You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Theology' category.
When Youth Group is done—the lights are off, all the students and adult volunteer leaders are gone, and it is just you, your Bible, and your teaching notes, how are you feeling?
From time to time after youth group is done, I experience a variety of dark emotions: depression, loneliness, doubt, insecurities, questioning, hopelessness, confusion, and tiredness. I absolutely hate the drive home because I am left alone to deal with my negative emotions and thoughts.
It is my belief that there are external forces (including a demonic force) attempting to hijack us after a night of ministry. When everything is said and done, we are vulnerable and exposed.
In dealing with post-youth group we have two options:
First, we pretend that we are fine after a night of giving our souls away. And we somehow try to comprehend this confused and depressed state while we are doubting our call and our gifts for ministry. We wonder why we are snappy towards our spouse and why we had such a huge shift in our mood? By living in this state we are simply taking a beating and absorb the hits.
OR
We confront the negative and dark emotions and thoughts. We get strong and seek His spirit and fight the good fight. We take guard and we fight back. We be proactive, not passive. We have to stand up to these external forces. I don’t care if you dont believe in the cosmic battle–It is the real deal. Spiritual warfare in the USA manifests itself in different ways and it is alive! The demonic attaches to our deepest secrets and deepest insecurities and controls our energy and emotions. We live and function in a world that is ruled by a King who lies and wants to destroy us. We have to acknowledge we are exposed to a power that is not the Kingdom of God. This is why I strongly and violently embrace the Christus Victor atonement paradigm.
It is essential we get in environments that will shift our psychological and spiritual state, to a strong and confident state. Can we see why John calls the Spirit a paraclete? So it is a wise idea to console with the paraclete in places that will mends and counsel us back together.
Here are a few of my places:
1) Car. I love the car and I love to drive. Driving for me is very therapeutic and a great connecting point with God. I also play music that matches my spiritual and psychological state. If I am mad, I play mad music.
2) Beach. The sound of the waves and the movement of the ocean ministers to my soul.
3) Scenic Views. I love to find look out points or points where I can see for miles. I imagine that I am right by Jesus praying (like in Luke 4)in a isolated place as I am exposed to the evil ways of the evil one.
4) I take a walk. There is something about walking that generates an energy for me to gain my spiritual strength back.
5) I work out. By exerting force, I am able to combat any force working against me. I love to run, pump iron, push ups, pull ups, and muscle ups.
I wish ministers would talk more about this post-youth group period. Not enough pastors are talking about it. We need to talk about it a lot because it is a very lonely and depressing time, which may contribute to burn out or a deep depression or even a demonic suppression. For too many years, I would just take the pyschologoical beatings and pysch myself out., which ONLY contributed to me being a insecure youth pastor. I started to flourish and thrive once I realized that I had to fight and I needed to learn how to fight. I was prepared and not blindsided after everything was said and done. It is all about awareness and sensitivity. I knew how to identify my dark emotions and deal with them while leaning into the paraclete. Not to get all super spiritual, but I think it is foolish to say there is NOT something working against us after we had an effective day in “ministry”.
Like every other Evangelical in America, I read THE SHACK over vacation. In USA church land people think THE SHACK is either heretical (DRISCOLL…weird) or theologically accurate(Mariner’s Church).
I thought the book was phenomenal. I highly recommend it. It is an easy and entertaining read. I am going to recommend it to my students.
Here are two reasons I enjoyed and appreciated THE SHACK.
(1) THE SHACK takes lofty theological concepts, namely trinity, pnuematology, forgiveness, free will, incarnation, and theodicy and makes them tangible, understandable, and relatable to the common folk. Our church fathers and scholars try so hard to articulate theological topics in such a technical way that no one really understands the content except them. THE SHACK offers a compelling story on how Mack meets the triune God in the same exact place where his daughter’s life was taken. THE SHACK in a very simple way takes tough theological ideas and intersects them with Mack’s story.
We have to remember that THE SHACK is fictional, and not a theological document. I found myself multiply times amazed at how Young covers profound theological ideas while keeping me entertained. At one moment I was thinking theologically and the next moment I was crying.
(2) THE SHACK effectively handles the problem of EVIL! THE SHACK deviates from the classical problem of Evil paradigm and moves towards a more applicable and real theodicy paradigm . God “the Father” (who appears as an African American woman), the “Son” (appearing as a 30-something carpenter) and the “Holy Spirit” (an etherial, hilarious, Asian lady) clearly communicate to Mack that God did not kill His daughter. Young states on page 154: God using evil for the good does not make sense? He is right. What is good and what is evil is too subjective. How does one determine what is good and what is evil? So what we think is evil may not necessary be evil in God’s eyes. Also, why should we link evil doings with an all loving God? Seemingly that is contradictory.
God’s love is not linked to killing Missy. Rather His love is linked to somehow dislodging Mack’s inner emotional log jam. Mack was so quick to blame God for the death of his daughter. But in reality God had nothing to do with Missy’ s death. God wants everything to do with getting Mack to move past his anger and forgive the person who killed his daughter. There is a brilliant line on page 227: It is okay to be angry when forgiving, but just do not let your anger prevent you from forgiving.
I think we as humanity always blame God for things He did not do. Unfortunately, our theological systems compute automated answers that do not necessary reflect God’s love and do not consider human emotions and experience. If your God is all sovereign and God killed Missy, than you will NOT have a grand old time explaining to Mack God killed his daughter. God is not a mass murder like Hitler. He is a healer and a redeemer.
I think our theological systems override our personal stories. I think we tend to get caught up in the WHY God did EVIL and do not caught up in HOW God will restore EVIL. THE SHACK is a great narrative that contextually translates theology in a very practical way. This is exactly why THE SHACK is resonating with Evangelicalism. THE SHACK communicates a real life story in a way that exposes a real Jesus that reconciles and transforms Mack’s life.
It is my belief that youth pastors need to not only accept the classic youth pastor stereotype, but also add to it. The stereotype is this: A youth pastor is the random, crazy, funny, and fun guy or gal who loves kids and will run church programs to essentially babysit our church kids. Youth pastors are absurdly crazy for Jesus and he/she will make our kids crazy for Jesus.
We simply just have to accept this stereotypical notion because it is true. And if you are youth worker who does not fit the profile it is okay, we still love you.
But, we have to add to the youth pastor stereotype. Youth pastors need to be readers and thinkers. Unfortunately, youth pastors are viewed as the clowns of the church, not as the practical theologian. I strongly believe youth pastor have a sharp understanding of what ecclesiology works and their voice needs to be heard. Think about it…the best 21st church leaders were youth leaders, namely Andy Stanley, Tony Jones, Doug Pagit, Rob Bell, and Erwin Mcmanus.
During staff meetings the youth pastor needs to articulate his/her theological thoughts and contribute to the ecclesiological conversation. The elders and the senior leadership need to look to the youth pastor for freshness, ideas, and participation within the congregation. I am even suggesting the youth pastor preach quarterly/monthly and I am not talking about preaching on “youth Sunday”.
Here is the problem with my thesis; I am assuming youth pastors are being students of theology and reading everything and anything they can get their hands on. And that they are synthesizing and processing what they are reading and learning in a community (online, accountability group, other youth workers, co-workers, senior pastor, etc.)
Tony Campolo thinks: “Point blank, I am not impressed with youth workers. I find that they don’t know what’s going on in the world. That youth work becomes a matter of fun and games.
I think it is essential that youth workers need to wake up and become well versed in politics, western philosophy, current affairs, leadership theory, physics, and theology all while being a student of the student culture.
Yes, Yes, I know–trying to read everything and anything can get overwhelming and daunting. My own reading philosophy is about 70% of the reading I do (magazines, books, online articles) are more directly “spiritual” or ministry related. The other 30% engages worldly issues. Porn would fall in this 30% category. That was a joke….just case you did not get it. 99% of my jokes bomb anyways…
I realize that I am a youth worker and there is no neutrality in this post. It is my belief that youth ministry needs to be the focal point in church life. I realize my expectations of what a youth pastor is, is unrealistic and rare to find.
Essentially, I am looking for a youth pastor who will shave his/her head for the camp fund raising event and be an idiot, while reading Nietzsche, Dawkins, NT Wright, and the NY times.
A church should not just say: Yes we value the youth. The church’s actions should validate that they value the youth and the youth pastor. A youth ministry is always a great reflection of where the church is at and their value system.
DOING youth ministry is a big deal. Yes the pay check does not reflect the bigness of it, but the endless possibilities to transform student’s lives certainly does.
I am a youth ministry lifer. I am not sure what exactly this means, but at some capacity I ALWAYS want to be contributing to the field of youth ministry.
It is my dream and my passion to get youth ministers/pastors/directors/coordinators/leaders/and workers to intentionally and purposefully think theologically about EVERY element in their youth ministry.
I want to confront every youth pastor and every youth ministry with the question of:
Why are you doing the things you are doing? Tradition? Style? Assessment? Capability? Comfort? Easy? Education?
The 21 century youth ministry world needs morphing. The youth ministry world can use some more theological thinkers who are youth workers to help architect the way for youth ministry into the complexities of the 21st century post modern world.
Everything a youth pastor does, needs to be rethought. This idea of rethinking does not necessary mean get rid of. It suggests improving and remixing.
A youth pastor need to ask the questions of:
What are the students needs (both real and felt)?
Are our programs working?
Why are our missional focus? Overseas? Global? Local?
How are we evangelizing? Street preaching? Relationships? Altar calls?
What is working? What is not working?
Are we really connecting and understanding the world of our students?
Are we too programmed?
Are the students growing as a follower of Christ? Why or why not? And How?
It is imperative a youth pastor think theologically about the these element in their youth ministry:
* teaching
* programs
* ministry philosophy/values/strategies
* volunteers
* Sunday school
*Student assimilation
I strongly argue that we are in a different period of history that is longing for a different type of youth ministry. If a youth ministry has a three point sermon, pizza, and hyper programmed service, then I would ask some serious questions to the realities of their youth ministry.
I will be posting 6 (maybe more) entries discussing the hows and the whats to DOING youth ministry in the 21st century. You can be sure I will be discussing the ideas from: Chris Folmsbee, Chap Clark, Mike King, Tony Jones, Eddie Gibbs, Ryan Bolger, Mark Oestriecher, Mark Yaconelli, Tony Campolo, Kara Powell, Brian McLaren, Andrew Root, Doug Fields, and Duffy Robbins.
The Joker is a Nietzschean who lives in a immoral and chaotic and complicated world. The Joker is all about himself and his monstrous rebellion. He is very self-absorbed and very arrogant, and narcissistic. Although at times in the movie he does have the right to say he is quick, witty, and good at starting mayhem.
The Joker deeply believes in confronting the systems, namely the social, ethics, and morality systems. He feels that these systems only amount to nothing more than artificialness that only weak people operate under. He exists to expose the joke of our pseudo-systematic world.
Thus, the Joker’s goal is to kill, seek, and destroy the superficial ways of this world. Sound familar? The Joker is essentially an anarchist trying to expose that being civil, righteous, and moral is a joke.
The Joker: See, I’m a man of simple tastes. I like gunpowder…and dynamite…and gasoline! Do you know what all of these things have in common? They’re cheap!
Continuously, throughout the movie the Joker creates anarchy to reveal the evil that is just below the surface in our ordinary lives.
The Joker also is manipulative and forceful. He makes people make impossible choices where they either become barbarians like himself or face defeat or death. He is usually (but not quite always) proven right.
Eventually and ultimately good overcomes evil.
So the ultimate question that is underlaying in this film is: Do we live in an anarchistic, immoral, dog-eat-dog world, or do we live in a world where goodness exists and ultimately triumphs?
Unfortunately the ultimate joke is on the Joker. suggests that the ultimate joke is on the Joker. The Joker is showing truth, but he is using evil to show it. Batman is for the ultimate good, which means he uses the ultimate good to make Gotham just.
Lastly, it looks like the Joker has some father wounds.
The Joker: [looks directly at Dinner Guest] You know, you remind of my father.
[takes a knife to dinner guest's neck]
The Joker: … I hated my father!
Batman is the hero of the story. He is the lean-fighting machine. I love the Batman clearly states: “I am the Batman.” It is kind of like the Exodus passage when Yahweh states: I am, who I say I am. Without Batman, Gotham City is living in despair. Batman in DARK KNIGHTS illustrates three theological points.
First, Batman is all about justice. God is the God of justice. We forget that God is just and that Christ paid the penalty for our sins while destroying the evil ways of this world. Because of this we no longer have to earn our way into heaven. Batman bring justice to Gotham by going out of his way to make things right, even when the city thinks he is wrong. The people of Gotham attempt to make Gotham right, but they cannot possibly do the job Batman does. Batman is determine to fight for the greater cause even if he is viewed negatively. I love the scene where Lt. James Gordon states to Batman: “We’ll have to hunt you.” Batman states: “You’ll hunt me. You’ll condemn me, you’ll set the dogs on me. But that’s what has to happen.” YES!! Exactly. The world and their powers will hunt Him or maybe even kill Him, but that is what needs to be done. Batman and Jesus have to fight for what is right to make a justice and fair world!
Batman: Why do you want to kill me?
The Joker: (laughs) Kill you? I don’t want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, you… you complete me.
Second, Batman is the only hope for Gotham. Having hope in Batman eliminates fear and despair. Batman is dark, but he is a light to Gotham. Think about the implications associated with the Batman spot light that appears in the night time sky. I admire how dedicated Batman is to protecting the people. We as followers of Christ know He is coming back, but we are not sure about the details. We live in view of hope because we know one day we will be rescued from the evil corruptions of this world. The people of Gotham can go to bed at night, feeling a sense of peace that their rescuer will come when chaos comes.
NIV Titus 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope– the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
ESV 1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
Thirdly, no one can be THE BATMAN. No one else can be Jesus, unless you are Mormon. Jesus not only claimed to be the Son of God, but is pursuing each one of us, intensively. There are fakes out there or wanna bes, but nobody can bring the goods like Jesus did. How funny was it to see the fake Batmans?
[Batman has just fought off Scarecrow and a group of Batman wannabes]
Batman: Don’t let me find you out here again.
Brian: We’re trying to help you!
Batman: I don’t need help.
Brian: What gives you the right? What’s the difference between you and me?
[Batman lowers himself into the Batmobile]
Batman: I’m not wearing hockey pads!
Like everyone else this past weekend, I saw Batman The Dark Knight.
Simply amazing! Wow. Heath Ledger needs to get an Oscar! Two thumbs up.
Batman was deeply loaded with theological content everywhere. I decided to blog about my theological interpretations of THE BATMAN. Weird? I know.
The three part BATMAN theological reflection goes something like this:
Part 1// BATMAN as The Atoner of Gotham.
Part 2// BATMAN as the Blessed Hope.
Part 3// The Joker as Lucifer.
THE BATMAN AS THE ATONER OF GOTHAM.
Atonement means an amends. Someone is repairing what is wrong and making it right. Batman is exactly this in Gotham City. I am arguing that Batman best depicts the theological atonement theory of Christus Victor and that Harvey Dent best illustrates the Penal Substitution theory. In order to understand how the atonement theories operate in Gotham City, one must see Gotham City as our Earth/Humanity, Batman as the victorious Jesus, Harvey Dent as the Legal Jesus, and the Joker as Satan.
In the land of theology, Jesus is the One who fixed earth and humanity. He brought the world back in balance. Jesus destroyed the evil ways of this world (Heb 2.14, 1 Jn 3.8), reconciled all things, including humans, to Himself (2 Cor 5.18-19; Col 1.20-22); died as our substitute, bore our sin and guilt, was punished by the Father in our place (Is 53.4-5, 10, Rom 3.23-25, 2 Cor 5.21, Heb 2.17, 9.26, 1 Jn 2.2) forgave us of our sins (Acts 13.38; Eph 1.7); healed us from our sin-diseased nature (1 Peter 2.24); poured his Spirit on us and empowered us to live in relation to Himself (Roman 8.2-16); and gave us an example to follow (Eph 5.1-2; 1 Pet 2.21). This is why Calvary is so central to Christianity. Calvary communicated redemption, sacrifice, salvation, comfort, hope, and victory through Christ and the cross. The act on the cross is the reconstruction of the world’s corruption.
Batman and Dent are trying to reconstruct Gotham’s corruption.
In the land of Gotham city, Batman is the serving justice. Batman is in conflict with his arch-nemesis the Joker and with his awkward relationship with district attorney Harvey Dent. Dent is the awesome attorney who sentences the criminals of Gotham. Since Dent is so good at closing court cases, Batman believes his time is done. Batman is convinced that he can delegate his atonement duties to Harvey Dent. Although Dent cannot handle the warfare of the Joker and his entourage. It is too intense, forceful, and stragetic.
Batman is the hero of Gotham. Batman is overcoming evil by doing good. Batman is resisting the ways of the Joker. The Joker does not care about the money, but ONLY cares about sending a message. The Joker is full of lies and diversion. Batman knows that the Joker has entered Gotham and he needs to find him and destroy him. Everything Batman is about is for one purpose: Establishing a peaceful and democratic reign in Gotham city by destroying the regime of the Joker.
In my opionon, I rather see the Batman be the victor. Why? Because Batman is so deeply in love with Gotham, which motivates him to enter into a deep and violent battle with the Joker. Batman wants justice! Dent wants fairness. To me, the Christus victor model is indebted with an outrageious act of love in entering into complete soldiartiy with fallen, cursed, oppressed humanity (Gotham city). The victor model aims at entering into real warfare activity against the powers of this fallen and suppressed world. The victor model views Batman in the warfare role rather than in a legal role. The warfare model calls for action. I think that is why Dent cannot handle the intense responsibility and warfare activity that Batman can handle. Dent is not use to the hands on type of action. Dent can handle the legality issues of Gotham really well (as we saw), but cannot handle the fighting and destroying the villians.
In conclusion, I saw Dent’s atonement role more as the legal role and I saw The BATMAN’s atonement role more as the victor/fighter role. To be honest, I like the Christus victor atonement role a lot more because it motivates us to take a serious part in destroying the evils and wrong ways of the world and to resist the powers and to imitate Christ. Yes it is essential to reflect on what Christ did for us, but it is just as essential to reflect what Christ is doing in us and through us.
The problem with the Christus victor model means that we as followers need to get our hands dirty and actually part take in fighting for the Kingdom. The Victor model encourages us to move in participation while the Penal model encourages us to spew out information and talk about what has already been done, not what Christ is doing.
I am in the business of TRYING to understand and relate to why students are the way they are. Every fiber of my being (partnered with the HS, of course) wants to convey the message of Calvary and the Kingdom of God in a way that connects, lands, and hits home.
I am a firm believer that existentialism (endorsed by Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Heidegger, and Jaspers) has greatly invaded and persuaded the 21st century student culture. Existentialism is the answer to why students are the way they are and how they live their life.
As Walter Kaufman puts it:
Existentialism is the refusal to belong to any school of thought, the repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs whatever, and especially of systems and a marked dissatisfaction with traditional philosophies and theologies as superficial, academic, and remote from life.
Existentialism is influencing our students, which is a BIT problematic. Students are essentially gaining meaning from their experiences. Students have to experience it for themselves before they realize what is wrong or right. I will get drunk and not accept Jesus, until something bad happens. Right now, I am cool and there is no immediate need to change or accept Jesus. My life is just fine as it is.
In my perspective here are some of the many problems pressing students within an existential culture:
Students are…..more depressed than ever. Seriously who is not on PROZAC? We live in a world where those who have the highest percentage of human wealth have the highest concentration of people medicated for depression. Depression is unmet expectations. Things going on in your mind are not matching up to how you are living and feeling.
Students are…..Anti-Religious. I like Jesus, but I do not like the church. If religion can lead to God, than religion can lead people away from God. Religion means rules. If you are religious you are living according to a Holy and Sacred system.
Students are…..becoming more pluralistic and relativistic. Jesus is not the only way. Yes He is my way, but He cannot possibly be the way, truth, and the life for the people in India. Some students think that whatever god you find, is your truth. Some students have a hard time accepting that Jesus is the only way because that communicates a very egocentric and exclusive mentality.
Students have a deep sense of choice. Think about how many choices we have. America is the land of freedom. Choices are fine, but if given too many there is a higher risk one may not make the RIGHT decision. Because students have their own autonomy this implies their purpose is created from their experiences. If choosing to smoke Marijuana is not harming me, than it does not matter if it is illegal. Remember existentialism revolts against any system of government, rules, or policies. It becomes all about your propagative, your agenda, and your experience.
The challenge for youth pastors is not to reject the ideas of Existentialism but accept them. The notions of Existentialism are in the DNA of the students. It is imperative for the youth pastor to translate and remix and creatively interact with the Existential themes by pointing them towards the cross.
Does this mean we compromise the teachings of Jesus’?
No, not one bit.
You communicate how Jesus can intersect their experiences. You convey that the teachings of Jesus are the best way to live.
The question is can you trust the teachings of Jesus?
I rather the students experience every RELIGION and determine what RELIGION offers the best and holistic life. The problem is that Christianity is the ONLY religion that has a God pursuing you.
The goal of spirituality is not to extract from you all desire and passion. The call of Jesus is the exact opposite—delight in him and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I think we as youth pastors not be afraid of the existential rhetoric. We do not need to got all defensive and upset about it. We do not need to have a 5 week teaching series degrading and arguing against it. We accept it and offer a Jesus that essentially wrecks their existential world view.
After my post about Piper, I had some time to internally reflect why I feel the way I do about Piper. I concluded that Piper has isolated himself in the publishing world and he is a preacher, not a theological researcher. Piper’s publisher is Crossway books. Crossway books is not exactly a recognizable scholarly publisher. Crossway is no IVP, Baker, Fortress Press, Thomas Nelson, and Harper publishing company.
It seems as though in the postmodern world everyone is wanting to be a theologian. And many think their theology/doctrine is deeply rooted in research, scripture, and accurate exegesis. Maybe the postmodern philosophical idea of Existentialism has something to do with this?
The meaning of: THEOLOGIAN has evolved since Plato first mentioned it in The Republic. I am arguing that a scholarly theologian has the ultimate authority when articulating theology.
To consider someone a scholarly THEOLOGIAN, what are some valid requirements?
Jeremy’s requirements:
1) PHD in a fields of: systematic, ancient language, church history, OT, and/or NT.
2) Published work by a publishing company that is credible, recognizable, and scholarly.
3) Published work functions in an academic community where other scholars not only recognize the work as scholarship, but other scholars can tear the ideas a part.
4) Full time job is solely devoted to research and scholarship.
I think we tend to assume pastors are automatically theologians. When in reality pastors are theologian practitioners. Pastors are students of theology. Pastors have the technical skill and training to read the scholarly theological work and be able to translate it and interpret it and apply it. Pastors are reading the scholars’ textbooks, not writing the textbooks. It is a lot different articulating a theological idea in front of Biblical scholars than in front of a congregation.
It is my belief that we need to be weary and apprehensive of the pastors who are trying to be credible academic theologians and preachers/pastors. I think the preachers and the academic theologians need to be dialogging and interacting a lot more. Both positions need each other and be more dependent, not independent of each other.
I think we all can agree we leave the scholarly theological work up to: Gordon Fee, Marcus Borg, Donald Hagner, John Dominic Crossan, Stanley Grenz, I. Howard Marshall, N.T. Wright, Karl Barth, Craig Evans, John Goldingay, Stanely Grenz, Clark Pinnock, and CH Dodd.
And we leave the preaching up to: John Piper, Mark Driscol, Rob Bell, John McArthur, Andy Stanely, Lou Giglio, TD Jakes, and Greg Boyd.
There are theologian academic researchers, theologian practitioners, and theologian oral communicators. Let’s us make sure we know the difference.
What type of theologians are influencing and shaping your theological positioning?
Desiring God? SEXGOD? Crossan? Grenz? Borg? Barth? Fee?
I aint going to lie to kick it, but this past week has been a demanding week. On Sunday I woke up with an intense cold and sore throat, which lasted until yesterday. Unfortunately, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had big youth ministry to do. Monday I drugged myself up and tried to be fully present and professional in the few meetings I had. Tuesday a few unexpected items came up that threw me off. Like my 1997 Honda Accord LX (yes it is a limited edition) heater hose broke (yes coolant everywhere, even on my diesel jeans) right as I pulled up to the homeless shelter where I was going to be leading our high school service project. Wednesday we had paint ball at camp Pendleton. It was a blast, but of course every student was after their youth pastor. My body looks like it has been stoned.
By no means am I complaining, rather I am reflecting. My life is not hard at all. I am really blessed. But, I questioning why the beginning of my week had a few unexpected and rare episodes?
Did my sin cause these mishaps?
My answer: Probably not. We are all sinners and I repented of my failures on Saturday night. Okay…I did not ask for forgiveness when I said a few UN-Christian things to the Hybrid Honda Civic who cut me off on the 5 South during rush hour.
Was God testing me?
My answer: Maybe or maybe not. The reality was that I am an idiot. First, I should have been taking my vitamin C tablets and should have been taking care of myself. Second, I should have taken my car into the mechanic a few months ago to get my schedule 120,000 maintenance check, but I decided to go to Borders instead.
Should I link my bad mishaps with God? Did God arrange my sickness and car failure for a bigger purpose?
I have a difficult time accepting the theological idea that God always gives people tests for an intended purpose. If person X passes their test, then they can experience HIS GLORY. I do not think our relationship and our life with Jesus is NOT like taking the SAT test. God is NOT up in heaven grading His people based upon their performance.
So what is the meaning behind certain events that transpire in our life, that are not necessarily fun to go through?
It is my belief we cannot automatically link natural disaster, trials, sickness, and car failures to God. There are way too many direct and indirect forces working in this world. I do not think it is theologically and philosophically wise to think are lives exactly mirror Job’s life. We cannot fully rely on a description of an OT narrative as a prescription to our life.
Bottom line there are direct and indirect forces working in this world that may be contributing to YOUR MISHAPS.
We have the evil force. There are other spiritual principalities working against the Kingdom of God (Hebrew 2, Genesis 3, John 12, and Luke 4).
The free agent force. There are other people (even people who are Christians) who are choosing not to follow God, which kind of messes up the system. They are poisoning the system. We have to remember we are human beings, not spiritual beings. Sometimes our issues may drive us to bad situations, which as a result cause other people to experience bad situations. So we cannot blame God because your boyfriend (who has commitment and pornography issues) of 10 years decides to break up with you.
The laws of nature have a strong force in this world too. The laws of physics are simply operating in this world whether we like it or not. Things are going to just break down. Things are going to fail. Natural laws will continue to steer the course. We cannot blame God that my car mechanical system was worn down and failed.
Can you see why I do not like to immediately link God to my sickness or car failures? There are too many things working against us in this world.
Instead of saying: I am having a “Job moment”, I would rather say: God help and pray.
We need to be prepared and live as though we are at war. We need to hold our ground and push through, when things are not exactly fun. We cannot assume that there is a clear given God purpose for every evil situation that transpires in our life. Actually God wants to suffer with us and bring restoration and reconciliation.
It is far more biblical, and far more rational, to simply say that in a fallen, oppressed world crap happens. We are called to trust that God looks like Jesus and is always on the side of good. We’re called to have vision and conviction as we push toward the Kingdom. We ‘re called to trust that prayer is powerful and effective in pushing towards the Kingdom. We’re called to trust that despite all the uncertainties or unexpectedness we face, God’s love will in the end triumph over all evil.
1.
2.
Recent Comments