A New Perspective on... Sin

Sunday, November 30, 2008
You might here the phrase, "a new perspective" come out of my mouth much more now. It is all because of the most recent book I am reading. Now that I received my present (any six books off of my wish list) from my wife I can read. The first book I choose to dive into was, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Though small in pages (approx. 150) this book, which actually is an essay is rich and full of profound insight. The most pressing thought I would like to share with you deals with sin.

I think we all know how we respond to sin. We don't like. We tend to be judgmental and harsh in order to create separation so that our "sin" is not discovered. On a grander scale, we can reflect upon history and see that the "church" most often was the ring leader and spearheaded the charge against the "sinner", casting them (the sinner) out. Because of this, the very place of love and acceptance morphed into a place of hypocrisy. The most recent/most visible example of this is the handling of the Ted Haggard saga. If you don't know, Ted recently returned to the pulpit, accepting an invitation of a former classmate to preach at his church. I only bring this to refresh your memory and ask you a question. What might have happened if we (the church as a whole) reacted differently and had a new perspective. A perspective that is quite different then what we are used to. A perspective that Bonhoeffer shares here:
"Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom I, too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ? Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and Deed which really binds us together - the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ."
So, next time you feel yourself becoming judgmental towards a brother or sister in Christ why don't you celebrate. How? Instead of "slapping their hand" while scolding them why don't you "grab their hand" and pray together. For it is in that prayer where you both can confess and admit the sin in your life; it is in that prayer you can acknowledge that no matter how hard you try you will always fall short; it is in that prayer that you can receive the unconditional love that only Jesus gives.

2 T-Day Jokes 4 U

Thursday, November 27, 2008
Here is the first one....
A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York two days before
Thanksgiving and says,'I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your
mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

'Pop, what are you talking about?' the son screams.

We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the father says.
'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you
call your sister in Chicago and tell her.'

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. 'Like
heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts, 'I'll take care of this,'

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, 'You are NOT
getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling
my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't
do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?' and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. 'Okay,' he says,
'they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.'
Here is the second...
Bob the Birdman has a parrot. His name is Grumpy. Grumpy had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity.

Bob tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music, and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, Bob was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. Grumpy yelled back. Bob shook the parrot, and Grumpy got angrier and even ruder. Bob, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird, and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes Grumpy squawked and kicked and screamed.

Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt Grumpy, Bob quickly opened the door to the freezer.

Grumpy calmly stepped out onto Bob's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

Bob was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask Grumpy what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, Grumpy continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

My Second Thought....

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
In case you are wondering, it took some time to gather “my second thought”. For the past few weeks it has been sitting in my brain incomplete longing to come to fruition. It has now reached maturity and evolved to the point where it is bursting forth anticipating an exposure to the world on this here blog. This "second thought" was birthed while I was training at work where I was forced to watch the “Fish Philosophy” movie. Now, I have seen this short flick many times so (as you can imagine) I wasn’t filled with much joy and excitement over it. In fact, I was honestly contemplating closing my eyes to take a short nap. But if I did this I would not only garner the attention of my trainer, I would also wake up her sleeping child (6 months old) in the back corner. So, I stayed awake and to my surprise I learned something new. However, it had nothing to do with “choosing my attitude”, “playing”, “being there”, and “making there day” all of which are equally important and communicated through the “Fish” movie as it chronicles the lives of the workers at The World Famous Pikes Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington.

What I leaned was this: creativity matters! In the segment on “play” in the movie one of the workers can be quoted as saying. “If you copy us you are stuck…The fact that you are copying us, doing what we are doing, signifies that you are stuck and lack creativity…. (paraphrased a bit)” Wow, what a statement; what a statement full of implications and insight for the church today. This is why - there are those in the church who copy and duplicate a structure or program from another church in hopes that it reproduces and garners the same result in their present situation. Let me share an example to illustrate what I am talking about.

Church A in Portland desires to expand and increase one of its programs. In so doing, they research and read about church B in Sacramento that has been successful doing what Portland longs to do. Because church A has a result oriented approach (yes, this even happens in the church) they simply COPY the structure and program from church B in Sacramento. In COPYING everything from the church in Sacramento the church in Portland neglects laying the necessary foundation that is critical to such a program. (This critical information could be demographic information, specific cultural patterns, church members, church member patters, ethnic information, and the like.) Church A is also acknowledging that they lack creativity and the intestinal fortitude to get on their knees to seek God’s answers and ways instead of other mans successful (or failed) attempts. In such a situation, the answer is not to COPY another church but, it is to seek God’s guidance as he (through the power of the Holy Spirit) provides fresh and divine insight, releasing a new found creativity to reach the world we live in.

In closing, I want to leave you with the following quote because it is this quote that completed my "second thought", bringing me to the point of sharing this with you. In his book Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright mentions the following as he explains what the connection should be between hope, the church, and creativity.
"The church, because it is the family that believes in hope for new creation, should be the place in every town and village where new creativity bursts forth for the whole community, pointing to the hope that, like all beauty, always comes as a surprise."

My First Thought...

Thursday, November 13, 2008
I have had a few thoughts since being back in California so I thought I might share them with you. I only have time to write one at a time so you will have to wait in suspense for the next. The first has to do with Proposition 8…. (need I say more?)

For those inside California you will understand, without much explanation, the role Prop 8 has played in our lives over the past few weeks. For those outside California all you need to know is that Prop 8 was a constitutional amendment seeking to redefine marriage as only between a man and women. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that this is heated and controversial proposition. Prop 8 has led both sides to protest in droves at major intersections throughout California, including one only miles from where I am living. On each corner there were those in favor and against, shouting, screaming, hoping to get the most attention so that one might look at their sign that they are holding. All of this leads me to ask:
  1. Is the best way to communicate the saving and sacrificial love of Jesus?
  2. If one is shouting at the other, causing the other to feel hated, un-loved, and despicable then how does one expect the other to feel when they interact within ones church?
  3. Did at anytime, those in favor of Prop 8, cross the street and apologize to those against, in hopes that a cordial and respectful dialogue might take place.
  4. When all is said and done and the election is over. What type of hostility and perception will we (I say we as Christians) have to overcome to share and prove the undiscriminatory love of Christ?