Drunks and the Kingdom of God

Lots of talk about community these days, and specifically what "real" Biblical community really is.  You may have heard the question asked many times, "What does real Biblical community look like?"  Hmmmmm.  You know, I'm actually not quite sure what the answer is.  I'm not even sure that it's a legitimate question.  I guess it would be similar to asking, "What do "real" people look like?"  Sure, there are certain distinguishing characteristics that make a human being a human being, but the individual details are so varied that one cannot paint a broad enough picture to include every single personal scenario.  In the same way, Biblical community is difficult to classify.  Sure, there are certain, and very specific requirements for a community to be classified as "Biblical", but each community differs drastically because of the individuals that represent the community.  And that's the one aspect that gives Biblical community such a vast array of images: Individuals.      

Last week a friend of mine invited me to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.  I'll admit; I had no idea what to expect, but he did a pretty good job explaining the gritty details of what I might experience.  But as usually happens, the picture that I had in my mind did not represent reality.  Let's admit it.  For people that have never been to a meeting, the name Alcoholics Anonymous might bring to mind certain cliche images.  A group of old timers, with visible signs of years of alcohol abuse?  Tattoos? Chain smokers talking about how they are coping with day to day life?  Motor cycle riders?  Auto mechanics?  Aging musicians?...Wait a second...Doctors?  Lawyers?  Teachers?  Pastors?  Coaches?  Moms?  Dads?  Me?

My point is that from my perspective, many different types of people was represented in this community.  In fact, it was one of the most eclectic groups of people that I have ever seen.  And that got me thinking.  When we look at our Biblical communities, what do we see?  How varied are the personalities, lifestyles, backgrounds, nationalities?  Can we honestly say that our communities represent all, walks of life?  Even many walks of life?  Is it easier for culture to describe what the typical Christian might looks like?  Think about your church.  Think about your small group.  Think about your Sunday School class.  What do you see?

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm not making a blanket statement that indites the entire Church.  I've been in many Biblical communities that range in age, color, nationality and even sexual orientation.  But in my experience, this is unfortunately not the norm in today's culture.  After visiting Alcoholics Anonymous, I found myself asking a very sobering question: Do these meetings represent more of what a church should look like?  Is this more the kind of honest, open and trusting community that our Biblical communities should try and emulate?  Granted, there were aspects absent that would theologically not classify AA as a "Biblical" meeting, or church for that matter.  But I'm talking more about the "communal" aspects.

Just for a few minutes, think about the human condition, and just how messed up we are without the saving grace of Christ.  Think of what we are capable of doing without God's guidance.  Think about the awesome unconditional love of Christ.  Think about the outcasts that Jesus surrounded Himself with when He walked the earth.  Think about those he turned away, or those that wanted nothing to do with Him.  Now think about those that fill our churches.  Our small groups.  Our Bible studies.  Compare and contrast.  How often does someone walk in off the street, sit down among us and announce for all to hear:

"Hi!  I'm Jake.  And I'm a messed up sinner with a messed up life."

"Hi Jake!" 

(Insert hug here)          

The Practice of Love

The Practice of Love is a project that I was privileged to work on this year and developed by my friends at Civitas Press. It's a collection of essays by a community of great writers, delving into the aspects of loving God, loving ourselves, loving our neighbors and loving our enemies. The result is personal stories that examine what would happen if we actively chose to engage our culture in a deep sense of love, even when the situations are difficult. Writers from all over the country joined together to share their personal experiences that will challenge the reader to reconsider what it means to live out the practice of love in each of our lives.


Christ invited culture to engage love as a way of living each and every day. In doing so, He revealed a way of living that in essence revealed the Kingdom of God. To live this way requires courage and conviction and often means facing fears that are not easily overcome. Unconditional love requires us to be vulnerable, and often opens us up to the possibility of experiencing pain. But in the end, the practice of love invites us to discover something deeper about what it means to be human.


I encourage you to check out the links, ask questions and consider ordering your copy of The Practice of Love today. To a large degree, a book's success can depend on the number of orders placed on or before the release date, which is set for May 1, 2011. It is available for pre-order, so reserve your copy by ordering today!

Multiple Quantities

1 Copy $15.99 3 Copies $44.97 5 Copies $69.95

Spit

I just spilled my fresh cup of Vietnamese Coffee, so let's start there.  The aroma of fresh cà phê sữa đá rose from my table as I gazed out of the widow on normality.  I'm thinking that this evening will be different that yesterday, but that kind of assumption always get's me into trouble, or let's me down in the end.  One by one, people are filing in to the sushi restaurant next door, to indulge on raw manna from Heaven.  It doesn't sound good to me tonight.  I haven't had much of an appetite today.  In fact, I skipped lunch all together.  That decision will haunt me as the evening progresses, but somehow it makes no difference to me.  I'll fill the void with coffee and eventually a bowl of cereal.  Cap'n Crunch did the trick in college, now granola satisfies the pallet with less damage to the heart and less elevated levels of statistics that only doctors know will touch the conscious.

So, I sit here.  I sit and wonder why things have to be the way they are.  Why do I spit in the face of God?  Why is it that when we approach the pinnacle of life, thinking that each "i'" is dotted and each"t" is crossed, we find that we don't even know our own language?    Maybe it's because we never dive in.  We poke and prod at the safety of the bank of life's river and wonder if a dip is really what we need.  But we don't.  We dip our toes in, feel the cool touch of the water and allow the euphoric wave of freedom to engulf us for just a few seconds.  Then we retreat to the banks furthest reaches and dry ourselves off, disgusted that we allowed even a drop of the river to settle upon our virgin skin.

Then we do something that is probably the most repulsive act our infantile minds can muster.  We race across the street, with the few dollars we have saved for redemption, to the home and garden refuge, buying the first can of poison we can get our hands on.  We pay our debt, race back to the river banks, and dump it in without a though otherwise.  Our fear did not only enable us, but infected each and every person that had the balls to dive in the first place.  And then we smile, thinking we accomplished some brave feet of salvation.  But the problem is, the world is still polluted and we thank our God in Heaven that we are not like those poor souls that feed on the disgusting poison that runs through our veins to begin with.

Why?  Because we never realized that we spilled a couple of drops on our shoes, as we ran across the street.  At the rivers edge, after we infected those brave enough to jump in, we took our shoes off.  We touched it.  We thought that the grass under our feet might just comfort us enough to believe that we are like them.  Dying a slow death on a bank of safety, thinking that we are totally immune to the toxins that break us down, little by little.  But because of our self made rationalization, it only hardens our heart and makes it more difficult to allow the life giving sanctification to run through our body, instead of the poison.  

I'm an adulterous man, just like any other.  I admit it.  I would plunge a knife into Uriah's heart if I had the chance.  I'm a drunken fool that babbles endlessly on a soap box that no one sees.  I would steal the laptop that you are reading this on, if you turned your back.  I'm the one that holds the nail, as those nasty Roman's drive it in.  I stand by and watch the final spear pierce His side.  Not only that, but I laugh.  But thankfully, my grace is different from yours, and it pulls me closer to redemption than I might think it does.

My point in this psychotic rant is that none of us are immune from the darkness of this world.  We love others, and then demand payment for services rendered.  We serve, and then thrown the proverbial bowl of soup back in the face of those we serve.  We love God, but flip Him our middle finger and spit at Him when life does not turn out all peaches and creme.  We embrace God's salvation, but then walk around like lost little children, crying for mommy.  The problem is that mommy was in that river that we poisoned.  She wanted us to jump in, but we were too scared, and she spent all that money on swim lessons!

Your grace is not my grace, and thankfully, mine is not yours.  God dishes it out according to our appetites.  Some of us gorge ourselves, taking all that we can fit into our lying mouths, and some of us are bulimic, vomiting up any bit of grace that God sends our way.  But that's who we are, as fallen children of God.  The mess we make for ourselves, we often have to lie in. And at times, God sends the cleaning crew immediately.  But that's the problem, isn't it?  The focus remains on us, the messes of life and the poison that we infected the river with.  I don't want anything to do with that anymore, but I'll probably drink from it later.  But as my prophetess friend told me today, "just step out of you and enter into all that He is."  I'm not sure why that sounds so appealing today.     

Now, I think I'll get some sushi.

Go to Hell

No, I don't want anyone reading this to go to Hell; not figuratively or literally. I just couldn't think of a clever blog title, and I knew this would get some attention. I guess it was inevitable. With all the talk about Rob Bell's new book and the theology of Hell, I have been asked by several people exactly what my opinion is on Rob Bell and Hell in general. So, I'm going to very briefly state my opinions on both and then don't plan on addressing it anymore. Personally, I think that most of the discussion on this issue is simply bandwagon jumping, in my opinion. When controversy comes along, it seems that everyone feels compelled to be a part of it. Regardless of your opinions of Bell and your beliefs on Hell, this issue has caused unjustified division in Christian circles. Without even attempting to understand where Bell is coming from, many well intended Christian leaders have attacked him with anger, criticism and in my opinion, flat out hatred. The Kingdom of God is no place for this kind of disunity, and if we took the time to listen, discuss and understand each other, we might find that we don't have such opposing beliefs. Surely not in the realms of heresy.

I'm basing this blog on the video posted below of MSNBC's host, Martin Bashir, interview Rob Bell about his new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. I encourage to read my thoughts and then give the video a look. A friend of mine asked my opinion on it, so this is my point of reference for the purposes of this blog. The first thing that catches my attention is how the media become devout followers of Christ when it benefits them most. In most cases, the media present themselves as antagonistic, angry and basically ignorant toward Christianity. In this case, Bashir seems to think he is a theologian, rather than the usual bias talking head. So, immediately I don't feel that there is much creditability in this interview.

Allegedly, Bell is being accused of being a Universalist, a theological doctrine that believes that all people will eventually be saved and go to Heaven, even after death. Hence, the Universalist typically does not believe in Hell and hold to the view that many different paths will lead to eternal salvation. Regardless of Rob Bell's beliefs, which I do not think are Universalist in nature, Bashir immediately tries to pigeon hole him and basically attacks him, rather than listening and understanding where he is coming from. I cannot say that I've read his book yet, but will after all the hysteria fades away. But from what I've heard, reading Bell's previous books and knowing something of Bell's theology, I think people are twisting his beliefs before understanding. Basically, what I believe Bell is doing is calling people to focus on the love of Christ FIRST and being urging people to be compelled by that only. Rather than scaring people into the Kingdom of God, Bell is choosing to see the opposite and brighter side of the spectrum. As for what happens to people who are "apparently" not believers, what he is saying is that none of know for sure, and it's not for us to judge. I believe that 100%. God is God and God will do what He wants with the eternal destination of their souls and their individual spiritual journeys. What Bell seems to be saying is that most Christians jump to assumptions, almost with joy, when someone dies and from an outward perspective, never accepted the truths of Christ. Why is it that we do this? If Hell is real, which I believe it is in a very real way, why is that usually our best selling point? If the God is love, and we show people love, we are in essence showing them God and that He alone has the power to save someones soul. In my opinion, when the Gospel is presented in it's pure form, without selfish motivations, it ultimately overshadows the reality of Hell.

It ultimately comes down to one thing and one thing only. We are NOT God. We don't save, judge or condemn anyone. As followers of Christ, we are called to present the truths of Christ, how our lives are transformed and different and love people unconditionally. God alone deals with the afterlife. I have chosen to leave that in His hands and believe that He gives EVERYONE equal opportunity to be with Him in eternity. None of know what happens to a person spiritually just before they leave this world. None of know what factors have developed over their lives. None of us know what seeds of truth have been planted possibly many years ago and have been left dormant. None of know what hurts and suffering people carry with them from the past. And nor of us know how God chooses to intervene, or not intervene just before a person crosses over to the afterlife, especially those who have never heard the truths of Jesus Christ. Let's leave all that up to God and show people why following Christ is a better alternative, regardless of eternal outcomes. Or do we really believe that it is? To me, that's a more sobering thought than the realty of Hell.

Josh Garrels - His Wings