I was listening to a sermon yesterday on the story of Nicodemus (John 3) and I have been thinking since hearing that story again about the cliches that Christians throw around without much thought to their actual meaning. In this particular passage, a term is introduced that is a part of Western Christianity in ways that I don't think Jesus ever intended. That term, the one many have grown to love and many others have grown to hate, is "Born Again"
In this story, Jesus tells Nicodemus, "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3, emphasis mine). And so, Christians are 'born again'. Nicodemus' response is classic in that he is kind of grossed out by the whole womb re-entry picture. See, Nicodemus takes Jesus literally, at his word, while Jesus is speaking metaphorically (although Jesus never actually tells Nicodemus that he's not referring to a literal rebirth, I don't think it would require too much biblical scholarship to recognize Jesus' figurative language).
Here's what struck me: Nicodemus was one of the religious guys. He went to church every week and was an overall good guy. Most Christians today are like Nicodemus. Not only are many Christians religious like Nicodemus, many Christians take Jesus literally here. So we talk about being 'born again' and we post billboards and placards that tell the sinners and pagans that they 'must be born again'. And, like Nicodemus, they stand there and say, "No thanks."
While this phrase is part of our Christian lexicon, we have forgotten that it was a metaphor used in a one-off conversation that Jesus had with a particular individual. Just like when he told Peter that he would become a "fisher of men" (ooh, another entry in the Born Again lexicon). Jesus wasn't dropping taglines or cool catchphrases, he was simply relating the eternal truth to people in a specific setting at a specific time.
Jesus never intended for these statements to be what they are today. Jesus was being relevant at a particular time and place. And that's what Jesus is calling us to today. Jesus wants us to follow his lead to proclaim that truth in ways that are relevant in our particular time and place
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Euclidean Theology (Living at the Intersection)
Well, it's been a while! I admit, I've been slacking on the old blog-front.
I have experienced some pretty cool conversations with a bunch of different people since returning from Honduras . It always amazes me how, as we relate the things that we have been learning along the way, we all intersect at certain points along the journey. As I have been relating some of my experiences in Central America, I have had so many comments from different people who identify and who are encouraged in their own journey as my story intersects with theirs. And it is at that intersection point where I think God is asking all of us to live.
After I shared some of my experiences in my sermon on Sunday, I had someone come up to me and talk about how it would be great if we could all live on that plane. The world seems to drag us down to a plane that is at a lower level, but God is calling us to live our lives on a higher plane. It's true, God calls us to a different type of living. And the life that God desires for us is on a different level than any of us really experience.
But as I've been thinking of this planar (Euclidean) geometry view of spirituality, the dust gets blown off of the old math lessons from college (yes, I was a math-geek until the Lord delivered me! He healed me from math-geekiness and now I'm not a math-geek anymore; just a regular geek). See, in Euclidean geometry, planes (like lines) can be parallel or they can intersect. Spiritually, I think we often view the spiritual plane as parallel and above the physical plane. And following Jesus means porting over from the lower plane to the higher plane. The more I think about this, the less I feel it. The story of Jesus is the story of intersection. Jesus lived his life at the intersection of the divine and the human. At the intersection of justice and mercy. At the intersection of spiritual and physical.
What I think is that, because of God's grace, the "spiritual" plane and the "physical" plane intersect. If I am a follower of Christ, then my job isn't to try to jump to another plane so that I can look down on those who aren't spiritual enough to make it. Rather, like Jesus, I find the place where those planes intersect and I run along that line. When my journey takes me along the line of intersection, then that line will also take me through the planes where others are living and God will use that point of intersection to encourage them to walk along their journey.
That might sound weird (or technical; or weird AND technical) but the bottom line is this: following Christ isn't about trying to bump it up a level (Christ brings life to another level without me trying). Rather, following Christ is about living life in that place where His purpose for our lives intersects with the reality of the place where he has put us. It's about finding ways to love the people he has placed in our lives. It's about serving others and showing compassion in his name.
Jesus is calling me, and all of us who live in him, to live at the intersection.
Because Jesus himself is at the intersection.
I have experienced some pretty cool conversations with a bunch of different people since returning from Honduras . It always amazes me how, as we relate the things that we have been learning along the way, we all intersect at certain points along the journey. As I have been relating some of my experiences in Central America, I have had so many comments from different people who identify and who are encouraged in their own journey as my story intersects with theirs. And it is at that intersection point where I think God is asking all of us to live.
After I shared some of my experiences in my sermon on Sunday, I had someone come up to me and talk about how it would be great if we could all live on that plane. The world seems to drag us down to a plane that is at a lower level, but God is calling us to live our lives on a higher plane. It's true, God calls us to a different type of living. And the life that God desires for us is on a different level than any of us really experience.
But as I've been thinking of this planar (Euclidean) geometry view of spirituality, the dust gets blown off of the old math lessons from college (yes, I was a math-geek until the Lord delivered me! He healed me from math-geekiness and now I'm not a math-geek anymore; just a regular geek). See, in Euclidean geometry, planes (like lines) can be parallel or they can intersect. Spiritually, I think we often view the spiritual plane as parallel and above the physical plane. And following Jesus means porting over from the lower plane to the higher plane. The more I think about this, the less I feel it. The story of Jesus is the story of intersection. Jesus lived his life at the intersection of the divine and the human. At the intersection of justice and mercy. At the intersection of spiritual and physical.
What I think is that, because of God's grace, the "spiritual" plane and the "physical" plane intersect. If I am a follower of Christ, then my job isn't to try to jump to another plane so that I can look down on those who aren't spiritual enough to make it. Rather, like Jesus, I find the place where those planes intersect and I run along that line. When my journey takes me along the line of intersection, then that line will also take me through the planes where others are living and God will use that point of intersection to encourage them to walk along their journey.
That might sound weird (or technical; or weird AND technical) but the bottom line is this: following Christ isn't about trying to bump it up a level (Christ brings life to another level without me trying). Rather, following Christ is about living life in that place where His purpose for our lives intersects with the reality of the place where he has put us. It's about finding ways to love the people he has placed in our lives. It's about serving others and showing compassion in his name.
Jesus is calling me, and all of us who live in him, to live at the intersection.
Because Jesus himself is at the intersection.
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