’t like messages that contradict their lifestyles. So rather than remaining open to other ideas, they just cast other ideas as offensive or bigoted.  By doing this, of course, they are themselves narrow-minded and bigoted. But since they have greater cultural influence and the attendant social and economic power that comes with that influence, they’re able to gag the other ideas. 

But to counter such gagging, we need to be wiser in our communication.  Rather than extolling hostility, we need to learn how to proclaim our message in a way that doesn’t water down the truth but also doesn’t stoop to the level of name-calling or finger-pointing. Do we really need to condemn entire people-groups to proclaim the love of Jesus? Do you not see the irony in this? 

I am not at all drawn to Facebook or Twitter postings that totally insult my faith or political preferences. Those insults just drive me further away from their message.  Don’t you think they are also driven away from us for the same reasons? If they want me to take them seriously, then they need to engage me with respect and dignity.  We must do the same. Otherwise, we might as well dig in and prepare to win fewer and fewer souls for Christ while we watch our churches die. If we can’t figure out a way to engage winsomely, we will continue to lose this so-called culture war. (It’s actually a spiritual war, see Ephesians 6:10ff.)

A truly counter-cultural engagement would be one that shows respect and dignity toward humanity. Think about it, God made people in His own image. Granted, people are the ones who employ evil and extol sinful lifestyles as normal and acceptable. But the very same people are broken and lost (just like we were, or perhaps still are). We can’t win them to Christ and pull them out of the gates of Hell by belittling them or spewing the same verbal venom on them that they spew on us. 

Let’s see, who was it that said, “Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?”  Oh yes, it was Jesus! (See Luke 23:34.) My heart breaks when I see friends bash Jesus and I pray for wisdom on how to reach them. But I know if I just come at them like I think they’re stupid, they’ll just disown me and my message. And even if I “counter-post” on their Facebook a blistering, intellectual retort to their anti-Christian message, I’ve just played right into Satan’s hands. Therefore, I must figure out a different method of reaching them that isn’t the same hate-filled method they use. But I’m too feeble to figure that out on my own, so I must look to the Lord for wisdom on how to properly engage such anti-Christ hatefulness. 

So far I don’t have an answer…do you?            

Danger of Reductionism

 

Satan would love nothing more than for the child of God to reduce the freely given gift of Salvation to nothing more than a trump card played upon death. He works hard to get us to quench the working of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives and to minimize the power and freedom available to us through the accomplished work of Christ on the Cross.  Once successful of this, Satan has rendered the child of God ineffective, useless for the Kingdom of God. Even worse, once a child of God wanders far enough away from God, he may begin exhibiting a lifestyle contrary to biblical ethics, thus dishonoring the very God that saved him from Hell.  This plays right into Satan’s hands.

To combat this God calls us to a life of transformation: 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Roman 12:1-2, ESV.)

Eugene Peterson has this to say:

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. (Romans 12:2a, MSG.)

While it’s true that Christianity is being attacked more aggressively in this culture than ever before, may it that not freak us out or cause us to fear expressing the truth of Jesus Christ.  I once heard a speaker say that we try to destroy that which we most fear; I find that quite interesting, as it sure seems that Satan is working harder to destroy Christianity more than anything else in this country.  That alone speaks loudly to the truth of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as we allow God to transform our lives not only will we thwart Satan’s desires, but we’ll also shine as the light God is calling us to be (see Matthew 5:14).  

Thanksgiving Re-set

…for I am not always thankful even though I have so much to be thankful for.   How about you?  Does thankfulness just roll out of your pores like sweat at mile 20 of a marathon or do you struggle with it like when your mother made you eat beets? 

Honestly, as silly as it sounds, I sometimes struggle with it.  The big question is why?  The answer, of course, is quite complicated; but simply put, I have been fooled by the lure of the so-called American Dream—more stuff means a better status which means more joy.  Poppycock; what nonsense to think that inanimate stuff (which really means “junk”) will bring true and lasting joy. 

First John 1:3b-4 has this to say about joy: 

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

True joy, which is a sense of unflappable inner happiness, comes from an honest and vital relationship with God by way of Jesus Christ.  No Christ, no joy. Expressing this relationship to others cements the joy deep in our soul. 

So as Thanksgiving 2011 is now in our rearview mirror, we can still be thankful because of Jesus Christ.  I know a bold statement like this turns a lot of people off, that’s why the message of Christ is so watered down.  But stop and think about it, why are so many people turned off by the things of Christ? People are often turned off to Christ, and thus miss the joy in Christ, because so many Christ-followers do a less than inspiring job of exhibiting Christ.  So much of “Christian engagement” nowadays is really nothing more than stooping to joyless and combative blame-shifting. 

But as we recall the words of Jesus, we begin to realize His message was quite different:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38).

Pondering these words deeply, I find conviction creeping up over my heart.  I begin realizing that my “love meter” for both God and man registers too often on the “low” side. No wonder I struggle with thanksgiving, I’ve blocked God’s joy in my soul by allowing my ‘love tank’ to run too close to empty.

So where does Thanksgiving really begin?  It begins with love.  And where does love begin?  Love begins with God:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, emphasis mine).

Cultural Engagement and Loving Our Neighbor

“I can’t go to church,” he said to me.

“Why not,” I ask.

“Because I wouldn’t be accepted.”

“What do you mean?”

“If people found out that I’m……..”

Have you ever had this conversation?  If so, then feel free to fill in the blank.  If it helps, cast the last sentence thusly, “If people found out that I’ve….”

I think many people are interested in Jesus but are turned off by Christians.  There is significant data from Barna and others suggesting that Christians are seen as judgmental and hostile to those things that aren’t Christian.  For instance, there may be a person in our sphere of influence that is interested in our faith but is afraid to approach such a conversation because they know their lifestyle or their view on the sanctity of life is different than mine, seeing as I’m a Christian and all.  So they shy away from all things Christ so as not to either spark my ire or endure another berating of how wrong I think they are. 

While the stigma against Christians is often over-reported, there is still ample data we should take heed to.  Is our hostility toward those who hold a different worldview winning many lives to Christ?  Are we winning the eternal battle for people’s souls by being belligerent?

Throughout the history of the church, popular culture has waged war against Christianity; so recent onslaughts by various special-interest groups ought not to surprise us too much.  Yes, there are certain groups pressuring Apple to remove certain applications from their iStore, and yes there are court battles to remove crosses from public places, and yes, the sanctity of life is being fought out in many state houses nationwide.  These are stark reminders that we live in a fallen world, a world that increasingly calls what is bad, good; and what is good, bad.  But what’s important for Christians is how we respond to this.

I’m not saying we don’t state our points and properly fight for what is right, but perhaps it isn’t the fight that is as important as how we fight.  And perhaps “fight” is the wrong word; perhaps the better word is “engage.”  How do we lovingly, yet firmly, engage a culture that we know is continuing to slip into moral oblivion? 

Jesus clearly taught that we should first love God, and then we should love our neighbor as ourselves.  In light of this, I suggest that being overly concerned about engaging our culture has overshadowed our need to love God with all our heart.  If we genuinely seek God with all our heart, then we will be more receptive to what the Holy Spirit is directing us to do and to say.  As we love our neighbor as ourselves, then more people will turn to the Lord regardless if crosses stay up on hills or get torn down.