Friday = My day: Episode 11 – Well, maybe I SHOULD jump off that bridge…

I remember when I was a child and I wanted to do something because my friends were doing it [my only argument] and some parental figure type would take me down with, ‘Oh yeah, well if your friends all jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?’

You can’t beat that kind of logic, right? Well, I couldn’t. Not back then at least. Beaten every time.

Sometimes it feels like that when I get into a discussion [the pacifist word for argument] with someone who is not a follower of Jesus. Their arguments sound a lot cleverer than mine and I often don’t know how to respond [at least not in a way that will stop them responding as they always have a response, but then maybe so do I – perhaps there is a reason we both believe as strongly as we both believe?].

There are some bible verses that help me make sense of this, but the same verses just ‘prove’ to those on the outside how logical they are being because I am able to ‘hide behind these verses’ that obviously make my argument unchallengeable. And they’re right. Well to the extent that the verses kind of make challenging them impossible which if you’re a follower of Jesus backs up your following and which if you’re not, backs up your skepticism.

I get that, I really do, so in essence they don’t prove anything, but they still bring me great comfort and make a lot of sense to me.

Passages like 1 Corinthians 1.18-31:

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

And then also this passage from 2 Corinthians 5. 13-15:

13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

If I was going to make up a religion to try and fool the hugest percentage of people on the planet, then Christianity and the Bible is probably not the one I would go for. That right there doesn’t make sense:

“The one who wants to be greatest must be the least of all.”

“Love your enemies, bless those who persecute you.”

“To follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross [live as if you are dead] and follow Me.”

God, the creator of the Universe, coming to earth via the impregnation of a virgin teenager.

Assembling a crew of uneducated, cowardly misfits as the team I am going to leave in charge to take care of this thing.

The leader and Saviour of the group hangs out with  poor people and prostitutes and the lepers [who were  quarantined outside of the whole city]  and  the marginalised and demonstrates his leadership by getting down on his knees and washing the feet of this followers. 

I could go on. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense. That in itself does not make it true. But it has to maybe make you wonder for a second if it is so completely ridiculous in concept, then just what if it was true?

The people who have turned people away from Christianity through their words and actions are always those who have lived and spoken in a way that is very much unlike the way Jesus Christ lived and spoke. It is not when we live like Him that people are repulsed, but when we get it horribly and completely messed up so much so that people start identifying what they see with following Him and run away violently from both.

Jesus’ message is one of being known by the Love [a special, sacrificial, higher version of what we have generally witnessed] we have for each other and for those who disagree with us and even those who would see us dead. His invitation is to a life that is life lived to its absolute fullest. To an extreme of Love that the world has seldom experienced.

It is crazy. It is foolish. It is mind-boggling why anyone would choose to take on all the baggage that comes with being identified with the church and with those who call themselves little Jesuses without very much resembling Him.

But there is something in me that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to clearly express in an argument that will change anyone’s mind ever. It is the part of me that just knows. I have identified this foolishness of Jesus, of the cross, of the bread and the wine, of community, of that real kind of unconditional Love, of sacrifice and surrender and submitting, of Good News, deep within me. And I know that it’s real. I just know.

And for that you may call me crazy. You may see it as foolish. You may ask me, “Well if your friends all jumped off the bridge, would you?” And this time, I might just answer, “Absolutely. ” Sometimes it is the most foolish things in the world that make the most sense.

[An Xkcd.com strip]

[For next Friday’s Everything happens for a reason, click here]

[For last Friday’s Presents vs Presence, click here]

Thursday = Thirsty: Episode 11 – The same question.

Two men lying under a tree. The first turns to the second and says to him, “I’ve often wanted to ask God why He doesn’t do more about the violence in the world, about people suffering from AIDS, about the homeless situation and the fact that so many women are still abused and oppressed and struggle to find a voice. I’ve wanted to ask God why He doesn’t do more about the racism that is still prevalent in so many areas around us or about the hatred often shown towards people who are “not like us”, why He doesn’t step into situations of war and poverty and malnutrition and do something.”

His friend thought about it for a few moments and then looked back and asked, “So why don’t you.”

The first guy replied, “I’m afraid He’s going to ask me the same question.”

[For next Thursday’s Definitive Guide to insulting the Creator of the Universe, click here]

[For last Thursday’s When You’re Weary, click here]

Wednesday = Wed day: Episode 8 – Make them shut the door.

This is about a Dan Brearley forwarded Calvin and Hobbes cartoon:

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This is about a Jamie Wright [aka The Very Worst Missionary] tweet:

Not everyone likes you. (Get comfortable with that. Trust me, it’s liberating.)

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This is a little about this interaction:

b r o o s k o l i n: Can I just say that I haven’t missed @facebook AT ALL since deleting my account. In fact, I’ve appreciated reality a whole lot more.

Brett FISH Anderson: @brskln @facebook dude the amount of coffee you drink and tweet about i’m not convinced of the realityness of the reality you are perceiving

b r o o s k o l i n: @BrettFishA haha. Touché.

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This is a lot about a reply to an offline challenge/caution i made to a friend of mine about some online stuff he’d done which he responded to with this huge long email explaining some stuff and disagreeing with a bunch of the stuff I’d said, although understanding where it came from, and ending his email with this:

‘Spose that’s all from my side. I do appreciate the kind words and support and honesty all bundled up in an awesome package of love.’

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This is a lot about two other interactions this week with two other friends in a similar vein, but that sadly ended much more negatively from their side, with the word ‘friendship’ not feeling strongly like a great term to describe us any more. From their side at least.

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This has strong lingering after effects from three encounters with three of my best guy friends in the world:

From Duncan Houston, who let me moan and whine and get aggro with him in hockey-related gripes on the field only to always make sure I was okay afterwards, and, that if there was any negative vibe left over between us, to chase me down and make sure we were good. Every time.

From my buddy Regan Didloff, who taught me on many powerful occasions the power in continuing to pursue friendships long after the other person had shut the door on your face and to extend way above and beyond what felt like a fair or even reasonable amount of grace and love and forgiveness on multiple occasions to the other person.

From my buddy Rob Lloyd, who, when I accidentally knocked a chip of wood out of his guitar [musicians, hold yourselves back!] responded to my, “Dude, you’e gonna kill me” with a “Dude, don’t worry, it’a a thing” laying the firm foundation for a strong friendship to take root and grow [and which instilled in me a very strong life theology of “People over things every time”] and flourish.

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And so, Friendship, in various shapes and degrees and forms. I have found Friendship to be such a powerful force in my life – encouragement and empowerment, strength and belief, hope and endurance and much, much more.

I have some incredible friends in my life, for whom I am most grateful. [Seriously, it would have to be big to get me to use the word ‘whom’ in a sentence, and now another one]

I realise that there have been many times when I have not gotten it right or come across with the “kind words and support and honesty all bundled up in an awesome package of love” that I would have intended or wanted from myself.

I realise that as much as there are a lot of people who love me an incredible lot, there are also those who have somehow gotten to the point of being able to say “dude seriously i hate you so so so so so so so much!!!!!” 

Something deep inside of me fears that Jamie may have gotten it right when she writes, Not everyone likes you. (Get comfortable with that. Trust me, it’s liberating.)

But the point I want to leave you with today is this one I feel quite strongly about. When things go badly in a relationship, always allow the other person to close the door on it. They must always know that from my side, no matter how much I have been hurt or made angry or disappointed or disillusioned, that there is always the opportunity for the friendship to be healed, for forgiveness to happen, for things to start again. My door is always open, should you choose to return.

Sure, if the hurt runs really deep it might not be likely that we will end up as best of friends any time soon [especially because that is becoming quite a crowded room] but there is always space for us to try again, and perhaps do it a little bit better than last time.

The absolute biggest example of this has to be Jesus. We will never know, but I honestly believe in my deepest of places, that if Judas has come to Jesus and repented, that he would have been forgiven. But he didn’t. He chose to bear his sin by himself and it killed him. Whereas Peter, on the other hand, who didn’t do anything less offensive than Judas really [one betrayed Jesus, one pretended he never knew Him] and yet he ends up back with Jesus and receives forgiveness and has his friendship restored, and not only that but receives the hugest mandate out of all the disciples to have the church built upon him. Jesus did not forgive and then keep him at arms length in case He got hurt again. Should I?

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And lastly, this is a lot about this:

[This post i dedicate to my friends, who I love deeply, and who I have received so much love from. You are way too many to mention by name. But I am so grateful for each one of you.]

[To read next Wednesday’s Absurd in the Hand is worth two, click here]

[to read last Wednesdays Together vs Not Together, click here]

Thursday = Thirsty: Episode 5 – the Awakening of Faith

I have just finished reading a book called ‘The Awakening of Hope’ by a friend of ours named Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove which looks to address the question ‘Why we Practice a Common Faith’ by focusing on seven ancient practices/disciplines and this excerpt on faith and conversion really stood out for me:

‘No one gets to start from scratch. But each of us, from within the story we’ve received, decides whether we will continue to trust what we’ve first received or inhabit a different story. This decision is what we usually call “faith.”

The Bible says that faith is the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [Hebrews 11.1, KJV].
Faith is what we trust for those questions that we cannot know the answer to, for the presuppositions that undergird whatever story we call our own. In the modern world we are in the habit of thinking that faith matters for our personal and religious lives. When we talk about “people of faith,” we usually refer to people who are committed Muslims or Buddhists, Jews or Christians. On the other hand, we usually assume that what matters in economics and politics, science and medicine is facts, not faith. Religion is about what we believe while science is about what we know.

But good scientists agree with the woman in Sarah’s writing seminar that whatever we know (including the facts), we know within a story that we have chosen to trust. That is, we are all people of faith. Of course, doubt plays a role in the pursuit of truth for scientists, just as it does for theologians. But none of us can ever doubt everything. Whether the truth we seek is best described as scientific or religious, our pursuit of it depends on holding experience up against the story we assume to be true. In science, when the facts demand a new story to explain how they can all be true, we call that necessary change a “paradigm shift.” When the facts of our lives cry out for a story that can help us tell the truth about ourselves, we call it “conversion.”

For Jesus, the invitation to welcome God’s story is a call to conversion: “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent ad believe the good news” [Mark 1.15]. To trust that what Jesus says about the world is true is to, quite literally, have a change of mind. This conversion – this paradigm shift – does not invalidate the truth of the story that came before it. In calling God’s people to conversion, Jesus says, “Do not think I have come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” The new story that Jesus brings incorporates the truth of the old, offering both a framework for understanding what we knew before and a lens for seeing truth we could not recognise within our old story.
Even so, the only way people who have inhabited one story can learn to trust another is to experience a change of mind.’
We must be “born again,” as Jesus says to Nicodemus in John’s gospel [3.3] Or, more literally, we must be reconceived from above.” That is to say, conversion is about reimagining our human story from the place that Jesus starts His – not with the mixing of two human stories, but with the miraculous union of God’s story and a human story.’

[from the chapter ‘Why we share good news’ from the book ‘The Awakening of Hope’ by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove]

[for next Thursday’s A Most Powerful Message, click here]
[for last Thursday’s How’s Your Heart, click here]

Tuesday = News Day: Episode 2 – Pope on a rope?

On Tuesdays i want to take a look at some topic making local or international news and give my commentary or share my thoughts or reaction to it and hopefully get some dialogue going with my readers. I am not hugely into politics so this may not be the most in-depth political commentary the world has ever seen and is more likely to look at something with a different take or spin. Let’s see how it goes:

So let me get this straight, I haven’t traditionally been a fan of the idea of a pope as I believe that Jesus is the head of the church and that each of us who choose to follow Him are filled with the Holy Spirit, who acts as our guide and counsellor, and that we should have the church [the people of God] to walk alongside us and help us to live life well. That said I understand a little bit of the history of the catholic church and that having an active pope is a very huge part of the way they live out their faith. So there is [and possibly always will be] a pope.

And to be completely honest, I have never paid the hugest attention to who is pope unless they do something particularly newsworthy or I guess scandalous as to bring them to my attention. The pope has not traditionally appeared on mu radar a whole lot.

Enter the new pope, brought about by the first retiring of a pope in 600 years, and suddenly I am seeing news all over the place. And while I’m sure there might be some scandals and some skeletons with this guy [don’t we all have those?] so far I have really liked what I have seen. I imagine he is pissing off a lot of the traditionalists [hence the title: how dangerous will his Jesus-like moves prove to be in the long term?] but it seems like the things that are doing that are sounding and looking a lot like the kind of stuff Jesus would do. Here are a smattering of them from the local and international news media:

‘Pope Francis has decided not to move into the papal apartment used by Benedict XVI and others before him, preferring instead to stay in a simple suite at a Vatican hotel, a Vatican spokesman said.’ [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/27/world/europe/vatican-pope/index.html?iid=article_sidebar]

‘Francis, the first Jesuit to assume the papacy, has become widely known for his embrace of simplicity and humility since he became pope. He’s spoken of his desire to see the Roman Catholic Church be a “poor church, for the poor,” and his sermons have focused on the need to look after the needy and sick, as well as the natural world.’ [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/27/world/europe/vatican-pope/index.html?iid=article_sidebar]

“Francis of Assisi is … someone who turned his back on the wealth of his family and the lifestyle he had, and bonded with lepers and the poor,” said the Rev. Thomas Rosica, the Vatican’s deputy spokesman. “Here’s this pope known for his care for AIDS patients and people who are very sick. Who is known for his concern with single mothers whose babies were refused to be baptized by priests in his diocese.
“He scolded those priests last year and said, ‘How can you turn these people away when they belong to us? ‘”[http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/14/world/pope-5-things/index.html?iid=article_sidebar]

‘When he told his priests Thursday “to go look for the lost sheep,” he added that when they come back, they “better smell like those sheep,” Arroyo said. “He wants them amid the people in the muck of life.”‘ [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/31/world/europe/vatican-pope-easter]

‘On Holy Thursday, Francis celebrated an unprecedented Mass in a youth prison in Rome in which he washed the feet of 12 inmates including two girls and two Muslims – a ritual seen as a gesture of humility towards the 12 apostles attributed to Jesus.

Previous popes only ever performed the ritual with priests or Catholic laymen.’ [http://news.sky.com/story/1072003/pope-francis-calls-for-korea-reconcilliation]

“That hallmark of humility and simplicity are his personal expressions as pope,” Bunson said. “There is something wonderfully new about him, but he’s also maintaining the teachings of the church in wonderful continuity with the popes who’ve gone before him.” [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/31/world/europe/vatican-pope-easter]

As long as he keeps directing us towards Jesus, in the way he lives and in the messages he speaks, I think I am going to continue liking him. Let’s close this off with words he spoke that do just that: “Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness, and that is where death is,” he said. “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life!” [http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/30/pope-presides-over-easter-vigil-service/]

What are your thoughts regarding the new pope?

[for next week’s Guide to Celebrity Marriage, click here]
[for last Tuesday’s Cheeseburger Love, click here]

Thursday = Thirsty: Episode 1 – Why it’s called Good Friday.

Thursday = Thirsty – this will be an aspect of spiritual enrichment or challenge – whether it is postings of a Psalmthing blog i am currently scribing or a Gospel of Mark video clip i have been making or else just an aspect of following Jesus in terms of loving God, loving people and being personally involved in some aspect of actively loving the ‘least of these’ I will be looking to encourage or challenge people in their relationship with God and the world.

For this starting one I have chosen one of the most simple yet profound cartoons I think I have ever read:

i think that is a great summing up of the gospel. and certainly enough to meditate on as you head towards Friday and Sunday…

this week i am wanting to be purposeful in slowing down a little and focusing on the last week of Jesus’ life. i started reading the last few chapters of John in the laundry today. and i think tbV and i are going to read some of the last week leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection together. may you be encouraged to do the same in the midst of eggs and meals and services and feasting…

[for next Thursday’s How to Ask or Imagine bigger, click here]