Advent

Christ is coming. He has come, and He will come again. This is the message of Advent.

Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.

Day 4: Pop Character

Tuesday morning. I saw my daughter off to school before I left this morning. She clung to my legs and said to me, “I love you Papa,” and I cried. It’s all about being the Papa.

I don’t want to talk about serious stuff today. I especially don’t want to talk about knowledge. I just want to be. I want to let it all start to sink in so that it changes me into a better Papa. My table was taken this morning by a group of chatting ladies who obviously did not know that I’m the Papa. The wind was blowing so hard that dirt from the recent burn zones blocked out the sun and moved all the Daily Grind customers inside. Wind makes for strange conversation. While waiting for Mark I joined a talk with three ladies about children, which was on my mind already. One spoke about her wild three year old boy, another about getting ready to have kids.

“I’ll probably have a red head,” she exclaimed, “because my husband has red hair and my sister has fire engine red hair.”

I told them how great it was being the Papa and they laughed with me. It was all wonderful until they started talking about contraception, then I got embarrassed. I just can’t talk about sex openly like that. {My wife thinks it’s pretty funny}.

“My brother came out the pill in his hand my mom always says,” joked Diane, the blonde with the wild boy.

“Yea,” joined Sarah from behind the counter, “my parents could name the malfunctioning prophylactic with each child.”

Woa, I’m out of this one. Look at that strudel over there. How about another cup of tea? Thank God that Mark walked in right then and I had an honorable excuse to leave the chat on that note.

Mark was holding something in his hands but I couldn’t see what it was. The smile on his face made me worried and after that conversation I had no idea what would be in that bag. 

Mark: Got something for ya.

Robert: What’d you do that for?

Mark: I was in Santa Monica a few nights ago when I saw this and just had to get it for you.

{He opened the bag to reveal a bar of soap. Okay, it was a bar of soap in the shape of Jesus.}

Mark: Hope-On-A-Rope soap! Read the back.

Robert: “Wash your sins away with Hope-On-A-Rope. Remember, only good clean living with get you to heaven so this is the perfect way to cleanse your body and soul.”

Mark: Is that great or what? Urban Outfitters.

Robert: I figured it had to be.

{Urban Outfitters somehow decided to bank on the stupid Christian products. What is better about theirs is that they are obvious that it’s a joke while some seem to be far too serious}.

Robert: I was in a Bible bookstore the other day and saw a pack of mints on the counter, Almighty Mints, named after a phrase about the breath of God breathing on you from the Psalms. I picked them up and held them in the face of the clerk and asked, “Are these a joke? Because if they are not, they are foul.” He shook his lowered head acknowledging his own embarrassment. Unfortunately, the good reputation of the Almighty God does not outweigh the almighty dollar.

Mark: Priests wear crucifixes, born-agains wear T-shirts. I don’t get it. Do they ward off evil somehow?

Robert: Something like that. The crucifix comparison is a good one. The Christian sub-culture has become so afraid of getting dirty from the rest of the nasty fallen humans in the world that they have to keep a safe distance at all times.

There was a time when Christian’s were normal human beings, interacting and participating in the culture in which they lived. In 21^st century America, Christianity has fled the culture and has created one of its own. We have our own language, politicians, music, art, scholarship, television stations, bookstores, candy, jewelry, wall hangings and toilet paper.

Mark: I was just talking about the rip-off shirts that I’ve seen. You’re saying that there is an entire sub-culture of Christian stuff?

Robert: Big time, there was $877 billion spent on the Christian trinket industry in the year 2000. But it all starts with the T-shirt. Christian culture wears clothes washed in the blood of the lamb.

That is how you know who belongs and who doesn’t.

If you are part of the Christian culture, you eat Bible Bars, food bars made from recipes found in the book of Deuteronomy. You eat Ezekiel 4:9 bread for breakfast in the morning. That one always makes me wonder. If you read chapter 4 of Ezekiel that bread is called the bread of affliction. It is what you eat when the city is under siege and there is no other food to be found. Now, we buy it like some Biblical health food. Hello!

Mark: I’ve had that bread, I kinda liked it. It was real nutty.

Robert: Me too. I’m not talking about the taste, I’m talking about christening it with a Bible passage.

Mark: I know there have been Christian bands for a long time. Some are on major labels.

Robert: I love that some really good bands cross over, but its never gone over well with the general Christian culture.

So, the Christian culture listens to Christian music only because a “c” cord sounds different when played by a Christian musician. They read Christian fiction by both authors. And they watch Real Videos on TBN instead of the Real World on MTV.

Mark: I always know the Christians around by the WWJD tattoo they wear on their forehead. Can you imagine an Orthodox Jew with WWMD across his yarmulke or a Buddhist monk with WWBD on his orange robe? I am not sure why Christians are the only ones who do that. But it seems like the trivialization of God if you ask me.

Robert: The trivialization of God is always a terrible thing. I see the problem as being when we think that this is what Christian living is. It would be sad if we mistook pop culture for true character, all we end up with is pop character.

Mark: I’m as sarcastic as anybody, Robert, but I think you’re being too rough.

Robert: I hear ya. I know it. I want to be. I’m not saying Christians don’t do any good in the world or even that the culture Christians have created doesn’t have some positive aspects {Even though I don’t personally think it should exist at all}.

What good do you see coming out of it?

Mark: Care for the poor & homeless. Aids relief. Promoting family values.

Robert: God bless Wordvision and Bono, but I wish I could say that these were the mainstream of Christian culture.

Social concern for the Christian culture is all about protecting the middle class status quo and their version of family values. They pray in school, even when the pagan administration says not to. They mock the science teacher any time the name of Darwin is mentioned. They don’t drink, smoke of have sex in front of the pastor. They watch rated R movies only late at night on home video and they never, never, never listen to Metalica, that is right out.

Mark: Dude, you’re doing it again.

Robert: I can’t help it. My point in being so obnoxious not to mock, but that you would know that these things are not what we are called to be as Christians. I don’t have any problem with Christian T-Shirts. I certainly don’t have problems with family values. Actually, I have a lot of respect for the guys doing the pro-family thing, all of them. But if we begin to think that that’s all there is, then we are missing what that comes first. We are missing the development of Christian character and a true heart that everything else flows out of.

{I was beginning to realize something here with Mark. We insiders have more trouble with the cheese that is produced in the name of Jesus than others seem to. He was just fine with whatever they wanted to do, Buddhists wear orange robes and Christians where stupid T-shirts.

Robert: I was reading GQ one day. I get a subscription sent to me, I have no idea how I got it. My name isn’t even right on the front. So, I was reading the issue and there was an article called, What Would Jesus Do? The premise that the author would live inside the Evangelical Christian sub-culture for one week. He only watched TBN and the 700 Club. He listened to Christian radio and he hung out at the Bible Bookstore. His kids began to think he was nuts. Towards the end of the week he was waiting in line at a grocery store when he glanced over and read the headlines to a tabloid. Nearly seven whole days away from the hardcore filth that society piles on us everyday made him a little more sensitive, he was sickened and felt like he understood the point of withdrawing from culture.

I get it too, I really do. I just want it to be clear that what matters is who you are, not what you wear. Your heart is important.

Mark: I’ve always understood God to be concerned that I be a person who loves. Isn’t that it? I mean, love one another as I have loved you, right? I would expect Christian people to love. That where I want to begin. I want to be part of something, a church, where the love that we have for each another would be so close to that of Jesus Christ, that people would walk in and say, “There it is, that’s what I’m looking for.” No argument, no words, no explanation needs to be given.

Robert: Yes, yes, yes. Before we open our mouths to speak about the goodness of Christ and salvation through the cross there ought to a context set simply by who we are and how we interact. You are so right. God is concerned that we become people who love. Not just in an emotional sense, not just that we have nice feelings for each other, but as I have loved you. We are to be people who regularly lay down our rights for each other.

If we would show this kind of love to one another, it would not matter what we wear or eat or listen to. This is what God is concerned about. I need to become a person who loves.

Mark: I think that would be enough. That is all that I want.

Robert: Don’t leave out the creeds.

Mark: No, I’m trying to take that and move past the information part and get into who I am going to be. Change. That’s what I’m getting at.

{There is something inside every one of us that longs for self-improvement. I believe that is part of the image of God that is in us. Mark and I found an intimate connection at this place. But in this discussion, only I had a good solution.}

Robert: That’s exactly what Paul is getting at in his writing to the Galatians. He explains how the gospel of Jesus Christ ought to produce change in our lives. There is a consistent pattern of living for one who believes the gospel and there is a way of living that is contrary to it.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

{I have this old Bible I keep in my jacket pocket. I cut the corners of years ago so that the pages wouldn’t bend up on me. This one is sacred to me. Its not a tool, its more like a private note for quite moments. Bringing it out here was an opening of my heart, though Mark didn’t know it yet}

Mark: I can’t do rules; I’ve already told you that.

Robert: Wait a minute, look at what Paul does with the list. He offers the list of behaviors and said that people who live like this will not inherit the kingdom God. But why? Because they are actions that come out of a heart that does not have faith in Christ. He is judging the fruit to determine the health of the tree. How I live reveals my heart.

When Julie and I moved into our new house, there were four fruit trees in the backyard. We were fairly certain that one was lemon, one apple and one apricot. There other was a mystery. So we looked at the leaves and examined the blossoms as the budded in the spring. However, we could never be certain until the fruit appeared in its nice round purple juiciness. I was so thrilled to have a plum tree; I had one in my yard growing up as a kid.

That is the point here. If we see these things immorality, jealousy, envying then there is evidence that your heart is still not in the right place. On the other hand, there is fruit born from the heart that possesses the Spirit of God:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

The first lists things to do. The second details things you are. It’s not as simple as “stop doing that” and “start doing this.” God requires that you be one who, from a heart that trusts in Christ produced this kind of life.

{Mark sat back w little. He exchanged a few words with Sarah, who was mixing flavored coffee right next to our table. French Vanilla. The smell was so strong that they had to open the doors. This was a polite way for Mark to slow down the conversation and bring it back where he wanted it to be. I’m good with that.}

Mark: Who you are cannot be faked. I especially want to know who you are when things are not going well for you. That’s when your most basic character is revealed. When I insult you, do you insult me back? Who are you at home when the door is closed? Are you patient? Or do you fight with anger and lose yourself in a drunken stupor?

Robert: Yes.

Mark: Yes, what?

Robert: Yes, I do all of those things. I far too often act differently than what I believe says I should.

Mark: What?

Robert: I do not live what I believe. My heart and my faith don’t always look the same. The only solution I know of is to come back again to hope of forgiveness in the cross of Christ. Yes, I am guilty, but Jesus has carried my guilt on the cross. Jesus will cleanse me and restore me again. While at that cross I beg God, “God change my heart, I don’t want to only change on the outside. I want to be a different person. I want to be like Jesus.”

Mark: Being like Him is much more that just doing what He did. I mean, if I take care of people the way Jesus did but its bogus, just religion, then I can’t say that I love as Jesus loved.

Robert: I struggle with that sometimes. What is my motive? What is the state of my heart? Who am I really?

Mark: That’s what I’m getting at. No hypocrisy.

Robert: Now, I wouldn’t go that far. I think we are all hypocrites, some of us are just better at hiding than others.

Mark: Which one are you?

Robert: Oh, I wear it on my sleeves. I can’t find it in me to pretend like I have it all together. I am always something short…

Mark: You said it, not me.

Robert: Very funny. What I’m saying is I never live up to what I believe.

Mark: Then why do you keep going? I think I would just give up.

Robert: Because of the hypocrisy factor.

Mark: The hypocrisy factor?

Robert: The hypocrisy factor is built into following Jesus. When I follow Jesus, I begin by admitting that I don’t have it together. So really, falling short only supports my trust in Jesus. I guess its only hypocrisy then if I try to say that I don’t fail all the time.

{Mark liked the hypocrisy factor. I do too. Actually, I depend on it everyday}.

Mark: When I drove that guy home the other night, I was just moved to do it. It was me, really me, who helped him. I thought about it, I wanted to, I felt for him…

Robert, honestly, there have been many times that I didn’t do something that maybe I should have because I didn’t feel it. I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. I’m not sure about that. It can’t be right that good things don’t happen because my heart is not right.

Robert: Hmmm. Well said, my friend. I don’t think that we can ignore the incredible number of commands in the Bible. And those aren’t conditioned on but only if you feel like it. No, we have to obey just because God said so, because we trust Him, while we pray that our heart might be changed to correspond.

Mark: Obey? You mean 10 commandments and all those.

Robert: You don’t want me to start a Bible study right here, but take the time to read Acts 6, John 15 and 1 John 2 when you get the chance. Jesus expects three stages obedience. I’ll point ‘em out as simply as I can.

The first stage of Christian obedience begins when you first believe. Here’s a description of those who believe the gospel from Acts 6:

The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

In response to the command to trust in Christ, you obediently trusted in Christ.

The second act of obedience you perform as a Christian comes from John 15:1-4.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. John 15:4

If your first act of obedience is to believe, then the second is to stay with the gospel, keep your confidence in Jesus’ death and not in yourself.

The third act of obedience is actual, positive following of the commands of Christ.

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 1 John 2.

Keep ‘em as you learn ‘em. His way will always be the best.

Mark: So no contradiction with being authentic and doing good just because Jesus said?

Robert: Not necessarily, but of course each of our hearts is incredibly complex. I personally want to make sure that my do it anyway actions are because I believe that Jesus is right about this too.

Mark: This is far more intense than wrapping yourself in Christian pop culture. But it resonates with me.

Robert: Even if it doesn’t, its still true. The sub-culture has become the Christian’s pop character. True character takes time and practice. You can’t find character in a book like you can knowledge. And you can’t buy it on a shelf like a T-Shirt. But it’s absolutely necessary for following Jesus.

Walk this way, Mark. Take the knowledge that your gaining here as we talk and go with it. Add a little more knowledge to your little knowledge and your will become less dangerous too.

Mark: I still think you’re a little nuts.

Robert: No, I’m a little Christian and that’s far more dangerous.

Day 3: Kindergarten

Thursday morning, I was teaching late last night. Well, I was talking late, the Bible Study/ discussion I was leading finished formally around 9 P.M. but that’s usually just the beginning. It was well after midnight before I got home.

I arrived on time at the Daily Grind to find Mark already waiting for me. I waved and made my way to the counter. It’s always fun when a new person helps me and the Sarah or Kim or Daniel yell from the back, “Robert’ll have a double Breakfast tea in a porcelain bowl.” The new person makes a mental note – Robert, little blonde guy, breakfast tea, I can see the wheels turning.

The word of the day was monomaniacal: Pathological obsession with one idea or subject. I seriously hope that will not be the case for either Mark or I this morning.

I could tell that Mark was not in good mood. He started in as soon as I walked up to the table.

Mark: I hate my life.

Robert: Me too, let’s make a suicide pact.

{I think my sarcasm was poorly timed. I should have seen it in his face. I’d been down a little myself at the time. Things hadn’t been going well for me and I let it effect me too much sometimes, you would think I would be better that, being a professional and all.}

I had desired to speak about the Bible this morning, didn’t know where Mark would be on that. This is one of favorite topics when I’m down I am so grateful that God has given to us a stable, consistent story when mine is anything but. The Bible has become for me a source of lasting joy, as Pastor John Piper has called it, daily pointing me away from myself and my self pity to Jesus, to compassion and to a whole world of precious human beings around me}

Sorry about the joke. What’s up?

Mark: I just had a terrible night that’s all. My roommates’ dog barked all night long. I have enough trouble trying to breath in that house with all the hair everywhere. I swear the place hasn’t been vacuumed since ’73. I’m tired, I’m mad. I wish I dint have to live there, but its not like I can afford to buy a house in Southern California.

Robert: Do you want to forget it, just hang out and…

Mark: No, I’ve been lying in bed since 4 A.M. being pissed off. When the sun started to come up about 5:45 I saw my Bible on the night stand – a lot of comfort that is, I started to think…

That’s when it hit me. How can I be mad at God about the Bible not helping me if I’ve never learned what’s in it?

{Shock was evident on my face, I know. Why? I don’t know. This kind of divine encounter is fully in line with the God I believe in, one who is involved in every aspect of His creation and who cares for His Children like a Father. So God was preparing both Mark and I for this discussion this morning.

The shock was more about Mark than about God. I’ve talked with probably hundreds of people who had questions about the Bible, most of them quite critical. But I’ve only encountered one person who I felt knew enough about the Bible to question it He was a Bible professor at a nominally Christian school.

Mark’s conclusion was mind blowing to me. It showed an honesty so deep, that I was moved to look back into my own heart}

Robert: hmmm.

Mark: Wait, before you start. I WANT to know what the Bible has to say, but I HATE learning. I’m not interested in packing my head with rules and scattered info, even about God. That may be wrong, but it’s who I am. I’m not the Bible professor you told me about and you don’t have to convince me it’s important to know the Bible. But tell me why, help me with how.

Robert: Mark, you have to learn if you want to know. I can’t just magically make things arrive in your head.

There are some things that you simply must learn for yourself. I’ll help you to learn but I want you to know Jesus, not just know what the Bible says.

Mark: That’s what I’m talking about. But I’m not a student Robert. Seriously, I can’t do the classroom thing. Cut me some slack here. There has to be another way.

Robert: Do you think you’re learning from these conversations?

Mark: Yea, but that’s different.

Robert: Not really, it’s just a different manner of learning. I can’t teach you the whole Bible this way; you will have to read it for yourself at some point, or more like a thousand points, little bit at a time. You can listen to it on CD if you want. It has to get into your head and your heart somehow.

Learning the content of the Christian Scriptures is the pre-marital counseling for your relationship with Christ, it’s where you learn to know who He really is. It’s when you can make a thoughtful decision to follow Him or not. There is no way that you can do that without being fully informed.

Mark: Where do we begin?

Robert: We began by learning the gospel, the message of salvation. Then we talked about what Christianity means from the creeds. Now you want to talk about the Bible, I’d say we were on a great track so far.

Mark: If I believe the Gospel, then I figure that I already trust the Bible. I mean, how would I have known the gospel if not from the Bible?

Robert: You believed because you heard the gospel message, which, you’re right, is found in the New Testament. You may not have heard it read straight out of the book, you might have heard from me for the first time a few weeks ago. But without having the knowledge of the Christian scriptures, you would not be saved. All knowledge must have a source. The Bible is our only source of knowledge about God.

Mark: What do you mean by that?

Robert: Well, we can only know God because God has made himself known.

He has done this, to a limited degree, through creation. We can look at the stars and know that there is a creator. We can test the law of gravity and learn that the creator made things orderly so that gravity works every time. But creation still needs an interpreter, a role the Bible serves well.

He has given a record of His actual words time and time again in the Bible. Yet, the greatest revelation of God is in His Son Jesus, who made the Father known perfectly. He could say, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”We do not walk with Jesus on the hills of Galilee, in the Bible we have the testimony of those who did.

Mark: Slow down. We have God’s actual words in the Bible.

Robert: Yes, the Old Testament claims some 2000 times to be recording the very words of God. Sometimes the prophets used phrases like, “Thus says the Lord…” In the New Testament, the phrase that recurs some forty times is, “Word of God.” The Bible claims to be exactly that.

Mark: What I read is the written form of those direct messages given to prophets and other people?

Robert: Right. With this message in written form, delivered once for all, it has been stabilized. It does not change anymore. Why is that? It does not need to. We have a completed revelation from God. When we read it, we gain incomparable knowledge of who He is and what He is like. You can know your God.

Mark: You’re assuming that I trust the people who “received” the words from God. AND you’re assuming that I think they are better at understanding God than I am.

Robert: Well, yes and no, Mark. I’m not really talking about you and them at all. I’m assuming that you trust God and His ability to communicate to His people. AND I’m assuming that you will let God choose how and to whom He communicates without arrogantly thinking that if Moses heard from God on a mountain than you should too.

Mark: Does God have favorites? Is Moses better than I am?

Robert: You’re missing the point. Let me say it again, it…is…not…about…you. It’s about God giving you a trustworthy description of Himself in the Bible.

Mark: How do you know the Bible is from God?

Robert: Jesus loves me, this I know…

Mark: What?

Robert: For the Bible tells me so.

Mark: You believe the Bible because the Bible says to believe the Bible.

Robert: Not exactly. I believe the Bible because God says to believe the Bible.

Mark: How has God told you that?

Robert: In the Bible.

Mark: There you go again.

Robert: You are understanding me, Mark. I start with God and let Him speak. You are beginning with you and demanding that God perform.

Mark: Ouch! I never thought about it like that.

Robert: The work of Holy Spirit in the writing of the Bible ensures that it tells the truth in everything it says and in all areas it addresses.

Here’s the train of thought, Mark. We know that God is wise, powerful, has all knowledge – if that is true about who God is and the Spirit was involved to insure that the human authors did not overrule God’s ability, then we necessarily have a Bible that is without error. Why is this important? If the Bible has error, then we have no source of truth. We do not know what is true and what is false within the Bible. If the Bible has error, then we have no source of morality. God himself would be teaching us that the ends justify the means. It’s OK to use a lie to get across a good point. If the Bible has error, then we don’t know how to be saved and we are still dead in our sins. If I cannot believe what God said about the sun, the how can I know that He is right about His Son?

The Bible provides knowledge, but not as an end. The Bible’s knowledge is intended to bring you into a living relationship with Jesus.

Mark: You said last week that the Bible provides life. New life, which you call conversion and it tells me how to live day to day.

Robert: That’s what this is all about.

God rules your life, as a believer, He is your Lord and master as well the savior of your soul. It cannot be otherwise. How does God rule your life? Does He rule your life by a big hand coming out of the sky and says, “Go that way.” If He does that for you, don’t tell anybody, I’d just keep that one a little secret. God rules you by the Holy Spirit via His word. God governs His people and His world by means of the scriptures. Nothing else can do this for us. The Bible alone is correct in all areas – you and I are not. We are never admonished to “listen to your heart to show yourselves approved unto God.” What does God say to do? Study! As your governing, as the rule for your life, the Bible is enough; you don’t need any more information.

Mark: Okay. I’m an artist. Are you telling me that I can learn all that I need to know about art from the Bible?

Robert: Yea, but…

Mark: I’m not finished. I have a job. The Bible will tell me about how to do that too? When I worked at Starbucks they had a thick notebook of how to make coffee and how to smile at idiots when their yelling at you. The CEO’s a fool if all he had to do was give me a Bible. He could have saved millions in printing costs.

Robert: You done? That was a brilliant rant. But you don’t quite get my point.

Listen. I’m not saying that you can find techniques on color use in the Bible or the amount of time a pot of coffee should be on before you throw it out. Though there is most certainly a standard for those things too. We’ll have to talk aboutart and creativity sometime. What I am saying is that the moral qualities of art are most certainly found in the Bible as well as the responsibilities of the artist to his audience.

Mark: I’m going to disagree with you here. I don’t believe there are any morals in art.

Robert: Yes, then we very much disagree. But, honestly, we need a whole morning to talk about that and I think that my Christian vantage point will only make since to you as you understand better the system that I am coming from, the system that God gives in the Bible. And it has all we need to live in God’s world.

Mark: Alright, I get it now. Is this your idea or do others think this way too. The other day, you made a big deal what the church has believed in the past. Is this what the Church has believed? It seems that somebody had to hear from God personally.

Robert: Sure, that’s what we call prophets. And they absolutely heard from God in a very clear and audible voice, no hints or inner impressions. It was unmistakable every time it happened. They are the ones who wrote what we have in the Bible. We take advantage of what God did in them, but there’s only been one Moses, one Peter, one Paul.

The Church in history knows of no other sufficient source of training and guidance for life.

I belong to the Evangelical Free Church of America. Point one of our doctrinal statement confirms the Bible in this place.

We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life.

Article VI of the Church of England, written over 300 years earlier says the same thing:

‘Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.‘

They all believed that you do not need to know anything beyond the scriptures in order to live a full Christian life. It sets the boundaries and it tells us what God is up to.

Mark: Why do you have to say what God is up to? Why do you need to delineate and define? Why do you have to be right and someone else be wrong?

Robert: I hope I haven’t come across that way, Mark. I’m sorry if that’s how it sounded. But I have to come to a conviction of what God has said. My only question is then, is this what the Bible says or not.

Mark: What’s personal about that? You said God was personal and my relationship with Him is personal.

Robert: How did we define personal? God is a person. There is no place in the Bible that suggests you should expect individual information from God. Go this way…take that job.

If you think that I am replacing the personal encounter of the Spirit of God with the Bible, then you misunderstand both me and the Holy Spirit. I attribute no power to words on paper. It is the Holy Spirit who inspired these words who makes them effective. The Spirit always works through his word. If it’s for our salvation, for the conviction of sin, or for guidance in day to day living, the Spirit uses His word. So you must learn it like you believe that.

{Mark pauses for a minute, I can tell he’s thinking about something}

Mark: I put so much effort into learning other things. How many hours do I spend each week learning things that are not the Word of God, that are not true, that are not providing all I need for life? Fast forward to the how for me.

Robert: When people ask me if I have a plan to memorize the Bible, I say, “Yes, I read it… a lot. I try to read the Old Testament once and the New Testament three times each year. To be honest, I haven’t pulled it off this year. Life has gotten bigger than my plans can handle.

Mark: I can’t read like that.

Robert: How much isn’t that important, but you have to do it rightly.

I keep five principles in mind that help me keep me from making the Bible a reflection of my own thinking.

{Mark spreads out a napkin and borrows my pen, it’s a Monte Blanc. I’m not a snob, really. It was given to me as a gift for a wedding that I did for some wonderful friends. I’m the kind of guy who writes on recycled paper with a $100 pen. Go figure.}

Mark: Alright, Number 1.

Robert: Ha, who’s making this a class now? Okay, number 1. Give the Bible the benefit of the doubt. We probably give more credibility to the Weekly World News than we do the Bible. We assume that we know better. For example, many assume that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are contradictory, because they tell differing versions of the same story. These two passages look a little different in their telling of the creation story. Do you think that the author did not know that? We would have to assume that the author was a complete moron not to notice it. Or else we do not understand. It is appropriate to question all you want, but there is a difference between questioning and judging. Honesty demands that we question with the supposition that I don’t understand. Honesty demands that we read all things this way, especially Bible. I cannot judge an author’s writing until I understand the author’s writing.

Mark: We’ve already talked about that. You slammed for demanding God to perform for me.

Robert: Right. See, you learned something about studying that Bible without a lecture and a classroom. I find a simple phrase easier to remember. But that’s why I have to give the Bible the benefit of the doubt. If I don’t then I set myself up as the authority.

Mark: Number 2?

Robert: Ready to go on? Number 2, Know your basic grammar. I mean the kind of stuff you were supposed to learn in Junior High School.

Grammar is essential for understanding writings in any language. Basic grammar will help you recognize the words that introduce metaphor like, as so that you don’t try to take them too literally.

Know that when a passage addresses says “you,” it probably doesn’t mean you. Look at what is happening and who is being spoken to. There most likely is a principal that will apply to your life as a fellow believer.

These are not magical principles; they are simple seventh grade English grammar but are vital for understanding the Bible.

Mark: Man, I don’t know. Grammar?

Robert: Come on, you speak English. You might not remember all the details of what you learned but you do most of it everyday. Use your common sense and when you’re unsure, do your homework. It can’t be all handed to on a silver platter.

Mark: Will you help me?

Robert: You know I will. Look, just about any Pastor will be thrilled to help you with this kind of stuff.

Actually, that’s a good test. If you ask the Pastor of your church some questions about the grammar of the Bible and he cant or wont do it, get the heck out of there fast.

Number 3, are you ready? Determine what it says. Always seek to understand first. Until you know what it says, you cannot know what it means. What do you think about this verse?

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:13

Mark: I think that it’s a promise that God will guide me as I need it.

Robert: Taken on its own, spoken to you its sounds that way. But lets back up a little bit.

Remember that we are reading from the Gospel of John. A writing that reveals its own purpose as giving enough information about who Jesus was and what He did that we might believe in Him as the Jewish Messiah, as our personal savior.

It fits into the section of chapters 14-17 in which Jesus delivers His last teaching to the disciples just before He is about to die. They are at the last supper and then walking to the garden of Gethsemane.

This chapter speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit with the Disciples once Jesus goes away. Jesus will send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God will convict the World of its sin. The Spirit of God will teach the disciples (the you of the passage) Jesus’ words. Then, most importantly, the Spirit of God will bring glory to Jesus.

Now we are prepared to ask some basic questions of the passage.

Who is speaking?

Mark: Jesus.

Robert: Who is being spoken to?

Mark: The disciples.

Robert: What is He talking about to them?

Mark: The way that the Spirit will explain things to them.

Robert: When will the Spirit do this?

Mark: After Jesus dies.

Robert: You’re just gathering information at this point.

Mark: You see, this all seems so impersonal. What does any of it have to do with me?

Robert: Honestly Mark, you are irrelevant up to this point. Any person using common sense can see what the Bible says. But you have to do this work, even of it seems like drudgery before you can, determine what it means. That’s number 4. I did not say, “Determine what is means to you.”

What is Jesus trying to get the Apostles to do? He want them to be comforted in that He was going away, He was going to die. Next He wants them to realize that they still didn’t get it. I have much more to say to you guys, more than you can bear right now. They were to understand that the Spirit of God will guide them to a proper understanding of the significance of all that Jesus said and did.

They were to know that they were to carry on this message. This passage teaches that the Spirit of God will finish Jesus’ teaching to and through the apostles.

Mark: So it has nothing to do with me at all.

Robert: It has everything to do with you, just not the way you are thinking. What are we talking about?

Mark: How to read and understand the Bible so we can walk with Jesus.

Robert: Is it important to you, then, that God the Holy Spirit was ensuring that the disciples recorded Jesus’ words and life accurately?

Mark: That’s good, thanks. Now give me number 5 and let me get going. I’ve to work in a couple hours and I need to run some errands first.

Robert: Only after you discover what a passage means can you ask what you ought to do about it. Now I can determine how it applies. If I read myself into this passage I would have interpreted it wrongly. At this point I ask questions like: What belief or behavior of mine ought to change? What difference does it make to me that the disciples will be supernaturally guided to remember and understand Jesus’ teaching?

Mark: I have a true picture of Jesus.

Robert: Therefore, learn the Christian scriptures.

Mark: The Bible is my only true, authoritative, and complete source of knowledge about God, salvation and Christian living.

Robert: Are you reading my notes? That was beautiful. This is Christian kindergarten. You must have a working knowledge of the Bible. Don’t be too intent on skipping a grade –realize how important crawling is for your development.

We walked out together today. I left determined to get work myself. Sometimes I think I fall into bad habits because I “know” so many parts of the Bible and can talk about most of it because of my education. There is a story of a famous English preacher who soaked himself in the Sacred Writings day in and day out. It was said that if you pricked him, he would bleed the Bible. Of course, what else would I want to saturate me but the words that God has determined to use to bring life, power and salvation to myself, to Mark and to any who would hear and believe? In so many ways I’m still in Kindergarten.

{The Bible is your only true, authoritative, and complete source of knowledge about God, salvation and Christian living. This really is Christian kindergarten. Now obey it. We have already said that knowledge that does not lead to character is still little Christianity, which applies here.

Let James words be an admonition to you: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

And you will become less dangerous.}

Day 2: Family

It’s a cold Monday morning at the Daily Grind. No one is outside. Rob, a fellow patron who has his own chair out front, agrees with me that the coldest spot in town is right here in front of our coffee shop. The shop sits beneath an overhang in the “L” shape corner of your typical suburban strip mall. The sun never shines in this corner; I swear snow would stay year round if this was not California.

{Rob literally has his own chair. Years ago, Dane replaced all the outside tables and chairs but kept one of the old ones because Rob sat there everyday while he read his way through graduate school. He still comes 5 or mornings a week. One day he calculated what his $2 a day coffee habit cost him, it was something like $500 a year.}

Sarah has my tea ready by the time I get to the front of the line. Up on the black board I read the Word of the Day: Zugzwang, a German word meaning a position where one is forced to make an undesirable move. Mark and I had agreed to start some deliberate conversations about our lives of faith this morning. I hope that this word will not describe either of our positions. I take my seat alone, while the room buzzes with talk about the Grammies, which aired last night. “They were naked up there on the stage,” one older couple discussed, “whatever happened to Simon and Garfunkel.” {This was a true conversation, truth is so much better than fiction}.

Monday morning, everybody seems to be running late, Mark is no exception. No bother, I have no place else I have to be and no place else I would rather be.

There’s Mark, looking like he hasn’t slept in a week. Every Sunday night he has a standing gig at a local old person bar that has hired him to spin some records in an attempt to draw a younger crowd. He waves and gets in line. He’ll have coffee today, non-fat half-calf latte.

Robert: Hey, good morning. Late night?

Mark: The pub was empty till midnight. A crowd came in about then and didn’t leave till closing time, so I kept playing. They seemed to be into it. When I was packing up my gear there was this guy who was trying to get into his car to drive home, he shouldn’t have been able to stand, let alone drive. A few of his friends were arguing with him, but they weren’t in any better shape. I got in the middle and drove him home in his truck.

Robert: Did you know the guy?

Mark: Uh-no, but what was I going to do, let him drive? I walked home from his house; it was a couple of miles.

Robert: At 2 in the morning?

Mark: No, it had to be 3 by then. So I’ve only slept a couple hours.

Robert: We could have called this off, its only coffee and a chat.

Mark: No, no, I wanted to be here. I’ve been thinking about it all week. There are some things I’m dying to talk about. I realize that I have an extremely narrow view Christians: Jerry Falwell, the Crusades, pedophile priests, my annoying neighbor… I want to know about those who followed Jesus before today. Who were they? How’d they live? What did they believe? What mistakes did they make?

Robert: This is good. One of my favorite parts of my faith is that it’s not mine alone. It did not originate with me. I have arrived at the end of a very long line, so have you. It’s a long line of failing heroes.

All the great heroes of the Bible were also the greatest failures, have you ever noticed that? Abraham, the father of the faith, was a liar and gave his wife into Pharaoh’s harem. David, called the friend of God, committed adultery and had his lover’s husband killed. Rahab, was a prostitute and lied to save God’s people.

Their faith was ugly. Not one of them had a perfect, no flaw life. They had checkered pasts. They had an ugly faith, but it was also an enduring faith.

Later, others were exiled, provided for the poor so selflessly that pagan Emperor’s took notice. They cared for lepers and surrendered their lives for the benefit of others. These are our spiritual ancestors.

We carry on the name of all those who have gone before. The line goes on from the Patriarchs to the Apostles, and from them to Stephen and Philip. It goes on with the early history of the church through the reformation right up to you. Someone carried the story of Jesus all the way from them to your heart.

Mark: My kind of people.

{Strangely, he meant all of them. He seemed to relate to the rich and to the poor, the peasants and the princes, the honored and the exiled. Mark already understood something that he would teach me this morning – this is our family with its brave war-hero uncle and crazy aunt. Here is where I belong, its part of who I am}.

Tell me a story about someone not in the Bible.

Robert: Athanasius was a young man born in Egypt. We are not quite sure if he came from a wealthy family or not. He spoke Coptic, which was the language of the common people so some think he was poor. Yet he was trained in the classical tradition, which was the usual pattern of the wealthy. So, who knows? He grew up in Alexandria, in northern Egypt, and was known for its amazing library.

The story goes that Alexander, the Bishop of Alexandria, was looking out his window and saw a group of boys playing on the beach near the water. The game they were playing was baptism and Athanasius played the role of the Bishop. Alexander called the boys and encouraged several of them to study for ministry at the world-renowned school in the town.

The boy did so well at his work and study that he was given the task of secretary to the Bishop. He was already writing theological treatises as a secretary that were receiving world wide attention.

Athansius attended the council of Nicea in 325 as the Bishop’s secretary. The council was the first one of Christian leaders throughout the known world. They all came together with one purpose, to discuss the Bible’s teaching abut Jesus. Was He God or was He a created being used by God? This controversy was raised by a group of people known as the Arians because they followed a man by that name. They are the originators of what is now believe by the Jehovah’s witnesses.

Mark: I heard that Prince became a J.W. Can you imagine having him come to your door?

Robert: The guys that believed this then were just as prominent as Prince, or Tom Cruise and all them with their Scientology.

So the Church came together, with Athanasius’ help, and put together this summary of who we believe that Jesus really is.

Though only a secretary, Athanasius’ eloquence gained him the right to speak to the council on the topic. He argued and won the day. The Church agreed that Jesus was fully God.

Three years later Alexander the Bishop dies and Athanasius takes his place as Bishop. He was probably no more than 33, but he was brilliant and his ability to relate to people won their hearts.

The controversy raised its head again as the false teachers gained standing with the Emperor Constantine. Athanasius was exiled into France, though it wasn’t called France then. They accused Athanasius of sorcery and dismembering one of his opponents! His dismissal was in a private meeting between the Emperor and the false Bishops but our hero was not going to stand for this. He found the Emperor returning from a hunt one day and stopped him in the middle of the road demanding a fair trial. He was given a trial with the charge of hindering grain shipments. His exile stood and he remained there for the next two years.

He returned home to Alexandria after the Emperor died. Yet he lived in peace for only two years. The Emperor’s son Constantius exiled him again under pressure.

He was condemned a third time on February 8, 356, while conducting a church service. He was teaching from the scriptures when a group of armed men entered to escort him out. The other clergy gathered around him while the people escaped from harm. Athanasius was taken and sent again into exile. He was allowed to come home one more time in 362.

Exiled a fifth time in 364, he died there in 373 having penned what we know as The Incarnation, one of the finest works ever written about Jesus Christ. He died without his title of Bishop and away from his home.

All together, he spent fifteen years and ten months in exile. During that time he wrote at least four significant works of theology. Every time he came back, he went right to work teaching the about Jesus Christ. If it were not for Athanasius you wonder if we would have a true belief of Christ today. While in his last exile when he felt so desperately alone he wrote, Athanasius contra mundum, Athanasius against the world. I will stand alone if necessary.

I am encouraged by his bravery and by his perseverance.

Mark: I’ve heard you talk about Athanasius before. You relate to this guy. In what way?

{Mark and I have spent a little time together here and there. I think we were both at a friend’s party. I don’t remember talking about Athanasius over pizza, but I guess I did. It sounds like me.}

Robert: He fought and suffered and paid a very high price to ensure that the truths about the God who is the truth would be preserved to be handed down to me. And, I feel like I’ve suffered for what I believe, both inside and outside the church. He inspires me to keep going. Athanasius and this whole line of heroes established Christianity; they helped to form what you and I believe all these years later.

Mark: How’d he do it?

Robert: Mostly by the Creed he fought for.

Mark: Like the one we read in church?

Robert: That exact one.

Mark: What is a creed?

Robert: A creed is simply a statement of belief. They have been called a “rule of faith,” meaning that they delineate what Christianity is and what it is not.

Mark: I’m asking about the old one that we say together, the, the…

Robert: The Nicene creed?

Mark: What about that one?

Robert: That’s the one Athanasius had a hand in. It goes something like this:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirithe became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Mark: You have it memorized?

Robert: Not quite, {I gave Mark a close rendition that I keep in my heart. Above is a faithful accounting of these most important words} but I wish that I did. These words are worth far more that their weight in gold. Our heroes fought and died to preserve them for us. They contain and summarize what is the necessary belief for you and I who call ourselves Christians. Christianity has been. It’s not something new to us. It did not begin when we became Christians. 2000 years this has been going on.

Mark: This is what you had in mind when you asked me start thinking?

Robert: Not totally, I think it was the story of Athanasius has gotten me going. But this would be it; the creeds are what you need to know.

Mark: So, memorize this thingy and I’m ok?

Robert: You’re lucky you’re smiling right now or I might just smack you in the mouth. The creed, from the pens of our heroes, is calling us to walk today with the God they have consistently taught about for so many centuries.

Mark: Well, I believe in God.

Robert: That’s where we all must begin. God is the first of seven beliefs that I see taught in the creed.

I believe in one God.That He exists is the foundation of the Christian faith. God is. Not just any God but the God revealed in scripture. The one God who is present. The one God who is powerful. The one God who is eternal. The one God who is wisdom and justice and love. I believe in God. It is important that you have the right view of God. It is easy to have a smaller or incorrect view of God.

My son Caleb broke his leg when he was three years old in a wicked tricycle accident. For the first few days he didn’t want to do anything but sit and cry. On one of those days he was watching a Veggie Tales video about God taking care of you. My wife leans over like a gentle mother and asks, “Is God taking care of you, Caleb?” To which he retorts, “No. I’m taking care of myself.” We were obviously concerned about our son’s theological well being so Julie approached it from a different angle a few days later. “Caleb, who takes care of your little sister? She asked him. “You and Papa do.” “Well,” Julie continued, “God takes care of Papa and me because He is bigger.” “No he’s not,” Caleb argued, “in my book he’s really small.” Caleb’s view of God was that He was two inches tall because of a picture in a storybook. When I say, “I believe in God,” I mean the God revealed in the Bible. There is only one true God, but there are many false conceptions of Him. False conceptions are dangerous and they set you on a path that does not lead to Jesus and to life and wholeness.

I believe in God the Father. This title shows that our God is personal. Be careful, when we say that God is personal we intend to say that He is a person. Today, the idea of God being personal suggests that He is my buddy. But the creed teaches that God is a person and that He is involved in human affairs.

When you say that God is Father, He is not your father. For you and me and most of the people we know, “father” is not necessarily a good thing. Father, who’s that? O, you mean the guy that ran off with the girl from the Dairy Queen. God is not your father, Mark. Do not get the fact that you have a human father mixed up with the fact that God is Father.

Mark: Don’t get me started on my Dad.

Robert: I know, but I’m being very serious now. It would be easy for us to brush off God because we misunderstand the whole father thing. Its not about me, it’s not about you. He is not only Father to us, Mark, but more importantly He is the Father to His only Son. The creed teaches that God is a Trinity, just as the scriptures do.

God is the father of all things, He is much, much greater than you and I give Him credit for most of the time. That’s the last truth about Him the creed leads us into.

I believe in God the Father almighty.God is the all-powerful ruler of the world. He does what He pleases in His world. His ability is not limited by anything or anyone. Your Father God has all the power to do good for you.

So I, Robert, believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven & earth, the creator of all things.

Mark: Alright Athanasius, I got it. I can’t say that I’m willing to accept it all, but I can see the words and I’m good with this being what they believed. Maybe you should go on before you ask me to walk the aisle and say a prayer.

Robert: Don’t think I’m going to be less passionate about Jesus than I am about the Father. But, sorry if it feels like I’m preaching. Am I not talking about what you asked?

Mark: Yes, you are, but to be honest, I would be more comfortable if you let me talk more. I didn’t ask to come here to have a Bible study. I have questions that I want answered. Things I’m wondering about now, not things that you wondered about several years ago when you came across the creeds.

Robert: Fair enough. You want to call it for the day or go on a bit?

Mark: No, I want to know about the creed. But, let me point things out and maybe even comment on them. Then you jump in with what the old folks have believed. Maybe we’ll banter it back and forth a little bit. Sound good?

Robert: I’ll do my best.

Mark: The creed spends far more time talking about Jesus than everything else combined. What’s up with that?

Robert: Remember what I said about Athanasius. When that creed was written the church was fighting against a horrendous attack from some who were arguing that Jesus was not God.

Mark: Yea, right. So they felt like they had to be real specific. Kinda like politicians. They not only say what’s good about them but also what’s bad about their opponents.

Robert: A rude analogy, but effective. The specifics are important. There is a pretty big difference between saying that Jesus is the first created being and saying that I believe in Jesus Christ Son of God, one being with the father, our Lord.This ensures with a particular clarity that Jesus Christ is God, the unique Son of God. When we say that He is the only Son of God we say that He is God taking on human flesh. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.

That Jesus is actually God is the center of your belief and relationship with God. If Jesus were not God, then you do not know the Father. You’re being fooled. But your Jesus is God, Mark.

Mark: But He was obviously human too, did they just ignore that part?

Robert: Not at all. It would be a little obvious if they ignored that He was born and died.

Mark: So they went on to talk about the virgin birth and all that. He was born of the Virgin Mary.{We had written the creed down on a napkin and had it in front of us. We had to open one up to fit the whole thing} When I read the Bible, the birth part was so terribly human, just like mine. But with mine there were no angels or wise men, only my Dad.

Robert: Human, yet without the flaw that came along with it because He was conceived in a different manner, a divine manner. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was both human and divine. Divine, so He was able to be the go between God and us and human, so he was able to identity with us fully.

Mark: So you’re saying that this really happened.

Robert: Most of this, just like the Gospels, is a simple historical account. This really happened, that is important. This is not a myth. He was born that way and died that way. He was crucified under Pilate, dead and buried.There have been many stories of gods dying, but nothing like this. Nowhere else do we find such a detailed story – who, where, what, when and why. The historicity of His death is verifiable. Rational, objective people don’t question the evidence. It is the significance that people argue against. The significance is laid out in the Nicene Creed when it reads for our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. This is why He died.

Jesus was really killed in a terrible way. He was really dead, suffering the real wages of my sin and yours. That’s why it matters.

Mark: So far, this doesn’t do a whole lot for me. I dig the miracles, but… It’s strange, but doesn’t move me or get my hopes up. But when I read that He rose again on the third day. Now that intrigues me, that something to pursue, something to follow. The resurrection highlights the uniqueness of Jesus in my heart. There was no one like this before and no one since. It also gives me much hope that if He beat death, then I can too. This life is not all there is for, thank God for that.

Robert: That’s exactly what Paul encourages us with, that’s the promise.

Mark: Do you think Athanasius found hope in this too?

Robert: I’m sure it did, but just give him hope about the next life, it kept him going through a life that made yours and mine look like royalty. He walked with Jesus through all the crap because he knew that Jesus was still with him, not just waiting for him in heaven. That’s what the creed goes on with.

I believe He ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God. This speaks of His present participation in our lives. He prays for us. While sitting at the right hand of God, He is constantly speaking to the Father, “Remember that one, he belongs to me. Remember Robert.”

Then we also wait for the day whenHe shall come again in glory, to judge living and dead. All things will be made right. There will be justice for the wicked and there will be mercy for those who have put their faith in the cross.

{We both stopped talking for a little while and just sipped our drinks. I could see that he was processing all of it and to be honest, I was too. I was beginning to realize the wholeness of my spiritual ancestry, they didn’t just give me words, they gave me life. I have been so shallow. I have been so narcissistic.}

Robert: Mark, this is killing me. I mean, I know this stuff. I went to school, I love to read and I have a pretty good memory, it all stays right here in my head. But I live as if it’s all about me. There is no comment of me in the creeds at all. It’s all about God and the heroes were okay with that. They imitated God, the Holy Spirit, who seems to have always taken a role that promotes Jesus rather than Himself.

The Holy Spirit proceeds from Father and the Son, worshipped. The Holy Spirit is God, fully God and deserving of the full honor of worship along with the Father and the Son. Yet, there is no example of the Bible of anyone worshipping the Holy Spirit. There are not even any examples of anyone praying to the Spirit. He just continues with his work of speaking truth to all of God’s people just as He has spoken through prophets.

Mark: There has to be something that matters to me.

Robert: It all matters, Mark.

Mark: I don’t mean it like that. But where do fit in personally? Did these great Christian people just forget about themselves and recite words about Jesus. I think about me, I think about my sin, I think about…let me see those napkins. See there’s stuff about me in there.

Robert: I don’t really like the next part. Well, I do, but…

Mark: Church hasn’t been too good to you has it?

Robert: No, you?

{In 15 years as a Christian, I’ve been dumped on 4 or 5 times by the churches I’ve part of. “You don’t look right,” or “You’re too harsh when you speak about the way we take money from our giving to the poor to buy new carpet.” I remember a man coming up to me and ask about my clothes. Look, I didn’t grow up in church; I didn’t know the dress code. I was in my best jeans and a leather jacket because I rode my motorcycle. This man came up and ask me, “When are you going to stop wearing that jacket, you know you have to stop being conformed to the world.” It took me a minute to realize that somehow this guy thought that my leather from Wilson’s was more worldly that his wool suite from Nordstrom’s. I asked if he thought Nordstrom’s was on a different planet and then walked away.

That was a long time ago. There have been both hurts and successes along the way. But right now, I am enjoying the very ordinary and beautiful life of messed up people growing together. One things has become very clear to me over the years, Jesus only saves sinners and so that’s all you find at church!}

Mark: It’s never really done anything for me. I don’t have anything against church; I just don’t see the point.

Robert: I love the idea of church and the people of the church; I believe in the church but the practice of it can be difficult sometimes. Maybe that’s another reason I relate so well to Athanasius. The official church turned on him over and over but he never lost faith in God.

Mark: Talk to me about the stuff you love, look past the hurt if you can.

{Mark was feeding me at this point. It was like he had just asked to see pictures of my kids}

Robert: There are four statements that the creed makes concerning the Church directly and I see a fifth implied. First of all, there is One Church. Simply put, all who hold these things belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. Those who do not hold these do not belong. And beliefs beyond these essentials are up for in house debate. This is how I know that I belong here too.

The Church is Holy, set apart for the work of God. The Church is the means by which God is carrying out His plan in the world. However, it means something much more than that. We are holy as members of the Church. The Church is one made up of holy people with a holy purpose.

The Church is Catholic. The word catholic mean universal in time and place. Every person who has ever or will ever believe in Jesus Christ is a member of the Church. It is important that you know that the word catholic was used here long before there was a Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church took on this title as a claim to be the one true Church.

The Church is Apostolic. The Church is based upon teaching of apostles. We’ve come full circle already, haven’t we? This is were we began last week.

The fifth point that I see implied in relation to the Church is that the Church is a community. I believe in the communion of saints. There is more in this than you and I. To confess the creed is to belong to community of believers. To confess the creed is to identify with those who have gone before us, with those who believe today and with those who will come after us. I feel that every time I pray the Lord’s prayer. When I speak the words “Our Father,” my mind floods with pictures of friends, family, ancient Christians, old pastors and young disciples. The Church is a “we” and I like it that way.

Mark: To say I believe in the forgiveness of sinsassumes my guilt. I’m okay with that. {That was good to hear. Some things have changed since we talked last week.} For some reason my parents could never admit that they were wrong, but it was all too clear to me.

Robert: But, it also assumes your value, Mark. There is an actual desire in God that He would be restored with you as a flawed and guilty person. It assumes that sin is paid by the cross of Christ. Full forgiveness is yours.

Mark: I like that.

Robert: I do too.

There is also a resurrection of the body. Living people and dead people, believers and infidels will all be raised in their bodies. Some will rise to reward and some to eternal punishment. I am looking forward to a life that continues, a life to come. The reward is the eternal presence of Jesus. There is something more beyond this world. It is this hope that we continue to hold on to in an ugly and unjust world. It is there where God will make all things right. It is there that we will find the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

Christianity has been and continues to be something in particular. Christianity will always be their Christianity

Mark: Okay, I’m good with a lot of this, but not all of it. How much do I have to agree with? Has anyone ever delineated a percentage or is it on a bell curve?

Robert: 100% or nothing. If you deviate from these seven beliefs, Christianity does not. If you do not believe these, then you are not a Christian by simple definition, the definition of the creed.

Christianity means something. There is much to the statement, I am a Christian. You are claiming a particular set of beliefs, corresponding lifestyle and membership in an international, trans-generational community.

You are not alone in your faith. You are not the only one following Jesus. You don’t have to make it up as you go along. These heroes are examples of what we ought to do and be. The only thing that made them great is that they lived out the one thing that unites you with them – FAITH. That is, both you and they trust that what Jesus accomplished when He died on a cross actually applies to you.

Mark: Can we call it there for the day? Thanks, but I’m getting a little tired.

Robert: Me too. I’m not sure sometimes. About me I mean, not my Christian faith. Thanks for talking with me. I need some help sorting out who I am.

Mark: We’re together on that.

He headed right out after that. I just sat for a while, even got a refill on my tea. I truly hope that I do honor to my spiritual family.

{Christianity means something. There is much to the statement, “I am a Christian.” You are claiming a particular minimum set of beliefs, corresponding lifestyle and membership in an international, trans-generational community. Never leave these basics! Stay basic and you are safe – maturity is not necessarily knowing more it is knowing these same things better and living them more consistently.}

Day 1: Essentially

Why do people make a rush for coffee on a hot day? I arrive at the Daily Grind to a line out the door and every chair taken. It had to be 65° already and couldn’t yet be 8:45 in the morning. It was freezing last week and probably will be again next. California is a strange place.

I’m meeting Mark this morning. I don’t really know Mark. We met through a mutual friend who thought that we would hit it off and secretly hoped that I could help him with some hard times he’s come on. That is the curse of being a Pastor; few friendships ever develop for the sake of friendship. I recall a conversation I was having right here with a friend. He asked me if it was hard to switch between friend and Pastor in one conversation. No, it’s not difficult, because for some people I am always both. Folks seem to have a hard time seeing past the title to the human. I’ll never stop searching for the perfect balance.

Mark knows that I am a Pastor, which is partially why he wants to speak with me, but we have had no experience together in that context. That’s one of the reasons for meeting here at the coffee shop. It’s not my office. I don’t have a big desk here. My ridiculously large library is not rising up behind me like wall of expertise creating a gapping professional barrier. Here, it’s just me and Mark, or so I pray.

Mark’s not here yet. We’re not meeting till 9:00; he’s got a few minutes.

My table opens while I’m waiting so I walk back and throw my stuff down to stake my claim and get back in line.

I’ve had so many conversations here about so many things. How many times have I begun conversations like this over the last 15 plus years at this same table or one just like it? This is who I am. I talk to people. God created me to have conversations over coffee. That is my calling.

The lady baristas are flying behind the counter. My tea’s ready by the time my turn comes. I just have to hand ‘em my prepaid punch card.

Sitting down next to Kim {Kim works here but was just enjoying coffee and a book today} I notice that she’s reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I love. So I lean over to say, “It was inevitable: The scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love,” the books brilliant opening line. She stares blankly back at me for moment until it sinks in.

“Are you enjoying the book?” I ask.

“I love it. After reading A Hundred Years of Solitude I just had to read everything he’s written.”

“Out of everyone I know who’s read it, only the men seem to like it. I know one woman who enjoyed it and she’s European. I was beginning to wonder if there was some pattern going on. You’ve ruined my hypothesis.”

“I like being different.” She says as she stands to go. After saying goodbye to her boyfriend, who also works here, she’s out the door. I turn to my cup of tea.

Mark walks in so I get up to buy his coffee. He’s about 5 foot 10, I’m guessing. I think there is dark hair under his cap and from the back of the room I thought he was wearing long sleeves, but that’s permanent ink from wrist to shoulder.

I really have no idea what he wants to talk about and honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to do anything for him. I know he’s hurting and that’s enough for me to take the time to meet together.

I’m at a point in my life where I have no need to act as if I’ve got all the answers and I’ve lived a public life long enough for it be obvious to all that I don’t have it all together. I do know that God does something amazing in the hearts of two people when the walk a road of faith together. That’s what I can offer Mark with a little push and instruction because I’ve been on the road longer than he has. If it helps or not is between him and God.

Mark: You don’t need to buy my coffee, I feel like you’re doing me a favor by talking to me.

Robert: Let’s get that idea out of the way right now. If the help you want is therapy I can refer you to someone. If you want to talk, I’m here. Anyway, this is my place, I’d feel like you were coming into my home and I made you buy coffee.

Mark: Thanks.

{Sitting down at my table in the back it rocks a bit because none of the tables are ever steady here. My tea spills over and onto the floor. Talk about making an already awkward beginning a little messier!}

Robert: I should have warned you about these tables. What a mess.

Mark: You talking about me or the spill?

Robert: Well, I was talking about the spill. Not one to beat around the bush huh?

{I loved this about Mark immediately. My fears were thrown out so quickly. We weren’t here to impress each other. I can be real with this guy. He’s not looking for a professional.}

Mark: I gave up on hinting when my Dad left my Mom and me. Implying never gets me what I’m after and I’m tired of being disappointed.

Robert: I can’t promise not to disappoint you. In fact, I’m sure that I will. But how much will depend on what you expect from me.

Mark: I don’t really know.

Robert: Then were doomed… I’m good with that. You?

Mark: I know David told you that life wasn’t going well for me. That’s probably more his version of things than mine. I can’t really lay out a list of things that have gone wrong.If I did, you’d probably laugh that I thought it was hard. I’m not happy though. I am not where I want to be. I’m not doing what I want to be doing. It’s like, I can be okay with who I am, but that’s about it. Do you know what I’m taking about? Do you ever feel that way?

Robert: Mark, I do, I can’t tell you how much I do. {It was only out of fear sounding exaggerated that I didn’t say, “every day!”} I fight, just like you do, to live today in spite of the fact that my dreams are still so far off.

Mark: Anything help?

Robert: I live in the present moment by knowing my past and knowing my future. My past conversion pushes me and my future eternity with God draws me. I constantly live in between those two things in a magnificent moment, this one right now with you.

Mark: Do you mean that or is this a way to get me to talk about my lost soul?

Robert: I don’t do that. This is who I am, you asked about me. If you want to talk about principles for dealing with depression, I’m trained to do that. But that‘s not what you said.

Mark: No, no I want to talk. But to be honest, I have a hard time believing that this is not a ploy. I’ve been manipulated so many times by Christians that you’ll have to forgive my skepticism.

Robert: Forgive it? I encourage it. How do you want to proceed?

Mark: Talk a little bit. Tell me about your own conversion. Tell me the story. Let me listen and learn something about you.

Robert: Alright. So that we’re not hiding anything, you should know upfront that I want you to have what I have in my relationship with Jesus.

Mark: I assumed that, that’s part of what it means to be a Christian isn’t it?

Robert: Yes it is. And if you know that already, we are starting on very good footing.

Okay, I live today, in this present moment, by faith in the gospel, the essence of being a follower of Jesus.

My conversion didn’t begin with information, but things didn’t come together until someone laid out the gospel for me.

I knew I was jacked up, that was never in question. At the time in my life we are speaking of…

Mark: Which is?

Robert: First year of college. I was trying to find myself, you know what I mean. Unfortunately, I didn’t like myself very much. I know I’m not alone there. But I had never thought of myself in terms of guilt.

The Christian gospel makes a grand assumption about me and you. We’ve done wrong. I don’t have to argue this – every honest person will admit it. We all find ourselves doing and acting according to what the Bible calls sin. That is the Bible’s assumption. We do regularly, those things that the Bible directly forbids.

Mark: That’s kind of what I’m talking about too, but my problem is what I don’t do.

Robert: So, you know what I’m talking about. About that time I read in the Bible that everything someone who doesn’t have faith in Jesus does is sin.

Here is where I had to transition from being guilty of doing certain things to having to confront the ugliness of who I am.

Mark: Everything? You had to do good things now and then.

Robert: I’m not saying I was Charles Manson. I’m not trying to tell a story of how I was this wretched sinner before Jesus saved me, Hallelujah!

Paul’s words forced me to admit that everything that I do apart from faith is sin and makes me guilty before God. That includes good moral things. I can help an old lady across the street and it could be sin. If I rescue a child from a burning house, it is a heroic virtuous act, but if I have no faith in Christ then it is still ugly before God. They may be “good” in a moral sense but they still are done in rebellion against God You see, God is concerned about the heart, before the action.

Mark: How did coming to that conclusion help you?

Robert: I did not come to that conclusion but I did have to accept that it was God’s conclusion of me. And it didn’t help me at all. It made me miserable. It took away all my hope. I felt like I was justified in hating myself.

Mark: What helped at that point?

Robert: An analogy someone gave me helped put it all together for me. It went something like this:

Sin is like a heart disease. The symptoms may be slow in coming but the sickness is there, the tumor is growing. You may see some of the symptoms start to show – trouble breathing, anxiety, shortness of breath long before you have a diagnosis.

This is my disease and yours. We like diagnosis, but not the Biblical diagnosis. I would much rather have a syndrome than be a sinner.

Mark: I don’t like the word guilt. Guilt makes me feel ashamed and afraid of being punished.

Justice demands that guilty people be punished, this is morality 101. How many murders do I have to commit to be a murderer? Just 1, right? How many old ladies, to use your example, do I have to help across the street before I stop being a murderer? There is no number of good deeds that can erase my guilt of murder.

If I am guilty then I should be punished. When I think of God, I think of love, not punishment.

Robert: You’re right, but you’re getting ahead of me.

The New Testament agrees with what you just said about my story. You’ve heard it, For the wages of sin is death. The guilty should be punished. This is justice.

Mark: This is not making me feel better.

Robert: You wanted my story. There’s more between then and now.

Mark: Okay, so somewhere, somehow you went from hopelessly guilty to… well, functioning.

Robert: I was in the same place as you just said. God loves and God is just. If he is just, how can God forgive me?

Mark, God himself designed a way to forgive us. The way of the cross. The same Bible passage that condemned me freed me

For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23

{I know that these verses have been canned for “evangelistic” use. Mark asked for my story and canned evangelism is one significant strand of the story that brought me to faith in Christ. Besides, misuse of the truth doesn’t make it untrue, it makes the people who misused it jerks. That’s a topic for another day.}

The word “but” is my favorite biblical word. Yes, it is very much true that I have earned death by my faithful labor to do wrong. BUT God is not giving me what I deserve; He is giving me a gift.

Jesus offers His own death as a substitute for my own. Mark, I was so moved that He would willingly take the punishment so I could go free. This is the Christian gospel, this is the good news. This is the key that opens the door between misery and hope.

Mark: Hope? I don’t even believe in hope anymore. Robert, most of the people I know don’t even consider the possibility of things improving for them.

Robert: I’d be right there with you. I have no hope, or even a category for hope, in my life apart from Jesus. As A Christian, I have lived through times in my life where I lost everything that mattered to me. That was when I had to look around and recognize, oh crap, I’ve got nothing left but Jesus. Is that good enough for me?” Honestly, there were many, many days where I didn’t think so, but I came back again and here I stand.

Mark: Somewhere this became good news for you?

Robert: I was converted. There is a reason the old time preachers used that word. It means something beautiful. To be converted is to be changed from one thing to another. That’s what happened to me.

Mark: You changed from a depressed college student to a happy all the time goofball and joined the campus Christian club.

Robert: Exactly! No, I changed from guilty to forgiven. I changed from looking forward to death to hoping for life. Learning to live with that change continues to be a challenge, but it’s who I am now.

Mark: I think that being okay with myself is part of my problem. I have no problem with being lazy, honestly, I am lazy. I have no problem being self-centered. Listen to me, I can say this, but I feel no shame for wanting my friends, and you, to stop everything and be concerned about me.

But, here’s my trouble. I don’t have a good job and no likelihood of one anytime soon. I have no one who is committed to me either a lady or just a friend.

I can’t deny a direct link here, Robert. I don’t have a career because I haven’t worked for one. I have no stable relationships because I want it to be all about me. This is where I’m ashamed. I feel like a failure.

Robert: Can I talk about that for a minute? {Mark nods, his head is down.}

I hear you saying that you’re ashamed of the results of your actions, but not of how you got there. Is that right?

Mark: That feels right. But I’m not saying I’ve thought this out.

Robert: Forgive me if I step on your shame or don’t give it enough notice. I want you to know that I hear you.

Mark, this is why guilt is so important. To put it bluntly, you are guilty of being lazy, actually the Bible is brutal on the lazy.

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit.

Sounds like what you said, doesn’t it? You are guilty of being self-centered and failing to love others more than yourself.

It is so absolutely necessary that you admit where you are wrong. Let it all hang out. Why would you ever want to pretend to be something you are not? Stop hiding that you are a sinner, stop hiding that you screw up. I’m not saying that you should go out and flaunt it, like “hey, I kill puppies for fun.” No, but don’t be false about it.

Mark: I don’t want to lie. I mean, I’m telling you. But I can’t get beyond the feeling that weighs on me. I am a failure. Now, you’re telling me that I’m guilty too. I don’t want to hear that.

Robert: You don’t have to hear me. But you do have to listen to God. I’m just going off your own admission to being lazy and self-centered.

Something needs to be done about this problem. Not the problem of what you do, but the problem of who you are. You, not just the wrong things you have done, deserve to be punished. Something needs to be done; some punishment is needed.

We all need to understand this before we can repent and turn to Christ.

Mark: You’re not quite the picture of a fiery preacher, but you just told me I need to repent. You’re just sitting there drinking tea. Not very threatening.

Robert: I’ll take that as a compliment.

Mark: I think of Christianity as believing something, in a sort of mythical, fairytale sort of way. Like saying, “I believe in hobbits,” or “I believe in the tooth fairy,” or “I believe in Santa Claus.” It’s a leap of faith.

Robert: Sure, it is about faith, but not quiet so airy. It’s about believing some very specific things about Jesus. However, information is never enough, information does not make one a Christian.

Mark: Let me ask this question. Can I believe in Jesus and not change any of the beliefs or practices that I had before? Can I believe in Jesus and still be lazy and selfish? Can I believe in Jesus and still be sport the tattoo of Ganesh on my leg?

Robert: I don’t know how you’d get rid of a tattoo that size. But what do you think? Does that sound inconsistent? God, in the Bible, calls for a total change from the life of unbelief to a life of faith and trust in Christ. I’ve already said that sin is a condition; it is a state of our hearts. If we are to come to a place of right relation with God then our heart must be changed. If our heart remains the same, then what claim do we have to belong to God?

Mark: I’m okay with inconsistency. I prefer to be the one to decide how I will live and what I’ll believe.

Robert: Christianity doesn’t work that way.

Mark, I could help you a lot if I just said, “stop being lazy, get to work and in a year of two things can be going well.” But the laziness is deeper than that. It’s in your heart.

You ought to feel uncomfortable being lazy. Adults should not feel good about being childish. If I invite you over my house for dinner and you throw out the utensils and eat with your hands like a child, there would be something wrong with that. It is ok for my two-year-old to mess her diapers, it would be disgusting for a ten year old.

Mark: That’s sick, man. Is it possible for a Christian to live like everyone else?

Robert: You don’t know how badly I want to say no to that question, but I cannot. Yes it’s possible. But something is seriously wrong in that person’s life.

When I drive down my street there are two beautiful lemon trees that are full of yellow lemons. In my yard, I have a similar tree, but all my lemons are green. By looking at the two I understand that it is time for the tree to be bearing fruit. So when I look back at mine, I have to ask, “What is wrong?”

Mark: Where is the positive here? I feel like I’m going to suffer a loss if I repent. I’d have to give up things that are treasures to me.

Robert: Faith is the positive part.If repentance is turning away from what held you, faith is turning to Christ specifically.

That sense of loss only lasts until you get a glimpse of your savior. Then you realize that it was really no sacrifice at all. Turning to Christ from sin is like a groom on his wedding day. He stands at the altar breathless, terrified that he has not made a good decision, unsure about choosing this one woman over all others. How quickly that concern vanishes the moment the doors open and he sees her veiled face from down the isle. At that time forsaking all others is a joy. He knows that there is no one and nothing else that could capture his heart like that woman and so he pledges to her, “till death do us part.”

It is not just information in the gospel, it is Jesus we are after and this is where He is found. Faith trusts the one who made the promise of the gospel.

Mark: That’s what happened to you? When you were converted? You trusted Jesus?

Robert: Biblical faith includes faith for today. It says, “I believe you,” not “I have believed you,” Not just, “I believed you about your death,” but, “I believe you about everything because of who you are.” I will need Jesus as much tomorrow as I do today. I need his instruction on how to live and to love. I need the revelation of God that informs me with divine wisdom on how to be a child, a parent, a husband, a wife, a friend. It is an impossible belief that says, “I believe that God became a human person born as a child and that when he was killed that somehow paid the price for my wrongdoing. However, I don’t believe that this same God knows how to tell me the best way to live.”

Mark: That’s the rules part?

I have a Christian friend who’s been really into this book about dating. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Robert: There are several and I haven’t read them actually, but I know about ‘em.

Mark: He won’t even be alone with a lady and you would think that kissing her would cause him to fall right into hell.

Robert: The idea, from what I understand, is to set a guard in our lives to protect us from sin. This is a great idea. I will keep from sin by taking another pathway to dating and marriage. I saw a lot of what you saw coming from it too. If two people are dating, then they have sinned. I don’t think that was the author’s intention at all.

The trouble here is that we are adding to what God has laid down for right relationship to Himself. Additions to the gospel or to Christian behavior always bring bondage. The things that we set up as safeguards to keep us from sin now become sin in themselves. We are not free to call sin what is not called such in the Bible. Every time this is done we only rebel further. When rules govern there is no place to go but rebellion and if those rules are associated with God then it is Him we rebel against in our hearts.

By following rules we create for ourselves a false sense of purity. These new rules that we do or don’t do serve as evaluating tools. I am clean, I am acceptable to God because I don’t date the way everyone else does. This is defamation of Christ and all that He has done.The Bible already has enough instructions, most of which we do not keep.

Mark: Be honest and keep the distinction between what is required and what is just helpful.

Robert: Right, you can’t accept a gospel that adds rules. That is very dangerous. Wherever there is a little bit of Christianity added to a little something else, there is great danger.

Mark: One more question?

Robert: Sure, I’m enjoying this.

Mark: What’s up with the Born Agains?

Robert: Get more specific for me, most Christians I know would refer to themselves as being born again because that’s the way Jesus describes being converted.

Mark: I went to church with a friend. It was a Saturday night and the place was nuts. I don’t mean busy, I mean nuts. You know I’m good with people believing and doing their own thing but I was freaked out. The preacher was screaming, I mean, my ears were hurting, everyone was talking at once. Then they started falling down. What is up with that?

Robert: I don’t know the people or the church. It may have been all good as far as I know. There are some people who put a lot of emphasis on experiences because they think that it’s a sign of God being there. It becomes a problem, a really big problem, when you’re told that you have to do what they do or experience what they experience.

Mark: They were calling people to come to the front to do it with ‘em. I wouldn’t have gone up if they had pointed to me.

Robert: I’m sorry that happen to you. I don’t agree with that. We have powerful experiences. I can recount the story of several in my own life that prove to be influential to this day. I remember the moments, the places, the words, the feeling and I am a different man because of them. They are power, they are influential, but we must not use them for evaluating our relationship to God. Most of these things are really negotiable matters.

Mark: So I don’t have to do that to be a Christian?

Robert: Nowhere in Bible – especially epistles – are we admonished to have any experience beyond conversion. I have always thought that this should be given more credence than it is. We have twenty-one of twenty-seven books of the New Testament which are hand written to directly instruct the churches on what to do and how to live. Not one time are we told to have a secondary experience to be right with God. Christ’s death is enough on day two, three and four of your Christian life just as it was on day one.

Mark: So Christianity is the Gospel.

Robert: And all the rest is commentary.

Mark: I don’t know what to think of you. You say what I’d expect you to say most of the time. But sometimes you throw me a bit. Thanks for talking about you, thanks for trusting me with your story.

Robert: You’re part of my story now. Ask me a year from now and I’ll be different for having known you and you’ll be different for having known me. But this is who I am. If we keep talking, I’ll always come from a place of faith.

Mark: I’d like to talk more. Maybe get more specific about Christianity, religion, whatever you want to call it.

Robert: Sure, next time maybe we can talk about how much you know. It’s not fair to be critical of something you don’t know about. So, what do you know and what do you think you need to know to be informed enough to accept reject or even to pick and chose as you like to do. I truly believe that this is the best way and the only thing I can offer to help your hurt beyond my friendship, if you’ll accept that.

Mark: I think that’s what I’m after too.

Robert: Next time we talk about you.

We changed the subject to talk about more general things to get to know each other. He was in his 20′s, I was in my 30′s. He was single, I was married. He has no formal education; I spent most of my adult life in a classroom. He was artistic and free, living a life of few restrictions; I was creative once before a self-centered “friend” destroyed my sense of creativity in order to promote how wonderful his work was. He grew up with frequent church and Christian encounters, I had only one and it was radically offensive. He was open, I am cynical. He ….

All the while we talked and talked. I sat with this feeling in the pit of my stomach. Did I go too far? Did I push the gospel idea more than he was comfortable with? But he asked!

{Christian living is living the Gospel, all the rest is commentary. Learn well this message and live consistently with it. Continue to preach the gospel to yourself on a day to day basis and you will become less dangerous. Your immaturity will become godly character as your ignorance is replaced with divine knowledge.

Be careful here. The moment you begin to add to the gospel, your confidence comes more from what you do than in whom you believe. And I say to hell with your self-confidence! If your confidence is in yourself, then you will be damned.

Whatever you try to substitute for the gospel, don’t do it! The gospel is the power of God for salvation, because in it we rely on Christ’s death alone.}

A Little Christianity is a Dangerous Thing

My name is Robert, I’m a pastor. I’ve been a pastor at some level for fifteen years, starting when I was nineteen years old. I’ve been a Junior High Pastor, a High School Pastor, and an Associate Pastor in several different brands of churches. For a number of years I’ve served in a smallish church teaching, preaching, and caring for those who wanted to be part of a community that dealt honestly with the truth, even the truth of our own failures. It’s a hard job, but I love it. I love to think, I love to talk, and I love to help bring people together with Jesus.

I spend several mornings a week right here. It’s my home away from home, my office away from the office. Whenever I can’t get any work done at either of the other places, the juices seem to flow more readily when I sit here. Did you use to watch the T.V show Cheers? Where everybody knows your name… I love having a place and this is mine. The Daily Grind is a local, owner operated, coffee house and specialty wine shop. Dane, the friendly Scandinavian proprietor, imports his coffees green from around the world and roasts them right over there in the corner by the front window. You can smell it all over town when Dane is roasting. When I sit out front {which I don’t do very often} the paper shells of the coffee beans float down like snow from the roaster vent, it’s like sitting in a coffee snow globe, a coffee lovers dream. In such a place, it’s almost a crime that I drink tea.

This is my corner. When I walk in the front door, I’m greeted with a smile and wave. By the time I get to the counter my tea is ready and waiting, double English Breakfast tea, two bags, served in a porcelain bowl with room for milk. Then off to my sacred place, the last chair in the far back corner leaning against the wine cases underneath a handmade sign that reminds me daily, “Remember, wine is to be consumed on special occasions, such as waking up.”

This place is where I first began to talk with Mark, my young friend who was interested in my faith in Jesus Christ. He knew next to nothing formally of Christianity and yet knew so much in his heart. There is no way to count how many conversations that I’ve participated in about God, life, and faith. But this one has changed me forever.

I have always been rather cynical. Mocking stupid Christians is one of my favorite pass times. I mock things too. My bookshelves house a growing collection of stupid Christian paraphernalia: Jesus statues, mints, shirts, and little hand cleaners purporting to wash the sin away. Spending time with Mark forced me to admit that, in addition to mocking others, I’m a stupid Christian too. There is still so much for me to learn, my character is so far from Christ and my life, well it’s a mess and it all went to hell right in the middle of the conversations I was having with Mark.

I have realized that I could be the most dangerous person in the world. My little bit of Christianity can destroy my life, and it can destroy the lives of those around me. How? By keeping them from eternal life in Christ. If all they see of Christianity is my little bit, then that’s what they believe following Christ looks like. That could ultimately destroy the witness of God in the world as the people who know God and live accordingly and have godly character are replaced with people who know as little as I do. Whether the problem was knowledge, character or living, the best solution we found to a having a little Christianity was to develop a little more.

These are a series of conversations we had sitting at the Daily Grind about life and character and faith, but not necessarily in that order. I have done my best to recount for you the honest, free flowing talks we shared. They are not verbatim by any means and at some points you’ll find more from my pen than either of our mouths. Finally, I have taken the liberty to arrange them in a form that I thought might encourage you, the reader, in the direction of walking the narrow way with Jesus, the same as they did for Mark and I. I trust that this compilation will not distract you from the heart of their message which is Jesus Christ calling the both of usfrom where we are to follow Him more closely.

Walk with us for a while. Perhaps we can all become a little less dangerous.

I Refuse to Be an Ecological Fatalist

I tend to think of my garden as an ecological anti-depressant. With absolutely no substantiation other than my own anecdotal experience, I find that nearly every day soil and growing things save me from hopelessness. As a pastor, I work with people–often people with long ingrained habitual problems. This feels so tremendously large on some days that counseling requires an immediate retreat to the garden just outside my study. In the garden, I find that vegetables grow among the weeds and realize there can be good fruit in human hearts where I have found only weeds. I also find that a little nurture does wonders for plants and the same is true for people. Basically, my garden helps remind me of why I refuse to be a fatalist–either human or ecological. I refuse to live in that kind of despair.

Both Christians and non-Christians suffer from an undiagnosed melancholy in regards to issues of the earth, our ecological home. Some find themselves despairing over the grand and overwhelming task of reversing the direction of the earth. The destruction has gone so far, how could we ever bring it back? Others remain unmoved, either affectionately or persuasively by the goodness of what our world is, has been or could be in the future. But when we take God’s story as a starting point (and finishing point) of our ecological involvement, it gives us hope that always leads to action in both small and great ways for the good of the world.

Creation as an act of God calls me to hope in the reality of the planet’s goodness
Our world is good because God is good and He created it. This simple theological reasoning provides the opening scene of God’s story;The creation is “good” because the Creator is good. In fact, He is the only consistent standard of good. The present badness that we experience is because of human choice to disregard God as that standard of goodness. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We continue with those choices today and the ecological fruit becomes more apparent every day. Once we exercised dominion on behalf of God for the continuing goodness of the world, now brokenness and weeds dominate us. Be hopeful, because it was good once, it can be again.

The Exodus as an act of God affirms my hope in the possibility of a better future
In the story of the Exodus, God delivers his people from human-caused slavery and He can deliver us again. The way it is today does not have to be the way it will be tomorrow.  As living proof, believing men and women are daily transformed from the inside out. Countless millions over the ages have been renewed and redeemed. God removed their cold heart of stone and gave them a compassionate heart of flesh. He made them live again as His very own children. Obedient children of God act in simple, daily ways consistent with that new self and this brings about a better future.

The new creation as a future act of God makes my hope in a better future certain
The story of God ends with the renewal of all things. Not their destruction, but their renewal. The Bible describes it as a new heaven and a new earth, always mentioned together. This will be a place where all the original goodness will be restored. We will walk with God, each other and our ecological world as God originally intended. We will properly relate and will properly dominate so that more goodness is seen when we leave a place than when we arrived. This hope is as sure as God Himself.

But, what about…
I see two potential obstacles to this hope: A God obstacle and a scientific obstacle.

Perhaps you simply do not want to bow to God’s story as a starting point. Giving that authority away sounds entirely anathema to you. God forbid, so to speak. Fine. But do realize a few things. First, hope is consistent with God’s story and I dare say it is not consistent with any other. This would explain why hope is largely absent in most ecological movements, perhaps even your own. Secondly, see that this refusal to bow and insist rather on starting with yourself instead of with God mirrors the devil’s trick on Adam and Eve in the original garden–which has resulted in the present despair. It hasn’t worked so far and perhaps it is time for a change.

Say you do believe in God, but this is not the way you were taught to think of creation. You don’t believe in its necessity or necessarily even care about what happens to it. After all, there is plenty of other good, God-ordained work to do. In that case, I remind you to look again at the end of the biblical story with a new heaven and a new earth. The two are always found together in the Bible. All things will one day be made right and for now all of creation groans for the children of God to become mature. I encourage you to return to the garden and find hope for the despair of your poor theological training.

Another obstacle to finding hope in God’s story is science, either an over-belief in the ability of science or an under-belief in the reliability of science. Is your hopelessness supported by the scientific data that shows the problem as insurmountable? Be careful here with making science say more than it could possibly say. Science gives us good and useful data, but it says only what is, not what could be. Hope (and despair) goes far beyond the data. Let the good scientific data motivate you, but do not let it take your hope, it is not that kind of information. That would be an over-belief in science. On the other hand, you may doubt the science that says our environment is in trouble. After all, you may feel, science has led to questioning of the biblical account of life’s origins and other values you hold dear. That may be so; however, whether you trust the science or not, you can certainly see with your own eyes the damage that is growing. You can witness the particular effects of your deliberate choices both in your backyard and around the world. Do not let a an under-belief in science’s ability to reliably explain the way things are steal your energy for hopeful action in the world.

Whichever obstacle may stand in your way, God’s story gives hope in the possibility of change–starting with you and me. Just go out in the garden or sprawl on the lawn and let nature preach to you the story of God who created all things, delivers us from our own rightly deserved consequences and will Himself bring about a new, redeemed creation one day. Allow your new-found hope to change your daily experience. Allow it to motivate your daily action. Allow it to become contagious. Something will happen. Tomorrow will be different, tomorrow will be better than today.

A Rocha USA

Being members of each other

“My vision of the gathered church that had come to me after I became the janitor had been replaced by a vision of the gathered community. What I saw now was the community imperfect and irresolute but held together by the frayed and always fraying, incomplete and yet ever-holding bonds of the various sorts of affection. There had maybe never been anybody who had not been loved by somebody, who had been loved by somebody else, and so on and on…. It was a community always disappointed in itself, disappointing its members, always trying to contain its divisions and gentle its meanness, always failing and yet always preserving a sort of will toward goodwill. I knew that, in the midst of all the ignorance and error, this was a membership; it was the membership of Port William and of no other place on earth. My vision gathered the community as it never has been and never will be gathered in this world of time, for the community must always be marred by members who are indifferent to it or against it, who are nonetheless its members and maybe nonetheless essential to it. And yet I saw then all as some how perfected, beyond time, by one another’s love, compassion, and forgiveness, as it is said we may be perfected by grace.”

Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow: A Novel (Washington, DC: Counterpoint, 2000), 205.

Reflections on my time on the ground with A Rocha

I was invited to join the national board of directors for A Rocha in the USA.  We gathered in the beautiful town of Lynden Washington and were able to see all the good work these Christian men and women are doing for the place where they live and the people who live there with them. They are daily living their Christian lives more thoroughly than most of us do in regards to the dirt they walk on and that attention to the dirt (and water) serves their community through providing beauty, health and food.

I went as a prospective board member and as a pastor to encourage these good Christian folks who are not always welcomed by the environmental community, which can be hostile towards people of faiths other than their own, nor are the always encouraged by the church in the good work they are doing.

Reflections: 3 about myself, 1 about my involvement in A Rocha and another about Jesus.

I am a pastor. I needed to remember this as a I gathered with farmers with such a genius for the ground they lived upon and the animals they cared for. And they cared for these animals better than any policy could dictate. I needed to remember that I am a pastor when I stood to speak to a group of university professors and brilliant men and women of all walks, many scientific. While I too am addresses as Doctor, I would be dishonest if I said I was not intimidated. I am a pastor, broken souls are always my first order of business and they are everywhere. They are in Santa Margarita California, Lynden Washington and Surrey British Columbia. They are executives, ranchers, hippies, dairy farmers and scientists. I am a pastor to whomever God sends me to and where ever they are grounded.

I am not an environmentalist. This was an important discovery for me. I became a Christian at university as an Environmental Science major 20+ years ago and have often struggled with how the two go together. I have found answer with A Rocha. I am not an environmentalist because that is a political description. No, I am thoroughly Christian, all the way down to the dirt.

I am a visionary. I need those people in my life with whom I can share my ideas without having them freak out. I am grateful to have  found several of those on the A Rocha USA board. I am visionary and am learning to be patient and think more long term and slowly.

My involvement with A Rocha grounds me to my people and my place. I am a visionary, thoroughly Christian pastor in the Santa Margarita Community Church located in Santa Margarita California. I live daily on a small scale and am involved with bringing those small scale truths to a global community through A Rocha.

Finally. I saw more clearly than I ever have before that Jesus puts people and place back together. Policy does not. Protest does not. It is the gracious, humbly, reconciling work of Jesus that brings together broken people (like activists and ranchers) in broken places (like Lynden and Santa Margarita) and offers hope that it might be better one day.

Exploring plumb lines 3

#3. Think deeply, live simply.

I am honestly addicted to learning, to constant intake. So podcasts are just death to me…and joy at the same time. I currently have 485 active podcast episodes on my Ipod. I love to think and listening or reading makes me think and we so seldom think deeply. There is something amazing about hearing an educated person speak of a Christian view of economics, for example, when he or she is able to explore one simple point for an hour.

I stole a phrase from Ken Myers and like to say that I have the gift of bibliography. For me that means that I cannot think without recalling what I have read. My mind immediately spiderwebs out to include a book, a page and where that book is on my library shelf. It kind of a curse.

The most prominent book on my shelf is the Bible. Actually Bible(s) – 20 copies in 4 languages. So my spiderweb always centers around God who has revealed Himself and His way in the Bible. I cannot think about coffee without thinking about Jesus. This is how deep thinking becomes simple living for me. The greatest commands of Jesus are to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. (Now, God gets to define what he means by love, but that is a topic for another day).

My point – and how this becomes a plumb line for who I am and how I live is this – the more deeply I think about God, about economics and about coffee, the more I will live in love for the real God and for real people. That is what I mean by living simply. Everything else is secondary.