So, I read this interesting Facebook status today that got me to thinking. It said something like - I am a church leader so I have to give God the best part of me and my day (I am paraphrasing). Of course my initial thought was - good for him. My second thought was - I am not sure he is right.
God is our everything and we are to cherish Him. To love the lord our God with ALL our hearts and with ALL our souls and with ALL our strength. But where do other things fit in? Does that mean that my family always gets leftovers. They get a lesser version of me? And I know the platitude - if you love God first, your family gets a better version of you. And I agree with that. BUT to give God my best means that everything else gets second position - or worse.
How does that make my family feel? Or worse.. what values statement am I making to my kids? I want to give the best part of my day to the things that God has given me to steward well. And those areas of my life where I am called to be the one who puts God's Peace on display - I wan them to see the best of me. And that raises another question... Where is the place I am NOT called to do that? So then, I have to always show the best of me. Or at least the truest version of me...
The connections are endless here. And I think it would be good to talk about it. I want to be the best follower of God that I can. I also want to be the best father and husband that I can. I also want to be the best neighbor and friend that I can be. I want to give everyone the best that I have.
Maybe the connection to giving God the "best part of my day" is faulty... Maybe the best is what we should strive for every moment of every day...
What do you think?
Monday, June 11, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Letting the text speak...
It is interesting to me how quickly we settle into an idea and then just assume it as reality. As "westerners" we often find it difficult to leave a concept or philosophy once we have accepted it as true. Recently, I have started rethinking the value of that part of our understanding of how things work.
Here is what I mean... When we start accepting ideas or concepts that are passed down to us over centuries of church tradition, we begin to lose the need to truly wrestle with or understand where they came from and why they are important. Now that the church as we understand it is about 2,000 years old (give or take) there is a huge body of literature out there to be read concerning doctrine, concepts, philosophies, and ideas.
My concern: are we really wrestling with the text in regard to these ideas? Or are we just accepting them as truth?
When did it become okay that a walking, talking snake has a conversation with a woman and we say - cool. Or for that matter - that there was a tree that had fruit on it that possessed the knowledge of good and evil, even though we know that Eve was aware of good and evil because she told the snake that she couldn't touch the fruit even before she ate it...
Or that God provided a plant for shade for Jonah when he already had a tent for shade and the text says that God did this in order to "drive the evil from Jonah." But we don't translate it that way and we seem to be okay with just moving on and not wrestling with the implications of what the text actually says.
The questions could go on and on... God is jealous? Punishing the sins of the father to the 3rd and 4th generation? really? God sends his people to wipe out nations? Then says blessed are the peace makers? When we just look at the text and let it speak, it gets dirty in a hurry!
Why did we stop asking questions of the text, and begin to just accept doctrines, ideas, concepts and philosophies? When did that become okay? And you can hear it in the way people talk about Scripture.
"Well, I think this..."
"Where is that in the text?"
"Well, I am not good with 'book, chapter, and verse.'"
A tangent (but not really)... I have heard for a long time that we need Spiritual relationships in our lives. And I believe that this is absolutely true. We are hardwired for deep, spiritual, abiding connection with others. But the logic behind this conversation typically revolves around some part of us needing one another for the crises in our lives so that we don't have to walk through them alone.
While that is a great point - and true - it is not the best use of spiritual community to sit around and wait for crisis to hit someone so that we can pounce on them like a starved cougar and make a spectacle of the event.
I believe that the best use of spiritual community is to wrestle with the text - daily. Not to talk about and debate ideas, philosophies, concepts, and doctrine. But to truly chew the text and ask the difficult questions that don't make sense. How is your spiritual community defined?
Someone once said that the Bible does not give up her treasures to one who does not dig deeply. Perhaps the biggest issue facing the church and her future really amounts to her willingness to re-engage the text in a serious way.
May we be a community of people who take the text seriously. And may your conversations be those that wrestle with the real issues of the text, not just the surface stuff of ideas. May we get our hands dirty and find treasure hidden in the fields in which we dig.
Here is what I mean... When we start accepting ideas or concepts that are passed down to us over centuries of church tradition, we begin to lose the need to truly wrestle with or understand where they came from and why they are important. Now that the church as we understand it is about 2,000 years old (give or take) there is a huge body of literature out there to be read concerning doctrine, concepts, philosophies, and ideas.
My concern: are we really wrestling with the text in regard to these ideas? Or are we just accepting them as truth?
When did it become okay that a walking, talking snake has a conversation with a woman and we say - cool. Or for that matter - that there was a tree that had fruit on it that possessed the knowledge of good and evil, even though we know that Eve was aware of good and evil because she told the snake that she couldn't touch the fruit even before she ate it...
Or that God provided a plant for shade for Jonah when he already had a tent for shade and the text says that God did this in order to "drive the evil from Jonah." But we don't translate it that way and we seem to be okay with just moving on and not wrestling with the implications of what the text actually says.
The questions could go on and on... God is jealous? Punishing the sins of the father to the 3rd and 4th generation? really? God sends his people to wipe out nations? Then says blessed are the peace makers? When we just look at the text and let it speak, it gets dirty in a hurry!
Why did we stop asking questions of the text, and begin to just accept doctrines, ideas, concepts and philosophies? When did that become okay? And you can hear it in the way people talk about Scripture.
"Well, I think this..."
"Where is that in the text?"
"Well, I am not good with 'book, chapter, and verse.'"
A tangent (but not really)... I have heard for a long time that we need Spiritual relationships in our lives. And I believe that this is absolutely true. We are hardwired for deep, spiritual, abiding connection with others. But the logic behind this conversation typically revolves around some part of us needing one another for the crises in our lives so that we don't have to walk through them alone.
While that is a great point - and true - it is not the best use of spiritual community to sit around and wait for crisis to hit someone so that we can pounce on them like a starved cougar and make a spectacle of the event.
I believe that the best use of spiritual community is to wrestle with the text - daily. Not to talk about and debate ideas, philosophies, concepts, and doctrine. But to truly chew the text and ask the difficult questions that don't make sense. How is your spiritual community defined?
Someone once said that the Bible does not give up her treasures to one who does not dig deeply. Perhaps the biggest issue facing the church and her future really amounts to her willingness to re-engage the text in a serious way.
May we be a community of people who take the text seriously. And may your conversations be those that wrestle with the real issues of the text, not just the surface stuff of ideas. May we get our hands dirty and find treasure hidden in the fields in which we dig.
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