The Astonishing Tales of Costanza – Volume 3
From a Movement to a Religion
“The number one enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity.”
- E. McManus
When the result of Christianity in many people’s lives amounts to an inability to actually live but rather self-preserve, denying themselves the fullness of life, it is hard to imagine this is what Jesus Christ had in mind when He died on the cross 2000 years ago. The fact of the matter is, the history of the Christian church is fraught with these experiences. Because of fear and hatred and a desire to self-preserve, or even develop a larger sphere of power, a part of Christian history is the Crusades and the KKK and so many human atrocities. For this reason, the greatest obstacle for many to Jesus Christ is the history of the church.
After the resurrection of Jesus Christ a movement began and those whose lives were transformed by it, the world called Christians. Now, we call ourselves Christians and the world calls us hypocrites. The church became static, merely focusing on self-preservation. This is most apparent in the local church. Most local churches give us the model of the “Apex Theory,” where they hit the apex of the church’s influence and attempt to cling to the top. The problem is that when we hit the top, we start to die (Makes sense right? Once you reached the greatest moment, you must start to come down). As the church maintained the apex in numbers, it lost its influence. It exchanged the creativity and hunger that got it to the top for static friction. It stopped moving forward because it wanted to remain where it was. This is death to movement. What we failed to notice in this transaction was that as we exchanged an activist, movement oriented faith for a set of rules we turned Christianity into just another world religion.
We forgot that the life of the church is the heart of God. The heart of God is to serve a broken world. When Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist, He reminded us that only He could wash away our sin. The church cannot live when the heart of God is not beating within her. God’s heartbeat is to seek and save that which is lost. The church exists to serve as the body of Christ, and it is through this commitment that we are forced to engage our culture. This type of service demands direct contact and forward movement. You cannot wash the feet of a dirty world if you refuse to touch it.
I now, more than ever before, firmly believe as Paul says in his letter to the church in Thessalonica – We are to be a community that lives by faith, is known by love and is a voice of hope. To be this type of community, we need to be ever moving.
***NOTE - The difference between a religion and a movement is this: movements transform people from the inside out, moving or inspiring them past where they are but religions merely shackle people with rules to restrain their movement with no life transformation, forcing a static, unchanging existence. Without movement, we cannot live. We cannot know life fully but rather die to a life of mediocrity.
***NOTE – Most of what I am saying here is a mixture of discussions with Mosaic leadership, the book “An Unstoppable Force” by McManus and my own thoughts. So yes, I stole many an idea.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Things Learned in LA
Things Learned in L.A.
- For an Irish-Jew, I actually do get a little bit tan
- Wearing powerlifting t-shirts ALL THE TIME is not being fashionably responsible nor is it being culturally relevant
- Apparently man-kapris are acceptable even if you do not yearn for the touch of another man (I still disagree but am willing to concede…)
- Not all Jews were meant to count money (i.e.: my lack of ability to do simple math)
- I can’t run around and play basketball for longer than 7 – 8 minutes at a clip or I risk heart failure
- There is no need for traffic to maintain a healthy ebb and flow. Rather it can exist at all times – even 3a.m.
- In-N-Out Burger is the greatest fast food chain EVER!!! (Wendy’s is a close second)
- Break dancing is still cool, even 20 years after the fact.
- I look hot in plaid shorts
- I’m hot.
There’s a lot more but I’m good with that.
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For Miles
i know one day, all our scars will disappear, like the stars at dawn
and all of our pain, will fade away when morning comes
and on that day when we look backwards we will see, that everything is changed
and all of our trials, will be as milestones on the way
and as long as we live, every scar is a bridge to someone's broken heart
and there's no greater love, than that one shed his blood for his friends
on that day all of the scales will swing to set all the wrongs to right
all our tears, and all of our fears will take to flight
but until then all of our scars will still remain, but we've learned that if we'll
open the wounds and share them then soon they start to heal
(as long as we live, we are bridges to someone broken heart
there's no greater love, shed your blood for your friends)
we must see that every scar is a bridge, and as long as we live
we must open up these wounds
when some one stands in your shoes and will shed his own blood
there's no greater love. we must open up our wounds
by: Thrice/Dustin Kensrue
- For an Irish-Jew, I actually do get a little bit tan
- Wearing powerlifting t-shirts ALL THE TIME is not being fashionably responsible nor is it being culturally relevant
- Apparently man-kapris are acceptable even if you do not yearn for the touch of another man (I still disagree but am willing to concede…)
- Not all Jews were meant to count money (i.e.: my lack of ability to do simple math)
- I can’t run around and play basketball for longer than 7 – 8 minutes at a clip or I risk heart failure
- There is no need for traffic to maintain a healthy ebb and flow. Rather it can exist at all times – even 3a.m.
- In-N-Out Burger is the greatest fast food chain EVER!!! (Wendy’s is a close second)
- Break dancing is still cool, even 20 years after the fact.
- I look hot in plaid shorts
- I’m hot.
There’s a lot more but I’m good with that.
========================================================
For Miles
i know one day, all our scars will disappear, like the stars at dawn
and all of our pain, will fade away when morning comes
and on that day when we look backwards we will see, that everything is changed
and all of our trials, will be as milestones on the way
and as long as we live, every scar is a bridge to someone's broken heart
and there's no greater love, than that one shed his blood for his friends
on that day all of the scales will swing to set all the wrongs to right
all our tears, and all of our fears will take to flight
but until then all of our scars will still remain, but we've learned that if we'll
open the wounds and share them then soon they start to heal
(as long as we live, we are bridges to someone broken heart
there's no greater love, shed your blood for your friends)
we must see that every scar is a bridge, and as long as we live
we must open up these wounds
when some one stands in your shoes and will shed his own blood
there's no greater love. we must open up our wounds
by: Thrice/Dustin Kensrue
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The Sanctuary Hum - A Chorus of Resistance
The Astonishing Tales of Costanza – Volume 2
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“The church is not here to meet our needs. We are the church, here to meet the needs of the world.”
- Erwin McManus
-----------------------------------------
The Sanctuary Hum – A Chorus of Resistance
All across the country, there are numerous sanctuaries humming with the words of passionless pastors, convincing us of their charade. Pastors whose sole purpose could be one of a myriad of hollow goals, such as: increasing their congregation size; making their congregants feel comfortable; or even achieving notoriety in the Christian world. With these as their goals, they fail to speak to our humanity or ignite our passions. They speak empty, hollow words that act only to pacify and placate. Words that satiate what should be an insatiable desire. The end result is the creation of a church geared for Christians. Mosaic is the antithesis.
Mosaic’s ethos centers completely around a missional perspective. In pursuit of this missional focus, they’ve developed an activist mentality. They want not to be shaped by culture but to shape culture. This is the very reason many people in the “church” rail against Mosaic – they are not here to create a comfortable place for Christians to attend. In fact, I feel that Mosaic wants most Christians to feel uncomfortable; Uncomfortable with the fact that so many people in this world will never know the love of God because we never showed it to them; Uncomfortable with the fact that we, who wear the moniker of Christian, are so caught up with our own lives, our own little world and our desire to be comfortable, that we never take the time to show God’s grace and mercy to the world around us.
Probably the core of McManus/Mosaic’s ethos can be summed up in these two paragraphs – McManus follows Jesus’ lead from Matthew 22:37-39. In this passage, Jesus is asked, “What is the SINGLE greatest commandment?” This is where Jesus demonstrates that He is great at philosophy but not so good at math. He answers by saying that (1) you are to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind but follows this by saying (2) you are also to love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus’ problem is that he could not separate these two commandments; he understands that the principle theme to the universe is relationship. They are inextricably linked. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, it will flow over into the second of these greatest commandments. You will love your neighbor as yourself. What Jesus tells us is that you CANNOT love God and NOT love people, especially those who have yet to know His love. This is at the foundation of McManus’s ministry.
So The end result of a comfortable church is complacency coupled with a perspective that is focused inward. This is ABSOLUTELY the wrong direction. It is imperative that we, as sons and heirs of grace, learn what it means to lift up our brothers and sisters and how much it costs to truly lay down your life for a friend. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; John 15:13).
==============================================
***Interesting Note – Probably most interesting is that if you ask McManus if he considers himself, or Mosaic, “seeker sensitive” he would probably say no. McManus speaks to the human condition. He desires all to know the abundant life we are promised in Christ and with that, he is attempting to awaken humanity.
-----------------------------------------
“The church is not here to meet our needs. We are the church, here to meet the needs of the world.”
- Erwin McManus
-----------------------------------------
The Sanctuary Hum – A Chorus of Resistance
All across the country, there are numerous sanctuaries humming with the words of passionless pastors, convincing us of their charade. Pastors whose sole purpose could be one of a myriad of hollow goals, such as: increasing their congregation size; making their congregants feel comfortable; or even achieving notoriety in the Christian world. With these as their goals, they fail to speak to our humanity or ignite our passions. They speak empty, hollow words that act only to pacify and placate. Words that satiate what should be an insatiable desire. The end result is the creation of a church geared for Christians. Mosaic is the antithesis.
Mosaic’s ethos centers completely around a missional perspective. In pursuit of this missional focus, they’ve developed an activist mentality. They want not to be shaped by culture but to shape culture. This is the very reason many people in the “church” rail against Mosaic – they are not here to create a comfortable place for Christians to attend. In fact, I feel that Mosaic wants most Christians to feel uncomfortable; Uncomfortable with the fact that so many people in this world will never know the love of God because we never showed it to them; Uncomfortable with the fact that we, who wear the moniker of Christian, are so caught up with our own lives, our own little world and our desire to be comfortable, that we never take the time to show God’s grace and mercy to the world around us.
Probably the core of McManus/Mosaic’s ethos can be summed up in these two paragraphs – McManus follows Jesus’ lead from Matthew 22:37-39. In this passage, Jesus is asked, “What is the SINGLE greatest commandment?” This is where Jesus demonstrates that He is great at philosophy but not so good at math. He answers by saying that (1) you are to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind but follows this by saying (2) you are also to love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus’ problem is that he could not separate these two commandments; he understands that the principle theme to the universe is relationship. They are inextricably linked. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, it will flow over into the second of these greatest commandments. You will love your neighbor as yourself. What Jesus tells us is that you CANNOT love God and NOT love people, especially those who have yet to know His love. This is at the foundation of McManus’s ministry.
So The end result of a comfortable church is complacency coupled with a perspective that is focused inward. This is ABSOLUTELY the wrong direction. It is imperative that we, as sons and heirs of grace, learn what it means to lift up our brothers and sisters and how much it costs to truly lay down your life for a friend. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; John 15:13).
==============================================
***Interesting Note – Probably most interesting is that if you ask McManus if he considers himself, or Mosaic, “seeker sensitive” he would probably say no. McManus speaks to the human condition. He desires all to know the abundant life we are promised in Christ and with that, he is attempting to awaken humanity.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Mosaic - Overview
Mosaic is a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope. The name of our community comes both from the diversity of our members, and from the symbolism of a broken and fragmented humanity which can become a work of beauty under the artful hands of God. We welcome people from all walks of life, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey.
another update to follow shortly...
another update to follow shortly...
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Astonishing Tales of Costanza - Volume 1
The Astonishing Tales of Costanza – Volume 1
Ok, so I should’ve known better than to be picked up from the airport by Mark Wittig. The dude’s unbridled intensity is matched only by my buddy, Sabo (which is saying a lot). Literally, Mark picks me up from the airport, only to take me straight to the Mosaic HQ in Pasadena. Apparently, Mark thought it’d be better for me to get right to work than unwind from a nine hour traveling experience. Good call.
Remembering my Jewish roots, Mark locked me in the accounting office (you know he had to be thinking: Jew + Money = Good Things), where He and I worked together counting the past week’s tithes and offerings. This allowed us some time to catch up because I hadn’t seen him since Brad Kosar got married (coincidentally this is where I got “girl Brad” to dance with me – she loved it). However, with all this catching up, we made a few mistakes counting – apparently, as we now learn, not all Jews are meant to count money.
Though we had a great time counting together, I did actually do one serious thing – I took the Gallup StrengthFinders Test, learning that my top 5 strengths are: 1. Strategic; 2. Input; 3. Ideation; 4. Command; & 5. Competition. Though I feel this test was dead on with all five top strengths, I would like to call your attention to the summary for “command:”
Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life's unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. You push them to take risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You have Command.
On top of helping me understand myself a little better, reading these summaries allowed me some insight into how the rest of the world perceived me. Though I laughed when I first read the “command” summary, I soon realized that in many situations this characteristic can be an invaluable asset or a costly obstacle when interacting with others. It can overwhelm and intimidate or intrigue and draw in; an idea, of which, I need to be very aware.
The last few sentences of the summary articulate something I’ve felt for a while but you need to change out “command” for “passion” (which in many instances, the two are synonymous). And, though passion has the potential to be caustic, most people are drawn to passion and passionate people – it’s magnetic. This is probably because most people desperately desire to be passionate, even to the point where they crave it, yet they are not passionate. Being around passionate people triggers this in them. One person’s passion can consume, encourage and influence another person.
Recently, I’ve realized that, as a believer, your insatiable passion can be the most powerful part of your interaction with non-believers. At first you might equate passionate believers with fanatical believers but there is a fundamental difference. There is freedom, boldness and creativity in passion; these are the things that drive passionate believers. Conversely, fanaticism breeds fear, legalistic and rigid thought with little grace. Thus, your passion is indispensable.
To recap a little, I spent this past week primarily learning about Mosaic’s core values and volunteering in a few service works projects. There is a nuance to the way they’ve enumerated their core values. For starters, one of their main core values is: relevance to culture is mandatory not optional. Compared to a traditional church, this value allows fluidity. Fluidity is paramount to success because we are living in a time where pluralism permeates our culture, mandating an ability to address and answer a myriad of issues.
Further, the pervasive idea underpinning their entire movement can be expressed as: sometimes there is a need to rehabilitate and sometimes there is a need to re-invent; now is the time to re-invent Christianity (albeit while staying doctrinally sound). McManus encapsulates this idea with the statement, “The number one enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity.” This statement from McManus’s book, The Barbarian Way, epitomizes the fervency of Mosaic’s desire to re-invent Christianity. And, to tell you the truth, standing alongside of them in this attempt is an awesome thing.
Ok, so I should’ve known better than to be picked up from the airport by Mark Wittig. The dude’s unbridled intensity is matched only by my buddy, Sabo (which is saying a lot). Literally, Mark picks me up from the airport, only to take me straight to the Mosaic HQ in Pasadena. Apparently, Mark thought it’d be better for me to get right to work than unwind from a nine hour traveling experience. Good call.
Remembering my Jewish roots, Mark locked me in the accounting office (you know he had to be thinking: Jew + Money = Good Things), where He and I worked together counting the past week’s tithes and offerings. This allowed us some time to catch up because I hadn’t seen him since Brad Kosar got married (coincidentally this is where I got “girl Brad” to dance with me – she loved it). However, with all this catching up, we made a few mistakes counting – apparently, as we now learn, not all Jews are meant to count money.
Though we had a great time counting together, I did actually do one serious thing – I took the Gallup StrengthFinders Test, learning that my top 5 strengths are: 1. Strategic; 2. Input; 3. Ideation; 4. Command; & 5. Competition. Though I feel this test was dead on with all five top strengths, I would like to call your attention to the summary for “command:”
Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life's unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. You push them to take risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You have Command.
On top of helping me understand myself a little better, reading these summaries allowed me some insight into how the rest of the world perceived me. Though I laughed when I first read the “command” summary, I soon realized that in many situations this characteristic can be an invaluable asset or a costly obstacle when interacting with others. It can overwhelm and intimidate or intrigue and draw in; an idea, of which, I need to be very aware.
The last few sentences of the summary articulate something I’ve felt for a while but you need to change out “command” for “passion” (which in many instances, the two are synonymous). And, though passion has the potential to be caustic, most people are drawn to passion and passionate people – it’s magnetic. This is probably because most people desperately desire to be passionate, even to the point where they crave it, yet they are not passionate. Being around passionate people triggers this in them. One person’s passion can consume, encourage and influence another person.
Recently, I’ve realized that, as a believer, your insatiable passion can be the most powerful part of your interaction with non-believers. At first you might equate passionate believers with fanatical believers but there is a fundamental difference. There is freedom, boldness and creativity in passion; these are the things that drive passionate believers. Conversely, fanaticism breeds fear, legalistic and rigid thought with little grace. Thus, your passion is indispensable.
To recap a little, I spent this past week primarily learning about Mosaic’s core values and volunteering in a few service works projects. There is a nuance to the way they’ve enumerated their core values. For starters, one of their main core values is: relevance to culture is mandatory not optional. Compared to a traditional church, this value allows fluidity. Fluidity is paramount to success because we are living in a time where pluralism permeates our culture, mandating an ability to address and answer a myriad of issues.
Further, the pervasive idea underpinning their entire movement can be expressed as: sometimes there is a need to rehabilitate and sometimes there is a need to re-invent; now is the time to re-invent Christianity (albeit while staying doctrinally sound). McManus encapsulates this idea with the statement, “The number one enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity.” This statement from McManus’s book, The Barbarian Way, epitomizes the fervency of Mosaic’s desire to re-invent Christianity. And, to tell you the truth, standing alongside of them in this attempt is an awesome thing.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
This Broken Heart of a Traitor
the beginning...
The idea of betrayal is not a new idea. During all periods of history, you can probably name one or two infamous figures that qualify to wear the moniker "traitor." There is such seething venom and hatred towards theses individuals that people spit upon saying their name - from Brutus to Judas to Benedict Arnold. If you pontificate long enough, you start to wonder how these people ended up where they did, making the decisions that condemned them to infamy throughout history. Following these thoughts is usually a self-analysis where you decide that you would never make the same choices - is this true? On such a large scale, probably, but think about all the times you betrayed your own heart, betrayed the heart of another, betrayed your family, ambitions, morals, ideals, etc... The answer to that question is an unequivocally condemning affirmative.
So now think, just because history does not know your name DOES NOT mean you are off the hook...
=======================================
this is the first post in a series of posts on this topic
The idea of betrayal is not a new idea. During all periods of history, you can probably name one or two infamous figures that qualify to wear the moniker "traitor." There is such seething venom and hatred towards theses individuals that people spit upon saying their name - from Brutus to Judas to Benedict Arnold. If you pontificate long enough, you start to wonder how these people ended up where they did, making the decisions that condemned them to infamy throughout history. Following these thoughts is usually a self-analysis where you decide that you would never make the same choices - is this true? On such a large scale, probably, but think about all the times you betrayed your own heart, betrayed the heart of another, betrayed your family, ambitions, morals, ideals, etc... The answer to that question is an unequivocally condemning affirmative.
So now think, just because history does not know your name DOES NOT mean you are off the hook...
=======================================
this is the first post in a series of posts on this topic
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Why Does God Care What Happens Between the Sheets?
Alright guys, I said the next one would be about dating… here it is. Let me first say that much of this post is not original (i.e.: I am copying someone).
The Fundamental Question: Why should God care what happens between the sheets?
Historically Christians are known to be arrogant, judgmental and condemning of people outside of the church on these issues. How do we avoid these pitfalls while staying pure and true to our relationship with Christ? We do not want to be guilty of moralizing but how do we avoid this?
The reality is, every human conversation is moral at its core. We cannot operate or think without a moral template, thus we are created in and exist in a moral universe. This is the foundation for what I am about to lay out.
Analogy time: Just a short while ago it turned out that baby spinach was found to contain e-coli. So the powers that be have to make a decision – either pull the plug on spinach or let people get hurt and die because of the mere potential that the spinach contains e-coli. This is a moral decision. They have to weigh the consequences. Either let people get sick and possibly die OR hurt someone’s economy, their livelihood, their income. They could have just said that it’s just the potential that someone gets sick and just the potential that someone might die. This is a moral choice. They are saying it is better for you and better for society that you be safe. This limits our lives, doesn’t it?
Now, picture, God created everything good in relationship to one another. In Genesis, Ch1 God called all that He created good. He uses the term “good” seven times in Ch1. When He created the cosmos, He said it was good. With every movement He said it was good, it was good, it was good, it was good, it was good. But when He created humanity, he said it was “very good.” He didn’t say it worked, or it was functional or it was done. He said it was good because the universe is created in an act of goodness from God. What is amazing is that the universe itself gives a picture of the unifying theme that everything God creates and that theme is relationship.
The universe is a declaration of relationship. Everything relates just perfectly: the moon, the sun, the stars, the cosmos, the composition of the air; the movement of the earth. If anything moves just slightly it is all gone. We are all gone. This is the grand relationship. The way the universe relates seems to hold one thing in balance – this little planet we know as earth, so it is in the perfect place so that it can create life. So when God creates the universe, it is a declaration that the unifying theme of ALL creation is relationship.
He created human beings in perfect relationship; male and female He created them. He told them to be “fruitful and multiply.” This is a very nice Bible’s way of saying have sex. He gave us permission but in the context of community, intimacy & relationship & commitment. And in that context, He says it is very good; this is the perfect picture of who I am as God; this kind of intimacy and connectedness and communion in relationship.
By the way, Genesis Ch1 uses the word “good” seven times, Genesis Ch2 uses the word “good” five times, and Gen3 uses the word “good” three times and by Gen4 the word “good” is gone. For the next ten chapters, it never even describes anything.
For us to engage in conversation about why God should care about our morality, our sexual activity we have to understand that the backdrop to all creation is that we exist in a moral universe. That God creates everything in a proper relationship to itself and everything around it. It is no different for us as human beings. God created us and we were very good. We were an expression of His character and His essence. The God that is the relational God. The God that is love.
In Genesis Ch4 when the word “good” disappeared, realize it comes out of a relationship. Adam and Eve had two kids – Cain & Abel. Now, the context is important. Abel and Cain bring an offering to God in a moment of worship to God. Abel connects to God in a way God invited him too but Cain does not because now there is a proper process of relationship. You know why? Because when Adam and Eve severed their relationship with God, they severed their relationship with each other. They never knew there was an interconnected ness between their relationship, their communion with God and their relationship and their communion with each other. But the moment they severed their relationship with God, they were naked and ashamed. When God came walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, they hid. They were not just hiding from God, they were hiding from each other.
So now with Abel and Cain, they come to God with offerings and it wasn’t that God was mysterious and confusing. In fact in a conversation with Abel, He embraces his offering. With Cain, He says, “Cain if you do what is right, will you not also be accepted?” He is saying, Cain you know what to do, you know how to have a dynamic relationship with Me, why will you just not do it? But there is something else going on here. Cain wants to connect with God on his own terms. God tells him, “Sin is crouching at your door. It is about to overtake you. You must master it or it will be master of you.” But Cain refuses and because he severs his relationship with God, he kills his brother. The unifying theme of Scripture is that your relationship with God has a direct correlating relationship with how you treat others. As you connect to God, it changes your value for people. As you connect to God, it changes your relationship to people. As you connect to God, it makes people your highest value, your highest priority. You begin to relate to others not for what they can do for you but what you can actually contribute for good for them.
At the same time the way you treat people is the only true evidence of whether you have actually connected with God. Thus, Scriptures gives us a human history that shows us that as we sever our relationship with God, we begin to sever our relationship with humanity. Where once we lived in community, we are now strangers and aliens and enemies.
Look now at Genesis Ch20, where God is giving Moses the 10 Commandments. When you break down the commandments, the first three are about our relationship to God and the next seven are about our relationship to each other. The theme is consistent. The 10 Commandments tell us that God created us for relationship – relationship with Him and relationship with each other and as we sever our relationship with Him, we sever our relationship with each other but as we connect to Him, we connect to each other. So God begins, you need to worship me and connect to Me properly and then you need to value and connect to people properly. It is not like God sets up the 10 Commandments, this standard, as some unattainable, unreachable goal. If you actually look at the 10 Commandments, it is just the lowest standard of humanity. It is not that it is so high, it is that it is so low and somehow, we continually find a way to crawl under it.
You see, in the first commandment God says just worship Me. You know why? Because it is better for you to worship Me, the God that actually exists, then it is for you to worship a God that does not exist. It is much easier to worship one God, than a thousand others gods that we create. To pray to an uncreated God that actually hears us, then to a God we created that has no ears or eyes or care. God is actually saying, “What are you doing? You are making this so complicated, it’s really very simple. I created you for a relationship with Me. Love me and let me love you.” This is how we were designed.
And then God says, out of your relationship with Me, you must consider how you relate to each other.
Take a look at the 10 Commandments again. Are these really that difficult? “Do not kill.” “Do not steal.” That’s a tough one – you might need a PhD for that one! “Don’t lie to each other.” Or how about, “When your neighbor comes home, can his wife still be his wife? Or his stuff still be his stuff?” Lastly, “Do not covet.” Basically this means, “All these things I told you about, just don’t even think of them.” How hard is this? You know what God is saying? This is the lowest level of what it means to be human and still, you seem to always find a way to crawl under it.
Now just imagine a world where we don’t even live up to the minimum standard of humanity. A world we where we kill each other, we steal from each other, where we lie and slander and deceive each other. A world where we steal from each other but we don’t just steal each other’s stuff, we steal each other’s loves. Nothing is ever enough for us to have, we need to take. Realize now, that this isn’t a hypothetical world; this is the world we created. Seven of the Ten Commandments are God talking to us about how to treat each other.
You would be amazed at how love fulfills the Commandments.
Matthew 22:37-39. What is the most important thing to God? It is so easy – Jesus answers, “The most important thing is this ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, and the second is like it...” This is the part where we see that Jesus is great at philosophy but not so good at math. He goes on to say, “… the second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’” Jesus’s problem is that he could not separate these two commandments; he understands that the principle theme to the universe is relationship. We live in a moral cosmos, a moral universe. The most important thing to God is loving Him and loving others. They are inextricably linked. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, it will flow over into the second of these greatest commandments. You will love your neighbor as yourself. What Jesus tells us is that you CANNOT love God and NOT love people. But He is also telling us that our relationship with God will dramatically affect how we treat others.
He gives us a darker picture. Matthew 25:31 - 46
31. "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32. "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33. and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34. "Then the King will say to those on His right, `Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35. `For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36. naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37. "Then the righteous will answer Him, `Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38. `And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39. `When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40. "The King will answer and say to them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
41. "Then He will also say to those on His left, `Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42. for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43. I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44. "Then they themselves also will answer, `Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45. "Then He will answer them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46. "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Again, Jesus is telling us that the central theme of the universe, the core of the mind and heart of God is how we treat each other. He is saying, if you love Me, then love each other. In all actuality, this is the ONLY proof we have that
As Christians, there is something wrong with us when we have such little value for the life of a human being. When we are more against homosexuality then we are for saving the life of those who are hungry. When we are more against divorce then we are for comforting those who are hurting. There is something so terribly wrong with us when we care so little for the injustices of the world, only to lose sight of the value of a human life. Yet in the midst of this all, God speaks profoundly into our morality when it relates to sex.
There is a place I want to take you. A place called Corinth. It might be hard for you to imagine because it is so long ago but just try. Corinth is a major world city. A city filled with wealth. It was known as the artistic capital of the known world. It was a place that became an epicenter of pornography. It was an integration of creativity, immorality and strangely enough spirituality. It was built in the land that worshipped Aphrodite. They built a temple to the goddess of love and in that temple were thousands of prostitutes. They were called sacred prostitutes. With them, they created a very inventive approach to spirituality. They intermingled decadence with sacredness; morality with spirituality. It was great. You could go worship your God while having sex with a stranger.
Paul was in the land for two years. He communicated the message of how God values every human being and how every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. How God so passionately loved humanity that He stepped into human history in the form of Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect and sinless life. And that He was crucified on the cross and raised from the dead. He told them of how God longed for them to know Him and His love. And even in this place people began to be drawn to this message. But something peculiar happened.
They began to embrace this message, yet there was not a lot of social pressure to change their practices, except for one little thing. When you declare that you are in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, people begin to look at you differently. You are held up to a standard. Those around you will say, “You tell us that you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, yet you look and act and talk the same us.” So what ends up happening is a diminishing of the value of who Jesus is because people just were not different. Even when someone does not believe in Christ, they still expect us to be different. It is unfair but it is real.
So Paul begins writing to these followers of Christ and to give them a framework of who they are. In Chapter 3, vs 16, Paul says: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” This is a whole new idea because they go to temples to offer sacrifices to God and connect to God. But Paul says that it is not about buildings, or brick or stucco or paint. It is about flesh and blood. God has come to dwell in you. You live in Him and He lives in you. That changes everything. So with this, there was a little bit of tension.
Realize that Paul is writing to followers of Christ, not unbelievers. He declares that things are going to change. With this tension, Paul speaks some of his harshest words. He says, “Surely you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) You are not supposed to be the same! You are supposed to be different! He is talking to people saying that I know this is not a popular position. You are going to be the oppressed minority, yet you still must live up to this standard!
He goes on to say that he is allowed to do all things but not all things are good for him to do (v12). He is saying that everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial! You can eat that baby spinach but when you die of diarrhea, don’t get ticked off at God.
I am allowed to do all things but not all things are good for me. I am allowed to do all things but I will not let anything make me its slave. So what we have to ask ourselves is, “Am I slave to my cravings and desires and lusts and passions or am I their master?” He goes on to say, “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” (v13)
This is where he says that what you do between the sheets really matters. In verse 15 he begins to say, “Surely you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (v15-17) What he is saying is that, “Don’t you understand that once you enter into a relationship with God, whatever you do, you bring God into? And everything you experience you bring into God’s experience with you? You are the most sacred of God’s creation. You ARE the temple of God’s spirit.”
He goes on, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (v18-20) You are not your own. You are God’s temple and He bought you with a price.
You may want to think of yourself as just an animal but the Scriptures won’t allow me to view you in such a way. You see, God looks at you and declares you to be created in His image and likeness. He declares that you are His ultimate creation. He declares that you are part of a moral universe and that you are to be the most beautiful expression of who He is. He created you for love. He created you for relationship. How we relate to each other matters to God.
Paul connects the dots for us with Romans, ch 1. Many historians believe that Paul wrote Romans while in Corinth watching the end game of our corruption. Our moving from love to consumption. That we become basically sexual cannibals, consuming one another. He begins in vs 21, “21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22. Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23. and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” (Romans 1:21-25) God will let you choose the life you choose. Here they traded the truth of God for a lie. Sometimes a lie serves us better. What we see is that what we worship, shapes who we become.
They worshipped and served what had been created, rather than the One who created. Because they did this, God left them to their own degrading desires and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. “26. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27. and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” What God is saying is, “If you eat the crap, it will destroy you.” Do not blame God when you make the choices that leave your soul shattered.
He goes on, “28. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29. being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30. slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31. without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32. and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
God gives us such a severe warning because God counts nothing more important than how we treat another human being. It is amazing how many of us have given up on love.
The Fundamental Question: Why should God care what happens between the sheets?
Historically Christians are known to be arrogant, judgmental and condemning of people outside of the church on these issues. How do we avoid these pitfalls while staying pure and true to our relationship with Christ? We do not want to be guilty of moralizing but how do we avoid this?
The reality is, every human conversation is moral at its core. We cannot operate or think without a moral template, thus we are created in and exist in a moral universe. This is the foundation for what I am about to lay out.
Analogy time: Just a short while ago it turned out that baby spinach was found to contain e-coli. So the powers that be have to make a decision – either pull the plug on spinach or let people get hurt and die because of the mere potential that the spinach contains e-coli. This is a moral decision. They have to weigh the consequences. Either let people get sick and possibly die OR hurt someone’s economy, their livelihood, their income. They could have just said that it’s just the potential that someone gets sick and just the potential that someone might die. This is a moral choice. They are saying it is better for you and better for society that you be safe. This limits our lives, doesn’t it?
Now, picture, God created everything good in relationship to one another. In Genesis, Ch1 God called all that He created good. He uses the term “good” seven times in Ch1. When He created the cosmos, He said it was good. With every movement He said it was good, it was good, it was good, it was good, it was good. But when He created humanity, he said it was “very good.” He didn’t say it worked, or it was functional or it was done. He said it was good because the universe is created in an act of goodness from God. What is amazing is that the universe itself gives a picture of the unifying theme that everything God creates and that theme is relationship.
The universe is a declaration of relationship. Everything relates just perfectly: the moon, the sun, the stars, the cosmos, the composition of the air; the movement of the earth. If anything moves just slightly it is all gone. We are all gone. This is the grand relationship. The way the universe relates seems to hold one thing in balance – this little planet we know as earth, so it is in the perfect place so that it can create life. So when God creates the universe, it is a declaration that the unifying theme of ALL creation is relationship.
He created human beings in perfect relationship; male and female He created them. He told them to be “fruitful and multiply.” This is a very nice Bible’s way of saying have sex. He gave us permission but in the context of community, intimacy & relationship & commitment. And in that context, He says it is very good; this is the perfect picture of who I am as God; this kind of intimacy and connectedness and communion in relationship.
By the way, Genesis Ch1 uses the word “good” seven times, Genesis Ch2 uses the word “good” five times, and Gen3 uses the word “good” three times and by Gen4 the word “good” is gone. For the next ten chapters, it never even describes anything.
For us to engage in conversation about why God should care about our morality, our sexual activity we have to understand that the backdrop to all creation is that we exist in a moral universe. That God creates everything in a proper relationship to itself and everything around it. It is no different for us as human beings. God created us and we were very good. We were an expression of His character and His essence. The God that is the relational God. The God that is love.
In Genesis Ch4 when the word “good” disappeared, realize it comes out of a relationship. Adam and Eve had two kids – Cain & Abel. Now, the context is important. Abel and Cain bring an offering to God in a moment of worship to God. Abel connects to God in a way God invited him too but Cain does not because now there is a proper process of relationship. You know why? Because when Adam and Eve severed their relationship with God, they severed their relationship with each other. They never knew there was an interconnected ness between their relationship, their communion with God and their relationship and their communion with each other. But the moment they severed their relationship with God, they were naked and ashamed. When God came walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, they hid. They were not just hiding from God, they were hiding from each other.
So now with Abel and Cain, they come to God with offerings and it wasn’t that God was mysterious and confusing. In fact in a conversation with Abel, He embraces his offering. With Cain, He says, “Cain if you do what is right, will you not also be accepted?” He is saying, Cain you know what to do, you know how to have a dynamic relationship with Me, why will you just not do it? But there is something else going on here. Cain wants to connect with God on his own terms. God tells him, “Sin is crouching at your door. It is about to overtake you. You must master it or it will be master of you.” But Cain refuses and because he severs his relationship with God, he kills his brother. The unifying theme of Scripture is that your relationship with God has a direct correlating relationship with how you treat others. As you connect to God, it changes your value for people. As you connect to God, it changes your relationship to people. As you connect to God, it makes people your highest value, your highest priority. You begin to relate to others not for what they can do for you but what you can actually contribute for good for them.
At the same time the way you treat people is the only true evidence of whether you have actually connected with God. Thus, Scriptures gives us a human history that shows us that as we sever our relationship with God, we begin to sever our relationship with humanity. Where once we lived in community, we are now strangers and aliens and enemies.
Look now at Genesis Ch20, where God is giving Moses the 10 Commandments. When you break down the commandments, the first three are about our relationship to God and the next seven are about our relationship to each other. The theme is consistent. The 10 Commandments tell us that God created us for relationship – relationship with Him and relationship with each other and as we sever our relationship with Him, we sever our relationship with each other but as we connect to Him, we connect to each other. So God begins, you need to worship me and connect to Me properly and then you need to value and connect to people properly. It is not like God sets up the 10 Commandments, this standard, as some unattainable, unreachable goal. If you actually look at the 10 Commandments, it is just the lowest standard of humanity. It is not that it is so high, it is that it is so low and somehow, we continually find a way to crawl under it.
You see, in the first commandment God says just worship Me. You know why? Because it is better for you to worship Me, the God that actually exists, then it is for you to worship a God that does not exist. It is much easier to worship one God, than a thousand others gods that we create. To pray to an uncreated God that actually hears us, then to a God we created that has no ears or eyes or care. God is actually saying, “What are you doing? You are making this so complicated, it’s really very simple. I created you for a relationship with Me. Love me and let me love you.” This is how we were designed.
And then God says, out of your relationship with Me, you must consider how you relate to each other.
Take a look at the 10 Commandments again. Are these really that difficult? “Do not kill.” “Do not steal.” That’s a tough one – you might need a PhD for that one! “Don’t lie to each other.” Or how about, “When your neighbor comes home, can his wife still be his wife? Or his stuff still be his stuff?” Lastly, “Do not covet.” Basically this means, “All these things I told you about, just don’t even think of them.” How hard is this? You know what God is saying? This is the lowest level of what it means to be human and still, you seem to always find a way to crawl under it.
Now just imagine a world where we don’t even live up to the minimum standard of humanity. A world we where we kill each other, we steal from each other, where we lie and slander and deceive each other. A world where we steal from each other but we don’t just steal each other’s stuff, we steal each other’s loves. Nothing is ever enough for us to have, we need to take. Realize now, that this isn’t a hypothetical world; this is the world we created. Seven of the Ten Commandments are God talking to us about how to treat each other.
You would be amazed at how love fulfills the Commandments.
Matthew 22:37-39. What is the most important thing to God? It is so easy – Jesus answers, “The most important thing is this ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, and the second is like it...” This is the part where we see that Jesus is great at philosophy but not so good at math. He goes on to say, “… the second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’” Jesus’s problem is that he could not separate these two commandments; he understands that the principle theme to the universe is relationship. We live in a moral cosmos, a moral universe. The most important thing to God is loving Him and loving others. They are inextricably linked. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, it will flow over into the second of these greatest commandments. You will love your neighbor as yourself. What Jesus tells us is that you CANNOT love God and NOT love people. But He is also telling us that our relationship with God will dramatically affect how we treat others.
He gives us a darker picture. Matthew 25:31 - 46
31. "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32. "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33. and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34. "Then the King will say to those on His right, `Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35. `For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36. naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37. "Then the righteous will answer Him, `Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38. `And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39. `When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40. "The King will answer and say to them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
41. "Then He will also say to those on His left, `Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42. for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43. I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44. "Then they themselves also will answer, `Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45. "Then He will answer them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46. "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Again, Jesus is telling us that the central theme of the universe, the core of the mind and heart of God is how we treat each other. He is saying, if you love Me, then love each other. In all actuality, this is the ONLY proof we have that
As Christians, there is something wrong with us when we have such little value for the life of a human being. When we are more against homosexuality then we are for saving the life of those who are hungry. When we are more against divorce then we are for comforting those who are hurting. There is something so terribly wrong with us when we care so little for the injustices of the world, only to lose sight of the value of a human life. Yet in the midst of this all, God speaks profoundly into our morality when it relates to sex.
There is a place I want to take you. A place called Corinth. It might be hard for you to imagine because it is so long ago but just try. Corinth is a major world city. A city filled with wealth. It was known as the artistic capital of the known world. It was a place that became an epicenter of pornography. It was an integration of creativity, immorality and strangely enough spirituality. It was built in the land that worshipped Aphrodite. They built a temple to the goddess of love and in that temple were thousands of prostitutes. They were called sacred prostitutes. With them, they created a very inventive approach to spirituality. They intermingled decadence with sacredness; morality with spirituality. It was great. You could go worship your God while having sex with a stranger.
Paul was in the land for two years. He communicated the message of how God values every human being and how every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. How God so passionately loved humanity that He stepped into human history in the form of Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect and sinless life. And that He was crucified on the cross and raised from the dead. He told them of how God longed for them to know Him and His love. And even in this place people began to be drawn to this message. But something peculiar happened.
They began to embrace this message, yet there was not a lot of social pressure to change their practices, except for one little thing. When you declare that you are in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, people begin to look at you differently. You are held up to a standard. Those around you will say, “You tell us that you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, yet you look and act and talk the same us.” So what ends up happening is a diminishing of the value of who Jesus is because people just were not different. Even when someone does not believe in Christ, they still expect us to be different. It is unfair but it is real.
So Paul begins writing to these followers of Christ and to give them a framework of who they are. In Chapter 3, vs 16, Paul says: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” This is a whole new idea because they go to temples to offer sacrifices to God and connect to God. But Paul says that it is not about buildings, or brick or stucco or paint. It is about flesh and blood. God has come to dwell in you. You live in Him and He lives in you. That changes everything. So with this, there was a little bit of tension.
Realize that Paul is writing to followers of Christ, not unbelievers. He declares that things are going to change. With this tension, Paul speaks some of his harshest words. He says, “Surely you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) You are not supposed to be the same! You are supposed to be different! He is talking to people saying that I know this is not a popular position. You are going to be the oppressed minority, yet you still must live up to this standard!
He goes on to say that he is allowed to do all things but not all things are good for him to do (v12). He is saying that everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial! You can eat that baby spinach but when you die of diarrhea, don’t get ticked off at God.
I am allowed to do all things but not all things are good for me. I am allowed to do all things but I will not let anything make me its slave. So what we have to ask ourselves is, “Am I slave to my cravings and desires and lusts and passions or am I their master?” He goes on to say, “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” (v13)
This is where he says that what you do between the sheets really matters. In verse 15 he begins to say, “Surely you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (v15-17) What he is saying is that, “Don’t you understand that once you enter into a relationship with God, whatever you do, you bring God into? And everything you experience you bring into God’s experience with you? You are the most sacred of God’s creation. You ARE the temple of God’s spirit.”
He goes on, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (v18-20) You are not your own. You are God’s temple and He bought you with a price.
You may want to think of yourself as just an animal but the Scriptures won’t allow me to view you in such a way. You see, God looks at you and declares you to be created in His image and likeness. He declares that you are His ultimate creation. He declares that you are part of a moral universe and that you are to be the most beautiful expression of who He is. He created you for love. He created you for relationship. How we relate to each other matters to God.
Paul connects the dots for us with Romans, ch 1. Many historians believe that Paul wrote Romans while in Corinth watching the end game of our corruption. Our moving from love to consumption. That we become basically sexual cannibals, consuming one another. He begins in vs 21, “21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22. Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23. and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” (Romans 1:21-25) God will let you choose the life you choose. Here they traded the truth of God for a lie. Sometimes a lie serves us better. What we see is that what we worship, shapes who we become.
They worshipped and served what had been created, rather than the One who created. Because they did this, God left them to their own degrading desires and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. “26. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27. and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” What God is saying is, “If you eat the crap, it will destroy you.” Do not blame God when you make the choices that leave your soul shattered.
He goes on, “28. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29. being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30. slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31. without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32. and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
God gives us such a severe warning because God counts nothing more important than how we treat another human being. It is amazing how many of us have given up on love.
How Can A Good God CoExist with Evil?
Guys, this is something I wrote in response to someone's post in another forum a long while ago. Thought you all might find it interesting. These are really not original thoughts, they were pieced together from a bunch of different people.
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please take a minute to read the response from a theist
Having neither the time nor the attention span to respond to the whole of these lengthy arguments, please allow me to interject a theist’s viewpoint on the matter. This is a personal position I hold as a Christian and as a philosopher. Just as this question has plagued humanity for as long as one can probably remember, it too has annoyed the hell out of me. Thus, here is my feeble attempt at elaborating on an infinitely complex problem.
It seems that more of what’s being debated by the skeptic is, “If your God is love, I see no evidence of that attribute in creation. All the death, disease, pain and suffering seems to be out of place if this God of yours is love. Surely an all-powerful God could, and a loving God would, eliminate all evil. Since evil exists, then no such God exists." Consequently, a proper response will be based on the examination of the principles of logic and the natures of God, man, love and evil.
The recognition that certain actions are wrong and others right allow us to recognize evil. But how do we determine what is right and wrong? This is founded on moral law. Moral law being defined as: a universal sense that certain states of affairs are right and others are wrong. Even most atheists would agree that certain things are universally right and universally wrong, which is indicative of an innate rightness/wrongness. An example can be found in that of a child. All would argue that it is better to love a child than to torture it.
Subsequently, the next question that one must posit is, “What is the foundation of this moral sense?” The two stances that follow this question are that of the objectivist (morals are discovered/learned) and the subjectivist (morals are created). However, the subjectivist stance is inherently flawed and self-defeating. This can be seen through the observation that there is no ability to illuminate the universal “right” when two separate moral stances are juxtaposed. Some cultures allow the killing and eating of innocent people, yet others do not. From a subjectivist stance, how does one discern which is right and which is wrong? You cannot. This forces the conclusion that social customs, attitudes, traditions or feelings cannot determine universal morality.
As an objectivist, I would hypothesize that moral right must be constructed from without; a source outside of ourselves that transcends cultures and even human understanding. Thus, a moral lawgiver is observed. Now, frequently, the problem of evil is posed as a fatal flaw in the existence of God by Atheists. Actually, it can be argued that the existence of evil is an absolute stumbling block for Atheists, not theists. How would an atheist explain evil in the absence of a transcendent lawgiver? It is an impossibility without a lawgiver. C.S. Lewis said that evil is God's megaphone to a non-believing world. Evil speaks of moral law. Moral law demands a moral Lawgiver, and it is He that we call God!
Another principle of logic must be addressed. It is the ironic circumstance that an apparently evil state of affairs brings about an even better state of affairs (evil often begets good). Unfortunately, we tend not to realize this till we have hindsight as our vantage point. An example: When a child touches a hot stove, the nervous system sends a neurological signal to the brain which is perceived as pain (a form of evil). Yet without that sense of pain, an even worse state of affairs would arise: the destruction of the limb.
God, Freedom, and Evil
The problem of human evil is rooted in the nature of God and the nature of love and the nature of mankind. I argued in last month's Personal UPDATE that God is a personal being because an impersonal force is an insufficient agent to create personal beings.
1. 2 What is the greatest passion of personal beings? I would argue that, above all else, personal beings desire personal relationships with other personal beings. So it makes sense that God, as a personal being, would desire to create us in such a way that He could have a meaningful, personal, and loving relationship with us. But this has a severe price.
Let us consider the nature of love and its consequences. I cannot experience love from you unless you have the capacity to do otherwise. If you have the capacity to not love me, and you choose instead to love me, then that choice has validity. It has meaning. You cannot have a love relationship with a computer. It is pre-programmed to serve you. Love requires choice: unencumbered choice. And that's where the problem lies.
When God created mankind, He too had a choice. If He created us as beings that were pre-programmed to follow and serve Him, there could be no love. But, if He created us with the capacity of choice, the capacity to love and serve Him, and the capacity not to do so, then there is the possibility of relationship: the possibility of real love. As a personal being with the capability of creating us in the first place, it makes sense that He would want to create us as personal beings with the capability of choice (free will) and, thus, the capability of love. But where there is choice and the capability of love, there is also the capability to choose wrong and to do great evil.
But the skeptic says, "Why did God do this when he knew in advance that the result of free will would be so disastrous? Did this God of love not care that war, murder, rape and so much senseless violence would be the result of his choice to give us free will?" A real life illustration will help us to understand.
The Love of a Mother
During my 15 years as a physician I have seen an enormous amount of physical suffering. During that time I have had five children in my practice die by disease and injury. All of these children came from Christian families. Several months after the death of one of these children, the child's mother was in my office and was very distraught over her loss. She asked me, "Why did God allow this? I love God. Why did this happen?"
What could I say in this situation? Rather than providing an answer I asked her this question. "You have three children. One of them has died. If you could go back to the time before you had any children, with the knowledge that one of them would die this horrible death, would you have children again?"
After a long pause, with many tears in her eyes and a broken heart she said, "Oh yes. Oh yes. yes I would. Because, you see, the love and the joy and the happiness I have received from my children far outweighs the pain, suffering and misery I experienced from the loss of that one child. Oh yes. Oh yes. I would have children again."
In this tragic story we see an incredible insight as to why God allows evil to exist. As discussed earlier, a loving God can allow an evil state of affairs to exist if, in allowing it to occur, it brings about an even better state of affairs. For this woman, the loss of her child was an unequalled and tragic evil. But, with the advantage of hindsight, she said she would do it all again because the love she received as a result of being a mother outweighed the evil state of affairs in the death of her child.
In the hypothetical scenario I presented to this woman, with the advantage of hindsight (foreknowledge in this case) she was in a position comparable to God's before He created humankind. Because He is outside time and knows all things, He knew that there would be tremendous pain and suffering as a result of His decision to create a people with the capacity of choice and, consequently, the capacity to sin (moral evil).
But God, like this mother, knew that the love He and his human creatures would experience would outweigh the pain and suffering that would result from His decision to create us as He did. But the consequences of God's decision were not unforeseen. They were foreknown!
What is generally concluded by non-theists is that, if omnipotent God does not eliminate evil, then He is actually a devil. This implication infers that removal of evil would cause a better, more loving world. Whereas, a truly loving God would have created such a place since it is obviously superior to the one in our possession. Furthermore, any God that did not walk down this path was not truly a God of love, rather an evil tyrant.
As we have seen, this logic crumbles under its own weight. The existence of evil is the "side effect" of creating a world with love. But as we have seen, there are compelling arguments that a world possessing both evil and love is superior to a world where neither is possible. For God to eliminate evil, He would have to eliminate our capacity of choice and thus our capacity to do both evil and good. And such a world is inferior to the one we have: one where love is possible, despite its inherent evil. What kind of God would do this? Only one kind. A God of love.
Why does a God of love allow evil? Because He is a God of LOVE.
So Great a Salvation
So, how practical is Christianity? The Bible presents an infinite Creator with the very attributes we would expect when we examine the things that are made. And God, as a personal Being, in order that He might have a love relationship with us, gave us the capacity of choice. In order that we might have a practical revelation of His love, His wisdom, His power, His glory, He became one of us in the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
In order that we might not suffer the penalty of our evil choices (sin), He, like a loving father, paid the penalty for our sins. He allowed his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be murdered on a Roman cross (arguably the most evil act in the history of the universe, if He is indeed God's Son). But this act of great evil gave rise to an even better state of affairs, and the greatest act of love in the universe: paying the penalty for the wrong choices we make, which were the result of the way He created us in the first place! In the cross of Christ He has provided a full pardon from the consequences of the evil in our lives. Consequently, we cannot look to God and declare that He is unfair. Far from being a devil, in this examination of the problem of evil, God becomes the hero of the plot and the solution to the problem of evil. And it all hinges on LOVE. Indeed, God is love.3 What must we do to receive this pardon?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
====================================================================
please take a minute to read the response from a theist
Having neither the time nor the attention span to respond to the whole of these lengthy arguments, please allow me to interject a theist’s viewpoint on the matter. This is a personal position I hold as a Christian and as a philosopher. Just as this question has plagued humanity for as long as one can probably remember, it too has annoyed the hell out of me. Thus, here is my feeble attempt at elaborating on an infinitely complex problem.
It seems that more of what’s being debated by the skeptic is, “If your God is love, I see no evidence of that attribute in creation. All the death, disease, pain and suffering seems to be out of place if this God of yours is love. Surely an all-powerful God could, and a loving God would, eliminate all evil. Since evil exists, then no such God exists." Consequently, a proper response will be based on the examination of the principles of logic and the natures of God, man, love and evil.
The recognition that certain actions are wrong and others right allow us to recognize evil. But how do we determine what is right and wrong? This is founded on moral law. Moral law being defined as: a universal sense that certain states of affairs are right and others are wrong. Even most atheists would agree that certain things are universally right and universally wrong, which is indicative of an innate rightness/wrongness. An example can be found in that of a child. All would argue that it is better to love a child than to torture it.
Subsequently, the next question that one must posit is, “What is the foundation of this moral sense?” The two stances that follow this question are that of the objectivist (morals are discovered/learned) and the subjectivist (morals are created). However, the subjectivist stance is inherently flawed and self-defeating. This can be seen through the observation that there is no ability to illuminate the universal “right” when two separate moral stances are juxtaposed. Some cultures allow the killing and eating of innocent people, yet others do not. From a subjectivist stance, how does one discern which is right and which is wrong? You cannot. This forces the conclusion that social customs, attitudes, traditions or feelings cannot determine universal morality.
As an objectivist, I would hypothesize that moral right must be constructed from without; a source outside of ourselves that transcends cultures and even human understanding. Thus, a moral lawgiver is observed. Now, frequently, the problem of evil is posed as a fatal flaw in the existence of God by Atheists. Actually, it can be argued that the existence of evil is an absolute stumbling block for Atheists, not theists. How would an atheist explain evil in the absence of a transcendent lawgiver? It is an impossibility without a lawgiver. C.S. Lewis said that evil is God's megaphone to a non-believing world. Evil speaks of moral law. Moral law demands a moral Lawgiver, and it is He that we call God!
Another principle of logic must be addressed. It is the ironic circumstance that an apparently evil state of affairs brings about an even better state of affairs (evil often begets good). Unfortunately, we tend not to realize this till we have hindsight as our vantage point. An example: When a child touches a hot stove, the nervous system sends a neurological signal to the brain which is perceived as pain (a form of evil). Yet without that sense of pain, an even worse state of affairs would arise: the destruction of the limb.
God, Freedom, and Evil
The problem of human evil is rooted in the nature of God and the nature of love and the nature of mankind. I argued in last month's Personal UPDATE that God is a personal being because an impersonal force is an insufficient agent to create personal beings.
1. 2 What is the greatest passion of personal beings? I would argue that, above all else, personal beings desire personal relationships with other personal beings. So it makes sense that God, as a personal being, would desire to create us in such a way that He could have a meaningful, personal, and loving relationship with us. But this has a severe price.
Let us consider the nature of love and its consequences. I cannot experience love from you unless you have the capacity to do otherwise. If you have the capacity to not love me, and you choose instead to love me, then that choice has validity. It has meaning. You cannot have a love relationship with a computer. It is pre-programmed to serve you. Love requires choice: unencumbered choice. And that's where the problem lies.
When God created mankind, He too had a choice. If He created us as beings that were pre-programmed to follow and serve Him, there could be no love. But, if He created us with the capacity of choice, the capacity to love and serve Him, and the capacity not to do so, then there is the possibility of relationship: the possibility of real love. As a personal being with the capability of creating us in the first place, it makes sense that He would want to create us as personal beings with the capability of choice (free will) and, thus, the capability of love. But where there is choice and the capability of love, there is also the capability to choose wrong and to do great evil.
But the skeptic says, "Why did God do this when he knew in advance that the result of free will would be so disastrous? Did this God of love not care that war, murder, rape and so much senseless violence would be the result of his choice to give us free will?" A real life illustration will help us to understand.
The Love of a Mother
During my 15 years as a physician I have seen an enormous amount of physical suffering. During that time I have had five children in my practice die by disease and injury. All of these children came from Christian families. Several months after the death of one of these children, the child's mother was in my office and was very distraught over her loss. She asked me, "Why did God allow this? I love God. Why did this happen?"
What could I say in this situation? Rather than providing an answer I asked her this question. "You have three children. One of them has died. If you could go back to the time before you had any children, with the knowledge that one of them would die this horrible death, would you have children again?"
After a long pause, with many tears in her eyes and a broken heart she said, "Oh yes. Oh yes. yes I would. Because, you see, the love and the joy and the happiness I have received from my children far outweighs the pain, suffering and misery I experienced from the loss of that one child. Oh yes. Oh yes. I would have children again."
In this tragic story we see an incredible insight as to why God allows evil to exist. As discussed earlier, a loving God can allow an evil state of affairs to exist if, in allowing it to occur, it brings about an even better state of affairs. For this woman, the loss of her child was an unequalled and tragic evil. But, with the advantage of hindsight, she said she would do it all again because the love she received as a result of being a mother outweighed the evil state of affairs in the death of her child.
In the hypothetical scenario I presented to this woman, with the advantage of hindsight (foreknowledge in this case) she was in a position comparable to God's before He created humankind. Because He is outside time and knows all things, He knew that there would be tremendous pain and suffering as a result of His decision to create a people with the capacity of choice and, consequently, the capacity to sin (moral evil).
But God, like this mother, knew that the love He and his human creatures would experience would outweigh the pain and suffering that would result from His decision to create us as He did. But the consequences of God's decision were not unforeseen. They were foreknown!
What is generally concluded by non-theists is that, if omnipotent God does not eliminate evil, then He is actually a devil. This implication infers that removal of evil would cause a better, more loving world. Whereas, a truly loving God would have created such a place since it is obviously superior to the one in our possession. Furthermore, any God that did not walk down this path was not truly a God of love, rather an evil tyrant.
As we have seen, this logic crumbles under its own weight. The existence of evil is the "side effect" of creating a world with love. But as we have seen, there are compelling arguments that a world possessing both evil and love is superior to a world where neither is possible. For God to eliminate evil, He would have to eliminate our capacity of choice and thus our capacity to do both evil and good. And such a world is inferior to the one we have: one where love is possible, despite its inherent evil. What kind of God would do this? Only one kind. A God of love.
Why does a God of love allow evil? Because He is a God of LOVE.
So Great a Salvation
So, how practical is Christianity? The Bible presents an infinite Creator with the very attributes we would expect when we examine the things that are made. And God, as a personal Being, in order that He might have a love relationship with us, gave us the capacity of choice. In order that we might have a practical revelation of His love, His wisdom, His power, His glory, He became one of us in the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
In order that we might not suffer the penalty of our evil choices (sin), He, like a loving father, paid the penalty for our sins. He allowed his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be murdered on a Roman cross (arguably the most evil act in the history of the universe, if He is indeed God's Son). But this act of great evil gave rise to an even better state of affairs, and the greatest act of love in the universe: paying the penalty for the wrong choices we make, which were the result of the way He created us in the first place! In the cross of Christ He has provided a full pardon from the consequences of the evil in our lives. Consequently, we cannot look to God and declare that He is unfair. Far from being a devil, in this examination of the problem of evil, God becomes the hero of the plot and the solution to the problem of evil. And it all hinges on LOVE. Indeed, God is love.3 What must we do to receive this pardon?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Redeem...
REDEEM...
I feel the weakness in my skin
No longer at peace
But at war from within
I cry in pain
But in Him I remain
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
If it wasn’t for this death kiss
My body’s natural affliction
Like a stinging cut to the wrist
I don’t want to do it on my own
I don’t want to end up in Hell all alone
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Jehovah-rapha, I'd ask You to forgive me,
But I know Your help I'll deny,
I just don’t want to live another lie.
So all I can do is cry in pain,
Cry in pain for what remains.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
I say to myself then, Will this be my ruin?
Should I hide inside my shadow
Till hellfire comes or I admit my wrongdoing?
Because what gets me is this quiet cull,
And so failure becomes my secret canticle.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
And yes, I know Your story,
How You left Your Father in Heaven,
How You were emptied of all Your glory.
To be forsaken by the One You love,
You came to earth to die for those You love.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
But I just stood there as we mocked Him,
Remembering, all You said was,
“Please… Father, forgive them.”
Telling us, Fight for the God of love.
Urging us, Fight for the God of love.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Lord, Your love never came in disguise,
You laid it all out there,
Only asking that we not compromise.
Help me rise above all of this impurity.
Grant me solace amidst my insecurity.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
This isn’t just another dance,
It is my heart’s cry,
Calling once again for innocence.
Jah, You know, my heart’s rebellion is not of the chosen kind
Only the result of my inherent design.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Lord, I ask, for these things that I have seen and done,
Father, please forgive me,
Bless me in the sacrifice of Your Son.
So I surrender, I surrender all to You – All that I am, my pride, my anger
Just to get a glimpse – of Your hope, of Your love.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
I feel the weakness in my skin
No longer at peace
But at war from within
I cry in pain
But in Him I remain
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
If it wasn’t for this death kiss
My body’s natural affliction
Like a stinging cut to the wrist
I don’t want to do it on my own
I don’t want to end up in Hell all alone
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Jehovah-rapha, I'd ask You to forgive me,
But I know Your help I'll deny,
I just don’t want to live another lie.
So all I can do is cry in pain,
Cry in pain for what remains.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
I say to myself then, Will this be my ruin?
Should I hide inside my shadow
Till hellfire comes or I admit my wrongdoing?
Because what gets me is this quiet cull,
And so failure becomes my secret canticle.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
And yes, I know Your story,
How You left Your Father in Heaven,
How You were emptied of all Your glory.
To be forsaken by the One You love,
You came to earth to die for those You love.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
But I just stood there as we mocked Him,
Remembering, all You said was,
“Please… Father, forgive them.”
Telling us, Fight for the God of love.
Urging us, Fight for the God of love.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Lord, Your love never came in disguise,
You laid it all out there,
Only asking that we not compromise.
Help me rise above all of this impurity.
Grant me solace amidst my insecurity.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
This isn’t just another dance,
It is my heart’s cry,
Calling once again for innocence.
Jah, You know, my heart’s rebellion is not of the chosen kind
Only the result of my inherent design.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Lord, I ask, for these things that I have seen and done,
Father, please forgive me,
Bless me in the sacrifice of Your Son.
So I surrender, I surrender all to You – All that I am, my pride, my anger
Just to get a glimpse – of Your hope, of Your love.
Oh God, how I want to share Heaven with you...
Friday, March 2, 2007
On Jesus and Relevancy...
this is something my friend Bethany wrote. I thought it was really cool and wanted to run it past you guys. Let me know your thoughts.
======================================================
On Jesus and relevancy...
I think there is a philosophical disservice done to the concept of salvation through belief in the "person of Jesus Christ." The invitation is unattractive in its seeming exlusiveness: that all men must come to the recognition of a single path of "enlightenment" contained in a particular individual. What I think has been lost, misrepresented, or deemphasized is the philosophy Christ embodies. The point of emphasis of salvation does not rest simply, though necessarily, in his person alone, but equally on his representation. Perhaps the general fear for this line of thinking is the slippery slope: that to focus on Christ as a philosophy and not as a person would lead to alternative means to God. But such a reduction is not inevitable. For the philosophy of Christ includes his physicality, his humanness. In fact, the very reality of his humanity is what makes salvation through him possible at all, on multiple levels. But where Christ becomes distasteful to the thinker, philosopher, or skeptic is on account of what he has been reduced to. Not only is salvation through Christ open-ended and all-encompassing, but the most inclusive creed of all regarding everything we can recognize as absolutes. What Christians have done in my experience is created sub-cultures and boxes that has left vital elements of truth in the cold. They have excluded the secular world from their indoctrinated applications of his truth in an attempt to create protective hedges from falsifications, from sin. This is not done without seemingly good intentions. Yet it leaves some of us wondering if there "weren't more out there." Having experienced truth elsewhere, Jesus Christ in turn appears lacking, close-minded, and irrelevant. But if we are able to burn these boxes, we will discover that what we are drawn to outside of these self-erected bubbles is still represented in him. When we can enjoy all truth as God's truth, and remember that Christ is God's very essence embodied, it frees us to concentrate all our philosophy of righteousness, goodness, and truth on him and him alone. The fact that God in his graciousness did indeed concentrate all truth into one individual is not exclusive, but infinitely kind. It leaves us looking to one man for answers- rather than the entirety of the cosmos.
======================================================
On Jesus and relevancy...
I think there is a philosophical disservice done to the concept of salvation through belief in the "person of Jesus Christ." The invitation is unattractive in its seeming exlusiveness: that all men must come to the recognition of a single path of "enlightenment" contained in a particular individual. What I think has been lost, misrepresented, or deemphasized is the philosophy Christ embodies. The point of emphasis of salvation does not rest simply, though necessarily, in his person alone, but equally on his representation. Perhaps the general fear for this line of thinking is the slippery slope: that to focus on Christ as a philosophy and not as a person would lead to alternative means to God. But such a reduction is not inevitable. For the philosophy of Christ includes his physicality, his humanness. In fact, the very reality of his humanity is what makes salvation through him possible at all, on multiple levels. But where Christ becomes distasteful to the thinker, philosopher, or skeptic is on account of what he has been reduced to. Not only is salvation through Christ open-ended and all-encompassing, but the most inclusive creed of all regarding everything we can recognize as absolutes. What Christians have done in my experience is created sub-cultures and boxes that has left vital elements of truth in the cold. They have excluded the secular world from their indoctrinated applications of his truth in an attempt to create protective hedges from falsifications, from sin. This is not done without seemingly good intentions. Yet it leaves some of us wondering if there "weren't more out there." Having experienced truth elsewhere, Jesus Christ in turn appears lacking, close-minded, and irrelevant. But if we are able to burn these boxes, we will discover that what we are drawn to outside of these self-erected bubbles is still represented in him. When we can enjoy all truth as God's truth, and remember that Christ is God's very essence embodied, it frees us to concentrate all our philosophy of righteousness, goodness, and truth on him and him alone. The fact that God in his graciousness did indeed concentrate all truth into one individual is not exclusive, but infinitely kind. It leaves us looking to one man for answers- rather than the entirety of the cosmos.
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