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“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott

“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott

Sharing Good News – People as Projects

George 0 Comments

For several weeks I have been engaged in thinking and ultimately re-thinking evangelism. The catalyst for this has been a Sunday class on the subject. That experience has been interesting because the premises of the class have challenged some of my preconceived notions about evangelism. In this post I intend to share one particular thought that arose as I pondered the class and associated readings. All of my posts on Sharing Good News can be seen HERE.

People as Projects

“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you’re not saved yourself, be sure of that!” 
? Charles Spurgeon

“Soul winning for Christ Jesus is a great business everyone must endeavor to start and keep it diligently” 
? Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

An anecdotal reflection from my past, “You can’t go to heaven alone.”

A dogmatic view of evangelism opens the door to a pharisaical impulse to make obedience the end rather the means.

Each quote, in some way, reflects the idea that the sole purpose of Christians is to win souls for Christ. In the extreme, to not save others condemns to hell. I believe that is a truncated view of life in the Kingdom of God and does violence to the Kingdom. Elevating any clearly mandated responsibility of disciples to an extent that other mandates of Jesus are diminished, denigrated and/or eliminated is an attribute of Phariseeism which Jesus vehemently condemned.

“Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals.” Matt. 23 MSG

To establish evangelism as the preeminent command of Jesus to his disciples, presents the same risk as when applied to sabbath, tithes, making converts, cleanliness et al.

Christian faith is “a missionary religion.” Christians, both by the internal logic of the faith that they (classically) embrace and by specific injunctions of that faith, are called to bear witness to faith. My sense is that we ought to think of evangelism precisely in those terms, as bearing witness—not converting other people, not making them into Christians, but bearing witness to who God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is, and leaving the encounter between that God and the person to the conscience of the person and to the work of God in their lives. Christian witness goes wrong when it tries, in subtle or explicit ways, to manipulate people into making a decision, and not allowing sufficient freedom for people to make that decision. Or, to put it the other way, the problem is not respecting the fact that it is the Holy Spirit which adds people to the church, and that Christian evangelists and pastors don’t grow churches. At their best, evangelists do what John the Baptist did: they point to Christ; they say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” And “He should increase and I should decrease.” Miroslav Volf

I have argued that mission-shaped discipleship is about seeking to be filled, transformed and overflowing with love of God and neighbour at the interface of embodied and virtual life. As such, our participation in the mission of God is substantially expressed through works of mercy, in which God’s love for our neighbours reaches out through us in a holistic way. From a discipleship per-spective, evangelism as a work of mercy is specifically directed towards the spiritual needs of others, by developing transformational friendships as means of grace. Through these relationships, we come to share life and faith in spiritual conversations with the expectation that people will be awakened to the love of God, and seek out his grace for themselves. Philip Meadows -Mission and Discipleship in a Digital Culture

For my own part, I believe Christian mission and evangelism is simply this: Proclaiming and participating in the Reign (basileia, “rule”, “reign”, “kingdom”) of God that has broken into the world through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is “the good news”: the victory over sin and death, the abundant life Jesus promised, and the gift of the Indwelling Spirit are available…today. We do not need to delay gratification, awaiting some far off heaven in the sweet by and by. God’s life is available right now. So any urgency in Christian mission is the urgency of joy. It is not the urgency of doom and gloom. The urgency of turn or burn. The urgency of fear. It is, rather, the urgency that the eschatological wedding banquet is in full swing and you’re missing out. Mission work should move away from “persuasion models” to actually changing the world. The question for missionaries should shift from “How many souls were saved?” to “How have you transformed that community into the Kingdom of God?” MIchael Frost

In my mind, there is no dispute regarding the responsibility of Christ followers to share good news. Sharing good news should be seen as the very nature of Christ followers, not as a responsibility. The issue is, in what manner is good news be shared?

To adopt a dogmatic perspective on evangelism necessarily leads to the objectification of people, making them the means to a well-intentioned end. To present good news as an ultimatum stands in stark contrast to God’s loving expression of grace in the sacrifice of Christ. No person should be denied the opportunity to express their volitional gratitude to such profound good news.

The question to be answered is: “Am I a disciple of Jesus? If the answer is YES, debate on evangelism becomes moot.

Sharing Good News – Salvation

George 0 Comments

This post is a continuation of thoughts and questions regarding evangelism. If you have not read my previous posts you do so HERE and HERE.

Although not directly mentioned in my initial post, I am of the opinion that our view of salvation will significantly influence why and how we share good news. The subject of salvation arose from a 2008 post, shared In part below:

Written By Jason Zahariades,  the post is related to his journey and its path to Eastern Orthodoxy .You might enjoy reading the entire post. The excerpt below relates to salvation, thus the connection my post today. Jason first describes the judicial view of salvation which is has been my prevailing belief about salvation for most of my life.

For most of my Christian life as a western Evangelical, I lived and operated under the judicial view of salvation that is common to western Christianity. In addition, I had fully embraced the reduced popular version that one hears in many witnessing opportunities. It goes something like this:

“God loves you and has created you for a wonderful purpose. However, humanity rebelled against God and therefore all people are born and live under the guilt of sin, compounded by their own disobedience. We are all guilty of breaking God’s Law and because the wages of sin is death, every human being is condemned to die. But because God loves you so much, he sent his son to die on your behalf. On the cross, Jesus took upon himself the wrath and judgment reserved for you. So if you accept Jesus’ gift simply by believing it in faith, you are forgiven of your of guilt and God now views you with Jesus’ righteousness.”

Or to reduce it further into how most western evangelicals think, salvation means we’re forgiven of all of our sins and as a result, we will go to heaven when we die. This viewpoint focuses primarily on the individual and treats salvation as an event and a commodity regardless of the actual state of one’s life.

Jason then describes salvation as he has come to understand it as a result of his theological reconstruction.

Salvation is the process of restoration to what humans were created to be. Rather than sin being the breaking of God’s Law, the root of sin is the movement from being to non-being. Sin is the distortion of our humanity, of who we are supposed to be as God’s image on earth. Rather than being truly human, sin makes us subhuman. So the problem of sin is much deadlier and sinister than mere guilt or disobedience. It is the warping, distortion and brokenness of who we are as human beings. It is the full corruption of my mind, heart, body, soul and relationships. In this light, I don’t just need to be forgiven. I need to be healed. I don’t just need assurance of admittance into heaven in the future. I need assurance that who I am in the present is being transformed out of my desperate and destructive subhuman existence and into the image and likeness of God as I was divinely intended to live.
So salvation isn’t primarily about guilt and forgiveness. It’s about brokenness and healing. It’s about delusion and illumination. It’s about distortion and transformation. It’s about death and life in the here and now. As a follower of Jesus, I truly cannot say, “I am saved.” I can only say, “I am being saved.”
Christ’s crucifixion has conquered evil, destroyed death, reconciled creation, redeemed the human nature, and released God’s forgiveness. In other words, Jesus has made God’s salvation completely available to all people. But as St Paul exhorts the Philippians, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Salvation is something that is worked out progressively with God.

(From my original post): As is usually the case, I am much clearer about where I’ve come from than where I am going. Jason’s understandings are deeper than I have delved before but they reflect a direction in which my thinking is moving. I am confident that salvation is more than just having assurance of eternal life in heaven. What we believe about salvation has profound implications on our understanding of God and our relationship with him as well as how we live out our daily lives in the Kingdom of God ..and how we share that news with the world around us.

It is not my intention to lapse into discussion about the views of salvation Jason presents, though a conversation would  be in order. What struck me, as I re-read,  was the potential implications to how and why we share good news. Each perspective has potential to shape our message. As Jason describes the western Christian view, I cclearly hear the echoes of disenchantment. His Eastern Orthodox view embraces enchantment and tickles my progressive tendencies. 

Thinking on this produces several challenges for me, and, any others so disposed:

  1. Re-examine presuppositions and understandings of salvation. ( I suggest writing them out) I understand this is no small matter, but neither is sharing good news.
  2. Submit all presuppositions and understanding to critical examination. (I encourage serious conversation with serious followers of Jesus)
  3. Upon finding any presuppositions or understanding of salvation to be incorrect or incomplete, revise the previous documentation accordingly.
  4. Determine to what extent, if any, new understandings might change why and how good news should be shared.

I do not see this as THE issue or solution to concerns regarding sharing good news. There are numerous issues related to the challenge of sharing good news in today’s culture. I increasingly resist solutions that rely on guilt to motivate and nostalgia to define methods. Modernity has made many presuppositions about how to share good news doubtful. 

In succeeding posts I will continue to raise, what I see as, underlying issues and ideas to stimulate thinking and initiate meaningful and appropriate change. 

Prayer is always welcomed.

Re-thinking my Memoir

George 0 Comments

Some years ago I read Not Quite What I Was Planning. The book is a collection of six-word memoirs. It originated from a project by on-line magazine SMITH that solicited submission of peoples’ life memoir stated in six words. I recently shared that I am writing my memoir. After working on it some, I’m thinking I might settle for a six word memoir. Here are a few examples from the book:

Seventy years, few tears, hairy ears.

Born in the desert. Still thirsty.

Macular degeneration. Didn’t see that coming.

Kentucky trash heap yields unexpected flower.

Thought long and hard. Got migraine.

Thinking about my own memoir. Here is what I came up with:

I Knew. I Know. I didn’t’t

How about yours?

Sowing the Seed

George 0 Comments

“All you can do, Richard,” I tell myself, “is sow the seed.”

Much of the “success” of any talk I give isn’t really in my hands. It’s mostly up to the person listening and the status of their heart. And I don’t have access to their heart. God does, but I don’t. My job is to just sow the seed.

I’ve become more focused on fidelity than to the task than maximizing “effectiveness.” I try to do my very, very best, and once I’m done I’m at peace.

Richard Beck

A New Word – theosis

George 0 Comments

Theosis, or divinization (“divinization may also refer to apotheosis, lit. “making divine”), is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God, as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches.

Recently I came across a blog post that used the word theosis. I was unfamiliar with theosis and, as is my usual habit, I hit define. I got the above definition.

I was intrigued on a couple of counts. First, since our pastor is currently preaching a series from Colossians, why haven’t I heard “theosis” ? Well, DUH, did you read definition, really? Secondly, I was curious how Orthodox/Catholic views might contrast and/or expand my views of “being Christ-like”. The post is long but worth the read. But, with regard to theosis I have included an excerpt below. I found it helpful and broadening.

We are the culture of “selfies.” We not only want to see how we look, we want to know how we’re doing. We analyze ourselves, measure ourselves, compare ourselves, judge ourselves, in all of which we imagine ourselves to be doing something useful. Modernity is dominated by the image of progress. We have internalized this notion and made it the model and form of our self-awareness.

In 1922, the Frenchman, Émile Coué, proposed the phrase, “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better” (“Tous les jours, à tous points de vue, je vais de mieux en mieux”). It remains a popular mantra for self-help gurus. It may or may not be true. The notion is that auto-suggestion can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is modernity as prayer.

This same mantra could be taken as a parody of how some view the work of theosis. We do well to take warning from St. Silouan’s single experience of praise for his spiritual life. I do not mean that we do not need encouragement – we do. But awareness of our “progress” is likely to be worse than deadly. The spiritual life, and particularly that which we call theosis, cannot and must not be measured or compared. It is Peter walking on the water. Everything is fine until you notice that you’re walking on water!

How would we measure theosis, were we to undertake something so foolhardy? Would it be by noting that we “sin less?” Strangely, I can think of no saint whose self-awareness is described as “sinning less.” It’s always quite the opposite. I could imagine the suggestion that theosis be measured by whether we know God more. But, given that the knowledge of God is infinite, “more,” is an almost meaningless concept. In truth, there are no measures in these matters. The notion of “progress” in theosis is simply the wrong question.

In my experience as a confessor over the years, I have seen no good come from trying to judge or measure progress in our lives. In a culture that is enthralled to the “self” (a false construct if ever there was one), it is almost certain that the attention we give to perceiving progress is nothing more than feeding an inner delusion. In blunt terms, “Who cares?”

The proper attention of the spiritual life is God as we know Him in the face of Jesus Christ. On a primary level, this attention is expressed as we keep the commandments given to us by Christ.

Our culture forms and shapes in each of us the heart of a “manager.” We want to control, to shape, to predict, to compare, to direct, etc. Such a heart has a habit of reducing its world to the things that can be controlled, shaped, predicted, compared and directed. It diminishes human beings as well as the world in which we live. It has no place in the life of the soul.

The proper attention of the spiritual life is God as we know Him in the face of Jesus Christ. On a primary level, this attention is expressed as we keep the commandments given to us by Christ.

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Jn 14:21

This is not an approach to God through “the law.” The commandments of Christ are a true icon of Christ. All that He asks of us – love of God, love of neighbor, love of enemy – are images of His own character and face. He can be seen “in the least of these my brothers.” But the question, “I am loving my neighbor/enemy more?” is beside the point, a nurturing of a false consciousness. Love them now. Everything else is vanity.

The Management of the Soul