After our first planned break last week, the Spiritual Formation Group picked back up. We discussed the second half of identity. Specifically, we focused on things that rob us of a proper sense of identity, which is built upon God.
Put another way, there are all kinds of things that will form the center of our lives if we allow them to (job, success, security, spouse, kids, etc.). Reflecting on these things (being aware of their power, and learning to live in the paradox that they are simultaneously a source of blessing and curse) will helps us to think thoroughly about their role in our lives.
For next week, we are working on material that deals with the ideas of Calling and Vocation
Download Calling and Vocation
1. If your ideas and my ideas contradict, we cannot both be right. It’s not possible.
2. I find it ironic that Christians always talk about the inexhaustible well that God is, and yet most frequently rely on slogans and saying the same thing about God over and over again. How can this be? It seems like if we really believe that we can never plumb the depths of God’s character, we should frequently be coming up with “new” insights about him and his ways. What’s the last thought-provoking, life-altering insight you have had into the character of the Triune God of the universe?
3. What you “get out” of something is directly proportional to what you “put in.” Seriously, read Galatians 6:7.
Gobs of statistics could be thrown in here to show that interest in both the written and spoken word is in decline. No point throwing them in here, though, since 49.3% of all statistics are made up anyway.
Ours is a society interested in bullet points, slogans, sound bytes, and short clips. If you can handle it, watch an episode of Entertainment Tonight sometime. It’s constant motion, images flying at you constantly with no discernible purpose.
We could debate whether or not the decline in both written and spoken word is good or bad, needs to change, is inevitable, etc. Who really cares though? It won’t change the facts.
I am keenly interested in words. I love them. I love to learn them. I love to use them. I love to hear them. I love learning new words. I hate it when people say ’supposebly.’
I think that “specificity” (saying exactly what you mean to say without a cloudy vagueness) could properly be viewed as a Christian virtue. Here are just a few Biblical examples:
1) In Eden, Adam was charged with naming the animals. Things are meant to have names. They are meant to be described, or at least able to be described.
2) In Revelation, when the heavenly multitude worship the Triune God, it isn’t with a sense of vagueness. They know EXACTLY why they are worshipping God. He is the Creator (Revelation 4:11). He is the Redeemer (Revelation 5:9-10). As such, God is worthy of worship.
What does this all mean? We need to take great care how we use our words. We are to use them capably and responsibly. We are meant to use them in ways that point others to the specific God who is the creator and redeemer of the entire universe, to point others to “the Word” who became flesh and dwelt among us.
We are familiar with the idea of stewardship, and usually think of it in terms of what we do with our money and our “stuff.”
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, in her book “Caring for Words In A Culture of Lies” (an unfortunately ominous sounding title!!), suggests that thoughtful people need to be wise stewards of words in a culture that is governed by inattentive speech and listening.
Some of her “Stewardship Strategies” (which constitute the chapters of the book) include:
(1) Love Words
(2) Tell the Truth
(3) Don’t Tolerate Lies
(4) Read Well
(5) Stay in Conversation
(6) Share Stories
(7) Love the Long Sentence
(8) Practice Poetry
Tom Wright calls it “echoes of a voice.”
C.S. Lewis called it “joy.”
Have you ever experienced it? Have you ever been in a room with someone who captivated you? It’s the feeling that you experience when they leave. Have you ever seen a particularly lovely scene and all you could think to do was capture it with a camera? It’s the feeling of knowing your camera can’t possibly capture all the beauty. Have you ever had a phrase or expression conjure up a memory? It’s the feeling of the memory.
It’s a void. It’s the absence of something. It’s a longing. On the physical level, we experience it when we are hungry or thirsty. Or hot or cold. Or tired. On the emotional level, we experience it in the absence of our loved ones. When we think about our relationships.
I believe the theme of longing to be an important Biblical theme.
C.S. Lewis said that “if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Christians point to Jesus as the fulfillment of their longings. I confess that even typing that sentence feels trite, artificial, and cliched. However, I really believe it. These four posts (and potentially more down the road) are devoted to specifics. Rather than just a cute phrase on a T-shirt or in a sentimental song, what is the substance of this? How, specifically, do all of our longings converge in this one we know as Jesus?
“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
The raising of Lazarus, as with Jesus’ other signs, brings belief and resistance at the same time. As a result “many of the Jews” believed, while others fled to the Pharisees to report.
In all of this, the Pharisees’ loyalty is finally made crystal clear. Despite the signs that Jesus performs, despite any truth that is present in him or in his teaching, the reason that they are so fiercely opposed to Jesus is that they fear losing their power base.
They are so blinded by their lust for power that they fail to see how strong a hold their idol has over them. Even in the face of their long-awaited hope, they are cemented in their paradigms.
What about us? What are the concrete manifestations of our own idolatry? What are those things that I would not surrender, even in the face of Jesus?
1. In case you have not heard, my wife and I are expecting our 4th child in July. We are very excited. We told our families over Christmas with a family portrait with an open space with a question mark. When my mom asked Caleb what that was, Caleb responded, “That’s our new baby.” Classic.
2. If your life philosophy can be summed up in a statement like “god is great, beer is good, and people are crazy” then you need help. Seriously, take a class or read a good book. Do something to expand your universe. Stop writing country songs. Get out of the spotlight. Please. I am begging.
3. February 2 is coming. I am downright giddy about it. This is it. The last season of Lost. How will it end? Will the leading up to the end be as satisfying as last season (which was like a television clinic, I must say).
4. I find that some authors are good, others are great, and some get inside your head and throw switches and pulls levers that change the way that you think. For me, Tim Keller is one of the third type.
I had the great privilege of taking three out of the four Gospels as book study classes while I was at Gordon-Conwell (I took Mark, Luke and John). Through the study of these classes, I was introduced to sides of Jesus that I had never really considered before. I saw aspects of Jesus that I had never really seen before. One such aspect was how brilliant Jesus was in the context of debate and conflict. We will call Mark Mark 12:18-27 as witness (because of the size of the passage, I will pull samples. To read the full text uninterrupted by my comments, go open your Bible).
Jesus has reached Jerusalem. He has reached the pivotal time in his ministry. While he was in the Temple,
“Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife” (Mark 12:18-23)
What is wrong with their question? Two things: first, it is an absurd example, clearly designed to mock Jesus. Second, they do not even believe in the Resurrection! They do not have any vested interest in Jesus’ response. This second aspect explains the first.
I will leave the full reading of Jesus’ response to you. I will only highlight a few things:
1) Jesus throws a haymaker at the beginning by saying, “is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24). The audacity of his statement would clearly put them back on their heels, and tell them that he is fully aware of what they are trying to do.
2) He continues by saying “when they rise from the dead…” What is Jesus doing? He is basing his assertion on the truth of the resurrection (note that he didn’t say “if” they rise from the dead). His is engaging them on their own ground, and dismantling their faulty theological framework.
What about us? We could go through different parts of the Gospels and show that Jesus was pretty astute in terms of recognizing the objections of those he engaged with. Perhaps we too, in an effort to display “Christian” behavior, ought to be attentive enough to engage people in language and arguments that they will understand.
Having discussed broad parameters for how we should think about identity (who are we in light of how God fashioned human beings in the original created design), next week will focus more on what things hinder clarity when we think about identity.
Download Identity, part 2
Download Weekly Guide for Identity, part 2
There are multiple different angles that I love to watch Chariots of Fire from. I love it purely as a running movie. It is motivating to watch athletic competition. It is compelling from the perspective of faith and its motivations.
Ultimately, though, I love it as a portrayal of identity. More specifically, the competing portraits of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell and what drives each of them to excel.
There are two scenes that I find to be a nice encapsulation of each man’s sense of identity.
The first scene (which I could not find anywhere on the internet) portrays Harold Abrahams before the 100M final. In a conversation that he has with Aubrey Montague, Abrahams lets down his fiercely competitive, rough, caustic, arrogant exterior to reveal the true motivating force in his life. Despite his fascade, Abrahams reveals that he is little more than a scared child who is seeking to legitimize his existence through achievement. Abrahams says, “I am forever in pursuit and I don’t even know what it is that I am chasing!”
The second scene (which you can watch below) takes place after Liddell has announced that he will not run the 100M on the Sabbath. He has a sit down chat with the Prince of Wales, and a few other ‘higher ups’ who try to pressure him to run. Ultimately he does not flinch, but another runner allows Liddell to run the 400M in his place.
Particularly noteworthy is the conversation between Lord Birkenhead and the Duke of Sutherland after the issue is resolved. “We tried to sever his running from himself” is a great picture of integrity.
