While I’ve got no time to actually write one of my usually long winded ramblings, I thinght I’d post some things I’ve written over the last few years. Cut and paste blogging if you will. This is the first in a series of reports we did in the small group I was in a couple of years ago. I was pretty scared of writing then, kinda ironic now that I’m published for all the world to see (not that they’re all that interested.). The assignement was just to write about communion. The open ended nature of the assignment and my loathing for research gave me no small amount of stress. Looking back, going through with it was probably one of the turning points that ultimately let me to be a blogger.
Written 12-01-2001.
I’m not very good at reports. In fact, they scare me to death. I don’t know how to study very well and really don’t know where to start. So, to say that I was not fired up about this would be an understatement. I really don’t know what I’m doing, and even after an hour and a half on the Internet, I still don’t. So this is probably written in the wrong format, and without enough references and it’s probably too short as well. I did reach at least a couple of conclusions, though.
From what I read and have heard anecdotally there is a lot of debate about communion. There is debate about whether to use leavened or unleavened bread, wine or grape juice, whether to do it daily, weekly monthly or annually. I even read an article that claimed that communion was really just a modified Passover and should be celebrated according to the Old Testament rules governing the Passover, except with out the lamb (annually only on the 14th of the first month of the Hebrew calendar, and if you miss it, not until next year!). There is debate over whether the emblems (bread and juice) are symbols of Christ’s body or that they somehow actually become the real body of Christ.
I think all of these miss the point of communion. Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19). I don’t think the most important part of that statement is “this” but “do” and “remembrance”. That the world is so caught up in the particulars, to me, means that they don’t remember. When I take communion I try to use that moment to remember that Jesus was bloodied, beaten and disfigured so that I, a worthless and helpless rebel, could have a relationship with God. I think that if we took communion with Oreos and grape Kool-Aid, but we connected with God and remembered what we have received (and our lives showed it), God would be pleased.
Happy Birthday Emily!
Things have been rather heavy around here lately, I thought it’d be good to write about some little things that happened recently that I’ve overlooked.
My middle daughter turned 7 on the 5th. She got her Schaefer tradition of breakfast in bed, which for a 7 year old is really cool. We also gave her a chioce of us buying her gifts or spendign the money on a party for her friends. She of chose the party and had an absolute blast. It was a princess theme; they made princes hats (which look like fancy decorated dunce caps!), played ‘braid the princess hair’ (using plates with princess faces and golden yarn hair hung on the wall) and played kiss the frog. That’s basically pin the tail on the donkey ecept that the donkey is a frog (with crown) and the girls put on bright red lipstick and had to kiss the frog poster blindfolded. Closest lip prints wins.
Emily is so energetic and social, she was in cloud nine after the party. She just loves life and lives it with more gusto than most.
Site updates
Well, an unexpected morning at home with a sick child meant I got a little time to do some site updates I’ve been meaning to do while she slept. I added the right side menu to the individual pages, the monthly archives and the category archives.
Of course this just means that I’ll be at work until midnight tonight to make up for the missed morning….. Oh well.
Expect Light Blogging
Activity around these parts is likely to be light for around a month or so. The big project I’ve been working on is due June 2. I’ve been told to expect 50-60+ hour weeks to get it done on time. Late is not an option. There’s 200 some injection molded parts involved in this product and the molder has given our customer a commitment on cost and delivery of the production units based on getting data released on that date. If we miss it, that opens the door wide for the molder to ask for more money and time. If that happens, it can’t be our fault.
Define ‘Fundamental’.
I’m finally getting back to the subject of fundamentals that I started a while back. Reading back over my two posts and the associated comments, I’ve realized that I have some explaining to do. First is to give some back ground on why I feel the need to explore this topic. There’s a several month history behind this that I ought to articulate. Although I’ve touched on it a couple of times, I’ll save the complete story for another day.
The second thing, and the subject of this post is to define ‘fundamental’. I realized that I threw the word out without really defining it in this context. I learned from radio talk show host Mark Scott in Detroit that one of the things one must do in any debate is to define your terms. (Once on 1270 AM, Mark is now heard only on the internet. If you’re going to go listen, be forewarned – Mark is well right of center, unabashedly libertarian actually. I found his reasoning ability and methods excellent.) So when I said, ” We ought to fight for unity on the essentials and let the rest fall where it may. ” how do I define ‘essential’ or ‘fundamental’ or ‘foundational’?
First some dictionary definition excerpts from dictionary.com:
Essential:
Adj.
- Constituting or being part of the essence of something; inherent.
- Basic or indispensable; necessary
n.
- Something fundamental.
- Something necessary or indispensable.
Adj.
- Of or relating to the foundation or base; elementary.
- Forming or serving as an essential component of a system or structure; central
n.
- Something that is an essential or necessary part of a system or object.
Adjective form of Foundation:
n.
- The basis on which a thing stands, is founded, or is supported.
So the ‘foundations’ of Christianity would be, by definition, those things that make up it’s essence, that define it. They are inherent in it, indispensable and necessary. The implication is that if you take one of these things away, you may have something that looks like Christianity, but is not. It is missing part of the essence the thing. So if we’re to find the fundamentals, we need to be sure what we get is truly the essence. With out it, Christianity would be something different. They are “The basis on which [it] stands, is founded, or is supported.”
Having the definition doesn’t help us agree on what they are, although it should help us evaluate what we find. But even the search for ‘fundamentals’ can be problematic. My friend Virusdoc took minor offense (or at least displeasure) at the term ‘fundamental’, relating too closely to the fundamentalist movement in Christianity, which he is not too fond of. But I think that regardless of whether you acknowledge it or not, your Christianity is founded on something, some sort of fundamentals. So whether you choose to call yourself a ‘fundamentalist’ matters little, there is still something, some core that supports your faith.
In the comments here, he also challenged my use of the Bible as the only source for that foundation. He encouraged me to look at other sources as well. I’ll admit to a personal bias here, but that concept is hard to consider. While I’ve gotten much inspiration and knowledge from other sources – books, preachers, seminars, friends, blogs, forums – I have always compared those things to the Bible. Why is that? Part is upbringing. I was taught to do that. But there is also a principle at work here. Jesus spoke of how we build our spiritual house, He told us not to be careful of how we build the house itself, but to pay careful attention to the foundation. In Matthew 7:24-27 He says that to build your life on his words is to build on a secure foundation. To not build on his words is to build on sand. We find his words in the Bible (An interesting question that I’m not prepared to answer right now is, Should our fundamentals only come from Jesus’ words and not the rest of scripture? Perhaps so, but that’s a debate for another post.) The Bible is not subject to man’s whim. It is like bedrock: solid, secure, stable and unmovable. The opinions of men, even well thought out and agreed upon by many, are like sand, clay and dirt: they can shift and squirm. Today’s revelation or inspiration may be out of fashion tomorrow, but Jesus’ words will always be true.
Hopefully you can see the danger of adding in too much to the foundation. If everything is foundational, then you have nothing left to build the building. The Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, even your own home are mostly not foundation. In fact the foundation is the least attractive part of most buildings. Who wants to live or work in the basement? Who enjoys getting down into a crawl space? But without it, the ‘attractive’ parts of the building would be in danger of collapse.
Have you ever looked at the NYC skyline and wondered why there seems to be two ‘downtowns’ where the building heights soar, one at the tip of Manhattan and one about midway up the island? It has nothing to do with property values or social demographics and everything to do with bedrock. In these two areas the bedrock is much closer to the surface making it easier to get to and therefore easier and cheaper to build tall buildings. See, architects and civil engineers know that in order to build something great, you must look for the right foundation.
04/29 – Numbers 25, 27, 32, 33, 34, Deuteronomy 4
Numbers 27:15-17, 32, Deuteronomy 4:41-43, Numbers 33:50-56, 25:17-19, 34, 35:1-8
The further I get into my chronological Bible, the more the days readings can jump around a bit. Today is especially scattered.
Num. 27:18 – If only it were this easy today to tell what leader is God’s. I’m partly kidding as we have the scriptures to test our leaders against. But some like to compare leadership positions today to these Old Testament times. I don’t think it’s wise to do that.
Deut. 4:41-43 – God’s heart for those caught in an unfortunate situation. Cities of refuge – a place to flee to. God knew that a death at the hand of another, even accidental, brings great anguish and emotions that may lead to further sin and violence. God provided a place for the man to go to escape while the emotions calmed and the truth was discerned. Protection for both the perpetrator and the victim’s family.
Num. 33:50-56 – Think about having to carry out this order, to destroy them all or become a target yourself. Surely, there would be times that you’d get to know those people. Could you still carry it out? Rahab the prostitute in Jericho would be an exception that God would approve of (even tracing the line of Jesus through her), but later the people would grow weary and loose their conviction about carrying this out.
Num. 25:17-19 – Interesting that God puts the carrying out of His judgment in the hands of the people.
Num. 35:1-8 – God’s heart – “Make sure you tae care of the Levites, their special position gives them no tribal inheritance. Take care of and provide for them.”
Celebacy, Obviously
I found this great post over at a new blog I’ve been visiting called Radical Congruency. The two authors are from a similar (Church of Christ) background which I find encouraging.
The post was all about how Christians tend to treat those who are gay differently that folks that struggle with other sins. Why is it that this one sin is more difficult to separate for the person that others? Somehow I think that Jesus wouldn’t do that. He’d chastise and rebuke them for their sin, but not discard them for their weaknesses. I know of more than one brother who have an ongoing temptation for lust and pornography. How is homosexual temptation any different? They are a part of a close knit support group to help them overcome, why shouldn’t we do them same for those who identify themselves as ‘gay’?
We all have our weaknesses and we all have looked at others and not understood why some other sin tempts them so much. Let’s stand firm on sin but love the sinner.
04/26 – Numbers 25, 31 and 26
Numbers 25, Numbers 31, Numbers 26
Num. 25:10-13 – Here’s an example of what it means to be zealous for God’s honor. He was not concerned for his own safety – he walked in on a leader in the midst of adultry! He did not let the fact that this man’s sin was between him and God stop him from stnading up for the Lord. It wasn’t really just between him and God, he in open defiance, paraded her through the campo in front of the people who were trying to tunr away rom this sin. He may not have even notived thier weeping (Num. 25:6) as he brought her to his tent. He certainly did not have God or the people on his mind.
Num. 31 – It seems I should write something about this, but what? What does it say about the heart of God to see such seeming brutality? Moses is angry that they haven’t killed the women and children. He even orders it done. Only the virgins survive. I can understand the anger the Isrealites felt toward them for leading them astray, especially the women. (Of course, it does seem that the Isrealites did not put up much of a fight.) BUt des that justify this? My chronilogical Bible’smnotes hint at ‘cultural’ things to be taken into account. It says:
In raising the moral consciencesness of first a nation, and then the world, God must take his people as he finds them and introduce principles of righteousness within a moral framework with which the people can identify.
That moral framework for the Isrealites, it says, is a culture where revenge includes complete destruction of your enemies. Still hard to accept, but it’s the rest of the scriptures, the examples of God’s love, patience and forgiveness that make it possible to suspend my disbelief and trust that there is an explanation.
Num. 26:1-50 – More names and numbers.
Num. 26:61 – It seems that throughout this time of wanderings and the beginings of battles against other nations, God is making a statement about holiness and His honor. Phinehas is lifted up for being zealous for God’s honor and here we see mention of men who died for not having enogh respect for the Lord, using unauthorized fire. God’s anger is stirred when the people are not holy,set apart for him and they are about to go to battle in the name of a pure nation of God’s people in Canaan.
A night of introspection
Note: This was originally written last Wednesday night (4/21/04) after church. I’ve put off posting it so I could reflect on it a bit and get some input from a friend on it before posting it.
Wow, tonight has turned into something unexpected. This was men’s midweek, but we were locked out of our meeting place, so we met at a nearby park. It was cold and damp, so it was difficult to concentrate at times. The theme scripture was Nehemiah 9 and the subject was confession of sin. He spoke about how the Israelites treated their sin and responded to it. They took full responsibility. It wasn’t their circumstances or environment or how others treated them. No, they did it and God’s punishment was just. This is perhaps the most important step in change, admitting our sin. How can we change, if we don’t see the need to? But how easily we are deceived! I’ve spoken about the desire to believe a certain thing, intellectual inertia I called it. We want to believe that we see our sin completely and we’re dealing with it. But do we actually see it or is that belief a convenient fiction to make us feel good?
Also tonight, one of the Deacons of the church stepped down from his position both as Deacon and as family group leader. I spoke to him afterwards about it. There were several things encompassing his concern for his physical and spiritual family that went into his decision. It was not a one issue decision. It was a shock to my system that I was not prepared for. He and I have had several deep conversations about God, discipleship and our church. We have grown close and I have grown to respect him greatly as a result. It was his concerns for his ‘spiritual’ family (our church) that impacted me the most.
So it’s no surprise that I left the park feeling all out of sorts, fumbling for a foot hold. I spent the 30 minute ride home in prayer to God, pouring out my heart, waving my hand in the air as I drove (what a sight I bet I was). It was his leaving leadership that disturbed me the most. You see, it’s been a challenging year for our church. I’ve mentioned it here before but never really explained it. We’ve seen a lot of who we really are revealed over this past year, both in my local congregation and through our family of ICOC churches. Several strong, spiritual men I respect greatly here spoke up about how we had grown distant in our relationships, that our love had grown cold. I could feel it myself; my friendships weren’t what they once were. Frankly, my eyes were opened to a great deal in how we had been operating. We had taken liberties with God’s word, going too far in our authority, calling people to obey more than we ought. What’s worse, we hadn’t loved like Jesus. Our love was superficial and easy, not the dirty, difficult, in the trenches love that Jesus showed us. Over a period of months I watched these men, all in some sort leadership position, plead for change in these areas. One by one, they stepped down from their positions and eventually left our fellowship for another. I was disturbed as I watched my mentors, my heroes of the faith, leave, and now one more has stepped from leadership. Time will tell what that means.
Change has come to our church through all this. There’s a new emphasis on grace and less accountability. The old, harmful practices are mostly gone. I had become pleased with where we were going, the preaching was (and is) deep, moving and powerful. However, the truth I was ignoring, the elephant in the room, was that our relationships weren’t changing. I had gotten closer to some, but many of those had left. What disturbed me the most as I drove home tonight was how little I had recognized it. The heart of the church was the same as it had been, and I was asleep at the switch. The outside of the cup was clean, but the inside was just as dirty (Matthew 23:25-28).
I’ve learned much over these months. I’ve reorganized my priorities and realized what’s really important. But, to be brutally honest it’s been mostly an intellectual exercise. I came to realize that I fell into the ‘intellectual inertia’ trap. I wanted to believe that it was all good, so it all became good. I wanted to believe that we were making changes, so it felt like we were making changes.
Last fall as I realized what was lacking in our church, I had made a commitment, along with my wife, to spending some time each week with another family or just other folks. It would be our goal to have someone in our home each Friday. Some weeks wouldn’t work out, but it would be our goal to do it each week. I wanted to rebuild those relationships, to get into people’s lives. I had hoped to gain some mentors and be a mentor, to really know people and help them. It went well for a few weeks, then the holidays and then nothing.
I am a wretch and a hypocrite. What’s worse is that my writing this smacks of self congratulations for seeing it and more of the same. Frankly, I am afraid that I don’t have the strength of commitment to change. Not the strength to change, mind you, I know that I don’t have that. If I did there would be no need for Jesus to die on a cross. No, what I’m afraid of is weakness of commitment. Do I have the will to buckle down and do what I committed to do? Do I have the guts and courage to honor God in that way? Am I willing to lay myself on the line and really love people?
Frankly, my church is floundering because of such a lack of conviction. Worse than that, its people, God’s people, are dying for lack of love and solid, deep relationships. I’ve seen it in myself. If I were truly honest, one of the reasons I started this blog is to hopefully get some of those relationships that I miss. Frankly, that’s not going to work. Not because you aren’t good people or don’t care, but because you can’t really know me over the internet. What I need are real people in my real life to really know me, people who see me at my best and worst and aren’t impressed by the former or frightened by the latter. That’s what the folks in my church are longing for too. Do I have the conviction, the courage and the willingness to give it to them like Jesus did? Will I get down into the filth of their lives (don’t kid yourself, we’ve all got filth) with them and help them navigate it? That’s what Jesus did.
Relationships
Bird at the Thinklings had a great post about the importance of relationships the other day. It really hit home for me for reasons I’ll make clear in a post that’s brewing.
More on that later, but I wanted to comment a bit on the importance of relationships. I think that relationships aren’t just nice to have or even invaluable, they are one of the fundamentals that I’ve begun to write about. Not who we have but who we are to others.
Jesus’ ministry was all about relationships, giving to others. The things we tend think church is about – Sunday services, a building – weren’t even a part of Jesus’ ministry. He came here to give to us, to mentor us, to disciple us and we ought to follow his example of selflessness and outward focus.
So to me, to put it bluntly, I think any life as a Christian that isn’t relationship driven is a lie. That’s part of the definition of Christianity. You can’t say “I follow Jesus.” but not be relationship driven because that is what Jesus was.
Jared in the comments at Thinklings laments on what Christians that live an isolated Christian life are missing. Yes, they are missing the benefits of such relationships to their own life as well as the joy of being able to make a difference in someone else’s life. I think that they’ve actually missed the whole point and found something else, not Christianity.
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