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September 22, 2007

Scripture's confrontation

It has been six years now since the year I devoted to studying the Bible Inductively at YWAM's School of Biblical Studies in England. Reading Peterson’s Eat This Book provided a much-needed reminder for me of how God’s word is supposed to be consumed for the purpose of transformation. When the purpose of all other reading is to gather information, it becomes so natural to read the gospels as the primary source of data about the life and teachings of Jesus. Rather than his words confronting my life, I affirm their theoretic truth and ponder what it is that I can apply to my particular circumstance. If I believe however, that God’s words is living and active and capable of changing my life to reflect truth my reading should confront and arrest me and bring forth changes I’d never imagined I’d needed. As Peterson warns, “The danger of installing the self as the authoritative text for living, at the same time that we are honoring the Holy Scriptures by giving them a prominent place on the shelf, is both enormous and insidious. None of us is immune to the danger.”

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September 15, 2007

Jesus' politics

In his book The Politics of Jesus, Obery Hendricks refuses to downplay the social consequences of the gospel. He starts with the Hebrew Testament stating that the primary goal of prophecy is "to effect social and political change in society. Prophets (he claims) never uncritically support the status quo. Rather their role is to challenge it." Tracing this theme into the New Testament, Obery compellingly interprets the crucifixion as a result of Christ's mission to replace the sovereignty of Caesar in the life of the Jewish people with the rule of God’s kingdom. Although I would agree with the general emphasis on the kingdom of God defining itself in contrast to societies in which oppressive status quos are upheld, I am not convinced in the sufficiency of this understanding or the methodology that Obery advances in expanding the divine kingdom. The primary aim of the gospel has never been solely about lifting people out of social slavery or economic poverty. The good news that Jesus came to preach to the poor [Is 61:1, Lk 4:18] was not merely that they would have financial stability. The poor are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of heaven and the sovereign of this heavenly domain offers us much more than physical comfort, economic freedom and social equality.

Of course I would be the last person to advocate a kingdom that was limited to the afterlife or one which did not profoundly influence an individual’s social status. I merely contest any depiction of a kingdom that is limited to the social arena and advanced primarily by political strategy. Though clearly this is an overstated generalization probably not directly intended by Obery, I get the impression that if we could elect democrats whose policy decisions better the lives of the least of these, then my politics would be in line with the revolution Jesus came to bring. This is where I become so conflicted in wanting to advance a society whose policies oppose oppression, while waiting for this kingdom that is not a matter of talk but of power [1 Cor 4:20], to break out of changed hearts and transform society. I guess part of the answer is to work and not wait for the first Tuesday of November next year.

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September 8, 2007

The Kingdom

The kingdom of God has been a sort of a popular buzz concept lately that I have noticed showing up in all sorts of "emerging church" tag lines, book titles, and preaching series. I have heard plenty of teachings, and done many a bible study on this suject, but as to the actual practical outworkings of how this kingdom shows up in the world I have remained mostly mystified. I appreciate how Richard Mckinley's practical examples in This Beautiful Mess suggests tangible ways in which the reality of heaven could beckon the world home. One intriguing instace he described was how members of his church Imago Dei decided to beautify a park in a poor crime ridden area. One image stood out to me particularly as he described a little boy and a homeless man patting the dirt around a newly planted rosebush while a women from the neighborhood looked on commenting that she had not seen a child in the park for over ten years. Perhaps in immitating Eden we can find each other and the Creator who can show us the way into the comfort of home and the high calling of his kingdom.

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September 1, 2007

Critiquing Islam

Although a long time fan of author Don Richardson, I was disappointed with his latest book, Secrets of the Koran. It was not his conclusion that the militant version of Islam is the most consistent with the text of the Koran and the life of Muhammad, a perspective I still wrestle with, but rather the way in which he dismissed any positive result the religion of Islam might effect personally or in the world. Surely there must be something praiseworthy among the five pillar’s admonition to care for the poor. If the entire religious tradition of millions is simply dismissed as a sham - however justly deserved critiques might be, one will needlessly alienate many people. A more effective approach in critiquing any religious tradition, I find, starts with embracing the devotion and ethical imperatives embodied in a particular faith before suggesting points of inconsistency or insufficiency.
One of Richardson’s observations about Islam’s sacred text that I did find fascinating particularly in light of the timely reflection on the text of our country’s declaration of independence is the fact that the Koran has no concept of humans having been created in the image of God. When presented with this doctrine, many Muslims respond that this idea would be insulting to God. Richardson then implies that this perspective is somehow responsible for the lack of human rights accorded to individuals in Muslim countries as well as the resistance to democracy. Without a high view of human beings the trust and value required of them by democracy’s principles is misplaced. The highest value of a Muslim’s faith is submission to God a value that can comfortably slip into sanctioned oppression by the powerful without the equal emphasis on an individual’s worth.

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