The Shape of Faith
UpReach / InReach / OutReachArchive for Change
Time To Change Seats?
I read of a linguist who translated a portion of the Bible into a tribal dialect and then left a man with the task of teaching the people to read. The linguist returned months later to find three students and the teacher seated around a table dilengently learning. Each was reading, but the page with the translated text was never moved. And so,one had learned to read the text sideways. Another also read it sideways, but from the other side. And a third read it upside down. You see, they always sat in the same chairs. And each, from their own particular vantagepoint, thought the text was written one way.
It’s so easy to see something from only point of view. We may even think it’s the only valid viewpoint.
Is there room for diversity? Is there room for discussion and change? How many are willing to rethink and reconsider?
Sometimes it’s a good idea to simply change seats.
cul-de-sac living
I really like the thoughtful writing of Ken Gire. Here is a piece from his, Windows of the Soul. It gave me a good start to my day.
It is, I suppose, possible to speak of the soul without speaking of God, just as it is possible to tour a cathedral without stopping to worship. Most of us, though, have taken that tour. And for most of us, it’s not enough.
The pursuit of self is what most of us have been doing for much of our lives, even our spiritual lives. But the self is a cul-de-sac, and eventually we end up where we started. Footsore and just as frustrated, just as unfulfilled. Feeling we’re a failure, or worse, a fraud.
The pursuit of soul, if soul is all we’re pursuing, is not much different. It’s a longer walk down a nicer street, but the street is still a cul-de-sac, and in the end, regardless how invigorating the walk, it doesn’t lead beyond the neighborhood of who we are.
… We long for something more than a routine walk around the religious block. We long for the companionship of God. We long for the assurance that we are not taking this journey alone. That He is walking with us and talking with us and intimately involved in our lives.
This new year, as you begin again, don’t just take the tour. Stop and worship.
Faith Is Not An Evacuation Plan
Many of us grew up with a heavy dose of heaven hymnology.
Sing To Me Of Heaven
When We All Get To Heaven
In The Sweet By And By
Beyond The Sunset
Face To Face With Christ My Savor
There’s A Land That Is Fairer Than Day
To Canaan’s Land I’m On My Way
There Is A Habitation
Great songs, and for some, heaven is thought of as the natural conclusion and climax to a life filled with a growing faith, lived for God here on planet earth. But sadly for others, this longing for a future home in heaven is not really connected to life here in the present world. Habits remain the same. Plans for each day are not altered by a developing faith. Speech, relationships, behavior do not surrender to the spiritual leadership of Jesus. In fact, once the “salvation” ticket is punched, life continued on just as it has been, with little or no growth or change.
A friend of mine once asked the question, “What’s the difference between a man with ten years of experience and a man with one year of experience, ten times?” The answer? The man with tens year of experience actually grew each year. There was a slow but steady change in his life as one year built upon the progress of the previous year. But the man with one year of experience, ten times, just repeated his first year over and over. There was no real change. He was in a rut. He probably hated it, but as we sometimes say, “He had become adjusted to his rut.” It was familiar, even comfortable in a twisted sort of way. I think that popular writer Brian McLaren had the first man in mind when he said,
The Gospel is not an evacuation plan
but a transformation plan
Other, much older writers follow the same line of thought.
Heaven is not to be looked upon
only as the reward,
but as the natural effect
of a religious life.
– Joseph Addison
The main object of religion
is not to get a man into Heaven;
but to get Heaven into him.
– Thomas Hardy
Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind.
– Romans 12:2
Will heaven be a ticket that I purchase and then put away until the day that I have to pull it out at the end of my life? Or, will heaven be the next logical, seamless step in a life that has been constantly growing and changing since the first day that God’s grace entered? Is your faith an evacuation plan or a transformation plan?
The History of the Future
If you saw a university class with the title, “The History of the Future,” what would you think it would be about? How could someone teach the history of the future? How can history help us move into the future?
Think about yourself for a minute. When you were a child, what did you dream of becoming? By your senior year in high school, how had your plans changed? Looking at your life now, how many of your plans actually occurred just as you thought they would? What changed? Why did it change?
Now think about an example from scripture. As boy, the Peter probably dreamed of following in the family business even though fishing was a hard life and required both determination and leadership. Later, as a young man, Peter’s plans changed. He left his fishing business and followed Jesus, but his reasons had not yet found clarity. At first, his motives were political and his is agenda eclipsed Jesus’ agenda. There were arguments (Mark 8:32). Later still, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Peter’s plans changed again as he became an early spokesman for the Christian movement (Acts 2:14).
Looking back over his entire life, what changed and what remained the same in Peter’s life? What did his history reveal about his future?
Sometimes this is called “Faith in Process” and the steps are often as difficult as they are predictable as a person moves from one level of commitment to another. What steps did Peter go through as he changed from the proud Peter who argued with Jesus to the humble Peter who represented Jesus?
Step 1 – Pride – he didn’t listen or learn.
Step 2 – Failure – surprised @ failure.
Step 3 – Bewilderment – wandering in shock.
Step 4 – Listening – facing his own neediness.
Step 5 – Learning – with an open heart.
Step 6 – Change – God brings transformation.
In his classic, The Sacred Journey, Frederick Buechner writes:
“… to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst – is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still … the one thing a clenched fist cannot do is accept … a helping hand.” (pg 46).
Peter eventually unclenched his fists, and while God completely changed Peter’s heart, He left his personality intact. In fact, God dramatically brought Peter’s history in the future as He used Peter’s determination, drive, and leadership to launch the Christian movement.
And so, let’s go back to where we started – the history of the future. What have you tried? Where have you failed? How have you learned? What have you changed?
It’s the history of your future.
