Theology Blog

In 1989, Henri Nouwen penned the book, In the Name of Jesus. It was a book on Christian leadership, one that was relevant before, when and after it was written. It is quite relevant today. Nouwen works through three temptations that Christian leaders face. They are also temptations that Jesus faced. Nouwen offers a response for each temptation. It is a short, but powerful and rich book that every Christian leader, pastor or even follower of Jesus should read. I once had one of my doctoral professors tell me that he reads this book once a year. A good and important discipline that I have tried to practice myself. The first of the three temptations that Nouwen raises is the temptation to be relevant.

This temptation is one of the most challenge and real temptations facing pastors and leaders in the Christian church in North American today. Churches as a whole in North America struggle with this temptation as well. To assume, however, that relevance is all bad is not accurate. While it is in fact a very real temptation, it is not in of itself evil. That said, relevance should not be our primary focus or priority. The truth is always relevant, it does not need our help. The Scriptures will always be relevant, they do not need us. Jesus is relevant to all people, all cultures and all situations, he does not need us to be relevant. Not everyone in the world sees these things as relevant, and as such we as Christians do have an opportunity and call to help others see their relevancy. We can do so without compromising the identity and value of any of these things.

We also recognize that Jesus communicated the Gospel in a way that was understandable, relational and relevant to the people of that culture and of that day. As a church, we also have the obligation to bring the Gospel to our culture and contexts in a relevant and understandable way without changing the content or intent of the Gospel.

At face value, it all seems fairly simple. In reality, it is deeply complicated. So often, churches do not at all consider relevance. On the other side of the spectrum, churches work so hard to be relevant that they are no longer churches. Its a practical theology question that churches and their leaders must have.

It has been interesting over the years to see the various theologies of giving that exist in the church. So often, giving is done out of habit, tradition or worse yet emotion instead of a careful, thought out philosophy or theology of giving. I have seen several theologies of giving at play:

Giving out of Obligation: simply put, you give because you feel you have to give. There is no joy, it is simply another obligation.

Giving out of Habit: you have always given, your parents gave, so you give too.

Giving to get Something: this is a bit of the prosperity Gospel. You give to get something in return from the church or from God.

Giving to Feel Good: you give to be able to feel good about yourself and to pat yourself not eh back.

Giving to Avoid Guilt: much like obligation giving, you give because you feel guilty if you do not give. This guilt may come from within or could come from the church.

Giving to Avoid Punishment: in this case, people give so that God will not punish them as if we have to pay the church for God’s love…

Giving to Get God’s Favor: this is almost identical to getting something, but less tangible. Here it is all about having God see you as good because you give.

Giving to gain Power: I have seen this a lot. As a pastor, 90% of the people who tell me what they give, do so for a reason. They want me to know. They are used to their money giving them power.

Giving as a way of Voting: in churches, people vote with their feet and their wallet, so in this case, giving is used as a weapon of sorts to vote your pleasure or displeasure with staff, programs, mission or direction

Giving to be Generous: those who give to be generous simply want to bless others and express love and thankfulness. It is not a call, obligation or tool, it is a gift.

Giving because God calls us to Give: the scripture is clear, we are called to give part of what we have back to God and his church. All we have after all comes from God.

Below is a sermon I wrote and delivered over a year ago about Karma….

This week, this new year we begin a new sermon series that we will be in until Lent. The series is called ‘lies we believe.’ We will look at things that we as a people, culture and Christians that we often believe that seem truthful, helpful and even Biblical that are not so. Each week we will look at a lie and a corresponding truth and will look at our scripture in doing so. The lie for today is Karma. The corresponding truth is redemption.

Several years ago, a television show came out that has since run its course called My Name is Earl. The show was about a man who won the lottery and as a result felt that fate, or Karma, required him to make up for every bad thing that he had done in his life. The show shared a variety of stories that affirmed this line of thinking. The basic gist of Karma is that if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you. If you do good things, good things will happen to you. When we, as followers of Christ think about this, we readily recognize that this is a false line of thinking, especially the preposterous way that this show often depicted Karma. Karma is the New Age, postmodern version of a works theology. If we are to be honest, however, we at times hold a view incredibly similar to Karma. When something bad happens we wonder why God is doing this bad thing to us, or why God is allowing it to happen. We wonder what we have done wrong. We feel and live in tremendous guilt when we sin and often look for ways to make up for our sin, while living in our mistakes instead of grace. I am not suggesting we not have remorse for our sin, nor am I suggesting we not engage in authentic repentance. What I am suggesting is that often times we allow suffering and sin to have more power in our lives than grace and we often fail to see that there is a possibility for redemption. On the other side of the coin, when something good happens to us or to someone else we think we have earned that or Karma, the universe or God has paid us back. When someone does something bad or experiences pain, we secretly are thankful that God, the universe, justice or Karma paid them back. While this may feel good and right and there in cases may be truth in light of the nature of action and consequences, it is not God’s truth, not the whole picture and embraces Karma.

Job certainly had a right to complain about his circumstances and his questions were often legitimate, especially as he went through very difficult things at the hands of the evil one. As we see in our reading today at the end of this part of his life journey and his story as it is recorded in the Scriptures, Job comes to terms with everything that he has experienced. He admits that God can do anything and that he in the midst of his complaints could never fully understand it.

As our reading from 2 Corinthians reminds us, Jesus died for us all and we are all in this together – all included, all in the same boat. We cannot simply see things from a worldly point of view. We are a new creation, and we are reconciled with God. God is not counting our sins against us. We do not have to earn God’s favor, nor is God out to punish us when we are good and reward us when we are bad. There are natural consequences in the world, sin is real and the world is not as it should be. We will face challenges and suffering, but we must be willing to recognize that even in the midst of challenges (as well as the good) God is at work and God is making all things new. The word for this is redeeming or redemption. It’s this concept that God can and will take anything and make it new. God is able to take broken situations, relationships and suffering and not only walk through them with us, offering us healing and hope, but turning those things around and creating a new thing, something that demonstrates his love for us and for the world, something that changes us as well as changing others. What is simply amazing is that God is able to take any situation and make good out of it, to make all things new.

The gospel lesson for this weekend, the story of the blind man, is a fascinating one, but in this translation, Jesus’ words are crystal clear. He points out to the religious folks that they have it all wrong…his blindness is not about cause and effect. We know this today and would not likely make the same error in judgment, but we also have this kind of view in other ways. God desires to heal and bless all people, to offer redemption to all as we each choose how we want to follow Him and how we want to engage in relationship with Him. As long as God is in the world, there is plenty of light, plenty of room for light and God brings this about in very mysterious ways. One of the fascinating aspects of this story is that God could have healed this blind man in a variety of ways, but he chose to spit and make a muddy clay substance with the dirt from the ground. God often brings about new life and redemption in ways we would not expect. When the blind man was asked how it was that he could now see, all he could do was to retell the story and they did not believe it. They too wanted to find this man who had done something amazing.

It can be tremendously difficult in a time of pain, grief or suffering to see the good; there is no denying that. One of the greatest tools we have in healing from these situations comes when we are able to look for the good that God is, has and wants to do in the midst of the difficulty we are facing. Every individual, family, church and community faces difficulty, but those who live in the hope and promise of God for not only healing, but also new life.  To say that God redeems all things recognizes that through His grace, God has promised to take all things, the good, the bad and the ugly, and make them new. To live a life that seeks God’s redeeming work is to look for the ways God might be redeeming every circumstance, experience and relationship. To live in the redemption is to reject Karma and believe that even in the midst of sin, suffering, grief and pain, God can write a new, better and more powerful story that not only brings healing and hope, but a new life as well. The great news is the story does not end with our desire to take on the suffering, because there is more to the story. There is the story of redemption that profoundly and mysteriously declares that God will make all things new. To live a life focused on God’s redemption means we believe with our whole being that God can take anything and not only create good from it. God can, will and desires to make all things new so we might experience healing and live in hope and so that God’s grace may be known to all the world. It’s hard to realize this when life feels like it is falling apart, but somehow, in some miraculous and mysterious way God is going to take these situations and others and make them new in a way that not only brings great joy, but proclaims his love story to anyone who is willing to watch and listen.

To reject karma and embrace God’s redeeming work is to look for and engage with the glorious, redemptive work God is doing in our lives, in our families, in our churches, our communities and the world. Living in the redemption is trusting God is going to do amazing things in our lives, our children, our families and our churches even when things seem dark and hopeless.

Karma is a heresy. Instead, as followers of Christ, as an Easter people, a people of the resurrection, may we seek God in all things: situations, events, experiences and relationships and constantly look for where God is at work, redeeming all things and making all things new. Karma is a lie, but the truth of God is redemption. Praise God!

Below is a sermon I wrote and delivered over a year ago about the flawed idea that ‘God does not give us more than we can handle.’

Let’s Pray. This week we continue our new sermon series that will bring us to lent. We are looking at lies we believe, things we think are true and even maybe sound Christian or Biblical and so we choose to believe them when in all reality they are lies. Last week I shared about the lie that is Karma and the contrasting truth that is redemption. This week our lie is a phrase I hear often from Christians. It is one that sounds good, nice and very Godly, but is not actually true. Sadly, it is used without abandon and in some of the worst times with people who are in deep pain or suffering and people who are overwhelmed. Well-meaning Christians in an attempt to cheer them up and speak truth, not only hurt them, but offer them something not quite true.

It’s a simple phrase: ‘God won’t give you more than you can handle.’ Some of you have said this or had it said to you. Some of you have accepted this as truth for many, many years. It is not true. It is not Biblical. It is not Christian. There are three parts of this statement I want to point out to you that are false. The first is simple. It is one connected to some things I said in last week’s sermon. The first part of the phrase: ‘God won’t give you…’ Please know that God does not do things to us. Our pain, suffering, difficulty, the things that overwhelm and hurt us. God does not do those things to us. God is not a fairy or a genie or as one movie puts it ‘a mean kid on an ant hill with a magnifying glass waiting to watch you squirm.’ I think we know this, but like many of these lies, we do not always speak, act or live like we know it is not true. God does not sit around giving us hard things to deal with or to punish us. The fact is things that happen are a fact of life, the difficulty of relationships, the reality of natural consequences. Whether our difficulties are caused by sin, natural consequences, pain, brokenness, evil, the devil or whatever else, it is not God. Bad things happen. Bad things happen to good people. Things happen we do not deserve, we did not cause, do or even see coming. God does not give us suffering and pain. He took our suffering and pain on the cross. Ok, now that rant is over, on to rant number 2.

The word ‘more’ is one that always strikes me in this sentence. God never, ever, ever promises life will be easy. Jesus certainly does not promise that following him will be easy. In fact, he goes out of his way in many ways and on many occasions to say just the opposite. Following Jesus is hard. Sometimes when someone throws this phrase at me, and I do not have time to discuss theology, am grumpy or think they will not listen to me rant about how this is not Biblical (and not actually helpful, especially in the many moments it is used) I simply respond by saying: ‘well, then God and I are clearly not on the same page about how much I can handle!’ We are never promised it is going to be easy. Ever!

On to my third rant about this phrase and it comes in the last part of the phrase but also built into the phrase as a whole. It is not about what we can handle. It is not a test. It is not God pushing us to our limits or even giving us so much stuff it forces us to rely on him. God never forces a relationship with him on anyone. God invites everyone to relationship with him, but God never forces a relationship with him on us through suffering, pain and difficulty. God does not sit around evaluating what we can and cannot take and push us to our limits just for fun, as a test or as a lesson to teach us something. That is not who God is at all.

Our three simple Gospel verses sum it up well. In fact, we do not have to even go further than the first three words to find a key truth that contrasts this lie that is ‘God will not give you more than you can handle.’ Come to me. Come to me. Jesus offers us a direct invitation to come to him. He loves us, wants to be with us, especially in our suffering. He is our intermediary between us and the Father. Come here to me. The invitation is extended to all but is only enjoyed by those who are actually willing to go to Jesus. Come as a child. The only requirement is to recognize our need for Jesus and be willing to accept him. That is it. The lie is ‘God won’t give you more than you can handle’ and the truth is ‘you are invited to bring your burdens to Jesus.’

Jesus in this passage uses the image of a yoke. I do not know if you have ever seen one of these things; they are quite barbaric. Made for humans, others made for animals, they are meant to make a load easier to carry or pull. It is like a giant loop or harness around your neck. Some yokes just by themselves can weigh 10-50 pounds not even counting the wagon and the load on it. I put one on once. That was enough for me. The truth is so many times that is what our burdens feel like, a giant weight around our neck that pulls us down, keeps us stuck and seems impossible to move. Then comes along the well-meaning friend or family member who looks past our burden and says, ‘oh sweetie, it will be ok,ay God does not give you more than you can handle.’ Bull (get the pun?)! God does not give me suffering. And when I face suffering and burdens, it is often more than I could handle by myself. Many times it is more than we can handle with the help of others. Jessica and I were talking about how annoyed we are by this phrase and the way it is used and she spoke a lot of a childhood friend who lost her very young child to drowning. She continues to live with it and has not gotten over it. Many people said things like this to her. They meant well, but it did not help. Salt in a wound. Salt in a wound with no purpose because it is just not true. I have yet to meet a single parent who has lost a child to any circumstances at any age who looks at that and says, no problem, I can handle that. Life often gives us far more than we could ever handle, and Jesus in those moments looks to us and invites us to him, to pass the load off to him and to take on his love and grace, which is light and free, a gift that brings life instead of bringing us down.

Those who bring their burdens to Jesus trade their burdens for the yoke of Jesus, unconditional love and grace. A deep peace that comes in letting go of the things that bring us down and simply give them to God. We just need to be a little child. “Jesus had come to know his father the way a son does: not by studying books about him, but by living in his presence, listening for this voice, and learning from him as an apprentice does form a master, but watching and imitating.” As children we all wanted to grow up. As adults, most of us would give our left arm to be a kid again. The adult life is burdensome. Taking our burdens and giving them to Christ means we taken on his yoke, the life of a child, simple and free. Only Jesus can do that for us. No one else can do it. We cannot do it on our own. The demands, difficulties and uncertainness of life are simply too much for us to handle on our own and even with the help of others. We need Jesus. So does the world. I am often heartbroken as I meet people who do not know Jesus and are going through a very painful situation, because I just cannot imagine not having Jesus in my own difficult times.

Come to me you who are exhausted, hurting, burdened, scared and I will take those things from you and give you rest.

‘God won’t give you more than you can handle’ is simply a lie, but the beautiful truth is that in the midst of your burdens God has offered you an invitation to bring those burdens to Jesus. He is waiting. Introduce rock exercise.

Last year when I visited Greece and Turkey, I was able to visit many of the sites where Paul did ministry. It was incredible to walk in much of his footsteps and learn and see what I have read so much about. Our tour guide was fantastic, but not necessarily a man of faith. When we got to Philippi, the site of Paul’s first church we were able to get a good idea of the culture, that church and his ministry there. At one point, someone in the tour group asked the age old American question ‘how many where in the church?’ The tour guide had the best response, one that I think we could adopt in North America. “It does not matter, Paul did not come here for how many came to church, he and the people came here to worship the Lord.” Puts a little perspective on how we look at things today.

There is a tremendous lack of leaders worth following in our culture. There is a huge leadership void in government, business, non-profits and the church throughout the whole world. Leadership is essential and without leaders worth following we will live in division, uncertainty, unrest and lack effectiveness in everything that matters. One of the reasons for the great void in leadership is the lack of philosophical and theological reflection in our leaders. So many lead from personality, opinion or habit alone. Other leaders fail to even consider ethical and long-term implications of their leadership.

In the midst of what is one of the more contentious, anxiety producing, discouraging presidential elections in history, many people of faith are talking about how their faith and the scripture impact their voting decisions. The truth is that our Christianity should shape every aspect of our lives, in fact, it should dictate every aspect of our lives. I believe every Christian should carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully consider how they vote. Just like any other important decision we make, our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ should inform our decision making process. So often in our country we talk about the more Christian or Biblical candidate, party or platform and when we do so we make some dangerous assumptions. The truth is that the Bible is unclear or silent on many issues we face. In some cases, one can interpret what the Bible has to say about something in two different ways. While the Scripture is our guide to life, it does not lay out every detail of life. To assume that one candidate, platform or party is more Biblical than another is dangerous, unrealistic and simply untrue. If one looks carefully at the whole scripture, they can see that every candidate, platform and party has aspects that are consistent with the Christian faith and aspects that are contradictory to the Christian faith. This is where the faithful, difficult, Christ-centered decision must come for each individual as they prayerfully decide how to vote. Its not clear cut. It never has been and never will be. One can say that based on their faith, beliefs and politics that they have decided to vote a certain way, but no one can realistically say that the Bible, Christianity or Jesus tell us that one person, platform or party is universally more biblical than another.  Its simply not true.

What happens when we differ in philosophy from others; those we work with, the organizations we serve, friends, colleagues etc.? The first distinction that needs to be made in addressing this question is whether or not the disagreement is a major item or a minor item. In our culture today we gotten this mostly backwards and tend to ignore major issues because they are hard to solve and focus on minor issues, making them big issues. This is one of the handful of sources of the deep disagreement and division we have today. If the issue is major, a decision needs to be made about association. It may mean not endorsing or associating, but it never means being unkind or destructive. If the issue is minor, then allow it to be just that, minor. We can have differing views and still have both be justifiable by scripture and otherwise. We can have differing views and work together. This seems obvious, but by the state of our church and culture, it appears that we have forgotten this. Disagreement, especially on minor issues is actually a gift, it can be good, in fact it is ideal. The diversity that comes in disagreement allows us to be sharpened and to work together, continuing to learn and grow as we seek to care for all people of all differing opinions.

I am stating the obvious, but then again, its clear that we have forgotten.

Recently, at a seminar, I heard someone use a phrase that I found interesting. “Everyone has a ripe time.” Thinking about the analogy of fruit used frequently in scripture and most notably by Jesus in reference towards discipleship, this phrase is fascinating. I have long thought about the imagery of tree and fruit as I think about discipleship, especially since moving out to the country where we have several fruit trees on our property. Thinking specifically about our cherry trees, when the season is right, we begin picking. We have to pick at least every other day, but could pick every day. Some cherries are ripe at different times. One cherry could be ripe one day, while the one next to it may be ready just a day later, but perhaps even more than a week later. Certainly, as a disciple and as a pastor I want to bear fruit all of the time. That said, there are times where my fruit is more ripe than other times. This does not just apply to my life as a pastor or a disciple. When I think about other areas of my life, my physical health, spiritual routine, my parenting skills, there are most certainly seasons of varying degrees of ripeness. Needless to say, its a phrase and analogy I continue to ponder.

What happens when we disagree? What if we disagree about important things? What if we even have Biblical and theological arguments for our positions and still disagree? What if we disagree on small things?

That is a lot of ‘what ifs,’ but the reality is disagreement is a matter of when and not if. It is in fact natural, normal, healthy and good. Somehow we have lost sight of that. We have lost sight of that in the world. We have lost sight of it in our culture. We have lost sight of it in our country. We have lost sight of that in the church. I am not sure when, where or exactly how this happened (though I have some ideas), but over the past decade or two we have lost our ability to disagree with one another and still show love and respect to one another. We have walked away from the notion that we could disagree and still function together in community and function well in fact. Long gone seem the days when we celebrated disagreement as a healthy aspect of community.

The church, sadly, has been no different even though it should be. We have lost our example and witness in so many ways. We have bought into the divisive mindset of our world, walking away from love, grace and the hard work of community. That said, there is hope and we can choose to live differently. The beauty of the church, the community of believers is the diversity that God has created in us. Disagreement is not only ok, it can be fruitful. Perhaps, now more than ever, Christians have an incredible opportunity to be a light to the world around them by being living examples of what it means to love and live together in community in the midst of deep disagreement.