For the Joy of the Journey

Sharing Good News – Salvation

George October 5, 2019 Sharing Good News 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:

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.
Submit all presuppositions and understanding to critical examination. (I encourage serious conversation with serious followers of Jesus)
Upon finding any presuppositions or understanding of salvation to be incorrect or incomplete, revise the previous documentation accordingly.
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 October 4, 2019 The Journey 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 October 4, 2019 Faith Challenges 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 October 2, 2019 Faith Challenges 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

Intersections- Retirement

George October 1, 2019 Intersections 4 Comments

This post continues a series entitled **intersections**. As I reflect on my life’s journey, various intersections along the way come to mind. My ambition was for a straight and narrow path. but, that’s not how life goes.

Recently, during a much appreciated breakfast with Grandson Grayson, he asked a question, “Is retirement fun?”

That launched a protracted response that was probably more than he wanted to hear. Regardless, the question prompted me to continue my series of posts on intersections along my journey.

I believe Grayson’s question betrays some contemporary concepts about retirement. Primarily, retirement is viewed as the time of life when we enjoy the fruits of our labor, the culmination of the American dream. It is the good life, happiness, golf, beaches, travel, vibrant sexuality, financial security, and certainly fun, essentially a perpetual vacation. Such a vision shouldn’t come as a surprise, it is the relentless message of media.

The problem is, that imagery, like most of the ads we consume, does not depict reality, but creates an illusion. That illusion dominates our expectations of retirement. Perhaps you have visited Florida a in the winter when the annual migration of snowbirds is at its peak. There seems to be a prevailing sense of urgency to find the proverbial “pot of gold” at the end of life’s rainbow. You quickly learn not to get in the way. Sometimes it feels like shopping at Walmart on Black Friday. I have observed that many seem to have a attitude of entitlement, often reflected in their dour countenance, if not in outright anger.

I am coming to understand their state of mind. They bought into the media created illusion of retirement, investing their money, dreams and energy. Now, receiving the dividends on their investment, reality sets in, they have been scammed and they are pissed.

Of course, there are some who find the retirement “pot of gold” just like there are some people who live in multi-million dollar mansions on the beach and drive Bentleys. Can I say we just need to “get real”?

What follows are some thoughts on what I see as realities of retirement.

Retirement is not the end, it is the beginning of the end.

Generally, we seem to think of retirement as an event, a day of endings, no more … get-ups … going to work … et al. Certainly as an event, retirement is the occasion of endings. but it is also the beginning of the end. Because the period of our lives that we are entering is a transition, the term retirement, I believe, is inadequate. For that reason, I suggest a better description would be autumn.

Autumn is transition rather than termination. When we view the full scope of our lives, autumn is most akin to adolescence in reverse. Adolescence is transition from child to adult, moving from dependence to independence, immaturity to maturity, achieving and acquiring personally and materially.

Autumn is the reverse, transition from independence to dependence, from achievement and acquisition personally and materially to diminishment and release of everything, sooner, if not later. The most profound reality of the retirement event is that the end is coming, no exceptions. The wild card for us is that we have no guarantee how long our autumn will be.

For most people, that’s not a problem. Everything we see and hear, excepting those funeral director ads, presumes there is no end. It seems to be okay with most people, which explains why, at least in part, we are susceptible to being scammed. Understanding the tentativeness of our mortality makes autumn planning a crap shoot of sorts, but I guess that’s true of life.

Currently the average years of autumn in the United States is 18 years. Reasonably, we should plan for that length of time. Note: I am 77 years old and have been in autumn 20 years! I said it is a crap shoot.

Autumn Financial Planning

Given the Ideal of an American dream autumn, the primary focus of autumn planning is necessarily financial. No matter what one’s autumn turns out to be, finances will be an concern. Typically, the beginning of autumn means the cessation of ordinary income. Without provisions for other sources of income, autumn can quickly turn to winter. A key factor in planning for autumn is realistic understanding of the amount of money that will be needed to sustain your expected lifestyle, starting as early as possible saving to assure the monies will be there when needed. It sounds simple, but the complexities and demands of life, coupled with illusions of immortality, make financial planning a challenge.

Planning for Autumn

As it stands now, nearly 1/4 of our lives will be spent in autumn and all indications are that it will continue to increase. Preparing for autumn is clearly necessary. Financial implications, as mentioned, are a primary concern. Not withstanding financial factors, there are other considerations which are important and require planning.

Autumn is an era of our lives that is fraught with uniques challenges. Unlike our adolescence where our aspirations looked to the future, our autumn lens is a rear-view mirror.

Autumn brings a paradox of regret and celebration, lament and joy. Coming to terms with one’s mortality has a way stripping away illusions. If one’s worth and purpose and meaning is centered in work and/or career, prompt cessation of them will likely produce a deep sense of loss. Worthlessness and lack of purpose and meaning are real challenges in autumn. To the extent that our worth and purpose and meaning are inextricably bound to our pre-autumn identity, we will struggle with transition to a new reality.

Some would argue, despite loss of extrinsic sources of worth and purpose and meaning, there are new and different opportunities to fill that void. That is certainly true. Many are content with golf, gardening, volunteering, social activism, religion, et al. Unfortunately, not all of such opportunities are bulletproof, meaning they will withstand both enviable and unexpected realities of autumn. Did I say autumn is a crap shoot?

A deficiency of retirement planning primarily focused on finances is that it ignores the equally important need to plan for provision of transcendent resources. Resources that can transcend and/or mitigate the arduous and uneven journey through autumn. Resources which are mostly intrinsic and lend themselves to addressing issues of worth, purpose and meaning.

Such resources, as I currently perceive them, would primarily be categorized as relational, …family, service, employment, volunteering, reading, writing, et al.

The possibilities are myriad. It is my intention to plant seeds and encourage the idea of autumn planning beyond finances.

Candidly, what I am suggesting was not an objective part of our retirement planning experience. If I had a do over, here are some thoughts on what I would consider in addition to financial planning.

I would engage in a serious self-assessment of my mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health with the intention of achieving clarity regarding the sources of worth, meaning and purpose in my life.
Once I had clarity on that reality, I would assess the vulnerability of those sources relative to my anticipated retirement plans/dreams.
Subsequently, modify any current plans/dreams to minimize potential negative impact on the quality of my mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health in the autumn of life.
Next, assess financial plans against the new vision and adjust accordingly.
Live happily(worthfully, meaningfully, purposefully, healthfully ) ever(?) after.

I am of the opinion, that to a significant extent, our autumn experience will mirror our lives up to that point. To that end, as with financial planning, the earlier the above thoughts are appropriated and acted upon the better autumn will be. There is no time in our lives that has more potential for the beautiful things life has to offer.

“It’s never too late to…” is a lie!