In Stillness & Quiet

“But I have stilled and quieted my soul”

With only three verses, blinking twice causes Psalm 131 to become a distant memory. Something about the nature of Psalm 131 keeps me from forgetting it too quickly. It’s the stillness and quiet.  Psalm 131 calls attention to itself unobtrusively, with a solid knock, knock, on long forgotten doors. Causing us to peak through doorway cracks, seeing who would grab our attention in this odd & old fashioned way. In world of precisely calculated words and meticulously measured article lengths, Psalm 131 saunters by, making a quiet and unassuming statement: noise does not triumph over stillness.

The past few weeks I’ve spent several hours in a car each day. I mostly drive with co-workers, carpooling to save gas. In these still moments of highway wandering we somehow ignore the radio, the traffic, and the GPS to tell each other stories. Perhaps the scenery draws it out of us: constantly surrounded by gum trees, rolling hills and verdant fields. Maybe our industry beckons us to speak, searching for meaning and direction in a tangle of community reports, psychologist sessions, and personal opinions. Perchance our office suite has something to do with it: nine open employee spaces with six employees and no ringing phones. The world may never know. Our stories flow from academic endeavors to political movements, personal experiences, future hopes, and frustrations with seeking truth and change for our clients in the here and now. Finding truth in our personal whirlwinds of expectations and desires, to ‘fix’ and ‘change’ others’ situations seems like an improbable task. Yet when the tides rise and the swirling winds become rattling storms, I find myself wanting the small truth of Psalm 131. I can quiet my soul.

In the past I’ve sought this quiet externally, believing the quiet comes from a location or in moments spent apart from chaos. Being surrounded by green and being the master of my own schedule certainly helps, but I don’t think finding external quiet quite fits David’s Psalms. David certainly spent a few seasons in the wilderness, away from noisy society, but he also spent seasons in service to a mad king, who literally threw spears at him. Somehow David kept his cool in these hot situations, even when he couldn’t run away. David’s quietness certainly came from years of watching sheep, but his stillness remained, even when he had long left the flock and field. Too often we long to get away instead of seeking quiet and the stillness in our present circumstances. We let the busyness and chaos of modern living overrun our inner stillness and quiet, giving up what we do not need to lose.

I have not yet mastered stillness and quiet, but the more I find myself in the swirl of this chaotic life the easier I find it to remain calm. Practicing quietness in the midst of turmoil certainly means placing myself into muddled and murky situations, but the more of these situations I place myself into, the more I realize chaos doesn’t have to ruin my inner peace. Chaos happens whether we search it out or not, whether we plan for it or not. The more I deal with the chaos of life, the more I learn how to deal with my inner rumblings and disquiet. By seeking out, or perhaps finding myself in, places and with people where I can speak and express myself and find listening ears, the more I find myself less concerned by the pounding winds and prattling rains. I can watch the thundering storm, and live within it, because the winds and the rains do not define the state of my soul.

Such is the peace that comes from placing one’s self in God. Such is the peace in Psalm 131.

What's Jacob up to?

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How do Christians show hope and truth?

HF Longoria III asked: What would be a great method to show [those who once followed Christianity, but have left] there is hope.. there is truth.. there is eternal life in Christianity?

Wow! That’s a packed question! We live in a day and age where many have left the Church, but have also left Christianity. There’s much to explore in this question, including unasked questions about why people leave. For if we can address why people are leaving, then we can strengthen connections with our current Christian communities and reduce the opportunities for people falling through the cracks.

Working in the fitness industry taught me that people quit working out because they don’t feel connected. The solution to connections in fitness? Knowing people by name, knowing something about them, engaging them when they walk through the door, and spending time dialoguing with them when they have issues and problems. This dramatically reduces the number of cancellations, including stopping those who’ve said they want to cancel, but really lost connection with why they were exercising in the first place. When people leave a gym for another, it’s either because they’ve moved, or they’ve made personal connections somewhere else. People who have left the church often do so because they’ve felt disconnected, have unanswered issues, and have felt a greater personal connection with something else. Most people have not left the church because they have issues with God; it’s because they have issues with people. People who have gone in search of other belief systems have not permanently left the idea of church or God, they are in search of a meaningful and practical connection with the divine.

I’ll never forget my philosophy professor talking about his period of atheism. He grew up in church, but left it because of the illogical reasoning he heard from the pulpit. For years he was absent, but when he started exploring and questioning, he started coming back to church services. He could sit through the singing, but always left before the sermon. It took time, but eventually he came back of his own free will, and determination to understand the God of the universe. My professor wanted to explore. He wanted answers to the question of suffering. He wanted something deep and meaningful, but struggled to find it on Sunday. I assume most of our friends who’ve left have similar issues. Sunday isn’t doing it for them, they want something more. They want to reach out to God, but don’t know where to look, or have become so discouraged they’ve stopped looking and started medicating.

The Church isn’t about Sunday. It’s about everyday community. Having moved around and been to numerous churches, the community is now my biggest draw. I look to see whether or not the people in the church are representing the gospel before they speak it. For if they aren’t living the gospel without words, then listening to them speak is meaningless. Preaching, aka lecturing people about Jesus, isn’t the answer to our friends’ unasked questions. The solution is inherent in throughout the Bible: the word is not just spoken, it is lived.

To quote Jesus, we need to be born of water and of spirit. This means we need to repent of our sins and seek forgiveness, but we also need to be transformed. We need to let God’s spirit dwell within us. To live out love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control. When we move beyond the hellfire insurance of water, into the world of the spirit, then we will truly live out the gospel. It is in the living out of the gospel, making it our everyday clothes and everyday actions that tells people God is more than the cultural descriptions of him. This is impossible without God working in us, but is possible when we lay our very selves down at the foot of the cross, and in humility ask to be renewed. Our hope is in the crucified LORD. Our truth is in living word of God. Our eternal life is found in the restoration God does within us.

What’s our practical method for showing this to others? Live. Do everyday life, but do it joyfully. Have an ordinary job, but do it patiently. Have regular friends, but love them peacefully. Reconnect with those who’ve left, but don’t make it a task, make it a joy. Invite friends over. Do life together. Watch games, have game nights, cook dinners & BBQ’s, celebrate and be grateful for the life God has given us. Serve when others are in need. Allow others to serve when you are in need. Stay in touch with friends. Love those who shouldn’t be loved. This is the greatest example of the gospel, and the strongest way to bring someone back who has become disillusioned. Perhaps one day they will come back to church, but until that day love them the way Jesus loved his disciples. With honesty, truth, and grace.

What’s the difference between joy and happiness?

Jackie asked: What’s the difference between joy and happiness?

I can’t think of a particular scripture that outlines the differences between joy and happiness, but I do know this question gets asked frequently. Scripture talks a lot about joy, and little about happiness. I find it easier to talk about happiness first, then talk about joy.

Happiness is an external feeling. When something good happens it makes a happy. When the sun is shining and everything is going well we are happy. It’s that new car freshness, looking good when you’re going out, a pleasant delightful surprise, and getting what we want. Happiness isn’t wrong, it’s simply temporary and circumstantial.

Joy is different. Joy is an internal contentment regardless of circumstance. We can have joy in difficult circumstances without having to smile or make joyful noises. Joy is not an external emotion. We can have joy while we grieve. We can have joy while being angry. We can have joy while being heartbroken. We can have joy in painful circumstances.

When Paul rejoiced in his sufferings, he wasn’t happy about his external circumstances, he was joyful that God was using him to preach the gospel. Even though he was being mistreated, abused, and physically beaten. Paul sang while in prison, even though he wasn’t happy. He sang because he knew God was at work, even though he couldn’t see it.

Jackie asked: Can you have one without the other?

When we rejoice in our sufferings, we don’t have to sing or smile: that’s happiness. Having joy means being content even though we are going through difficult times and want to see things change.

Having joy changes our perspective and can bring us happiness, but happiness cannot bring us joy. Happiness is an addictive feeling, a temporary high. The pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of that high, and often leads people into bad situations. Consider the shop-a-holic, who continually buys new clothes because it feels good. All the clothes in the world won’t buy lasting happiness. Money and clothes aren’t the real issue; the real issue is not being satisfied with our possessions or where we are in life.

Joy is finding that satisfaction. Joy allows us to rejoice and praise God even in difficult circumstances, because we know he’s at work. I think it’s wonderful when we have joy and happiness. When happiness wears out is when we find out how deep our joy is.

The simple answer is yes, you can have joy and not have happiness. You can have happiness and not joy. You can have both. You can have neither.

Jackie also asked: Can you have it and lose it?

Yes. Happiness is fleeting, and going through difficult times can rob us of our joy. Consider Naomi in the book of Ruth. Once she had everything she wanted and then lost it all. She wanted to change her name to Mara because she was bitter about what had happened to her. What I find amazing about the book of Ruth is that even though we may feel like we’ve lost all joy and happiness in the world, God has not forgotten us. The book of Ruth ends with the restoration of Naomi; she gets her joy back.

Jackie’s final question: Can you have neither and be a Christian?

Yes! Joy is something learned. It’s not an inherent quality. Difficult times tell us a lot about who we are and what we lack. Hardship is part of life, we can let it drag us down, or we can use it to identify where we need to grow. Reclaiming joy is not about focusing on the positives in life. It’s about focusing on God. Everything else is subject to change, but God and His love are not. The love of God is the source of a Christian’s joy. We often misunderstand the love of God, and as such, it’s easy to miss out on joy. Pursuing the love of God is a great way to find joy.

Is it love or guilt?

Carlen asked: how do you know if you’re operating out of guilt or love?

Great question! I remember listening to a comedian talk about how much he hated church because all they talked about was guilt, guilt, guilt! Guilt is a nagging voice that says, “I can’t believe you’re doing ____, you know you should be doing _____, because if you’re doing _____ you’re a bad person and God doesn’t like you.” This example is a pretty strong guilt trip. Guilt reminds us how bad we are and then uses some form of pressure to get us to do something different. It’s easy for Christians to fall into guilt because we know about our sin. It’s easy to focus on our sin instead of focusing on God and what He’s done for us. When we do good deeds because we don’t want to be seen as sinful, that’s acting out of guilt. When we act because we want God, or someone else, to like us more that’s guilt. Guilt tells us we’re not good enough and we need to try harder.

If we’re trying hard because we’ll receive something in return for our efforts we’re not acting out of love; we’re operating for a reward. The two Greek words used to talk about Christian love are agape and philos. Agape is self-less love, as in it doesn’t operate for a reward: it operates out of a desire to benefit someone else. Philos is brotherly love. Brotherly meaning, love between equals. When we love someone, we should not love them out of pity, this is condescending kindness. Nor should we love someone because they are better than us, this becomes worship and favor seeking. True love recognizes an equality with the person being loved, and loves without expecting a reward.

When we get an excited tingly feeling about doing something for someone, that’s love. When we feel shame, anxiety and panic when doing something for someone, that’s guilt.

Guilt tears us down, but love builds us up. A simple question to ask ourselves when evaluating guilt or love, “Do I enjoy doing this?” I’ve done things because I’ve had the ‘talent’, but in truth I didn’t enjoy what I was doing, I was just doing it out of a sense of obligation and duty. I burned out. Love doesn’t burn out, but guilt most definitely will.

Carlen also asked: At what point are you helping too much and are standing in God’s way?

When we help someone too much, they usually let us know. If they don’t verbalize their feelings, we can often see them in a person’s tone and body language. When our desire to help comes from guilt and pity, we miss out on doing the right amount of helping. Guilt and pity are self-centered; we feel like we have to be seen doing some activity in order for things to be set right or we have to do the action and can’t let someone else step in and help.

Here are a few good question to ask ourselves when questioning our own motives, “Am I doing this to be seen and get some kind of credit? Am I doing this because I know better than the other person? Would I be okay if someone else took my place, and did what I want to do? Have I asked the other people involved if this is how they want to be helped?" Most of the time we have good intentions when trying to help someone out. The best way to help someone is to listen first, then take action. Often times people want to be heard and don’t need us to do anything more.

When we’re keeping score of how much we’re helping other people, we’re probably getting in the way. Score keeping is a sure way to know whether we’re doing something for ourselves, or doing it for God.

Carlen’s final question: Is it possible to get in [God’s] way?

Yes! I love this question and I love answering in the affirmative because most of the time we all try and get in God’s way. Most leaders in the Bible questioned what God wanted to do and tried to put a stop to it. One of my favorite examples is the time Jesus plainly told the disciples he was going to suffer and die. Peter pulled him aside and started to rebuke him! We often want to substitute a picture of how things should happen, instead of asking God how to be a part of the picture. We put our motives and desires first, instead of listening to God and doing things His way. Jesus response to Peter is simple, “Get behind me Satan!” Peter literally stood in front of Jesus and tried to stop him. But God cannot be stopped. Even if we try and tell him we know better.

I love the proverb “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” This means that even though there’s much we’d like to do, God has a way of accomplishing His purposes in spite of ourselves. God also lets us know when we’re getting in the way. Jesus didn’t just sit and listen to Peter, he told Peter flat out that Peter was wrong. Jesus used that moment to teach the disciples and the crowd about the selfless nature of God’s kingdom. Laying down our self-centered ways is difficult, but one of the best ways to lay ourselves down is by talking to God.

Jesus didn’t hold a grudge against Peter for not grasping God’s kingdom. In fact, Jesus continued to work with Peter and raised him up to become one of the most influential founders of the church. We need to talk to God when we don’t understand. We need to ask questions in order to learn. Too often we pursue a self-centered plan of action instead of stopping to evaluate ourselves.

We are all sinners saved by grace; this is what makes us saints. Not that we have become perfect, but that we continue to seek God through our stumbling. There’s a fancy theological word for this called sanctification. Sanctification is the process through which we learn to act out the kingdom of God. There’s no timeline for sanctification. Life is our timeline. When we reach heaven sanctification will be complete. Until then, continue repenting heathen sinner! Or wait… was that a guilt trip?

Facing the Father

This is my third attempt and final attempt at this idea, but this time I’m confident I know how to finish. I’ve had to change the name of this writing several times because our issues with the Father go deeper than fear. I’ve had to ask myself, “Where does this fear come from?” The simple answer of, “misunderstood love” isn’t satisfactory, even though it’s a simple answer. There is more worth exploring and struggling with that yields profitable answers. One of the things I’ve had to remind myself is when we look at the Trinity the issues are not black and white: they are colorful. There’s a rich complexity searching for answers and solutions, and even though my initial ideas have been confirmed, they’ve been broadened and enriched by further study. For when I first started writing and exploring our issues with Father, I knew my ideas were valid, but my explanations were poor. I didn’t have the words to functionally describe what I knew to be the truth. That and I was pigeon holing my format. Needless to say after four weeks of kicking these ideas around in my sleep deprived head, which included a week of crisis response training and working with troubled/abused children, I have a greater vocabulary to communicate my ideas and am more certain of my explanations, even though they may still be rough.

Initially, I wanted to look at legalism and liberalism, for both isms are faulty views of God and the written word. The training I received reminded me that behavior is second to personal needs and experiences. In other words legalism and liberalism are symptoms of deeper issues. They are responses to unmet needs and painful experiences. The legalist tries to control an out of control world through harsh discipline and a literal letter by letter interpretation of the Law. The liberalist rejects the Law because they have never experienced the Law correctly applied. The issue is not the Law itself, but the perception of the judge behind the Law. The legalist fears a constantly angry and unpredictable God, who punishes without warning and punishes in the extreme: an abusive Father. The liberalist spits in God’s face because God neither sees, cares, nor acts; the liberalist scorns the Law of the Father out of frustration, experiencing a negligent Father. The core of issues of abuse and neglect are the same: pain. It hurts to be in an abusive and/or negligent relationship. An overly harsh disciplining Father frustrates his children because the children become afraid to act. A negligent never-present Father frustrates a child in the opposite way: the child can never seem to get their father’s attention. This causes the child to act any way that they want, because there are no ramifications and the Father won’t act. The legalist tries to follow the Law, hoping the Father will be pleased and will not enforce punishment; they live in fear of punishment, because they feel they’re constantly being scrutinized. Both the legalist and the liberalist desire love from the Father, they simply don’t know how to find or experience it.

Looking at legalism and liberalism, we need to go deeper than surface behavior, and go to the heart of their issues. How they view and experience God the Father.

Legalism: the abusive and angry Father

This view of God comes from an Old Testament heavy focus. It’s mostly a misinterpretation of the prophets, who called God’s people back to a healthy relationship with God, and warned them that God would act justly if they did not change their ways. What ‘ways’ were these? The prophets spoke out against the injustice in Jewish society; they spoke out against fraud, stealing property, mistreating the elderly, mistreating orphans, mistreating widows, unfair wages, mistreatment of immigrants and foreigners, cheating their own people, and unfair taxation. They addressed these issues, as well as others, as central to following God’s Law. They pointed out people were going through religious motions while ignoring matters more important to God: the treatment of others. As the prophets pointed out these problems within society, they also claimed that God would not remain silent, that he would act and bring justice to those who were abusing others. The prophets called people to account who were living in liberalism: meaning the people who were doing whatever they wanted with no fear of God or man. Our misinterpretation of the prophets focuses on the punishment of God, which, though a part of the prophets’ message, is not the entirety of their message. It’s from the prophets that most legalists justify their abuse of others.

A great example of this comes from the religious leaders in Jesus day. Here’s what the leaders understood. As the Jewish people didn’t listen to God’s word through the prophets, He brought them to justice and exiled them from the Promised Land. Even though God brought the people back and sent more prophets to them to help them rebuild their nation, the people still rebelled. God gave them warnings they would be removed from the land again, and then stopped sending prophets. Because God stopped sending prophets, the religious leaders lived in fear of losing their nation; for they knew God would hold true to his word and deal justly with his people. The leaders taught the people if they followed God’s Law to the letter, God would not remove them. What started out as a movement to teach people how to live God’s Law became empty religious gestures. The gestures multiplied over time, becoming more and more difficult to follow. Just like their ancestors, they built an empty religion based on religious deeds, instead of living out God’s Law and practicing what was just and right. The religious leaders lived in fear of God’s wrath, and dealt harshly with anyone who upset their control over the people. This is why they executed Jesus. He upset their balance of power by condemning the empty religion created by their fear, greed, and desire to control people. Their legalism led to the abuse of power and the abuse of people.

Like the religious leaders in Jesus day, there are current religious leaders who use their authority to abuse others. They preach from the prophets that if people practice their version of the Law, society will stay together and God will not pour out his wrath. These religious leaders focus on the wrath of God, using it to scare people into obedience. This is a form of oppression and control. These false religious leaders oppress others, especially those who disagree with their strict fear-driven ideologies. They don’t have the patience to listen to those who look to practical matters like justice, as the prophets and Jesus did. These false religious leaders see their traditions as more important than the implications of living out the social aspect of the word of God. They think their traditions set them apart and will make people take notice of how holy they are. They have an inflated sense of self, for in the end they are only concerned with how holy they are in their own eyes and the eyes of those they can control. Anyone who functions outside a false leader’s tradition is branded a heretic, a liberal, or a fool. Confrontation with these leaders involves outbursts of anger, as they attempt to dominate conversations, and dictate other’s behaviors.

Abusive leaders create abusive followers. Occasionally those leaving a strict legal perspective will jump to liberalism, which is opposite to the abuse of legalism. For legalism is active abuse, but liberalism is a passive abuse.

Liberalism: the neglectful and inattentive Father

Some view the Law as oppressive and too strict. These individuals often look at the extreme application of the Law instead of the correct and just application of the Law. Rather than seeking out the purpose of the Law, liberalism tries to defeat the Law by explaining it away. In other words liberalism is an attempt to free people from the Law, meaning getting rid of the implications of breaking the Law. This in effect creates lawlessness, because there is nothing holding people accountable. Liberalism hides in the guise of liberty: that people should be free to do whatever they want, regardless if it’s just and right for individuals and society at large. The call for liberalism goes too far, for in it’s attempt at removing oppression it ends up justifying oppression, because everyone is free to do as they wish, including mistreating those who cannot stand up for themselves. This is a form of neglect. How? Because those who cry out for justice are ignored, because even though people are free to do as they want, this includes oppressing and abusing others. Liberalism neglects powerless people, paying them little attention because it’s too busy taking care of those who have the power to take care of themselves.

During the decline of the Kingdom of Judah and Israel, liberalism was a rank problem. People began to do whatever they wanted, including worshipping whatever God they wanted. The God of Israel taught people to follow the Law, to act justly, to admit mistakes, to be purified and be made clean. The other gods promoted promiscuity, child-sacrifice, war, terror and oppression. In defense of the other gods, they didn’t lead their followers into all of these sins, but the acceptance of these sins, and worshipping whatever god or gods you wanted, including the God of Israel, meant you could do whatever you want so long as you claimed a religious following. This is why the God of Israel calls himself a jealous god, because you cannot serve the God of Israel and other gods. Either you follow Him and the Law, or you follow them and their sins. There’s no middle ground, because one accepts behavior without question, while the other actively works to change behavior. You might be wondering, “Why would the Israelites stop following their God?” The simple answer is this, because they could. The God of Israel gave people His people liberty. He didn’t force them into obedience; He promised justice, even though He patiently applies it. This is where inattention and neglect become our central issue, when we wait for God to act.

Skeptics of God say, “Prove God exists,” expecting a display of power and wonder, or at least continuous divine justice. When people consciously break the Law for the first time they expect an abusive and angry God to show up and deliver swift justice. As the God of Israel is not abusive, but just, He doesn’t act because we provoke Him; He warns us of the ramifications of our actions and holds us accountable, being patient with us and giving us time to change. Many take His short term inaction as long term inattention. That God does not care whether or not we follow His Law. For if He doesn’t enforce His Law, why should we follow it? This is why He sent the prophets to Israel, to call the people back to following the Law, warning them that justice was coming if they did not change their ways. God gave His people a chance to respond, a chance to change and a choice to change. Many took God’s silence as neglect, and since God wasn’t enforcing His Law, they could do whatever they wanted without fear of ramification.

Liberalism sees a neglectful God who simply does not care; an inattentive God who lets injustice reign. These injustices are explained away as freedoms, for if there are no direct ramifications for breaking the Law, then breaking the Law is of no consequence. These views of God are contrary to the prophets’ message. God saw the injustice in Israel. He warned His people through the prophets, giving them the opportunity to act freely and return to the Law, responding without being forced into action. As the people did not choose to follow the Law, God brought justice. This came as a shock to many Israelites, for they thought the prophets’ warnings were too legalistic. The Israelites didn’t take the prophets’ seriously. For Israel believed they could do as they wished: that God have given them free reign. In reality God gave them a responsibility, one they could not free themselves from, even if they chose not to follow God’s Law.

The True Father: fulfillment of the Law through love

The greatest commandment is to love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself. This puts God’s Law first, but places the fulfillment of the Law through the treatment of others. As a just Father, God set down rules, boundaries, and ramifications. When we break the Law He gives us the opportunity to respond, coming back into a right relationship with Him. As God warned Israel and Judah of their behavior, God does the same for us. He warns us before taking action and dealing out punishment. Only when we have so hardened ourselves to the point we no longer care about following God’s Law, through legalism or liberalism, does God punish. In the case of Israel and Judah He waited until society had completely disregarded His Law before taking action. God is patient. God lets us know where we stand with Him. He never punishes or disciplines without reason or warning. God is just. His goal is to show us how loving people through difficult times and places can transform them, even though we’d rather demand strict adherence to the Law or do away with it entirely. God gives us a choice, but He holds us accountable to that choice and its ramifications.

Working with the abused and neglected is simple: let them know what is happening; pay attention to their needs; be consistent in your behavior; be consistent in your expectations; and give grace. It is incredibly difficult to shed an abused or neglected mentality. Love is the only way to break through these mentalities and create lasting change. The same is true of legalism and liberalism. God does breaks through these mentalities through the love inherent in His Law. As such the Law is more than following a legal code. For legal codes do not move us to a place of love, and neither does letting people do as they wish move us to a place of love. Love comes from identifying with someone in pain. God calls Himself our Father, not to show how high an authority He is above us, but to show how much He loves us because He claims us as His dear beloved and cherished children. He claims us as His own, even though we often stumble to claim Him and His Law. Our Father gives people freedom to respond; we need to do the same, without forcing them to do as we wish. God doesn’t force us to behave, but He does enforce justice, even though He is patient and gracious with us, so much so we can become frustrated with the precision of His movements. This kind of love is difficult, but God has modeled it for us through His Son, who is the fulfillment of the Law. The Law points to the Son, the Son points to the Spirit who dwells within us to help us change, and the Spirit points back to the Father, who has put it all in place to show how much He loves us, looks out for us, and wants us to choose His ways, not ours.

Fearing the Son: Fearing Church

“Do you believe in the Church?” A friend asked me not too long ago. With the decline of churches in recent years, many people are asking this question. It’s a relevant question because many people have left the Church due to the failings of church leaders and their communities. Watching people you respect fail is a difficult thing. Watching people you respect fail, and hurt you in the process is worse. It makes you question what they’ve taught you about the faith. Having had this experience myself, I can understand why people are wary of the Church. It is a place for healing, but it is also a place of hurt. Hurting people can be unpredictable: a wrong move can cause people to lash out, but being a part of someone’s healing makes the labor and risks of redemption rewarding. What’s the best way to heal? I know of no better place to find healing than in the community of Jesus. For that is what the Church is supposed to be. Sometimes healing means stepping out from the corporate Church: the church with labels and buildings. Sometimes the healing we need is found in the community of Jesus: the church in houses and deep running relationships. Honestly there shouldn’t be a divide between these two kinds of churches, but there is a divide, one that plays to our advantage as we can step away from corporations and into community. For in the long run the community of Jesus is the fertile soil on which the corporate Church grows. The Church united and founded upon Jesus is a healthy place. One where people can heal from their past hurts and find solace in Jesus and the arms of His community. This is the Church that looks not to its present circumstances, but to the Savior who opened himself to people of all backgrounds. This is the Church that will never fail. For this Church is not built on people, it’s built on God.

For this reason I still believe in Church. Not because I trust in church people, but because I trust in the love of God to redeem His people. The love of God casts out fear, and though there is fear in communal living, it is a part of who we are in Jesus. Even when we are confronted with statistics like these: Eighty percent of student leaders at Christian colleges and Universities will leave the church within five years; Eighty percent of youth ministers will not last five years in ministry and will move on to other lines of work. Anecdotes I was told before graduation. Having been both of these things, I am highly at risk for leaving the church. I’ve had a front row seat to watch my friends struggle with the corporate entities of church as they cling to the communal entity that goes beyond denominations. I understand why people leave, and I know that leaving is not always a sign of an individual’s failing, but rather a corporate failing. When young people who are excited about working in and with the church leave there is a serious problem. That problem has nothing to do with music, programming, or architecture, but is a problem in the human heart. The very problem Jesus came to heal, save, and redeem.

Having five years post-University graduation behind my belt, I’ve beaten my odds. I could write about navigating the murky transitional water of Church, but I would rather write about three fears that keep the community of Christ from succeeding as a corporate entity and community of people: The fear of giving, The fear of sacrifice, and The fear of abandonment.

The Fear of Giving

Too often we think of giving as a meeting a material need: whether that be clothing, food, or other life necessities. Too often we confuse giving as money-only giving, assuming we can fix problems with a big enough dollar sign. There is need for material and monetary giving, but the community of Jesus is called to give more than it’s stuff, it’s called to give of itself. When Paul wrote his second letter to the church at Corinth he wrote to them about this kind giving: first mentioning in what spirit we should give, second how giving is evidence of our deep relationship with God, and third how this kind of giving spreads the joy of the LORD:

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Giving is not about numbers, it’s a matter of the heart. Giving is not just about money or life necessities; it’s about sharing the grace God has given us, and letting that grace manifest itself in our lives through action. If giving were only a matter of money those in poverty couldn’t do it. If giving were only a matter of life necessities, then the disadvantaged couldn’t do it. But as giving is about working from our hearts, resulting in thanksgiving to God, all people are able to give. It is this kind of grace-filled giving that enlarges the harvest of righteousness. It is this kind of richness that God magnifies and grows, it is this kind of giving that marks a community of Jesus and enlarges it. God loves generous cheerful givers, and he gives them even more to give and share as they practice giving, sharing, and praising God.

The Fear of Sacrifice

Just as giving is not about money or life necessities, so too is sacrifice not about material things. For the sacrifice of God is a contrite heart and a broken spirit. This doesn’t mean we walk around with eyes to the ground crying all the time, it means remembering we are all in need of a savior. Just as Jesus has forgiven us, so too we need to forgive others. This is particularly hard when we’ve been hurt or mistreated, which is why this is called sacrifice and not giving. For we give in favorable situations, but we sacrifice when caught in unfavorable situations and continue to put on a Christ-like attitude. In his letter to the church at Colossi Paul writes about the nature of sacrifice:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothes yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Sacrifice is a daily experience, not a one-off moment of truth. It’s daily taking up the cross of Christ through forgiveness, love, and patience, maintaining a humble attitude and a gentle spirit. This is hard, impossible without the love of Jesus in our hearts. Left to our own devices the peace of Christ does not rule over us, we abandon it for anxiety, fear, and anger. Yet the love of Jesus calms our fears; the forgiveness of Jesus relieves our anxiety; and the patience of Jesus works out our anger. We do not need to carry a burden of sin, guilt, or hatred for what we have done or what has been done to us. In Jesus’ sacrifice these stains are washed away, and our deepest darkness made bright.

The Fear of Abandonment

Our fear of being abandoned by God often comes from the rejection of churches. Too often we feel like we’ve done something unforgivable or someone has done something unforgivable to us and so we cannot be reconciled to God or even a small group of believers. Someone may have done something unmentionable, splitting apart a once united and healthy body. Long unresolved sin keeps rearing its ugly head and chasing people away. The community of Jesus is stronger than these things, when it finds its strength in God. Communities and corporate entities may struggle, as all people struggle from time to time, but the outcome of the struggle is certain: God’s love will reign over all.

Jesus taught this to his disciples and to the Jewish community and corporate entity of his day. His teaching was based on the preaching of the prophets, that whoever turns from sin and casts themselves on God’s mercy will be reunited with their Father. They will enter into his grace and be forgiven their offenses and enjoy relationship with Him again. This is the message God proclaimed to the Jewish community time and time again. Turn from sin, be reunited to your Father. Reading the Bible we know time and time again the Jews failed to turn their hearts to God, and as such found themselves in horrible situations. Out of these horrible places they remembered God and turned back to Him. This is why Jesus parable about a Father and his lost son is pointed and relevant to us as we talk about the church. Like the son, we may have gone astray, or have watched communities run from living out God’s love. The son is us, and the son is also the Church. After telling his father he wished him dead and only wanted the stuff his father had, the son enjoyed himself for a while and then lost everything. His situation became so desperate he volunteered himself to feed pigs and was so starving he wanted to eat their spoiling garbage as food. It was here, in the muck and mire he had his revelation:

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son: make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

The son confesses his sin to his father, and starts making his plea for mercy, but the father cuts him off, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found,”

The parable goes on, but the key point is this: the father welcomed his son back. Not begrudgingly, not with a know-it-all smirk on his face, not with a ‘took you long enough’ attitude. He genuinely was excited for the return on his son and welcomed him with open arms. No reservations. No judgments. Just restoration. That’s the love of God.

 As a community of Jesus it can be difficult to live God’s love out, and in the larger world of the corporate church we can miss it in the activity. When we focus on our hurts they only grow bigger, deeper, and uglier, but when we look to God our wounds heal, becoming smaller and tinier until they vanish forever. Our wounds and grievances are made clean in Christ, made real by the giving of our communities, and the sacrifice of people daily taking up their cross. These gifts and sacrifices will never run dry so long as they come from an eternal source: God’s love. The love of Christ is made manifest through God’s people, in whatever size community they gather, by whatever name they call themselves, so long as they call themselves sons and daughters of the living God who loves, and never abandons, His children.

Fearing the Holy Spirit

John’s first letter contains a simple statement, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” When we see the love of God enacted and on display, it erases our fears. The love of God is bigger than fear for a simple reason: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” John’s message in his first letter is simple. In God we have nothing to fear, even though we live in a world of false teachers, prophets, priests, and pastors who preach a different message about God. As believers in God we are responsible for testing the “spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” John knew how important it was to evaluate what teachings we receive and accept as true, because there were and still are false teachings that cause us to be afraid of God.

In this blog I want to look at what causes us to fear the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is the love between God the Father and God the Son. Fearing the true Holy Spirit means we are afraid of the way God loves us, or the way we should love Him. There should be no fear in our relationship with God, for as John said, “fear has to do with punishment”. Our fear of God, or as we are exploring in this blog, fear of the Holy Spirit, comes from a place of misunderstanding. For if we plainly see who God is, and how His Spirit lives within us, we would not be afraid of His presence or His power.

It is here I must make a confession. I believe in a God who is high and lifted up, one who is so great we cannot fully grasp who He is. I talk about this God a lot, emphasizing my smallness and His greatness. This kind of thinking keeps us in awe of God, respectful of who He is, and careful when we make statements about God’s nature or persona. Yet we cannot make this image of God our complete image of Him. I am guilty of putting this image of God first, and not giving enough recognition to the simple principles of God. God is awesome and mighty, but also so easy to understand children can grasp who God is. Too often we favor one image over the other, or completely divorce them from each other. We choose either a majestic complex God or a simple child-like-faith God. We need both. To tear these two images of God apart from each other is to miss-out on who God is and create heresy. One heresy keeps us on our knees in perpetual fear. The other lets us dismiss God because he’s too friendly and cannot confront our issues. Join the pieces together and we have a great God who alleviates our fears: He chooses to be close to us and make Himself known to us. I serve a great God who has made Himself known to me, not because I have a special knowledge or experience of God, but because He has made Himself knowable and accessible to everyone. This leads us to our first fear, that of accessibility. Has God made himself plain and knowable to all or only to a few spiritual elite?

The Fear of Accessibility

Looking at the opening of John’s first letter, he bases his knowledge of God on something very simple: what he has heard, seen, and touched.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

According to John, knowing God is simple. John’s knowledge is based on what he has seen, heard, and touched. He’s not basing his knowledge on a spiritual experience, or claiming that a spiritual experience is necessary in order to understand God. He’s stating that God is easily accessible and coming to knowledge of God is simple: experience God through those who have experienced God. We can view God and see God by those who have been with God. The only special knowledge John claims is the time he spent with Jesus. That’s it. John knows God because he spent considerable time with Jesus, learned from Him, and understood who Jesus was. John’s knowledge of the Spirit of God comes from seeing Jesus go about His daily life.

Too often people try to claim special accessibility or authority to God through a spiritual experience. “I had a dream” or “I had a revelation” or “An angel spoke to me”. These things do not take the place of regular time spent with God and coming to a practical experience of who Jesus is. John had dreams. John had revelations. Angels spoke to John, but he never uses these things as his authority. He doesn’t make spiritual experiences the hallmark of Christianity, even though he had experiences shared by few others. What’s most important, John never uses his spiritual experiences to elevate himself. Why? Because the experience of seeing Jesus, believing in Him, and doing likewise is enough. John says the spirit of God at work in our daily lives is enough.

Why is that enough? It’s enough because God plainly displayed himself for all to see. Not so we could speak about how good God is. Not so we could write about how good God is. But for us to live out how good God is. This is the opposite of having to experience something spiritual. For by living out who Jesus is we recognize that our daily lives are enough. It’s spiritual enough to recognize Jesus as God, believe in Him, and be changed through God’s love. We don’t have to have access to the extraordinary to be followers of Jesus, rather it is by following Jesus we have access to the extraordinary. That access is not subject to human will, but submitting ourselves to God’s will in our daily lives.

Why is this important? We need to recognize God is always present, not just in the glitz, glam, and emotion of spiritual experiences. God never leaves us by ourselves; He’s always with us from the most boring to most exciting of moments. He’s accessible 24/7 to all. We don’t have to discover the extraordinary to find God. He’s always present. He has even given us gifts and abilities to realize His presence.

What about these gifts? What are they? What if I don’t have spiritual gifts, am I still Christian? What if I do have them and people are afraid of them, can I still use them? Our fear of being gifted, or not gifted at all, isolates us from community. Which is our second fear: the fear of isolation.

The Fear of Isolation

Too often people fret at not having any special spiritual gifts. I say special because sometimes we downplay spiritual gifts like administration. Instead we wish we had the super spiritual authoritative ones like prophecy, or the super cool ones like healing, or even the super non-intellectual ones like speaking in tongues. The problem with this mentality is that we’re not happy with what we have and put ourselves down for being something and someone we’re not. We desire to be super instead of ordinary real people. We’re afraid of not being great enough, or in some cases being too great with our gifts that others will shut us out. Fear causes isolation, from not being good enough, to being too great and unapproachable.

Paul writes about spiritual gifts in his first letter to the Corinthians. Here is what he told them:

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”

The main idea? Our gifts are to be used in community. What kind of community? One based on special spiritual authority? No. A practical community where each individual’s gifts are used to build each other up. A community based on the love of God. Just as God’s love is available to all, so too are spiritual gifts given for the common good. Not to inflate our egos, but to share the love of Jesus with each other. That’s why when Paul goes to rank the gifts in his same letter to the Corinthians he starts with love, because if, “I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” The community of Christ is knit together and united in love. It is through this love we are not left in isolation and fear of what we are or what we are not, but encouraged to discover who we are and what we have to offer, and to use our gifts for the benefit of others.

From my own experience, giftedness can be a scary thing. I often don’t understand my gifts or try not to recognize them or think of them as spiritual. I downplay my gifts, assuming everyone else’s gift is better than mine. I glaze over my gifts because they are as natural to me as breathing. I am often afraid of using and sharing them, or worse, wishing someone else’s gift was mine. I don’t like to talk about my giftedness, but I have a gift for writing. If you were to ask me how I feel about my writing I would say I’m decent, but I have a long way to go. I’m afraid of where that destination is. Even though I’m afraid, I practice and hone my writing skills by writing and sharing those writings with others. I want to be a faithful writer, but too often I find myself downplaying the power of the written word, forgetting the influence of other authors on my life. I struggle with my writing because I am afraid most of my writing is not good enough. I push myself to publish weekly writings. I know my writings aren’t perfect, but I let my fears of not being good enough go because a community of people have encouraged me. I also have an amazing spouse who encourages me, loves me, and loves my writing. She’s done more for me in the writing department than I could express. She helps me bring my fears to the light and helps me let them go. Left in isolation I would keep writing, but I would always be convinced my writing isn’t good enough, and I wouldn’t share it.
This brings us to our final fear of the Spirit of God, the fear of inadequacy: the fear of not being good enough.

The Fear of Inadequacy

I’m not good enough. A powerful unadvertised message many believe. An invasive lie used to keep people from reaching their potential. The words used by someone ready to give up. I’m not good enough is a simple enough statement, but the power of this self-fulfilling prophecy is damning. It crushes spirits. It deletes hopes and dreams. It erases life. Too often this statement get used to mean, “I’m not good enough for God to care about me.” The simple truth is that we are not good enough; however, God cares for us because He loves us. It has nothing to do with our ability to meet His standards.

Consider Peter, widely accepted as the founder of the universal Church. We would like to believe this man came from a highly trained background, which would therefore explain his success. We want to believe there is some physical or intellectual reason Peter succeeded where many struggle today. But the truth makes Peter’s success all the more greater. According to Luke’s gospel, Jesus encounters Peter on a night Peter has failed to catch any fish, even though he’s worked hard all night. In short Peter’s hard work has earned him nothing. Jesus gets into Peters boat and tells Peter to put out into deep water to catch fish. Peter’s response is classic, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Peter is basically saying, ‘the only reason I’m going to catch anything is because you told me so.’ His response is simple, but also betrays some skepticism, “But because you say so” he’s saying his fisherman instincts say Jesus is one oar short of a rowboat, but he’s choosing to take Jesus at his word.

Here’s what happened: “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.” From no fish after a hard night of work, to so many fish their tools of the trade started to break, showing their inadequacy. There’s no spiritual gift for catching fish, but Jesus just showed Peter the power of God by giving him more than he could handle. Jesus taught Peter a simple lesson, “It’s not about your efforts Peter, it’s about taking me (Jesus) at my word.”

You think Peter would be grateful, that he might bow down and show reverence to Jesus, and thank him for the fish, but Peter’s reaction to meeting God shows his recognition of inadequacy, “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Peter recognizes he’s not good enough. No one is. But this doesn’t stop Jesus from taking notice of a hard working fisherman who has nothing to show for his efforts. Too often I feel like Peter, a failure at the best of times, constantly missing out on what’s right in front of me until I accept what Jesus is asking of me. Which is simply obedience in the most ordinary of tasks.

We have no reason to be afraid of the Holy Spirit: For God makes himself accessible to us in the most ordinary and plain to experience ways; God surrounds us and encourages us with His love, which is the most important and foremost of all His gifts; and God shows us it’s not by our hard working efforts we win His favor, but simply by taking Him at His Word and applying it to the most ordinary of tasks

Applying the Trinity

Over the past five weeks I’ve been searching out the foundation of the Trinity and what it means to approach and practice the God of the Christian faith. My initial inspiration for basing my life on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit was more about connecting with the fullness of God than focusing on His love. I discovered over the past three weeks that the love of God is what connects us to Him: that love is the essential practice that binds people to God. This revelation isn’t in my initial notes, for my initial thoughts were more about what I believe holds the church and the faith together: namely Bible reading, community, and personal connection. Now I can see that without love these practices are meaningless, yet with love they are powerful and life changing. Love is truly the application of the Trinity. I needed this revelation, for not only have I recognized the powerful activity of God’s love, God’s love has restored my belief in the universal Church. Many today wonder if the Christian faith will survive into the next century. They assume the decline of Christianity means the end of Christianity. When I first started writing I assumed the decline of Christianity was a failure to practice the Trinity. In many ways failing to practice the Trinity will ruin Christian lives, but now I see it’s not so much the failure to practice the Trinity, as much as it is a failure to recognize and practice the love of God. The love of God binds all things together. The love of God rekindles burning embers. The love of God conquers and overcomes all obstacles. Clinging to anything but the love of God will cause Christianity to decline. It’s out of love for God we practice who He is. For the love of God causes us to practice all parts of the Trinity, not just our favorites.

When I first started this journey, I looked backward through history to times the church declined. I asked myself simple questions: “What went wrong?”, “How was the mistake a misunderstanding of God?”, and most importantly “How did Christians resolve the issue and recapture what was lost?” Christian history is exciting, for there are plenty of mistakes, plenty of suggestions, and the foundational truth that the Church has grown and moved on! Every time the Church stumbles, there are men and women who have stood beside it and helped it back to it’s feet. When I look at the individual lives of these men and women, I see a genuine love for God and I see them calling people back to the practices of the Trinity. There is an exciting fullness and uniqueness about each of these individuals, as many groups of Christians are spurred forward by their lives and faith. We still see the impact of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Wycliffe, St. Patrick, Augustine, and many others. For their faith stepped forward, outside traditional boundaries, and yet stepped backward to core essentials. They brought a newness to the oldness, and recaptured what many of their contemporaries missed. I fundamentally believe recapturing the old in new ways will rekindle the fires of individual lives and the Church. This will creates forward, yet backward motion. Forward as we see new expressions of the old, backward as we see the essential truths unchanged. The greatest of these truths is the love of God. It is from this place of loving God that I write. In fact every time I’ve sat down to write in past four weeks the love of God is what comes out! I have much to learn on this subject, and I’m looking forward to seeing that love in motion.

What initially sparked my fire was the feeling I was missing out on God. I read my Bible. I go to church. I write creatively. But I felt something was missing. I felt the Trinity was the answer, because it is the least reducible part of the Christian faith. It’s the core essential on which everything else is based. Misunderstand the Trinity, and it makes it easier to misunderstand everything else. I figured if I could better understand the Trinity, then I might have a better understanding of God, and that understanding would change my life. Already I’m seeing the need to work out the love of God more than I currently do. To go beyond essential practices and into personal applications. Before we go there, I want to share with you a simple analogy of the Trinity.

The Trinity is the beautiful source of a colorful life, but how can we describe the need for all three persons? When I was at University I had an epiphany. The Trinity is like the three primary colors: essential to painting beautiful pictures and essential to living a colorful life. For when we paint with all the primary colors we can create a rich and balanced masterpiece. Imagine a world where we stopped using all the primary colors in balance with each other. We start letting our favorite colors dominate, pushing our color scale out of balance. Our paintings would start to miss out on the beauty of the natural world, even though we could still paint wonderful pictures. We would miss out on the beautiful complexity and harmony of all colors working together. Imagine we left one color out entirely. Suddenly we lose the magic of the color wheel, abandoning two-thirds of what we could create in favor of a single third. Our paintings, though masterfully crafted, would never reflect the entire truth or beauty of the world around us. Now imagine we painted with only one color: all we have left is shadows and brightness. There’s no more richness, just stark contrast and fine detail. Painting with just one color can be useful to illustrate a point, but continuing on without the other colors creates a black and white world. A black and white world is empty and without color. When the world becomes black and white we have abandoned colorful thinking. We lose out on the colorful richness God intended for us to see and live. Instead of having room and space to work out the talents and abilities God has given us, we draw a line in the sand saying, “Only paintings and lives lived in this style are acceptable before God.” God uses many styles, and many colors, as He stays true to His word.

As I meditated on this simple analogy, I started to apply it to the persons of the Trinity and their practices. Imagine a Christianity without Jesus. Suddenly Christianity lacks social responsibility and stewardship. Imagine a Christianity without the Father. Suddenly there is no more truth and people can do whatever they feel like and still claim to be in a right relationship with God. Imagine a Christianity without the Holy Spirit. Suddenly there is no expression or creativity of God’s love, no sense that He is near, still working with us and through us to communicate and show His love. I couldn’t imagine Christianity without the Trinity. As I look at the western world, too often we try to live out Christian lives without the fullness of God and His love. Missing out on parts of the Trinity is an easy trap to fall into, but it’s also an easy trap to climb out of. Christianity has social implications, it has unalterable true values, and it’s inseparable from individuals working out the love of God in their lives. It’s a life calling, something we continue to act out and grow in on a daily basis. Living out Christianity is more than religious action or attendance, it’s individual ownership and interaction with God, a communal force of love centered change that cannot be kept to itself, and the desire to see God’s love poured out and palpable in every aspect of life. This is the application of the Trinity. Anything less is to miss out on the fullness of God and His love for us.

That’s why the Trinity is so important to me. It’s a basic description of Christian values going back generations. It has taken me much looking backward and at present times to see these simple unchangeable parts, and how they change and inform those who seek to live Christian lives. To see how the Trinity has redeemed Christianity again and again, and will continue to save and redeem Christianity until the end of time. I firmly believe the practices of the Trinity are not new, nor are the Trinity’s applications. One doesn’t even have to call it a practice or application of the Trinity to live the Trinity out. Thousands of generations of Christians have felt the call of God on their lives, and made that call real. I want to do the same, and I want to do it by looking at the love of God and how it casts out fear, for I believe one of the most destructive forces against living out the Trinity is fear. In the next few weeks I am going to look at how fear has clouds the practices and applications of the Trinity, and how by identifying our fears we can learn to separate ourselves from them and return to the love God deeply desires for us.

Practicing the Father

In my last two writings I’ve written about working out the love of God: how it’s important for us to practice the love of God individually and in community. In this writing I want to answer the essential driving question, “How do we know God loves us?” We can learn much about God by listening to the Holy Spirit individually, we can learn much about God when we see people acting out the Son in community, but to approach the Father we must go beyond ourselves and our communities. We approach a timeless God who sits above our ideas of Him and everything our culture has to teach us about Him. God the Father is the great “I am”, the powerful statement of existence we cannot completely understand or fully grasp, even though we see manifestations of His love and power. For even though we have glimpsed the truth through Jesus His Son, even though we hear His whispers through the Holy Spirit, if God were to fully bring himself into our world we would all die. Not because God hates us, but because God the Father is so holy, so pure, the essence of righteousness and goodness that our sinful lives would be wiped out in an instant. God is too good, so good anything not-good cannot stand to be in His presence. There’s nothing we can do to protect or safeguard ourselves. This image of a not-good destroying God is terrifying. Rightly so. Yet we cannot stay in the fetal position, for that is not what God wants from us. As we’ve been looking at who God is we know God offers to wash us clean, to make us whole through his healing and love, so that when He comes we will not be wiped out, but be able to enjoy the wonder that is our creator, redeemer, and friend. How do we get to know and thus practice the Father? By engaging His Word, learning what He has said to us and desires for us through Scripture. Or to put it more simply, to read the book that goes by it’s own name: The Bible.

Bible reading can be dangerous. Many an intelligent atheist has said the best defense against Christianity is reading the Bible. This is because the Bible is a foreign document. It wasn’t written in one century, but across several. It wasn’t written by one person, but forty. It wasn’t written in a single language, but three. Even though the scope of the writing of the Bible is mind-numbingly wide, it stands as a unified text proclaiming a single, triune God. The authors of the Bible weren’t writing out their own ideas about God, but rather God was working through them to convey His truth. That’s why the truth of the Bible is timeless; it’s not about any one place in time. Yet the places in time and the descriptions we see can be confusing. For we don’t live in a sacrificial world anymore. We are not a wandering nomadic people. We are not oppressed by a foreign government. We have never lost our homeland. Furthermore the writers of the Bible did not hide their flaws, instead we see them clear as day. In spite of their flaws we know God loved them and called them His own, even though the writers pointed towards an impossible to follow Law. That’s why reading the Bible can be difficult. We can misunderstand what the writers were saying to their own people, and to us, when we don’t examine or try to understand the world they lived in. By only examining the literal Word, or by trying to over-analyze and mystify it, we can overlook the subtle quiet nature of our Father. He is not always a thundering voice from a mountain top, sometimes He is the subtle whisper of a gentle breeze. Sometimes God’s word to us is so ordinary and plain we simply do not see it.

Why?

From a religious perspective the Bible is a series of books about morals, ethics, and laws. Our role is to be good enough and by our goodness attain the favor of God. Which is complete trash. The Bible does contain ethics, morals, and the Law; yet, it does not rest it’s laurels on these things. The Bible is about the love of God. For loving God is the correction and turning point of all the points in the Bible. We do not love God because we first loved Him, we love God because He first loved us. He speaks to us. He reaches out to us. He does the work because we can’t. We can never be good enough, for God is the very definition of goodness. From Him all good things flow. The only way we can ever be good is by having a connection with Him. When God made the universe He saw that it was good. It was good because He made it. When He made humanity in His image, a reflection of Himself, He saw we were good. He then gave us the choice to not-be-good. We have all chosen not to be good, and the universe suffers for it. We all fall short of God’s goodness, even though we can still do good things, for we are still made in His image. God can restore His image in us, restore us to His goodness; we simply have to accept that all goodness comes from God and not from us. We do not co-participate in God’s restoration of brokenness. It entirely depends on Him. God loves us so much that He’ll take anyone who wants be made whole, no matter how bad they’ve been, and make them new. This is the message of Bible: we can be made new by God, not by our own deeds or living by a strict moral code, but by the love of God. For the love of God is stronger than morals, more complete than ethics, and more definite than the Law. These things tell us how broken we are; it is by them we come to understand our desperate need for God’s healing love. For our need for God’s restoration is well and truly desperate, even though we are not to live in desperation and anxiety, for to live this way is not to live by the love of God; it is to live in fear of the Law.

What is this Law, and why is it necessary?

Consider a company owner who runs a business. The owner puts together a set of policies and rules by which he wants his company run. He gives the policies and rules to his managers and employees so they will know how to run the business. If the owner then leaves for a long time and comes back, should not the managers and employees still be running the company by his policies and rules? If he comes back and finds those he left in charge have disregarded his policies and rules: they have been mistreating customers, making shoddy products, over-charging, and taking advantage of people, would he not be angry? Would he not bring justice to his company upon his return? Would not his policies and rules include a section warning his managers and employees what would happen should he find them unfaithful? Would not his first and foremost desire be to see his company run rightly? Would he not rather encourage his managers and employees to do what is right, than warn them of the repercussions of doing wrong? And if they persisted in doing wrong, failing to listen to his gentle or harsh warnings, would he not upon his return bring about a harsh and swift justice? We would expect this from a business owner, for the company is his to do with as he pleases. But when God does this same thing for us, for we and all of creation are His, we claim He is too harsh and too judgmental. To have this view of God means we are only focusing on the judgments of Scripture, and not the numerous encouragements to live out the love of God. For when we live in love we are no longer afraid, and the love of God guides us with more precision than ethics, morals and laws combined. For there will always be those who seek to take advantage of the Law and twist it to their own ends. The only defense against such twisting of the Law is the love of God, which we come to know through the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son, and the reading of the Word.

Whose interpretation of the Bible should we read?

The best defense of the Bible is its breadth. It spans so much time that twisting the entirety of the Bible is impossible. For a translator may attempt to bend a single passage to his will, but he will never be able to bend all of Scripture. Consider one of the early printing press mistakes called the red-letter Bible. It was called the red-letter Bible because it left out a ‘not’ in the Ten Commandments. It read, “Thou shalt commit adultery”. Not only does this not make contextual sense in the Ten Commandments, for the commandments are listed in multiple places, which means one set of commandments read, “thou shalt not commit adultery,” while another read, “thou shalt”. Even if both passages had been changed there would still be stories in the Bible speaking out against adultery. One could not read the entire Bible and reach the conclusion that adultery is acceptable, for too many of the biblical writers spoke out against infidelity. A careful reader would come to the conclusion that someone had made a mistake in the re-printing of the commandments. Or as in the case of what historically happened, all copies of the original red-letter Bible were burned. A slight confusion in translation cannot change the entire Word of God; reading all of the Bible is an important part of getting to know the Father and knowing how He wants us to live.

Practically speaking there is more to be considered. The more scholars involved in a translation, the more accurate it will tend to be. The fewer scholars involved, the more inaccurate it can be. Teams of scholars can check each other. A single scholar cannot. I consider one person’s interpretation of the Bible dangerous. For just as we can check the teaching of God’s word by His Spirit, and the living out of His word by His Son, so too we can check a single translator by looking at multiple translations of the Word. We do not all have to learn the original languages, but we all have to learn the story of the Bible and become familiar with it; it is then we will know someone has made an error in translation.

If this is so reading the Bible sounds like a difficult task. Shouldn’t we leave that task to more educated people?

No. God’s Word is for all people, not just intellectuals, philosophers, law-makers, business owners, or translators. We have a right to know who God is because we are His. It would be like trying to let someone else manage your most important relationship. The things that are most important to us we do ourselves; I would never let someone else manage my relationship with my wife, that is for me to do! To give up on the Bible because it’s difficult is to give up on God, it is to say that God is so far removed from us that we cannot understand Him. That’s simply not who God is. Yes, God is bigger than our understanding, but He has also made Himself plain and easy to understand. He has given us a simple way for us to understand who He is, and the least mystical of these ways is reading His Word.

But what if we cannot read?

God is bigger than illiteracy. If we cannot read then we should ask to be read to. For as the Bible has been handed down through generations so too we must come to understand it’s words and meaning from someone else. But we cannot stay in the place of accepting someone else’s interpretation. We must come before the Living God, the Father of all, and come to know Him. His desire is not to be removed from us, but to be close to us. That’s why we call our connection with God a relationship. For nothing comes between two people committed to each other. No circumstance will ever be able to tear them apart. This is what God offers us, this is what we get when we accept who God is. Coming into relationship with God means no longer propping ourselves up on the things that brought us to God, but wholly trusting in Him as He is. Bible reading is an essential part of maintaining and growing that relationship. It’s just as important as our personal practices and our communal living.

By practicing these things we will come to know God; He will reveal Himself to us as He promised He would. For those who seek God will find Him. When our community confuses us we must turn to the Word and seek His truth. When we err in our personal lives, He will speak to us through His Scripture, reminding us of His love even as we read His Law. Yet should we err in the Word, the community of Christ, who have hidden the Word in their hearts, will come alongside us and bring us back to Him. For this is the power of God’s Living Word. It is the power to change, not only as individuals, but also as communities. Can we do any of this ourselves? No. It is only by the power and love of God that any of this will be revealed to us. A power that comes from a loving Father, made manifest through His Son, guiding us by His Spirit, made plain to us by His Word. Amen.

Practicing the Son

Practicing the Son is the scariest of the three parts of the Trinity. I believe the love of Jesus works itself out through community, that community is an essential part of being Christian, yet community scares me. It makes me ask difficult questions like, “What if this happens? How should I respond?” I get easily worked up and scared and start justifying when I don’t have to. Why? Because the love of God casts out fear. Living in the love of God casts out my fears and lets me trust him and love other people. When I remind myself of this Christian community doesn’t have to be justified or reasoned or thoroughly explained: it just needs to exist and to be practiced as the love of God made manifest. For God did not come into the world to save some good people, He came into the world to redeem the world. He wants to redeem and save us all. Not just the fearless ones, but the ones who are reasonably made nervous by the idea that loving God means loving people.

We are all sinners. We have all fallen short of God’s standards. His standard are perfection. We are not perfect. No single person fully practices the love of God. The only person who ever did was Jesus, because He is the living embodiment of the love of God. Jesus is God; God is love. We don’t deserve to be loved by God; we haven’t somehow earned God’s love, but God has chosen to love us. All of us. The acceptance of His love is called confession. The practice of His love is called forgiveness. The completeness of His love is called salvation. Living out God’s love is called sanctification. It is through the acceptance, practice and completeness of God’s love that we are transformed when we live in community.

What is this community? It is a group of forgiven sinners learning to love God, each other, and the world. Yes, it means there is a difference between the forgiven and the unforgiven. No, it doesn’t mean Christians can justify separating themselves from the world. Christians must live in the world. Christians must show God’s love. Living in the world and loving the world must be a deep part of who a Christian is. That strong sense of identity in Christ’s love, coupled with the urge and desire to love others, must take hold in such a way that we don’t have to demand love from each other. For demanding and commanding love are to miss out on love entirely. Love is free. Love is a gift. Once we start demanding, people’s responses are no longer free. Demanding removes the ability for spontaneous response and expression. We lose our ability to give when we are told what and how to give. Love is about freedom. Demands are about control. We cannot demand love, for doing so comes from fear. We cannot live in community where fear is the driving force, where people are not free to give and love as God has given us the ability to do so. This is what scares me about living in community. That we move from a place of freely giving and loving into a place of obligation. For when we act out of obligation we tread the path of acting without love. My personal fear is that we don’t take the love of God seriously enough to submit to His love and let it transform us,  impacting us wherever we go.

How does the practice of Jesus work itself out this way? It can be methodical, but it be also has to be unorthodox. There’s a freshness to our actions, even if we’ve done them a thousand times before. God’s love made manifest is an event, an event that is more than the sum of its parts. When Christians gather to spend time with each other, practicing the love of God through everyday and ordinary means, God’s presence transforms these gatherings into something more. These events become more than a group of people gathered together, there’s a unity made manifest through God’s love that binds people together, even though they may have little in common. Part of practicing community is when we stop watching the clock in each other’s presence. When we ignore the clock, and our desire to be efficient, we start focusing on each other and how God is working within us. We start listening, conversing, engaging, learning, sharing, and grow as a result. Trying to measure a community by the make-up of its parts is to miss out on community. Community is more than we can measure; its greater than the sum of its parts. It’s greater than it’s parts because practicing community means showing the love God has given us.

The challenge of community is not just to be around people, but to be known, loved, and to love. Community is a crazy thing God does through us because He’s already loved the unlovable. He loved us while we were still sinners and he died so we could be reconciled to him. All we have to do is live in that love and let it transform the world. Which is a simple, radical, and completely ludicrous idea that actual works. If I could explain it I would. But I know the love of God is so great that trying to explain it is like trying to explain the ocean, or the universe, or why we choose to love one other person unconditionally in this thing we call marriage. There’s simply something we miss trying to put these mysteries into words. Yet this mysterious thing is so practical and so simple we often overlook it, which leads us to place where we ask, “How can we find and practice the love of God?”

How do we put this love into action? I can’t really put that into definite words, because each person is different, but I can say by getting to know someone we open doors to learning how to love them. God loves us because He knows us. He knows we are His; He created us. He knows everything about every one of us. Everyone who has ever lived or will live God knows and loves. The question is, “Will we let that love restore us and be reconciled to our creator?” Community reconciles us to each other, not just to God. This communal reconciliation has the power to bring us to a place where we see and grasp the love of God because we see people loving as God loves. This is the mark of Christian community: loving as God loves. Not because we think someone deserves love, but because God looks at everyone and sees His own child and desires to be in relationship with them. The communal love of God is about relationship.

The saddest thing about our choice to be in a relationship with God is that we can reject it. We reject God’s love when we reject other people. So often we refuse to love other people because they’ve done something to us, and we let that something come between us and them. There is an art and a science to healing broken relationships, part of that science is to remain in community, even though the intimacy of fellowship is broken. I whole heartedly understand some broken people chose not to be restored: in some cases community cannot be reconciled. Why? Because accepting God’s love is a choice. We cannot force the love of God on each other. Even when communities fail God’s love remains. Communities are forever going through the process of being shaped and re-made, that’s life, but whether or not we choose to live life governed and guided by the love of God is up to us.

The love of God is about difficult times and places. Jesus loved a very hard and broken Jewish community. Some of them accepted God’s love. Some of them rejected it. Some of them killed Jesus over His love for others because it threatened their security and special privileges. The love of God breaks down walls and barriers, it helps us all to see each other as brothers’ in Christ: male, female, old, young whatever-you-like we are all equals and inheritors of God’s kingdom. That’s what being a brother is all about. Equality. There’s no distinction, no glass ceiling, no holding each other down, only lifting each other up and supporting each other. Equality gives way to encouragement. It casts out fear because there is no hierarchy to be climbed and no ladder to fall off. Equality praises success and builds up those who struggle and fail. That’s the hallmark of a Christian community, recognizing what is good and encouraging people along the way.

When I consider Paul’s letters to the churches, he did a lot of encouraging, but he also did a lot of protecting. He protected what was good by pointing out what was evil. He didn’t get bogged down in pointing out evil, but rather used the opportunity to write about what is good, pure, and lovely. If our focus is simply sifting out evil, we can get trapped in a legalistic mindset when we engage in community. We start forming rules about life and habits, building a culture around don’ts, forgetting the seed of that culture is freedom in love. Love creates freedom, but that freedom must be used wisely. When I consider the Law, it tells us what not to do. It’s very specific in this regard because we need a definite outline of evil, but when it comes to loving God the Law is an open book. God gives us freedom to love Him, but he also draws the line and tells us when the freedom of His love goes too far. This is where community is essential. We need each other to see, remind, and caution each other of going overboard on the Law and overboard on freedom.

In our cautioning we must act in love. We must point back to the source of that love, for the love of God is what transforms us and shows us what is true. The focus of our community needs to be on the love of God, not just cautioning each other on doing good and avoiding evil. For when we make our communities about caution they are no longer about love. They become based on the fear of not loving properly. True love casts out fear. True love conquers fear. Fear has no place in community, for the fear of God or the fear of each other will surely annihilate community. We should not be afraid of God, but hold Him in awe and respect, honoring and worshipping Him in love. For God is mighty and powerful and fully above our ability to understand; that’s why his love is so powerful and life changing. It simply is above and beyond our capacity to understand. It’s so deep and so wide that He constantly takes us back so long as we continue choosing Him. His forgiveness knows no bounds. No matter what we’ve done God will never give up on us unless we’ve fully and completely turned our backs on Him. His love is so strong it binds us to Him and to each other. His love is not just for us as individuals, but to reconcile His creation. His love creates community. The practice of community: forgiveness, encouragement, spurring each other onwards, clinging to what is good, leaving behind what is evil, is what God’s love is all about. That’s the love He manifested through his Son, Jesus. That’s the love He wants to manifest through us, bringing many sons, many heirs of all genders and ages, to glory. Hallelujah, amen!