A great article from John Ortberg when he was asked to try and articulate what the gospel really means...lots to think about and react to in here...
Can eternal happiness be achieved by selfish pursuit?
What is the gospel? Folks in the most interesting places are asking that question these days. When I was growing up, in the 1890s, no one had to ask what the gospel was. We knew. It was the answer to the question: "If you were to die tonight, how do you know for sure you'd go to heaven?" The gospel was what got you saved. We knew what getting saved was, too. Getting saved was being placed in the heaven-bound category. And we knew what heaven was. Heaven was the pleasure factory where everybody wanted to go after death.
But now folks like N.T. Wright (from a New Testament historical perspective), and Dallas Willard (from a spiritual formation and discipleship perspective), and Shane Claiborne (from a community perspective), and Brian McLaren (from a general gadfly perspective), are calling us to rethink what the gospel really means. Recently someone asked me to comment on it. (Actually it was my wife. And she did so only because I asked her to ask me to comment on it so I'd have an excuse to write about it.) So here are a few thoughts.
I recently subscribed to an actual, academic, peer-review journal called Journal of Happiness Studies. "Positive psychology" is the big new trend in social science over the last decade, so all kinds of researchers have decided to explore the northern rather than southern hemisphere of human emotions.
One theme that keeps cropping up is the happiness paradox: "the more directly one aims to maximize pleasure and avoid pain, the more likely one is to produce a life bereft of depth, meaning, and community." One article listed eleven separate facets of the happiness paradox. Another explained the principle of indirection: happiness, by its nature, cannot be obtained by direct pursuit. You have to sneak up on it. Or rather, you have to let it sneak up on you while you're pursuing something more important.
It struck me that the traditional expression of the gospel I heard growing up fell into a similar trap. There was not much serious thought about the true nature of heaven. (If you've been avoiding God all your life, would you want to be in heaven? It appears that God will be very hard to avoid there.)
Maybe the "if you were to die tonight" version of the gospel falls victim to the happiness paradox. If "heaven" is understood as "ultimate happiness," then I can seek to obtain it while remaining trapped in my self-centeredness. If "heaven" is understood as the eternal pleasure factory, then obtaining it has no intrinsic relationship to transformation, therefore no intrinsic relationship to discipleship.
But if the gospel really is the announcement of the availability, through Jesus, of the "with-God life," then things begin to fall into place. Grace is not just the forgiveness of sin, it is the power to live the with-God life from one moment to the next. Heaven is not a pleasure factory that an angry God chooses to shut some people out of because they don't pass a theology test; it is a community of servanthood that can only be enjoyed by a certain kind of character.
Discipleship or obedience is not something we have to cajole people into by obligation or gratitude ("after all, Jesus died for you; the least you can do is deny yourself happiness for a while on earth"), it is simply the process of learning to enter into the good, with-God life. The gospel becomes social as well as personal—not because individuals don't matter, but because to be "saved" means (among other things) to be delivered from the chronic selfishness that contributes to the world's hurt and to my misery.
We do have a ways to go on one great task regarding the gospel. And that is how to articulate a biblically sound, spiritually powerful gospel in a way that calls for great clarity of decision.
One reason the old "if you were to die tonight" gospel was so popular (and, I think, has been used by God to a large degree), is that at least it helps people be very clear that they've made a decision about something. ("I'm not going to earn my way anymore; I'm on the grace plan.") And that decision itself is often enough to start people on the road toward God.
In our day, I think, we are seeing more accurate ways of understanding the gospel. But we need clarion calls of directness to help people respond today.
When Jesus walked the earth, the call "Follow me" was easily understood. People would actually, physically, bodily, walk with Jesus. People knew if they were following.
When the church formed, the call to follow Jesus was easily understood. There was an alternative community that met daily, that radically transformed people's financial lives, social lives, time, learning, allegiances, and hope. People knew if they were following.
In our day, that experience has become so diluted and enculturated that people have a hard time knowing.
The availability of life, with God, in his favor and power, as a gift of grace we receive by repentance and trust, through the death and resurrection of Jesus—that's the gospel with power. What needs still to be done is to find ways to express this with great clarity and simplicity, ways to help ordinary people know for sure they have made the great decision, the great commitment of their lives.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Five common, but flawed, approaches to reading the Bible
Here's a summary of a presentation done by Scot McKnight’s at Catalyst Conference dealing with ideas he discusses in his new book “The Blue Parakeet”...
1. The Morsels of Law Approach
These people search the Bible and extract ever commandment. They see Scripture as fundamentally a book of rules to be obeyed. The problem, says McKnight, is that no one really obeys—or even tries to obey—every commandment. And we’re not just talking about some obscure stuff in Leviticus. Scot mentioned a number of New Testament commands that many Christians dismiss as well. We are all selective.
2. The Morsels of Blessing Approach
McKnight says publishers are always sending him daily calendars that have a different promise or blessing from the Bible printed on each day. It’s a nice way to start the morning, he notes, but it gives people a skewed view of Scripture. The Bible is a lot more than warm thoughts from our Creator to carry us through our day. Finally fed up with these calendars, McKnight wrote to one of the publishers offering to write a daily calendar with nothing but passage about God’s wrath.
3. The Rorschach Approach
Most people are familiar with the Rorschach Ink Blot test often used by psychologists. Patients are asked what they “see” when looking at symmetrical ink patterns. Because the blots don’t really resemble anything, the patient’s answer tells the therapist more about the patient than the image. Similarly, McKnight notes that many people see in Scripture what they want to see, not what’s really there. For example, political conservatives see justification for capitalism. Liberals see justification for a welfare state.
4. The Systematic Theology Approach
Some folks, the particularly left-brained and anal retentive (my perception, not McKnight’s), believe that God has scattered facts throughout the Bible. These snippets of truth need to be located, rather like an Easter egg hunt, and categorized into buckets. Finally, the pieces are assembled into a systematic theology without ambiguity or mystery to explain God, humanity, creation, and history. The fatal error in this approach, says McKnight, is that large portions of Scripture are never included because they refuse to fit into our neat systems.
5. The Maestro Approach
McKnight shared about his love of Italian food—particularly risotto. The best risotto he ever had was prepared by a chef in Italy while on vacation. Since then he’s compared every other risotto dish with that one. We all have favorites; someone we consider the maestro, the master, we compare all others with. So it is with the Bible. Some people have a master book of the Bible—Exodus for Liberation Theologians, or Romans for Reformed pastors—and then they force every other part of the Bible to fit that book’s framework. Some favor the Gospels and Jesus’ focus on the Kingdom, but they don’t read about the Kingdom in Paul’s writing. So they force the Epistles to submit to the Gospels. The opposite also happens when Jesus is only read through Paul.
These five approaches, says McKnight, are all very common, and all very flawed. His solution? We must read the Bible as a story. But it’s not just a story that we read, it is a story that we live. “We must let the Bible’s story become our story,” he said, “so that it becomes us, and we become it.”
1. The Morsels of Law Approach
These people search the Bible and extract ever commandment. They see Scripture as fundamentally a book of rules to be obeyed. The problem, says McKnight, is that no one really obeys—or even tries to obey—every commandment. And we’re not just talking about some obscure stuff in Leviticus. Scot mentioned a number of New Testament commands that many Christians dismiss as well. We are all selective.
2. The Morsels of Blessing Approach
McKnight says publishers are always sending him daily calendars that have a different promise or blessing from the Bible printed on each day. It’s a nice way to start the morning, he notes, but it gives people a skewed view of Scripture. The Bible is a lot more than warm thoughts from our Creator to carry us through our day. Finally fed up with these calendars, McKnight wrote to one of the publishers offering to write a daily calendar with nothing but passage about God’s wrath.
3. The Rorschach Approach
Most people are familiar with the Rorschach Ink Blot test often used by psychologists. Patients are asked what they “see” when looking at symmetrical ink patterns. Because the blots don’t really resemble anything, the patient’s answer tells the therapist more about the patient than the image. Similarly, McKnight notes that many people see in Scripture what they want to see, not what’s really there. For example, political conservatives see justification for capitalism. Liberals see justification for a welfare state.
4. The Systematic Theology Approach
Some folks, the particularly left-brained and anal retentive (my perception, not McKnight’s), believe that God has scattered facts throughout the Bible. These snippets of truth need to be located, rather like an Easter egg hunt, and categorized into buckets. Finally, the pieces are assembled into a systematic theology without ambiguity or mystery to explain God, humanity, creation, and history. The fatal error in this approach, says McKnight, is that large portions of Scripture are never included because they refuse to fit into our neat systems.
5. The Maestro Approach
McKnight shared about his love of Italian food—particularly risotto. The best risotto he ever had was prepared by a chef in Italy while on vacation. Since then he’s compared every other risotto dish with that one. We all have favorites; someone we consider the maestro, the master, we compare all others with. So it is with the Bible. Some people have a master book of the Bible—Exodus for Liberation Theologians, or Romans for Reformed pastors—and then they force every other part of the Bible to fit that book’s framework. Some favor the Gospels and Jesus’ focus on the Kingdom, but they don’t read about the Kingdom in Paul’s writing. So they force the Epistles to submit to the Gospels. The opposite also happens when Jesus is only read through Paul.
These five approaches, says McKnight, are all very common, and all very flawed. His solution? We must read the Bible as a story. But it’s not just a story that we read, it is a story that we live. “We must let the Bible’s story become our story,” he said, “so that it becomes us, and we become it.”
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Anonymous Piece on Transformation #2
This outstanding and real piece of writing was submitted by a sophomore in our Spiritual Formation Bible class...
Transformation
Often times transformation happens when you are least expecting it. Other times you can be looking for it. No matter where you find it, you can’t go through a transformation without God’s help.
Transformation is a big word…what does it mean? What does it take to under go a transformation? Only two things. A transformation takes a willing heart, and the help of God.
About five months ago I went to a Christian conference for teens in America with my youth group. Every day for the three days we were there, there would be a speaker who would share a message that kids could relate to. The third day of the conference I walked into the ballroom where the conference was being held with one of my best friends. We found our seats, and the day started the normal way, with a band playing, and then an offering. After that, a man and a woman got up on stage to do a skit. The two people were playing high school students who had never met each other, but learned a lot about one another in the few minutes they talked. The man found that the girl was cutting herself, was sexually active, and had completely given up on God, because of what a guy had done to her and how he had affected her life. The girl learned the man was a dedicated Christian. After talking with him for a little while, she started to see how different he was because of his faith and in the end of the skit; you could see a transformation beginning to take place in her life. When the skit ended the speaker got up on stage and the first things she said was: “Ladies, no guy can ever fill the hole in your heart meant for Jesus Christ.” And she began to tell her story of how she always felt so empty and tried to fill that hole with guys, but never felt right about it. She began to drink and do drugs in order to try and feel right about what she was doing with guys. She finally got so bad that she was ready to end her own life. But one day she walked into a church, and met a man there who helped her realize who she was, and how much God loved her for her, and how he would always love her even though she had made so many mistakes in her life. That day she became a Christian. She was transformed right there on the spot, and from then on she was a different person. She found Jesus, and no longer felt the need to use guys to fill that hole, because Jesus had completely taken over her life. She ended her talk with: “Remember…NOTHING can take Jesus’ place in your heart. Not guys, not girls, not ANYTHING. Jesus loves you for you. And he will always forgive you.” By the end of her speech I was in tears, and my friend was hugging me. As we walked back to the dorms we were staying at, he asked me if I wanted to talk. I said yes. So we went sat in the grass in front of the dorm and I told him my story, the reason that her speech affected me so much.
Several months before the conference my self esteem was at a resounding ZERO. I began to form my identity in whether or not guys found me attractive or if I had a boyfriend. I was starting to become anorexic because I didn’t feel good about myself. Thing after thing was happening in my life and I had almost completely given up on God. I began to cut myself to ease the pain. I wasn’t suicidal, though many thought I was and although I wasn’t sexually active, I was likely headed down that path. I was a wreck. I no longer felt God’s love for me, and was sure that if there really was a God, he would NEVER forgive me or love me. But I didn’t show what I was feeling to many people. Only a handful of my closet friends knew what was going on. So when I wasn’t with that group of friends I tried so hard to be that happy person who helped people with their problems and was completely right with God. But I wasn’t. I had on a mask so thick that I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I missed my old self, the person I used to be. Not long before this conference I had talked to my pastor and my parents and told them what was going on and I was getting help with my insecurities. Her speech reminded me so much of myself, and how I was struggling with a lot of the same things she had.
As soon as she said her closing line, that God will always love me and forgive me, I felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in a long time. That moment I was transformed. I promised myself that I would no longer cut, that I would begin to live the way Christ wanted me to live, and that I would seek to find my identity in God and not guys. I didn’t want to be anorexic or upset or dependent on people for everything. I realized that I needed to rely on God. I wanted that to be my life. I wanted to live for God and not care what anyone else thought about me. But without God’s help, and the want in my life for a change, where would I be today? I probably would have been anorexic, been cutting, and not have been in a relationship with God. Instead, I’m not anorexic, I haven’t cut in months, and I actually look forward to and want to grow in my faith. I’m not trying to say I’m perfect. I still have insecurities just like most other teenage girls, but I was definitely changed. I would never be where I am today without God’s help. He gave me the want in my life for a transformation. If anyone ever has issues with a girl, or guy, or the way they look, just remember that you can’t fill the whole in your life meant for Jesus Christ with anything but Him. If he gives you the opportunity for a transformation, don’t pass it by. If God puts a want in your heart for a change don’t ignore the feeling. It will benefit you for the rest of your life, and you WILL be a much happier person.
Transformation can happen when you least expect it. But the only way you can truly transform is if you have a heart that wants to change, and if you have the help of God. If everyone experienced a transformation people would be much better off. And when you think of all those people who have already gone through a transformation, you have to remember that all the credit goes to God.
Transformation
Often times transformation happens when you are least expecting it. Other times you can be looking for it. No matter where you find it, you can’t go through a transformation without God’s help.
Transformation is a big word…what does it mean? What does it take to under go a transformation? Only two things. A transformation takes a willing heart, and the help of God.
About five months ago I went to a Christian conference for teens in America with my youth group. Every day for the three days we were there, there would be a speaker who would share a message that kids could relate to. The third day of the conference I walked into the ballroom where the conference was being held with one of my best friends. We found our seats, and the day started the normal way, with a band playing, and then an offering. After that, a man and a woman got up on stage to do a skit. The two people were playing high school students who had never met each other, but learned a lot about one another in the few minutes they talked. The man found that the girl was cutting herself, was sexually active, and had completely given up on God, because of what a guy had done to her and how he had affected her life. The girl learned the man was a dedicated Christian. After talking with him for a little while, she started to see how different he was because of his faith and in the end of the skit; you could see a transformation beginning to take place in her life. When the skit ended the speaker got up on stage and the first things she said was: “Ladies, no guy can ever fill the hole in your heart meant for Jesus Christ.” And she began to tell her story of how she always felt so empty and tried to fill that hole with guys, but never felt right about it. She began to drink and do drugs in order to try and feel right about what she was doing with guys. She finally got so bad that she was ready to end her own life. But one day she walked into a church, and met a man there who helped her realize who she was, and how much God loved her for her, and how he would always love her even though she had made so many mistakes in her life. That day she became a Christian. She was transformed right there on the spot, and from then on she was a different person. She found Jesus, and no longer felt the need to use guys to fill that hole, because Jesus had completely taken over her life. She ended her talk with: “Remember…NOTHING can take Jesus’ place in your heart. Not guys, not girls, not ANYTHING. Jesus loves you for you. And he will always forgive you.” By the end of her speech I was in tears, and my friend was hugging me. As we walked back to the dorms we were staying at, he asked me if I wanted to talk. I said yes. So we went sat in the grass in front of the dorm and I told him my story, the reason that her speech affected me so much.
Several months before the conference my self esteem was at a resounding ZERO. I began to form my identity in whether or not guys found me attractive or if I had a boyfriend. I was starting to become anorexic because I didn’t feel good about myself. Thing after thing was happening in my life and I had almost completely given up on God. I began to cut myself to ease the pain. I wasn’t suicidal, though many thought I was and although I wasn’t sexually active, I was likely headed down that path. I was a wreck. I no longer felt God’s love for me, and was sure that if there really was a God, he would NEVER forgive me or love me. But I didn’t show what I was feeling to many people. Only a handful of my closet friends knew what was going on. So when I wasn’t with that group of friends I tried so hard to be that happy person who helped people with their problems and was completely right with God. But I wasn’t. I had on a mask so thick that I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I missed my old self, the person I used to be. Not long before this conference I had talked to my pastor and my parents and told them what was going on and I was getting help with my insecurities. Her speech reminded me so much of myself, and how I was struggling with a lot of the same things she had.
As soon as she said her closing line, that God will always love me and forgive me, I felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in a long time. That moment I was transformed. I promised myself that I would no longer cut, that I would begin to live the way Christ wanted me to live, and that I would seek to find my identity in God and not guys. I didn’t want to be anorexic or upset or dependent on people for everything. I realized that I needed to rely on God. I wanted that to be my life. I wanted to live for God and not care what anyone else thought about me. But without God’s help, and the want in my life for a change, where would I be today? I probably would have been anorexic, been cutting, and not have been in a relationship with God. Instead, I’m not anorexic, I haven’t cut in months, and I actually look forward to and want to grow in my faith. I’m not trying to say I’m perfect. I still have insecurities just like most other teenage girls, but I was definitely changed. I would never be where I am today without God’s help. He gave me the want in my life for a transformation. If anyone ever has issues with a girl, or guy, or the way they look, just remember that you can’t fill the whole in your life meant for Jesus Christ with anything but Him. If he gives you the opportunity for a transformation, don’t pass it by. If God puts a want in your heart for a change don’t ignore the feeling. It will benefit you for the rest of your life, and you WILL be a much happier person.
Transformation can happen when you least expect it. But the only way you can truly transform is if you have a heart that wants to change, and if you have the help of God. If everyone experienced a transformation people would be much better off. And when you think of all those people who have already gone through a transformation, you have to remember that all the credit goes to God.
An Anonymous Piece on Transformation
This outstanding and real piece of writing was submitted by a sophomore in our Spiritual Formation Bible class...
Spiritual Inauthenticity
Whoever you are, you probably shouldn’t read this article. In fact I would rather that you didn’t. Because you might find out more about myself than I would like you to know- more than I would like anyone to know. I could stretch the truth, I could tell you how authentic I am, or maybe how great my relationship with God is. But that would be a perfect example of inauthenticity. Because the truth is, that would be a bold-faced lie. So, am I spiritually inauthentic? I guess that it would depend on your definition of a few different things. The dictionary definition of authenticity is this, not fake, not an imitation, real. So, am I real? Are you? Is anyone? Take yourself to a school classroom with me. Sit down in a desk, look around at the other students, and glance at the teacher. Now sit back and listen to the class discussion. They are discussing something about poetry, and inevitably, someone will raise their hand and say something about Jesus. It may or may not have anything to do with the discussion, but someone will bring Jesus into the discussion, and maybe quote some Scripture. Did I mention that we are in a classroom at a Christian school? Now, what could possibly be wrong with this? Nothing at all, if the person speaking really means what she is saying. And who am I to judge? But, oftentimes, the person speaking says something super spiritual, then settles down in their desk with a proud expression on their face. They then will proceed to glance around the room and see who heard their comment. You see, quite often in the Christian community, people feel the need to “show off” their spirituality. And essentially, some people in the room will become discouraged about their own faith. And this happens everyday. Being “spiritual” is in fashion for some in the Christian community, the same way that sweaters and ballet flats are in fashion. In a world where pretending to be perfect is a way of life, then how can there possibly be any hope for authenticity? A big part of spiritual authenticity is the question why. Why are you doing what you are doing? Is it for God, or is it to make you look good? I have a confession. I am inauthentic. I am one of those people who pretends to have it all together. There are a lot of us. I know, I see them. We pretend that we don’t need anything or anyone; we keep our conversations on the surface, discussing fairly shallow things. We can talk for a long time about nothing, just to keep the conversation from going deep or personal. We bury our feelings deep inside. Personal questions make us uncomfortable and we don’t really like to share our hearts with other people. We tell white lies, and sometimes not-so-white lies. If someone asks us what is wrong we will usually shrug it off and assure them that we’re fine. We keep secrets-usually big ones that we don’t want anyone to know-that we can't have anyone know. We don’t trust people. We are generally afraid to get close to people, because they might end up hurting us. We fake smiles. And sometimes, we look into the eyes of a desperate, searching person, and find that we are looking at ourself. Left alone for long enough, these people will eventually lose touch completely with their emotions and any sense of who they are. And another thing, they will probably lose any relationship with Jesus that they might have had. Because chances are, they will just stop trying. Some of us are at this point already, and some of us still have a way to go before we get to there. Is there anything that can be done for this? I honestly don’t know. What if people in the church were more open about the issues that they face? What if Christians really took the time to get to know each other? What if we all made a deal to take off our masks together? What if we didn’t judge? What if the church could be known for their honesty and openness about the various struggles that we all face? What would happen if we admitted that we don’t know as much about the Bible as people may think that we do and that we really don’t like to pray? What would happen if more and more Christians focused on being real? Fortunately, it can be done. So lets all give it authenticity a try and see how our lives and the lives of people around us change.
Spiritual Inauthenticity
Whoever you are, you probably shouldn’t read this article. In fact I would rather that you didn’t. Because you might find out more about myself than I would like you to know- more than I would like anyone to know. I could stretch the truth, I could tell you how authentic I am, or maybe how great my relationship with God is. But that would be a perfect example of inauthenticity. Because the truth is, that would be a bold-faced lie. So, am I spiritually inauthentic? I guess that it would depend on your definition of a few different things. The dictionary definition of authenticity is this, not fake, not an imitation, real. So, am I real? Are you? Is anyone? Take yourself to a school classroom with me. Sit down in a desk, look around at the other students, and glance at the teacher. Now sit back and listen to the class discussion. They are discussing something about poetry, and inevitably, someone will raise their hand and say something about Jesus. It may or may not have anything to do with the discussion, but someone will bring Jesus into the discussion, and maybe quote some Scripture. Did I mention that we are in a classroom at a Christian school? Now, what could possibly be wrong with this? Nothing at all, if the person speaking really means what she is saying. And who am I to judge? But, oftentimes, the person speaking says something super spiritual, then settles down in their desk with a proud expression on their face. They then will proceed to glance around the room and see who heard their comment. You see, quite often in the Christian community, people feel the need to “show off” their spirituality. And essentially, some people in the room will become discouraged about their own faith. And this happens everyday. Being “spiritual” is in fashion for some in the Christian community, the same way that sweaters and ballet flats are in fashion. In a world where pretending to be perfect is a way of life, then how can there possibly be any hope for authenticity? A big part of spiritual authenticity is the question why. Why are you doing what you are doing? Is it for God, or is it to make you look good? I have a confession. I am inauthentic. I am one of those people who pretends to have it all together. There are a lot of us. I know, I see them. We pretend that we don’t need anything or anyone; we keep our conversations on the surface, discussing fairly shallow things. We can talk for a long time about nothing, just to keep the conversation from going deep or personal. We bury our feelings deep inside. Personal questions make us uncomfortable and we don’t really like to share our hearts with other people. We tell white lies, and sometimes not-so-white lies. If someone asks us what is wrong we will usually shrug it off and assure them that we’re fine. We keep secrets-usually big ones that we don’t want anyone to know-that we can't have anyone know. We don’t trust people. We are generally afraid to get close to people, because they might end up hurting us. We fake smiles. And sometimes, we look into the eyes of a desperate, searching person, and find that we are looking at ourself. Left alone for long enough, these people will eventually lose touch completely with their emotions and any sense of who they are. And another thing, they will probably lose any relationship with Jesus that they might have had. Because chances are, they will just stop trying. Some of us are at this point already, and some of us still have a way to go before we get to there. Is there anything that can be done for this? I honestly don’t know. What if people in the church were more open about the issues that they face? What if Christians really took the time to get to know each other? What if we all made a deal to take off our masks together? What if we didn’t judge? What if the church could be known for their honesty and openness about the various struggles that we all face? What would happen if we admitted that we don’t know as much about the Bible as people may think that we do and that we really don’t like to pray? What would happen if more and more Christians focused on being real? Fortunately, it can be done. So lets all give it authenticity a try and see how our lives and the lives of people around us change.
Monday, October 6, 2008
THE ALTERNATIVE STORY--A theological response to the bail out plan
Ivan Illich was once asked, ‘What is the most revolutionary way to change society: Is it violent revolution or is it gradual reform?’ He gave a careful answer: ‘Neither. If you want to change society, then you must tell an alternative story.’
In a world where every thought of every person was only evil all the time, Noah told an alternative story and built a wooden freighter in his back yard in the middle of a drought. His story saved the world.
In a world where people worshiped rocks shaped like frogs and painted logs sticking out of the ground, Abraham told an alternative story of a personal God who speaks directly to people and births a new nation out of a geriatric barren woman’s womb.
In a world where his family rejected him, his boss’s wife framed him as a rapist and his friends forgot all about him, Joseph told an alternative story to the face of the most powerful man in the ancient world when he told the Pharaoh to trust the Living God, Yahweh, the only one powerful enough to truly bail out nations on the edge of economic collapse.
In a world where he and all of his countrymen were the slaves of a tyrant and a bounty was on his own head as a murderer, Moses told an alternative story to the face of his oppressor when he said, “You can’t have this nation anymore. We are God’s people and he’s been pretty clear this time. I just got back from a magic burning bush. This is what the Lord says, “You let my people go. They have a better story to tell than the one you are telling.”
In a world where the greatest leader of their nation had died and millions of families wandered as political refugees in the desert for four decades, Joshua told an alternative story as he slid his general’s sword into his scabbard and said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Our story is already written, Our story is God’s story and it is not a story that ends in defeat, but in victory.”
In a world where the good people of the world were being beaten and pillaged and raped by an evil nation, God sent a messenger to tell Gideon, a frightened weakling of a man, an alternative story. The angel said, “On your own you are nobody, Gideon, but with God you are a mighty warrior. Get up and trust God to bail his people out of this mess.”
In a world where two superpowers lined up opposite each other for war and the destiny of two real historical nations hanged in the balance, a shepherd teenager carrying a basket of bread for the soldiers was the only one brave enough to tell an alternative story. David said, “ I’m just a boy with a rock and he’s a giant with a spear, but I got a Living God and he worships a bronze plated goat. My story wins.”
In a world where everyone he knew was killed or taken captive to a foreign land – a world where he himself was a slave for his entire life, Daniel told an alternative story when he approached king after king, decade after decade and said, “There is only one Living God and He’s not your god, He’s mine. And He’s got a message for you – your story is temporary but his is eternal.” They put his friends in a fiery furnace and threw him to the lions, but in the alternative story fire’s not all that hot and hungry lion’s make wonderful house pets.
And then it happened.
The Alternative Story became flesh and he lived among us. The Alternative Story was with God in the beginning. The Alternative Story was God. He came to the people of the alternative story, but his people did not recognize their Author. They rejected the Alternative Story for a different story – one that seemed more reasonable and possible and palatable and safe. And when it came time to give the Alternative story a name, the peasant teenage girl who birthed him named him Jesus whish literally means “God Saves Us” or “God Rescues Us” or “God Bails Us Out.”
For three years God Bails Us Out taught us that the alternative story was breaking into humanity in a fresh, real and dangerously significant way. He came to let us know that on the day he left us, the very last chapter of humanity’s alternative story would begin. And we believed him. He asked us to trust him – to trust God. And we trusted him. He warned us that we can’t always trust the religious leaders or the politicians or the economists or the powerful militants, but we can always trust him.
Then he died. But not before giving death itself an alternative story. In our new story, death begets life, not the other way around. So though he died, he lives. And we have the same promise.
And the story continued.
Peter told an alternative story to the masses in Jerusalem and 3,000 believed in one day. They abandoned their old story for the new alternative Jesus story.
Paul told an alternative story to those farthest from God and they started little churches in most every town in the ancient world. Little churches that would spread like a good cancer all through the Roman Empire.
100 years later, Polycarp, the elderly pastor of the church in Smyrna, told an alternative story to those who burned him at the stake for his faith when he boldly said his last words – “86 years I have served him, how can I now deny my savior who bought me?”
A century or two later, an ex-slave named Patrick from Britian came back to his captors after escaping from Ireland and told an alternative story that lead to wildfire revival and free flowing green beer for centuries to come.
700 years after that, a wealthy snot-nosed son of a fashion designer named Francis told an alternative story when he rejected all his father’s wealth to start a movement of compassion and radical generosity in the village of Assisi.
Martin Luther told an alternative story when he questioned the corruption and materialism of the church at a time when thing like that could get a monk killed and in doing so he turned history on it’s head.
And on it goes from there: John Calvin to the Wesley Brothers to Martin Luther King Jr. to Billy Graham. Dozens of names you would recognize and millions of names you would not. They all boldly stood up in their time and place and told an alternative story of a God who bails out people and offers hope for the hopeless.
A generation ago, a man named John Wimber told an alternative story that the supernatural could happen naturally in the church, that worship could happen simply and God is still in the business of Kingdom expansion and doing the “Jesus stuff” today. That story launched what we call the Vineyard movement.
A few decades ago, Steve Sjogren and the founders of my church told an alternative story when they proclaimed that we would love our city in practical ways until every last soul in Cincinnati was touched by the love of God.
Dave Workman told an alternative story in our church two years ago when he said the unthinkable – that we would raise a bunch of money, but the money isn’t going to be spent on ourselves. We are going to spend it on the poor of our city, the next generation of our future and the practical needs of those people dying today in nation of Nigeria. That’s the story that got me out of southern California 14 months ago. I came here to tell the story that a church can, despite all of its weaknesses, be relentlessly focused on seeing the alternative story expand to the poor, the hurting, the lost, the far away and the near-by.
I came here for one reason: to tell an alternative story with you. This place isn’t perfect, not even close. But we’ve got a story to tell. And all I know is this: when God’s people end up in a time in history that seems difficult or scary or hard, we are to have but one reaction. We tell our story louder. We do not shrink back, but press forward. Only we hold the alternative story that the world needs. That’s what it means to be the church – to be engrafted into the story of God and Israel through Christ. To be a Christian is to join the alternative story. To follow Jesus is to say, “in god we trust” when we are tempted to trust anything or anyone else who tells a story different than ours.
In a world where every thought of every person was only evil all the time, Noah told an alternative story and built a wooden freighter in his back yard in the middle of a drought. His story saved the world.
In a world where people worshiped rocks shaped like frogs and painted logs sticking out of the ground, Abraham told an alternative story of a personal God who speaks directly to people and births a new nation out of a geriatric barren woman’s womb.
In a world where his family rejected him, his boss’s wife framed him as a rapist and his friends forgot all about him, Joseph told an alternative story to the face of the most powerful man in the ancient world when he told the Pharaoh to trust the Living God, Yahweh, the only one powerful enough to truly bail out nations on the edge of economic collapse.
In a world where he and all of his countrymen were the slaves of a tyrant and a bounty was on his own head as a murderer, Moses told an alternative story to the face of his oppressor when he said, “You can’t have this nation anymore. We are God’s people and he’s been pretty clear this time. I just got back from a magic burning bush. This is what the Lord says, “You let my people go. They have a better story to tell than the one you are telling.”
In a world where the greatest leader of their nation had died and millions of families wandered as political refugees in the desert for four decades, Joshua told an alternative story as he slid his general’s sword into his scabbard and said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Our story is already written, Our story is God’s story and it is not a story that ends in defeat, but in victory.”
In a world where the good people of the world were being beaten and pillaged and raped by an evil nation, God sent a messenger to tell Gideon, a frightened weakling of a man, an alternative story. The angel said, “On your own you are nobody, Gideon, but with God you are a mighty warrior. Get up and trust God to bail his people out of this mess.”
In a world where two superpowers lined up opposite each other for war and the destiny of two real historical nations hanged in the balance, a shepherd teenager carrying a basket of bread for the soldiers was the only one brave enough to tell an alternative story. David said, “ I’m just a boy with a rock and he’s a giant with a spear, but I got a Living God and he worships a bronze plated goat. My story wins.”
In a world where everyone he knew was killed or taken captive to a foreign land – a world where he himself was a slave for his entire life, Daniel told an alternative story when he approached king after king, decade after decade and said, “There is only one Living God and He’s not your god, He’s mine. And He’s got a message for you – your story is temporary but his is eternal.” They put his friends in a fiery furnace and threw him to the lions, but in the alternative story fire’s not all that hot and hungry lion’s make wonderful house pets.
And then it happened.
The Alternative Story became flesh and he lived among us. The Alternative Story was with God in the beginning. The Alternative Story was God. He came to the people of the alternative story, but his people did not recognize their Author. They rejected the Alternative Story for a different story – one that seemed more reasonable and possible and palatable and safe. And when it came time to give the Alternative story a name, the peasant teenage girl who birthed him named him Jesus whish literally means “God Saves Us” or “God Rescues Us” or “God Bails Us Out.”
For three years God Bails Us Out taught us that the alternative story was breaking into humanity in a fresh, real and dangerously significant way. He came to let us know that on the day he left us, the very last chapter of humanity’s alternative story would begin. And we believed him. He asked us to trust him – to trust God. And we trusted him. He warned us that we can’t always trust the religious leaders or the politicians or the economists or the powerful militants, but we can always trust him.
Then he died. But not before giving death itself an alternative story. In our new story, death begets life, not the other way around. So though he died, he lives. And we have the same promise.
And the story continued.
Peter told an alternative story to the masses in Jerusalem and 3,000 believed in one day. They abandoned their old story for the new alternative Jesus story.
Paul told an alternative story to those farthest from God and they started little churches in most every town in the ancient world. Little churches that would spread like a good cancer all through the Roman Empire.
100 years later, Polycarp, the elderly pastor of the church in Smyrna, told an alternative story to those who burned him at the stake for his faith when he boldly said his last words – “86 years I have served him, how can I now deny my savior who bought me?”
A century or two later, an ex-slave named Patrick from Britian came back to his captors after escaping from Ireland and told an alternative story that lead to wildfire revival and free flowing green beer for centuries to come.
700 years after that, a wealthy snot-nosed son of a fashion designer named Francis told an alternative story when he rejected all his father’s wealth to start a movement of compassion and radical generosity in the village of Assisi.
Martin Luther told an alternative story when he questioned the corruption and materialism of the church at a time when thing like that could get a monk killed and in doing so he turned history on it’s head.
And on it goes from there: John Calvin to the Wesley Brothers to Martin Luther King Jr. to Billy Graham. Dozens of names you would recognize and millions of names you would not. They all boldly stood up in their time and place and told an alternative story of a God who bails out people and offers hope for the hopeless.
A generation ago, a man named John Wimber told an alternative story that the supernatural could happen naturally in the church, that worship could happen simply and God is still in the business of Kingdom expansion and doing the “Jesus stuff” today. That story launched what we call the Vineyard movement.
A few decades ago, Steve Sjogren and the founders of my church told an alternative story when they proclaimed that we would love our city in practical ways until every last soul in Cincinnati was touched by the love of God.
Dave Workman told an alternative story in our church two years ago when he said the unthinkable – that we would raise a bunch of money, but the money isn’t going to be spent on ourselves. We are going to spend it on the poor of our city, the next generation of our future and the practical needs of those people dying today in nation of Nigeria. That’s the story that got me out of southern California 14 months ago. I came here to tell the story that a church can, despite all of its weaknesses, be relentlessly focused on seeing the alternative story expand to the poor, the hurting, the lost, the far away and the near-by.
I came here for one reason: to tell an alternative story with you. This place isn’t perfect, not even close. But we’ve got a story to tell. And all I know is this: when God’s people end up in a time in history that seems difficult or scary or hard, we are to have but one reaction. We tell our story louder. We do not shrink back, but press forward. Only we hold the alternative story that the world needs. That’s what it means to be the church – to be engrafted into the story of God and Israel through Christ. To be a Christian is to join the alternative story. To follow Jesus is to say, “in god we trust” when we are tempted to trust anything or anyone else who tells a story different than ours.
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