This road I travel. #3

36 of 42.

Many of the changes I have encountered in my life occurred years ago, when I began to step out of the cocoon of my early church upbringing.  This one, though, is relatively new.

The availability of information has changed everything.

It was gradual, at first.  Radio.  Television.  “Live”entertainment and news reporting put people in the moment. It was censored and edited in the beginning, but over the past couple of decades, it has become increasingly unfiltered…with unlimited availability.

The internet has given a voice to anybody and everybody.  24 hours a day.  An expert is anyone with a keyboard. Somebody’s opinion is just a click away.  Somebody’s perspective is always waiting for you to read it, listen to it, or watch it.

The same medium that can show you how to fix a compressor on a refrigerator or properly hang a kitchen cabinet, can also provide you with instant filth or the non-stop rants of atheists bent on making a mockery of people of faith.

In the 1970’s, about the only place my faith was ever challenged intellectually was at San Diego State University… by my philosophy professors and the campus radicals who stood up in the quad to heckle the open-air street preachers who were proclaiming the message of “turn or burn” every day to the uninterested crowds.

Nowadays, there are hundreds (probably thousands) of websites dedicated to debunking orthodox, biblical faith at our fingertips.  Granted, I probably do more searching of theology, philosophy and social issues than the average joe…but if I am constantly encountering things that challenge my beliefs and cause me to dig really deep to come up with intelligent responses, I can only image there are others with the same struggles.

And many of them are part of a younger generation that seems to be rejecting the life and message of the church in such alarming numbers.

Anybody can post anything on Facebook with authority.  It’s the pulpit for the masses.  No training required.  No education required.  No consequences for plagiarism, bias, or citing sources that haven’t been properly researched.   Facebook “preachers” pontificate their version of the truth (on unlimited subjects) to listening ears with absolute conviction and authoritative certainty.

And people believe it.  And there’s no stopping it.

Watchdog bloggers are everywhere exposing the sins of churches and church leaders.  All of our dirty laundry (toxic leadership, sexual abuse of members, financial mismanagement, manipulative deception, the wack-job fringe, in-fighting, theological wars, crazy authoritarian church discipline, lack of love, harsh judgement…need I go on?) is hanging on the close line for everybody to see.   Things that only the “insiders” knew about are now part of the everyday internet landscape.

I love the accountability.  I hate the exposure.

Forty years ago, the majority of theological minds who were writing books and being published in mainstream religious circles were coming from the conservative, evangelical community.  This has blown up in recent years.  Progressive and liberal voices in the church are being heard loud and clear and they are full of well-articulated theological positions and arguments I NEVER heard when I was younger, even though they were out there.

They just didn’t have the medium.

They do now.

It’s a brave, new world.  Being a follower of Christ in the United States is no longer a privileged position.  What I believe no longer goes unchallenged.  I don’t start from the pole position anymore.

And I’m ok with that.

A matter of influence

33 of 42. We are down to the final ten of 42 days of reposted blog posts. I hope they’ve been good for you. This one is short, but definitely one of my favorites.

We don’t form our positions on important issues independently.  We don’t come to our opinions in a vacuum.

We just don’t.

Oh, we can determine our favorite food or who we think is the best lead guitar player of all-time or even our take on the top movie of the year.  Those are arrived at subjectively and, in the big picture, aren’t really all that important.  Sorry.

I’m talking about something altogether different.

Take politics.  You don’t just sit in your recliner and manufacture your opinions on issues like immigration reform or affordable health care or the national budget.  If you’re smart, you research.  You study.  You listen.  You fact check.  But to do that, you have to rely on sources of input to inform you and educate you.

And there’s the struggle.  You have to determine which source of information is worthy of your trust.  Which news channel?  Which talking head? Which politician? Which blogger? Which social scientist?  Which website? Which publications?  Which family member?

Whose “truth” is more reliable?  Whose opinion do you give the most weight?

Take matters of health care.  You don’t just daydream yourself into opinions on vaccinations.  On alternative medicines.  On weight loss plans.  On childbirth alternatives. On heart care.  On physician and hospital choices.  If you’re smart, you research.  Just like you should on politics.

And at some point, you may say “no” to conventional methods and traditional approaches to medicine.  And you will do that because you have chosen a source of truth to trust, over and above others.  You may choose a friend or family member’s opinion over a medical doctor…or an internet source over a face-to-face professional consultation.

No matter what, you have allowed yourself to be influenced by someone or something.

Or take matters of spirituality and theology.  You don’t simply develop your personal belief system by locking yourself in a closet and reading the Bible.  Or at least you shouldn’t.  The Bible is a complex piece of literature that demands the best of scholarship to understand. And there are hundreds and hundreds of years of interpretation at our fingertips.

Which books are you reading?  Which teachers are you listening to? Which commentaries carry more weight?  Whose interpretations do you deem more “right”?  Whose opinions are shaping what you believe?

In life, it’s not a matter of whether or not you will be influenced.  It is a matter of who you are letting influence you.  Who are you giving access to your decision-making process?  Who are you allowing to define “truth” for you?

I’m pretty convinced our research of sources is just as important as our research of the information.  The source of “truth” is as important as the truth itself.

Saying “goodbye” to old friends

Number 19 of 42…January 18, 2019. See if you remember this one.

So I recently started doing this thing at 9:30 on Sunday mornings.  I’ve called it “Wading into the deep water”. I figured it was about time to address some of the wild javelinas in the room…starting with the fact that we don’t all agree.  Theological opinion circulates in the church more than the smell of expensive hipster coffee in the lobbies of big churches.

There is no doubt I feel the pressure to give black-and-white, authoritative, “right” answers when I am confronted with questions…especially the hot button kind.  I am a spiritual answer man, for crying out loud.  I’m also aware there are “conventional” interpretations…answers I was taught when I was just a theological grasshopper…traditions as church practices that I just assumed as my own for years…that I no longer believe or practice.

Change did not happen overnight.  Nor did it happen flippantly. I didn’t just wake up one day and realize I had fallen off the Bible teaching bandwagon of my past.  I’ve read. I’ve studied…the Bible and the writings of church thinkers throughout the ages. I’ve listened. I’ve compared and contrasted.  I’ve weighed things out. I’ve wrestled with my motives and the possible outcomes.

There are many things I still hold as unshakeable truths.  I cannot remotely imagine ever changing what I believe about certain things.  Yet, there are others that have morphed over time…and still others that are long gone.

Some changes have been relatively easy.  Other changes in my thinking have been painfully difficult.  Some changes have been fully embraced. Others are still a work in progress.  All have been fueled by a desire to be a true disciple and obedient to the word.  

At the risk of looking like a crazy man or being labelled a heretic, here’s a look at some things I was taught in my earlier church life, that I no longer hold as absolute truth…things I have “changed my mind” on over time…some through a deeper study of scripture…some from life experience…some from waking up and realizing I was probably wrong all along:

• Rock music is of the devil.
• Women are unfit to lead in society.
• We can trust the American judicial system to treat everyone with fairness and impartiality.
• Pastors are to be the theological authority in a church family.
• The goal of the church is to get bigger.
• True christians need to picket abortion hospitals.
• You can’t be a private gun owner and truly trust jesus.
• Making condoms available from the health centers on High School campuses is always a bad thing.
• Getting counseling is a sign of weakness.
• The premillennial position on end times is the right position.
• Men are always to be the spiritual leaders of the marriage and family.
• I will be “raptured out” before the “great tribulation”.
• Since God apparently knows everything that’s going to happen (and is possibly causing it), prayer can’t change God’s mind.
• Calvinism and Arminianism are both equally true.  Our finite minds are just incapable of completely understanding it.
• Any people who speak in tongues are just wacky.
• Paul wrote the book of Hebrews.
• You must have an invitation to accept Christ into your heart at the end of a worship service.
• It is a sin to miss communion on a Sunday.
• It might even be a sin to miss church on a Sunday.
• Church services are only to be done on Sundays.
• Communion has to be unleavened bread and Welch’s grape juice (the sacred grape juice).
• Guitars should not be used in church.
• We need to dress up on Sundays for church.
• The earth is less than 8000 years old.
• The King James Version is the most reliable translation of the Bible.
• Christians should not have tattoos.
• Dancing is sinful.
• Women should never preach in a church service.
• If a person repents of sin and professes trust in Christ for salvation on their deathbed…but never makes it to the baptistery…they will go to hell.
• All catholics will go to hell.  Probably most episcopals, too. My home church even had some serious doubts about Southern Baptists.
• Real christians don’t drink alcohol of any kind.
• Missionaries and pastors are superior christians.
• America is more “christian” than other countries.
• Jesus was really born on december 25.
• Homosexuality is always a choice that one makes.
• Hell is endless and eternal pain and torment.
• Divorced people are prohibited from important ministry in the church.
• Sundays are the New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament Sabbath.
• Church meetings need to begin and end with prayer.
• Only certain people are predestined to be saved.
• The sermon is the most important part of a church service.
• God’s greatest attribute is his omnipotence.
• Christians have to be republicans.
• Personal wealth is a sign of God’s blessing.
• Personal poverty is a sign spiritual maturity.
• Churches are better off being racially segregated.
• There is a sure-fire formula for marriage success.
• Natural disasters are a form of God’s punishment.
• My church and my doctrine are “right”…and everybody else…if they disagree…is wrong.
• I have an obligation to perpetuate my denominational heritage.
• My words or my relationship with a person can keep them from sinning or self-destructing.
• If I’m doing something really important for God, he will protect me from harm.
• When a child dies, we can console ourselves by believing God wants them more in heaven than he wants them on earth.
• All Muslims are inherently bad people.
• Mormons and christians basically believe the same thing.
• It is important to teach people to tithe.
• The Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the 27 Amendments to the Constitution and the Sermon on the Mount are all to bear equal importance in the life of an American christian.
• The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.
• The amount of people believing a particular doctrine, teaching or tradition increases its credibility.
• Since we’ve always done something that way (or believed that way), it must be right…and we must continue doing it.

You know what? There are more. Maybe I’ll post list #2 one of these days.

Learn to bend…

Sometimes other people say or write things that just need to be passed on. This post contains one of those quotes.

Number 15…March 6, 2012

Here’s a great quote about relationships:

“Disagreements are inevitable. There will always be opposing viewpoints and a variety of perspectives on most subjects. Tastes differ as well as preferences. That is why they make vanilla and chocolate and strawberry ice cream, why they build Fords and Chevys, Chryslers and Cadillacs, Hondas and Toyotas. That is why our nation has room for Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals – and moderates. The tension is built into our system. It is what freedom is all about, including religious freedom.  I am fairly firm in my theological convictions, but that doesn’t mean you (or anyone) must agree with me. All this explains why we must place so much importance on leaving “wobble room” in our relationships. One’s theological persuasion may not bend, but one’s involvement with others must.”  – Chuck Swindoll

Do you give space in your relationships for different opinions?  Can you walk closely with people who don’t see things from your point of view?  Are you determined not to run from the tension that appears in every relationship from time to time?

The longer I’m at it,  the more convinced I am of the value of sticking with it.  Some friendships are easy.  Others…not so much.  In every relationship,  the risk of hurt…misunderstanding…unfair judgment…mistakes…mixed motives…and wrong perceptions…is always a possibility.

Throw in a layer of dysfunction and mix it with some fear and paranoia…well, you’ve got a recipe for difficulty.

I love Swindoll’s answer:  Be strong enough…and healthy enough…to bend.

A Response

A few days ago, I got a comment on my last blog post.  I have a lot of people who subscribe to my blog or find it on Facebook or Twitter and I have no idea who they are.  The comment came from a person like that and I decided to respond to it publicly, because it was an honest question that made me pause.  Here goes…

Mike I say, answer me this; please How does one ever come to a common ground with a racist, or someone who violates the law by illegally keeping brown children who are following our laws to apply for citizenship out of out of this country. A man who speaks of his sexual fetishes out loud including but not limited to his own children. A bully whose documented lies in the last 3 years are in the thousands. My position is a sane individual would speak out against him but yet the conservative Christian community for the most part supports him and I ask you Why?

First off, I will never have the opportunity to sit down over chips and salsa with Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, or Stephen Miller.  Nor will the chips get passed between me and Nancy, Bernie, or Beto…even though we are obviously on a first-name basis. Hah! But I have had many opportunities to sit and break tortilla chips with their supporters…and my friends.

And that’s what I was talking about when I wrote my post.  I suppose if I ever had a sit down with the President or with the Speaker of the House, I would like to think I would do the same thing I do with Marshall and Gary and David and Gayla and Judy and Chris.  I would ask honest questions and I would listen carefully to their answers and do my best to understand not only what they believe about important issues, but why and how they have come to those beliefs.

That’s what I do. That’s who I am. That’s how I learn and grow and serve. That’s how I build friendships. That’s how a shepherd lives. It’s not perfect, but it’s how I fall asleep at night.

But I understand…talking directly and unfiltered with the very people who are intimately responsible for the wrongdoing you are reacting to is really, really different from having to interact or even walk side-by-side with someone who ideologically supports or defends the actions of the ones responsible.  And it’s a BIG difference.

Btw…I am unapologetically pro-life.  In every area of life. At all times. Because of that, it constantly puts me at odds with the leaders and predominant ideologies of both political parties.  Big time odds. Welcome to my world.

You may think this is the chicken way out, but for me, finding common ground or pursuing genuine friendship with the source of evil is completely different from doing the same with someone who, because of their understanding, their life story, their fears, their hopes, or a dozen other factors, finds a plausible reason to support the thing you or I might call evil. 

I will never get to hold the communion tray for Nancy Pelosi to take and drink her cup.  I will never harmonize a great hymn of the faith with President Trump singing next to me. We will never share the same hospital room of suffering or a plate of potato salad at a church potluck.  That’s what friends do. That’s what friends who disagree with each other do. That’s what friends who seek the kingdom of God with each other do.

Brother, I want you to know there are many people I passionately disagree with.  Sometimes they are the source of what I believe are evil actions. Sometimes, they are the supporters and defenders of people and systems I believe are wrong and I am convinced their defense of those issues are not only mistaken, but they might very well be unjust, illegal, immoral, or even ungodly. 

Sometimes I feel compelled to push back at friends and neighbors where I sense there is as much openness and respect to hear my side, as there is a willingness on my part to hear and respect theirs. Sometimes I don’t.

Sadly, that kind of civil discourse is pretty hard to find these days. But I’ll keep trying.

Why don’t I use my sermons, my teaching, and my writing to speak out against the political evil I see? Well that’s for another post.

Hope that helps.

Wake up, sleeper.

For some reason, I woke up today with an even deeper level of discouragement over how divided we are as people.  And it’s not simply the division, as profound as it is these days, but it’s that we just don’t know how to manage our differences of opinion in healthy ways.

No matter how old we are or where we’re from, our opinions are forged by the paths we have walked.  Sometimes, beliefs are passed down through our families. Perspectives are shaped by childhood experiences.  Often, attitudes are set and judgments are passed, as reactions to past hurt or exhilaration.  

For some, their position is loud and boisterous.  Others make their stand quietly, without fanfare. No matter what, opinion runs deep.

• Tex-mex or Northern Baja cuisine…
• School choice or public education…
• National League or American League…
• Cable or streaming…
• 2nd amendment or gun reform…
• Mac or PC…
• Clapton or Eddie Van Halen…
• Calvinism or Arminianism…
• Republican or Democrat…
• Ford or Chevy…

And there are hundreds of variations of these”opposites” that people have opinions on.  Strong. Immovable. Unshakeable.  

You see, that’s the thing about opinions and positions and beliefs.  When we have them, either secretly or boldly, we believe we are right.  Like, reallllllly right. And no amount of debate…no amount of new evidence…no amount of logic or persuasion is going to do much to change our minds.

Look, I’m a Mac-owning, Clapton-loving, National League kind of guy.  You can try, but I seriously doubt you are going to make a dent in my vastly superior position.  You can extol the greatness of Microsoft… or try to convince me that Clapton couldn’t carry the gig bag for Eddie or Page or Jimi or Stevie Ray…or that the DH makes for better baseball.  Pfft.

I’m set.  Really. Don’t bother.

But here’s what I do need from you.  I need you to try and understand why my position means so much to me.  I need you to hear some of my story and how my experiences have shaped the strong feelings I have about some things…many things.  I need you to hear my heart and try to understand the thinking behind my opinions.

I don’t need you to agree with me, even though I might quietly believe your life would be better for it.  I just want you to respect my position and attempt to see it from my perspective, so that we can be friends and move forward to contend together for the greater things.  And I suspect that is what you want from me.

This is what’s missing in the public forum.  Listening and hearing take time. Patience with differences and kindness for the greater good demands our full attention.  Grace under attack requires the supernatural.

We can do better than what we are doing.  All of us can. We have to.

And if you don’t think I’m talking about a lot more than guitar playing or baseball or carne asada, you don’t know me very well.

The Skywalker Letters. #2

Young Jedi,

Roll with me here. As the church becomes more militant and combative in our fight for truth, justice and the American way, the more our commitment to expanding the Kingdom will be compromised.

Come on.  As pastors, is our highest calling to preach the gospel to all nations and reach the lost with the message of hope and grace and healing revealed in the life and words of Jesus or not?  Are we called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus or not? Are we to do what he did…say the things he said…treat people the way he did…and live by giving value to the things he valued or not?

Some people may say that Jesus was an extremist. Maybe you do. I know I did when I was a young Jedi. Some say he polarized people and drew lines and caused his followers to choose sides.  And in a way he did. But he also did something else.

He navigated the middle.

He rubbed elbows with everyone.  He was as comfortable with the prostitute as he was with the aristocrat.  He saw the good, or at least the potential for good, in all. He partied at the wedding feast and he taught in the temple.  He loved the saint and the sinner. How about you?

He was a living bridge and not a wall.  He was a window and not a barricade. He was always the safe middle ground where all were accepted. All were welcome. All were loved. Such a far cry from so many of his followers today.

How about you? Will you be safe?  Will you be welcoming?  Will you listen or are you licking your chops to tell people what you think they need to know?

Will you try to walk in the shoes of the other…to see what they see and feel what they feel and understand why they may think and act the way they do?  Will you do that without judgment and rejection? Do you still have more to learn…even from people with whom you have differences of opinion or conviction?

Will you draw people in or will you push them away with your opinions and corner on the truth?  Will you be known more for you love or for your rhetoric?

Junior, can I offer a suggestion?  The more people are defined by right and left…liberal and conservative…pro this and con that…the greater the need for some pastors who can navigate from the middle.  Followers of Christ and leaders in his church who can understand and articulate and sympathize with both sides of the fence. Any fence.

We desperately need a new generation of pastors who will not be bullied by anybody.  Who will not be intimidated by new ideas or run scared by change. Who will not be frightened by people who are different…philosophies that are different…and even ideas that challenge our orthodox understandings of the church and doctrine.

The world we live in has changed.  Technology has changed. The flow of information has changed.  The rate of change has changed. But people still need to meet Jesus.

And if that’s going to happen in the world as we know it now, we need to have pastors (and people, in general) who can navigate the middle.  The middle is where peace is forged, where compromise is found, where surprising friendships and new alliances are born.  The middle is where people are drawn in, not alienated.

Will that be you?  Will you be a pastor who navigates the middle? We’ve got more than enough of the others!

Shalom, Skywalker.

Writing about writing.

Every time I sit down to compose a blog post, I usually spend 1-1/2 to 2 hours writing it.  Not every one.  But certainly most of them.  When I was looking back at my blogging history earlier this week, it started to sink in just how much time I spend doing this.

Years ago, when I would sit down with my pen and spiral notebook, I seldom spent that kind of time.  I would scribble my thoughts and prayers…whatever came to my mind.   I would write what I was feeling.  Good and bad.  It was where I would express my frustrations and take the filter off.  I would I would write things that only God could handle.

Looking back, I’ve come to realize it was in my journaling where I became a more disciplined communicator.  It was where I grew to understand the connection between my heart and my head and the power of expression.

That connection is now part of me.  Journaling to blogging to preaching to daily conversations…my words matter.

When I write, I write carefully.  Every blog post is full of false starts that nobody ever knows about.  Sentences that are written and re-written multiple times.  I want to make sure that what I write is exactly what I want people to read.  If somebody reads what I write, I can never take my words back, once I hit the “publish” button.  Oh, I can go back and wipe it clean, but the screen shot has been snapped.  It’s definitely why I limit my writing on Twitter and FB.

I want my words to be consistent with my own character and personal journey.  I don’t want to be a hypocrite.  I get that nobody’s perfect,  but if what I write and what I do and say don’t match up, the importance of what I write is emptied of its value.  Painfully, I know this first hand.  “Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work for writers, any better than it does for parents.

Not only do I want an internal consistency, I also want to reflect the character of Christ in everything I write.  Especially when I am critical.  I take the words of the Bible writers seriously.  There is a time to call out sin.  There is a time to express opinion. There is a time to stand up for righteousness.  It’s not always easy.  “Let no unwholesome words come from your mouth” and “Bless and do not curse” are not outdated religious catchphrases.  They are commands that those who seek to honor Christ will live by…that I choose to live by.

I want my theology to be well thought out.  I want my opinions to be fully informed.  I want my criticisms to be above reproach.  I want my sarcasm to be measured.  I don’t ever want to play out my personal agenda with another person online. I owe them face to face.

I want healthy and uplifting writing to outweigh my negative thoughts and opinions 50 to 1.  I want grace and kindness to be present every time I write.  We live in such a caustic and unfiltered culture, I refuse to be part of that problem.

I generally read and re-read my posts ten or twelve times before I ever publish them.  Sometimes I let them sit for a few days and then come back to them, to see if they are still worth publishing.  I always try to read them from the point of view of the other…to make sure I am not inadvertently hurting or potentially driving a wedge.  I want to do my best to make sure my words and my intentions, will not be misunderstood. Unfortunately, this is never foolproof.

I am deeply aware that something much greater is at stake besides my need to be heard.

Oh my…the day has finally arrived.

It’s been nearly six months since I last posted anything here.  And honestly, it’s been almost a year since I have written regularly.  Today, I will offer some explanation and then I’ll move forward.

My blog has never been like a Facebook soundbite.  Or a 140 character Twitter reaction.  I always try to measure my rants. This has always been that place where my heart meets the keyboard for good.  For the good of my church family.  For the good of my extended circle of friends.  For the good of those who sit in the opposite corner.  And certainly for the good of my little slice of family posterity.

I have anticipated this day for quite a while.  I’ve actually written a number of times but never hit “publish”.  I’ve missed the personal cleansing I find in writing.  I’ve missed knowing that we were connecting..with or without your comments.  I’ve missed the discipline of weighing out my words and carefully expressing them.

Eleven months ago, my oldest son got sick.  Really sick.  There were certainly people who knew we were going through this as a family, although only those in our closest circle knew the story…and even those didn’t know the intimate details.  It has been a journey of pain and fear and hope.  After two major surgeries (and one more minor one to go), his road to recovery gets better every day.

There were days I wanted…no, I needed to write, but the only thing I could bring myself to write about were the events of my son’s journey.  So I didn’t.  It was his story, not mine, to tell.  Many days it overwhelmed me…and I wasn’t even the one going through it!  There is no doubt it took an emotional toll on me.

This “dad” thing doesn’t end when they move out of the house.  It doesn’t end when they get married and grow a family of their own.  Just like any dad who loves and cares, I wished I could exchange places with him.  I wanted to protect.  I wanted to fix.  I wanted to make it all go away.  But I couldn’t.  So I prayed and helped where I could and did what dads do.

And so I wrote privately.  Sorry.

There were other issues that affected my writing hiatus.  Our world has been full of a lot of big ticket items over the past year.  World changing…culture shocking…anger inducing…polarizing kinds of things.  And it seems like everybody’s talking.  Everybody’s got an opinion, a sermon, a post, an op-ed, or some kind of prophectic declaration.

Mine was not needed.

Loyalties have been declared.  Battle lines have been drawn.  Brothers have turned against brothers.  My “side” on issues need not be declared, unless it’s one-on-one, face-to-face, heart-to-heart, over a basket of chips and salsa.  Because there, the reality of true brotherhood will win the day.

For now, if you want my take on same-sex marriage, Caitlyn Jenner, Planned Parenthood, racial tension, the police, gun control, the Confederate flag, immigration reform, the war on terror, homosexuality, the race for President, the economy, and the like…you can have it.  Personally.  Prayerfully.  Mixed with kindness, understanding, and openness.

But it’s not for public consumption right now.  Maybe later.  Until then, it will only be shared in a place where we can know each other’s hearts, ask questions of depth and clarity, and have time to pause for the affirmation and joy of our relationship, when our differences become apparent.

And we can take time to refill the basket of chips.

So call me up, invite me out, respect my journey, encourage me to be open to new ideas.  Healthy conversation is the oxygen of healthy friendship.  (I’ll even do it by email…though the sharing of chips will have to be virtual.)

These are two of the reasons I haven’t written.  There were others.  Maybe I’ll write about them at another time.  For tonight, though, it feels really good to be back.

This road I travel. #2

Having grown up in a church tradition that believed it had sole possession of the correct interpretation of all the most important passages of the Bible, I realize I was already starting in a pretty big hole.

I was humbly and politely trained by my church leaders to view all other religions, denominations, cults and independent religious groups with at least a skeptical eye…and some with complete disdain.  Early on, I learned to identify the different faith groups in my community by certain distinctives that were simply wrong:

• The Methodists had women pastors.
• The Lutherans could smoke on their church patio.
• The Baptists made you get re-baptized to be a member of their church.
• The Presbyterians sprinkled babies and called it baptism.
• The Samoan Congregational Church across the street didn’t practice communion.
• The Episcopalians used real wine in their communion.
• The Catholics had nuns and their priests couldn’t get married.
• The Church of God in Christ by my house passed around rattlesnakes in their services.
• The Assembly of God folks spoke in tongues.
• The Seventh Day Adventists only met on Saturdays, not Sundays.
• The local AME Church said God wanted everybody to be wealthy.
• The Church of Christ didn’t use musical instruments.
• The Greek Orthodox had crazy looking pictures of old people everywhere.
• The Jesus People had long hair, torn jeans and were always barefoot.

But WE were the right ones.  Seriously.  My church (and others in our non-denominational club) held tightly to the inspiration and inerrancy and infallibility and the absolute authoritative truth of the Bible.  And we based our beliefs…and assumed our doctrinal and ecclesiastical high horse…on the foundation of God’s Word.  At least our understanding of it.

Looking back, the funny thing about this is every one of those faith groups believed (and still do believe) that THEY were right, also.  And each one of the practices and beliefs that make them distinct are based on their understanding and interpretation of the same Bible we all use.

So here’s where I’ve landed after a lifetime of studying the book and following Jesus:

If I were God, I would have made the book a lot easier to understand.  Good, godly, compassionate, gifted, educated Kingdomworkers have spent centuries studying it and arriving at different conclusions about what God is attempting to communicate.   I don’t think this dilemma will be ending anytime soon.

I’ve grown to accept the “humanness” of the Bible.  It was written by humans…from their perspective…reflecting their  journeys…their emotions (see the Psalms)…their flaws…their unique positions in the flow of history and culture.  I believe they wrote exactly what God intended for them to write, but I don’t believe they wrote robotically.

The Bible doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  Humans read it, study it, interpret it, and apply it.  And we don’t study it in a vacuum, either.  We always bring our preconceptions, our biases, our cultural bents, and our personal stories to the study desk.  We cannot avoid our humanity when we come face to face with scripture.  And I think that’s exactly what God intended.

I still believe in absolute truth.  But I don’t think that any of us can know all of it absolutely.  If we could, I’m not sure faith, as we know it, would be necessary.  Sight, experience, evidence and intellect would be all that was necessary.

I agree with my friend, Sean.  You should read his comments in yesterday’s post.  First, I believe my position perches me near a slippery slope.  But I like it here.  I no longer speak, think or act with an attitude of spiritual superiority that comes with believing my interpretation of the Bible is inerrant or infallible.

I am almost always willing to rethink what I have come to believe and entertain that I might be wrong, if posed with credible, humble and thoughtful opposition.  I still believe there is a list of essentials one must affirm to be in right standing with God, but that list is waaaay smaller than it used to be.  I believe this to be the way of grace.

Second, Sean said something really profound:  “In my opinion, God brings us closer to him through study, not interpretation.”

Enough said.  It’s time to study.