Paul's letter to the Colossians is one of my favorite letters found in the New Testament. This letter is underappreciated in my opinion. For me, this letter addresses some of the toughest challenges we have as Christians in our western culture. The letter addresses gnosticism (been around forever, but repackaged recently as The Secret), our identity (why don't we talk about this in the church?), and religion as idol.
One of the main themes (if not the main theme) in this letter is defining who Christ is, who we are in light of who Christ is and how we are to live in light of who we are in Christ. Some might claim this is actually three themes, but I would argue that these three are parts of a whole that can't be separated.
Too often, we approach the Bible looking for the "what". What am I supposed to do? What am I not supposed to do? When we do this we minimize our faith to a legalistic morality. I am not sure how you can take the Bible as a whole and imagine that this is the primary message God wants to communicate through His Word.
Instead, we must begin with the "why". Why should I live the way the Bible instructs me to live? What is my motivation? Colossians (and the Bible as a whole) begins with who God is and then defines who we are (identity) in relation to who God is and only then does it move on to discuss the implications of this. Think about the stories of Adam and Eve, Moses, Abraham, Peter, Paul, and yes, even Mary.
The NIV has headlined Colossians chapter 3 as "Rules for Holy Living". I believe this is evidence of our tendency to jump to the question of "what am I supposed to do" instead of starting with the motivation or who we are in relation to who God is. I believe a more accurate title for this chapter would be "Characteristics of a Holy Life". This reflects the importance of God's redeeming and sanctifying work in our lives as opposed to the idolatrous idea that somehow we can make ourselves holy buy following a list of rules.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Future of the UMC
Here is a pretty good article on the future of the Methodist Church. While I think my tolerance for the bureaucracy of the denomination is not as high as the author's I think he makes some good arguments.
http://www.genxrising.com/2009/03/denomination-in-dock.html
The question I have is, "how do these changes take place when the leadership of the denomination seems focused on keeping the status quo and whenever anyone challenges it/them they are written off as 'jumping ship' or 'not a team player'?"
Thoughts?
http://www.genxrising.com/2009/03/denomination-in-dock.html
The question I have is, "how do these changes take place when the leadership of the denomination seems focused on keeping the status quo and whenever anyone challenges it/them they are written off as 'jumping ship' or 'not a team player'?"
Thoughts?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Great Post
Tim Stevens is a pastor at Granger Community Church (a United Methodist Church). He posts this response to the Christian Science Monitor article that I briefly referenced a couple of posts ago. Check this post out at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m386YV2CNSD51Y.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Pathetically Accurate Quote
I take three magazines by subscription. Relevant, FASTCOMPANY and Entertainment Weekly. I only get one magazine by subscription. For some reason FASTCOMPANY and Relevant either can't keep up their part of the bargain, the US Postal service just wants to make me crazy, or two said magazines just plain don't like me.
Anyway, there is a great quote in Mark Harris' column about the whole ugliness that is Chris Brown and Rhianna. The part of the quote I was drawn to wasn't really about this situation, but rather a commentary on our American culture. In describing Rhianna's path to fame Harris writes,
"She lived the American Idol dream and didn't even have to stand before the judges and make that most creepily self-absorbed of all American Idol arguments--the one that goes, I deserve this more than the next guy because I want it sooooo much. That line of reasoning, by the way, probably deserves to be inscribed on the tombstone of this decade as it limps toward its internment."
Too true. So how do we, as the church and individual followers of Christ, lead in writing the inscription on the tombstone of the next decade differently?
Anyway, there is a great quote in Mark Harris' column about the whole ugliness that is Chris Brown and Rhianna. The part of the quote I was drawn to wasn't really about this situation, but rather a commentary on our American culture. In describing Rhianna's path to fame Harris writes,
"She lived the American Idol dream and didn't even have to stand before the judges and make that most creepily self-absorbed of all American Idol arguments--the one that goes, I deserve this more than the next guy because I want it sooooo much. That line of reasoning, by the way, probably deserves to be inscribed on the tombstone of this decade as it limps toward its internment."
Too true. So how do we, as the church and individual followers of Christ, lead in writing the inscription on the tombstone of the next decade differently?
Commentary vs. "What Am I Going To Do About It?"
So, there have been a couple of posts that I have thought about writing the last couple of weeks. One about my thoughts on the recent secession of a quickly growing, 700 member church from the UM denomination (probably guaranteeing them more effective ministry and envious complaining by the UM pastors in the area) and another about the fact that there has been a 15% drop of self-professed Christians in the last decade (which the author seems to be willing to make huge leaps in logic to attribute to the rise of mega-churches, that apparently are all built on consumerism by definition). I have a lot more I could say on both of these. And, I have made the mistake of over simplifying the issues and my response to both; a mistake that will cause some readers to respond harshly. Fine, my fault.
Here is the thing, though. Why? Why should I spend an afternoon pontificating, pointing fingers, taking side and then defending my position? Does that really do anyone any good? If I have to choose between engaging in social commentary or doing ministry, I am going to choose reaching out and serving others. Some people don't have to make this choice. They have time to do both (and I am not patronizing here; many people don't have two kids at home, other hobbies, etc). It's not that I don't want to engage the conversation. In fact, I stick my toes in the water from time to time (sometimes motivated by curiosity and sometimes motivated by my own ego). However, every time I do I have to deal with the conviction that I am not using my time faithfully (just to be clear, this is a personal issue; I am not accusing anyone else of being unfaithful for engaging these conversations).
Action is the bottom line. When the structure of the Methodist church becomes too big of a barrier for fulfilling my calling, I will leave (not out of the realm of possibilities). If I think the state of the church is in bad shape (and it may be), then I am going to do everything I can to be faithful in being a part of the church that I think we as Christians are called to be.
Do I have opinions on these issues (and others)? If you know me, you know I do! But until I feel lead that my opinions will make a bigger difference then my actions....well, you get the picture.
Here is the thing, though. Why? Why should I spend an afternoon pontificating, pointing fingers, taking side and then defending my position? Does that really do anyone any good? If I have to choose between engaging in social commentary or doing ministry, I am going to choose reaching out and serving others. Some people don't have to make this choice. They have time to do both (and I am not patronizing here; many people don't have two kids at home, other hobbies, etc). It's not that I don't want to engage the conversation. In fact, I stick my toes in the water from time to time (sometimes motivated by curiosity and sometimes motivated by my own ego). However, every time I do I have to deal with the conviction that I am not using my time faithfully (just to be clear, this is a personal issue; I am not accusing anyone else of being unfaithful for engaging these conversations).
Action is the bottom line. When the structure of the Methodist church becomes too big of a barrier for fulfilling my calling, I will leave (not out of the realm of possibilities). If I think the state of the church is in bad shape (and it may be), then I am going to do everything I can to be faithful in being a part of the church that I think we as Christians are called to be.
Do I have opinions on these issues (and others)? If you know me, you know I do! But until I feel lead that my opinions will make a bigger difference then my actions....well, you get the picture.