Mudshot Eyes

Do you ever have trouble asking for help?  I assume that it probably has something to do with my strong sense of independence, but that’s always been a struggle for me.  Independence is great when you are talking about freedom from an oppressive regime that taxed us out the wazoo 200 years ago, but when it comes to how I live my life as a Christ-follower, it’s value is limited.

Krista and I were talking to a close friend last night who shared that he also has a difficult time asking others to help him.  As we narrowed down the reasons, it came to pride and the desire not to let others see our weaknesses or our needs.

The problem with that perspective is that our sense of need is the defining characteristic in a Christian’s life.  No one becomes a follower of Christ without first recognizing that they need Him.  And once someone starts the journey with Christ, the degree to which they are aware of their need is the degree to which they will follow Him.

A “pull-up-your-bootstraps-and-do-it-yourself” approach only leads to emptiness and a longing for personal recognition (which can never be enough).

When we realize the limits of the resources within ourselves and the vastness of the resources that God offers us through relationship with Him, the pressure is suddenly off as we no longer have to defend ourselves and our abilities.  Instead, we come clean about how needy we are and discover that God has invited us to come to Him with our asking, seeking, and knocking.*

Jesus illustrates God’s joy in giving good things to his sons and daughters in Matthew 7:11:

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

Perhaps this Independence Day could also be a day to recognize the value of a life lived in dependence on an enormously capable and loving God.

*Matthew 7:7

(Thanks to Reddish for the “in dependence” idea.)

This article is from guest blogger Brian Alex, a close friend of mine. He and his family are missionaries, currently in Estonia (web site).  Enjoy!

————————————

I recently asked a friend of mine what they have been reading lately, hoping to whet my appetite for some good material. Their response left me dumbfounded for moment:

“The Bible is all I need, since hearing too much from others only tends to leave me more confused than when I limit my influence to only the Bible.”

I doubt that I will ever share my argument with them, but it is a proverbial burr under my theological saddle. I think there is something missing in the life of a believer who closes their ears to every other sound but their reading of the Bible.

To read the New Testament is to find a collection of eye-witness accounts and special revelation propagated to the masses mainly through messengers carrying letters to be read aloud. But it didn’t stop there. The letters were then considered at-large by communal groups of Christ-followers. Thus, it stands to reason that we too must take the point of view that God will choose to reveal Himself to us via that same circuit. Namely,

1. The Scriptures
2. Personal Revelation
3. Communal Interpretation

To refrain from the necessary involvement of a community would subject the learner to a limited view of Christ, life and the world that he or she lives in. By excluding the communal checks-and-balances they would be in danger of erring from the very Scriptures that he or she may claim have exclusive authority in their lives.

Rather, we can stand with confidence knowing that God has led us into select communal-social constructs that will help us tend towards truth. Surrounding ourselves with a community of imperfect Bible-interpreting believers will challenge and refine our own conceptions, keeping us from blatant deceptions.

God has placed us in covenental community in order to see the Bible clearly and to know in Whom we have believed. In essence, if we are to hear God’s voice, we must involve those who have labored in the Word before us and with us, as they lend us their spiritual heritage.

The Bible isn’t all we need, simply because the Bible is not just about words. It is about real people and real lives, learning to live out the truth… together.

I remember birthdays as a kid, and how it always felt so good to add one year to the scorecard that was my age. The bigger the number got, the closer I thought I’d be to the day when someone important told me that I was OK. I was just waiting for someone to say, “You are grown up now, and you are going to make it on your own––you’ve got what it takes.”

I continued that pattern through college and graduate school. I was still trying to figure out if there was any built-in purpose to my life, but I acted like I had it all together, like I had all the answers. While I waited for some final word on my worth, I treated relationships with the carelessness of a teenager, and did very little growing up in my twenties.

When my 30th birthday came, I was still just like that little kid, marking a number on his scorecard. Secretly, I marked this one down darker than the others. I just knew that 30 would be the one. This was the year that people would treat me like a grown up and finally start telling me those magic words: “Congratulations on turning 30. You’ve finally got what it takes now.”

It never happened. I was older, but in many ways still foolish, immature, and unable to see it. My birthday had absolutely nothing to do with my true maturity.

At some point I had to acknowledge to myself and to God that I was waiting on other people to provide only what He could. My shallow way of measuring my worth had left me confused and insecure, so I began to face how weak my crutch was.

I’ve quit using a scorecard to count birthdays and I have become increasingly convinced that God doesn’t give a damn how old we are. His desire for us is to “go on to maturity,” as the book of Hebrews puts it. The Message version is especially colorful:

Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.

So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God;

(Hebrews 5:13-6:1)

Since my number of calendar years doesn’t reflect my spiritual maturity, I’ve decided that my age is a meaningless abstraction for me, having no bearing on my present course. I still have a lot of growing up to do, including more scorecards that need to be burned.

(By the way, I turn 37 years old today, but who’s counting?)

We’ve been back in the states now for about a week, and have just begun to feel like we are catching up from being gone for two weeks in England and Estonia. However, the trip was worth every second of jet lag! The first portion of our trip was in England, with Krista’s parents. We then travelled to Estonia, where we enjoyed a few days with Brian and Renee Alex.

Below are two galleries of pictures from our trip. The first is all England, and the second is all Estonia. For more on our trip, go through the pictures and read the descriptions.

Once you’ve viewed the England pictures, click HERE to get to the Estonia pics.

Once you’ve viewed all pics, you can go home here.

ADDENDUM: The slideshow feature isn’t working. To view all the pictures, click on the England or Estonia gallery, and then click the first thumbnail. This will bring up a larger view.

England

Our time in England was spent with Krista's parents, who helped us see plently of the sights, including Oxford University, Windsor Castle, Blenheim Palace, Stonehenge, and London.

20 Photos

Estonia

These pictures are from the part of the trip where we visited our friends Brian and Renee Alex in Estonia. They and their two girls are there as missionaries, but will be coming back to the US for missionary training in July. We had a wonderful time with them and loved seeing Estonia.

16 Photos

If you’ve been unsuccessful in reaching us lately, it’s because Krista and I have been two weeks in Europe, half of which was a mission trip to Estonia where our friends Brian and Renee Alex are serving. I’ll write more about that in the next few days.

For now I want to update you about a decision Krista and I have made recently. Starting next Sunday, June 8, we will begin leading worship together at Emmaus Church in Nashville. Both of us are excited and feel strongly that God is leading us to join with them.

The church was started by a Michael Reddish, a friend of mine at work. Emmaus is reaching out to the atypical church crowd: cynics, homosexuals, church dropouts/rejects, strippers, drag kings/queens, along with a few regular folk that don’t fit in. It’s the most unlikely of churches, with a most unconventional approach to a lot of things. I would even say that anyone walking in with regular church expectations has about an 84.5% chance of leaving bewildered or possibly offended in some way. (So if you are looking to visit, there is your official heads-up).

If you know Krista and me at all, you know that we enjoy traveling off of the beaten path, and Emmaus certainly qualifies. However, our attraction is based more upon the people who gather each week and our opportunity to serve in a way that uses both of our gifts. Along with leading worship, I will also have the occasional teaching opportunities. If you want to know a little more about the church, here is their website.

Each week Emmaus’ worship is shared by anywhere between 10-20 people, depending on what week it is. So while our faith adventure intersects with this small band of Christ-followers in downtown Nashville, we ask for your prayers for us and for the church.

Last week, I saw Expelled, the new movie from Ben Stein.  It has stirred up a mostly negative response from all sides. Here are a couple of quotes from recent reviews:

Kenneth R. Miller, a biology professor at Brown University, was particularly harsh in his Op-Ed piece in the Boston Globe:

“Expelled is a shoddy piece of propaganda that props up the failures of Intelligent Design by playing the victim card. It deceives its audiences, slanders the scientific community, and contributes mightily to a climate of hostility to science itself. Stein is doing nothing less than helping turn a generation of American youth away from science.”

The review in Christianity Today recognized the limits of what the film tried to accomplish:

“The film succeeds in making the point that Intelligent Design should at least be on the table for discussion. But if you’re looking for ammunition to argue your Darwinist friends under the table, you may want to look elsewhere.”

I’ll put together my own review in the next few days and let you know if I agree with the comments above.  In the meantime, you can see what some are saying by Googling “Expelled reviews.”

I finished the Country Music Half Marathon yesterday with a personal best time of 2:04:35.  I was one of a ton of people from The Lampo Group who trained and ran, many for the first time, thanks to lots of motivation from our fearless leader, Dave Ramsey, who finished the half in 1:51.

I was running out of my mind for most of the race, but my goal of 2 hours was thwarted by a porta-potty which attacked me at mile 8.  However, I am proud to say that I finished 10 minutes before this Kenyan:

(Unfortunately, I only did 13.1 miles, while he did 26.2.)

Thank you to all of my friends and family who supported me, especially Krista, who ran across the LP Field parking lot (knocking over marathoners who had just completed their race) just to see me at the finish.

Damn, I love that woman.

“Jesus?” he whispered as his voice choked. “I feel so lost.”
 A hand reached out and squeezed his, and didn’t let go. “I know, Mack. But it’s not true. I am with you and I am not lost.”

William P. Young’s book, The Shack is ultimately about the main character, Mack, discovering that he can find his way only through interaction and friendship with God. In light of all the theological content of the book, this is important because all theology should be all about the potential for relationship with God. Theology is a question of whether or not we can find any meaning or direction for life in a God who is above, beyond, and around all things.

Since The Shack dives into some significant theological themes, it is important to ask whether or not the theological content of the book is trustworthy and faithful to the message of the Bible. Before going into some examples, I’ll say up front that I believe that most of the theology of the book is well in line with a reasonable interpretation of the Scriptures, even if it is presented in an unconventional way. In fact, this unconventional approach is what piqued my interest.

I will miss some important moments and ideas in the book, but stay with me as I review the five themes which stood out to me the most.

The Trinity

“We are not three gods, and we are not talking about one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father, and worker. I am one God and I am three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one” (p. 101).

The triune nature of God is a prominent theme throughout the story. Mack has interaction with each person of the Trinity, and is often presented with a plural pronoun when you would expect a singular one, and vice versa. When any member of the Trinity is speaking, they often say “we”, harkening back to the Old Testament, where the word for God, elohim, appears 2326 times. Elohim is a plural Hebrew word, a fact that is lost in the English translation, and it is significant that in a large number of times where the OT writers were referring to God, they were using a plural word.

The balance is provided by the fact that the oneness of God is also emphasized. At one point in the story, Mack is talking to Jesus, and he asks, “What about the others?”

“I’m here, I’m always here” was Jesus’ reply.

After reading the conversations about the Trinity, I began to wonder if the author would begin to err on the side of trying too hard to explain the character of God. However, at just the right time, Papa acknowledges the limits of our understanding:

“That you can’t grasp the wonder of my nature is rather a good thing. Who wants to worship a God who can be fully comprehended, eh? Not much mystery in that” (p. 101). 

Is God a Male?

“For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa is simply to mix metaphors, to help you keep from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning.” (p. 93)

One of the difficult parts of the book for some readers is the appearance of God the Father as an oversized black woman. Isn’t God presented as a Father figure in the Bible?

The Bible is full of father-language for God, and according to Papa’s character, this is for good reason:

“…we knew once the Creation was Broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don’t misunderstand me, both are needed––but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence” (p. 94)

I don’t think there is reason to be offended by the Papa character in the story. Though God never appears as a woman in the Bible, God in his essence isn’t a male or a female. Those are human categories that only applied to God when Jesus entered our existence as a man.

“Free” Will

“Does freedom mean that you are allowed to do whatever you want to do?” (p. 95)

Another important idea in the story is whether or not we are morally free. The dialogue between Mack and Papa contains a lot of powerful stuff about what kind of freedom we can experience as we allow God to work in our lives. God renders powerless the things which actually limit our freedom, such as our genetic heritage, our DNA, the subtle social influences, marketing, or propaganda. “Inside that confluence of multifaceted inhibitors, what is freedom really?” Papa asks.

Only in Christ the Truth can we know what it feels like to be gradually free from all these limiting influences.

Did God Limit Himself?

“…we became fully human. We also chose to embrace all the limitations that this entailed. Even though we have always been present in this created universe, we now became flesh and blood. It would be like this bird, whose nature it is to fly, choosing only to walk and remain grounded. He doesn’t stop being the bird, but it does alter his experience of life significantly.” (p. 99)

The discussions between Mack and God are full of helpful guidance in thinking about what it meant for God to become flesh and blood and walk on this earth. At no point does he attempt to completely explain it, but illustrations like the one above helped me grasp the coming of Jesus more fully.

The Problem of Evil

“This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil. Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say. Now it touches everyone that I love, those who follow me and those who don’t” (p. 190).

The central event in the book is a tragedy in Mack’s life which becomes a hinge for his entire life from that point forward. It also drove much of the discussion that he had with God, as Mack was baffled as to why God would not protect his family from experiencing the horrific effects of someone else’s wrongdoing.

This question captured me the most, as it is one I have struggled with a lot. I recently asked a co-worker the classic question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Almost without hesitation, I was given what sounded like a well-rehearsed answer. I was half kidding when I asked it, and didn’t have time at work to delve into such a murky existential question, but I marveled at how flippantly he was able to dismiss such a difficult question.

The dialogue in The Shack makes no such mistake, taking the issue very seriously. Ultimately Mack is led back to the question of love, when Papa says, “If I take away the consequences of people’s choices, I destroy the possibility of love.”

Final Thoughts

My only critical comment of the book is that I wish Young could have somehow presented the otherness of God a little more clearly. I love how he presents God in this story, but if this is God, then I want to be a little more baffled by his greatness. What makes the Gospel so astounding is the fact that this God whose existence can never be tamed or completely explained has chosen to love us and relate to us.

This invitation to be in relationship and this “possibility of love” in the midst of a broken world make up the central theme of The Shack. The story is a wonderful parable of God’s willingness to embrace us regardless of the risk that we would refuse God’s love. And once we see how absolutely pleasant it is to be in relationship with the God who created us, became one of us, and died for us, then we can let our guard down and fully enjoy dialogue and communion with the Lover of our souls, especially when we are deeply wounded by our own sin and the sin of others.

––––––––––––––––––

Your comments are welcome.

[We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog article for a hockey post, regardless of those of you who ignore professional sports…]  

I had planned on posting the rest of The Shack review, but I had a diversion from our normal Sunday writing time today.  Krista and I were surprised by two free tickets to the Nashville Predator’s game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (round 1).  My sister and her husband were gracious enough to pass them along to us when they couldn’t use them, and we had a blast.  

The story of the game was the defense of the Detroit Red Wings.  After the first period, it was like Detroit had an extra man on defense every time the Predators came down the ice.  The Preds lost 0-3, and as a long time Detroit-hater it was painful to watch.  However, no one expected the Preds to take them to a Game 6, so there is some solace in that.

The Preds are now out of the playoffs, but it was worth being there just to experience the intensity of playoff hockey.  I said to Krista on the way to the car that if someone gave me the choice of Superbowl tickets or tickets to any game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, I would choose NHL every time. There is nothing like it!

[We now return to our regularly scheduled programming…  I’ll have the rest of my review of The Shack this week.]

(Minor spoilers ahead–depending on your definition of a “spoiler”)

William Young is discovering that word of mouth can be a powerful thing. His new book, The Shack, has sold almost 400,000 copies after starting with only a $200 marketing budget. The book is growing in popularity, mostly due to the fact that it simply makes people want to talk about its content, so readers have sold his book for him, one by one.

Without giving away too much, the story is that the main character, Mack, experiences a horrible tragedy in his family which pushes him further away from an active belief in God. Three and a half years later, Mack receives an unusual invitation from someone named “Papa,” and he leaves for a shack in the middle of nowhere that is tied closely to the tragedy. His journey turns into an opportunity to dialogue with God in a way that changes his life forever.

Before I jump into a specific review of The Shack’s content, here are a couple of general observations.

First, Young’s use of analogy will cause many to jump to conclusions before they hear what is actually being said. The Shack is a parable, so any effort to make a direct translation of the story into a systematic theology is going to turn out badly.

For example, Jesus is presented as a homely middle-eastern man (who knew?) who loves to laugh, splash his feet in the water while sitting on the edge of a boat dock, and build stuff. The Holy Spirit is represented by an ethereal and colorful Asian-looking person who can move about effortlessly, appearing here and there without warning.

The author’s representation of God the Father is the most difficult to get past for those who have a hard time with analogy. Through most of the story, “Papa” is presented as a hefty, happy, and candid black woman who can cook up a mean breakfast. Papa talks theology with Mack using a direct but gentle approach, giving him room to think when Mack can’t quite accept an idea as it’s being presented.

Second, what most appealed to me is that Young brings some heavy theological themes down to earth in The Shack. While you should not expect a flawless writing style, his ability to make difficult theology accessible makes this worth the read.

Here are some of the topics that appear throughout the story:

- Why is God presented as Father in the Bible?

- Do we have a morally free will? If so, what does that mean?

- How much can we understand of the nature of God?

- Did God limit himself in the Incarnation?

- How can I understand the triune nature of God?

- Do all roads lead to God?

- Will God protect us from experiencing the effects of evils that we didn’t cause?

In part 2 of this review, I’ll give some examples to show how he addresses some of these things, and why some people are criticizing and others are lauding this compelling and controversial book.