Prepositions Matter

“…the grammarian’s last daughter opened her bag.

“Out came the prepositions: of, to, from, with, at, by, in, under, over, and so on. When she’d put them into the bag, they had seemed like hooks or angles. Now, departing in orderly rows, they reminded her of ants. Granted, they were large ants, each one the size of a woman’s hand, their bodies metallic gray, their eyes like cut and polished hematite. A pair of tongs or pincers protruded from their mouths; their thin legs, moving delicately over the ground, seemed made of iron rods or wire.

“Somehow — it must have been magic — the things they passed over and around became organized. Shacks turned into tidy cottages. Winding paths became streets. The fields were square now. The trees ran in lines along the streets and roads. Terraces appeared on the mountainsides.

“…The land became known as Relation. In addition to genealogists and marriage brokers, it produced diplomats and merchants. These last two groups, through trade and negotiation, gradually unified the five countries of Thingnesse, Change, Subtletie, Varietie, and Relation. The empire they formed was named Cooperation. No place was more solid, more strong, more complex, more energetic, or better organized.”

From “The Grammarian’s Five Daughters,”
by Eleanor Arnason

• • •

Prepositions matter. These “dull little words” of Eleanor Arnason’s story make relationships between other words possible and meaningful. And they make a difference. As one Twitterer quipped, “You can’t get blood from a rock, but you can get blood with one.”

Prepositions matter in the Bible. Consider Ephesians 2:8-10 — “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not from yourselves: it is the gift of God; not from works, so that no man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared that we should walk in them.”

Every preposition in this text is crucial for a proper understanding of salvation and its fruits.

  • “By” establishes the objective cause of salvation — God’s grace.
  • “Through” speaks of the means by which it comes to us — faith. 
  • “From” points to two illegitimate sources of salvation — it does not spring from ourselves or our works.
  • Rather, God created us anew “in” Christ — by uniting us to him. 
  • “For” points to the purpose for which God recreated us — good works.
  • But even these good works ultimately come from God — he prepared them that we may walk “in” them.

In similar fashion, Skye Jethani’s new book, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God, teaches us to be careful about our prepositions. They reveal our understanding of what being a Christian is all about. In essence, he argues, it’s all about these simple connecting words.

Continue reading “Prepositions Matter”

Difficult Scriptures: Mark 8:35

Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self (Mark 8:35, The Message).

There are times I like a verse or passage from The Message better than any other translation, and this is one of them. You may be more familiar with the way most other Bibles phrase this: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it (NIV).

Yet isn’t that what saving one’s life really is—self-help? And isn’t that what so much of Evangelical Christianity is about these days?

I find nothing in Scripture that tells us we are on our own to improve our lives. Nowhere do I read that it is our responsibility to become better, more moral, people. Instead I see Jesus going to the losers and sinners and dying and saying, “Because of your lostness, your lastness, your death, you will live.” Thus I agree with how Eugene Peterson interprets this verse: “Self-help is of no help at all.”

Am I misreading this passage? Perhaps I should go back to the saying I was taught in college: “Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with that life is your gift back to God.” And if that is so, then I need help becoming the best self I can be.

But if this is not so, then what is my life about? What am I to offer up to God? How am I to lose my life for Jesus and the Gospel?

Ok iMonks, wrestle this one out.

Another Look: Selling Jesus By The Pound

Chaplain Mike wrote earlier this week about the demise of Borders and how the Christian Booksellers Association says their member stores need to fill the gap. I have worked in Christian publishing for a number of years. I know the ins and outs fairly well of this field, so I feel I have the right to share my thoughts in this matter. I wrote the following more than a year ago, but thought we might revisit it again in light of what Chaplain Mike shared. I think this gets to the heart of the issue.

(We often provide links for products mentioned in these posts that will take you Amazon where you can buy them. This is both for your convenience as well as being a revenue-generator for InternetMonk.com. We are providing no such links in this essay, as we cannot in good conscience recommend most of the products mentioned here. If you want to buy any or all, you are on your own. Also, before you read this essay, take a moment to read why Michael Spencer, the original iMonk, stopped shopping in Christian bookstores.)

My friend Jen has a novel she really needs to finish. It starts with a man talking with his therapist. This man owns a Christian gift store, even though he is not himself a Christian. He has found Christians to be extremely gullible and easy pickings when it comes to making money.

But he recently came upon a challenge. He had a box of leftover WWJD bracelets he couldn’t sell. What to do with them?

“Then I had this great idea,” he tells his therapist. “I hung up all the bracelets on their rack, and made up a new sign: What Would Jabez Do? They sold like hotcakes!”

I have told Jen she has to finish this novel. The only problem is it will sound much more like truth than fiction.

Why is it that Christians buy so much religious crap? Is it really a problem that religious trinkets are such big business? And would you buy a What Would Jabez Do bracelet?

Continue reading “Another Look: Selling Jesus By The Pound”

Hanging On…

For awhile now, I have been feeling the need for a break of some kind.

As I’ve written about some of the demanding situations involved in working on a hospice team, many of you have been kind enough to encourage me to remember to practice self-care, and you are right. The schedule of emotionally intense work along with daily writing and moderating on Internet Monk does take a toll at times.

I’m thankful for a family that is understanding and gives me lots of room to do what needs to be done, but I am aware that they sometimes get neglected as these vocational pursuits take my time and energy.

Worst of all, I have simply found it harder and harder to find room to simply enjoy life. Many of my patients have taught me better than I have taught them, that no matter how hard or sad or demanding life gets, God gives us daily gifts of refreshment and pleasure that we can accept or ignore. Too often, I’ve left them unopened.

So, I have planned a sabbatical. I will be taking two weeks off from work in October. I will also be taking the entire month of October off from putting up posts and moderating for Internet Monk. Jeff and the other writers, including some new friends and even some of you will be filling in the columns daily and engaging our community of readers in the same kind of vibrant discussion we’re used to here at IM.

As for me, I will do some different things for a few weeks. Simple things. Enjoyable things.

For five days, I will be hanging out with the monks at The Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, being quiet, walking, attending prayers, writing, breathing.

For another week or so, Gail and I will hop in the car, start driving, and get to know each other again. Before our children went to school, October was our favorite month in which to take car trips together. We can do it again now!

On the weeks when I am working, daytime life and ministry will proceed as usual, but when I come home in the evening I will do something other than sit in front of the computer. I love taking pictures in the fall and hope to snap several albums full. I may get reacquainted with my guitar, or even find a new hobby to take up. It’s possible I will brush the cobwebs off my golf clubs and take a few swings.

Maybe we will visit some churches where we’ve always wanted to worship. Perhaps we’ll camp for a weekend. Or make some visits — David Cornwell, put the coffee on — we may stop by and say hi. And Denise, it’s likely we’ll wind our way through the hollows to Oneida sometime during the month.

It’s all just a little more than a week away, and I can taste it.

I am hangin’ on until then…

Sealing the Deal

Ordinary Time Bible Study 2011
The Book of Ruth (11)

Now Boaz went up to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth! Boaz said, “Come here and sit down, ‘John Doe’!” So he came and sat down. Boaz chose ten of the village leaders and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down.

Then Boaz said to the guardian, “Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech. So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people! If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.” He replied, “I will redeem it.”

Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of our deceased relative, in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.” The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.” (Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel: A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party. This was a legally binding act in Israel.) So the guardian said to Boaz, “You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal.

Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property so the name of the deceased might not disappear from among his relatives and from his village. You are witnesses today.”

• Ruth 4:1-10 (NetBible)

When last we saw Boaz, he had promised Ruth that he would take her as his wife and provide for her, her mother-in-law, and the family’s future. One obstacle stood in the way: there was a nearer kinsman who had the first right and obligation to care for Elimelech’s kin.

The next morning, Boaz went to the city gate in Bethlehem. Everyone would pass through this gate on the way to the fields, so it was a likely place to run into the nearer kinsman. Furthermore, it was the public and legal square for the city, where official decisions were made and ratified. It was here that Boaz hoped to complete publicly what he had promised Ruth in private.

Continue reading “Sealing the Deal”

The LG’s discuss CE

It has been awhile since we have heard from our “Liturgical Gangstas.” Three of them are back today to discuss the education of young people in their traditions. Here’s today’s question:

Describe your church and denominational approach to Christian education of children and youth? Has this changed significantly over the course of your ministry? In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of your tradition’s particular approach?

• • •

Rev. Angie Gage

Within the United Methodist Church as with most denomination, Christian Education of children and youth is essential in helping to build their understanding of who God is and who they are in relation to God.  The history of education within the United Methodist church is important.  Many United Methodist churches were the first to offer basic educational classes in communities.  The idea of Sunday school originates back to the days that basic education was offered within the walls of the church.  Then on Sundays, the Sunday School would focus on educating individuals in the Bible and spiritual formation.

When I was a child, Christian education was essentially Sunday School.  We had the weekly leaflets that contained our lesson.  But the thing I was most fascinated with was this flimsy little square of black that would play our music on the record players.  It wasn’t a regular record.  I remember those records just as much as I remember the lessons, maybe even more.  I was thrilled that we used this new kind of record in class.  Because I was so fascinated by the record, I was determined to learn the songs even more.  Sunday School was a lesson, music, and a craft.  That was pretty much it.

The other essential of my Christian Education was vacation bible School.  In those days, it was like going to Sunday School all week long.  It was Sunday School with extra activities.  I went every year, but only to the Vacation Bible School at my own church.  I knew all the people teaching, all the kids attending.  It was a time to learn in fast forward.

Then there was camp.  Oh, camp was always great.  I learned how to make a God’s eye at camp with simply two popsicle sticks and some yarn.  I learned how to make a cross out of match sticks.  I think my mother still had it a few years ago.  I learned how to make friends and treat each other like we really liked each other.

So, with my childhood, the essentials were Sunday School (first and foremost), Vacation Bible School, and Church Camp.

Continue reading “The LG’s discuss CE”

Hooray for Shaun King!

Last night I read that Shaun King resigned on September 1 as pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta, GA. Here’s what he said to the congregation:

After much prayer and many discussions with my family, friends, and mentors, I have decided that it is time for me to transition out of my role as Lead Pastor of Courageous Church.  These three years have been the most meaningful, fulfilling, exciting years of my life and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

I thank God that I am not stepping down in shame or scandal, but it is clear that God is calling Rai and I to take our family in a direction that is just significantly different than what most in the church are asking for.  Over the past 6 months I have taken Courageous Church down a difficult, counter-cultural road in an earnest attempt at building true disciples.  It’s been rough.  All but a few families are now yearning to go back to a traditional Sunday focused system and I am sure that I am not the person to lead you there.

I know this will cause many mixed emotions, but just know that I am making this decision out of a sincere desire to never lead you in a direction that I don’t actually believe in myself.

I did not know King before reading about this decision, but he has apparently made quite a name for himself. Calling himself a “techie-humanitarian,” his website notes that he has launched nearly a dozen different successful startups designed to help empower and show compassion to hurting people throughout Atlanta, as well as Haiti and other developing nations. He has won numerous awards and has been the subject of articles in many major periodicals and media outlets.

One of his entrepreneurial efforts resulted in a “successful” church plant known as Courageous Church.

Continue reading “Hooray for Shaun King!”

This Goes too Far

Last week I put up an excerpt from Pat Robertson’s controversial video in which he said he would advise a husband to divorce his wife with Alzheimer’s disease. You will note that I did not pass direct judgment on his comments, but merely described them as “strange” and “surprising.” I encouraged us not to pile on, but just asked what people thought about his words.

Well, people have certainly piled on. And I understand why. Here in America, where family-ness is next to (above?) godliness, to even bring up the possibility of divorce in a situation like that is totally unacceptable.

By the way, I too think it is unacceptable. Just a couple of days before, did I not write a piece about a man who loved his wife with Alzheimer’s to the end?

Pat stuck his foot in his mouth, period. It is my opinion after watching the piece that he was responding emotionally and sympathetically with a man who wrote in anguish that he feels his wife is gone and he is desperately lonely. In response, as he was trying to think and talk through the difficult situation, Robertson unwisely used the word “divorce” and didn’t back off from it. If this discussion had taken place in a Sunday School class or small group meeting, it would never have raised the vehement response that erupted. These are thoughts and feelings with which we wrestle. But Robertson is a public representative of Christ, who has a national audience, and who was being asked to give an answer. He should have chosen his words more carefully. Instead, with each sentence, he dug himself deeper and deeper into trouble.

Ok. So what?

So along come people like Russell Moore. He is quoted in an article about the controversy by CNN’s religion blog.

“This is more than an embarrassment,” wrote Russell D. Moore, dean of the school of theology and senior vice president for academic administration at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

What?

With all due respect to Dr. Moore, that has to be one of the most ridiculous over-statements I have ever heard. No matter what one may think of Robertson (and I am no fan, by the way), his unwise rambling remarks about a difficult situation requiring pastoral counsel in no way even approaches “repudiating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Is this the standard we’re going to hold people to now? Will we be encouraged to see every word that does not uphold perfect Christian morality as a repudiation of the Gospel?

Two unwise statements do not make for a helpful discussion.

Crossing Borders

Last week, our local Borders bookstore closed, as they are doing everywhere across the country. On my final visit, I was able to pick up eight or nine books for $1.00 each. On any other day, that would have been a cause for celebration. On this day, I had a sick feeling in my stomach.

We still have Barnes & Noble, thankfully. And I’ve used my Amazon Prime shipping membership this year to fullest advantage. Nevertheless, it was Borders where we went most regularly, so it will be missed.

Religion News Service ran a feature on Sept. 16 on the push for Christian bookstores to take advantage of Borders’ closing.

After Borders announced its liquidation in July, Colorado Springs, Colo.-based CBA sent an alert to member stores: “Post Borders Growth Strategy: As Borders Shuts its Doors, Christian Booksellers Should Open Theirs Wider.”

“Today, Borders is irrelevant in the world of bookselling,” the document states. “If we do not adapt to the changing marketplace and new technologies, our influence will diminish or disappear altogether.”

The letter offers suggestions for retailers including discounts for customers with Borders loyalty cards and trying to lure former Borders customers into Christian stores.

“It is always sad when a bookstore that makes Christian materials available to the public can no longer do that,” said Curtis Riskey, CBA executive director. “However, the chain’s demise does create more opportunities for independent local Christian stores to fill the gap.”

Ain’t gonna happen. At least not with this book junkie.

Not until I can go to my local Family Christian Store or independent Christian bookstore and…

  • Find serious works about theology by people who aren’t named Wayne Grudem.
  • Find actual books about church history that explore what happened before the church growth movement.
  • Find a good selection of books by mainline Protestant authors.
  • Find a section in the store that contains a good selection of substantial contributions by Roman Catholic and Orthodox writers.
  • Find books and resources that deal with the church year, the lectionary, liturgical worship, religious art, various church denominations and traditions, hymnody, and serious Christian thinking about the arts and sciences.
  • Peruse a good stock of real Christian music such as Bach, traditional choral works, and renditions of hymns and gospel songs that don’t all come from the Smokey Mountains or Alexandria, Indiana.
  • Not have to see Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, and T.D. Jakes, et al, smiling at me from piled-high displays at the front of the store.
  • Find works of serious literature and fiction that aren’t about demon invasions, car crashes on the interstate because of the rapture, or forbidden Amish romances.
  • Find useful pastoral resources other than attendance books, Sunday School prizes, and candles for the Christmas Eve service. And, for heaven’s sake, can we have some pastoral theology books and helps that go beyond “How to Grow Your Church” or “How to Organize Your Church”?
  • Find a decent section of personal and corporate devotional resources that don’t have the word “Chicken Soup” in the title. Book of Common Prayer or a hymnal, anyone?
  • Talk to a store clerk or manager who actually realizes that not all churches are named, “Replenish” or “Encounter,” that they do not all exist in white suburbia serving lattes at their coffee bars, and that it was possible to worship before Chris Tomlin started writing songs.
  • Find serious commentaries and works of Biblical study written by actual scholars, and not by folks with names like John MacArthur or Beth Moore.

I found most of those things at Borders. I rarely find those things at my local “Christian” bookstore. As a result, I hardly ever stop by any more. They have defined “Christian” far too narrowly and are missing out on a vast market that they will probably never even consider.

Steve Potratz, the CEO of The Parable Group, which provides marketing for 109 Christian retailers, including 40 Parable franchise stores, says they are doing more online advertising to attract new customers while Borders liquidates. Some stores are offering more gifts, and by year’s end, e-books to accommodate demand.

Please note. We’re increasing the marketing push. No word about improving the quality and comprehensiveness of store inventory.

Their focus remains narrow, as they seek to serve “a niche audience that shares the same passionate beliefs.”

“We know where most of our customers are on Sunday morning,” Potratz said. “The opportunity to work with a church, and partner with a church, is critical, and I am seeing more and more of our stores looking for and gaining opportunity to help and resource the church.”

Sorry, Steve. What you are doing is seeking “to help and resource” a small segment of the “Christian” market. If the church even begins to do its job of bringing people to maturity in Christ, the pablum you offer will soon cease to satisfy. And meanwhile, those of us in the post-evangelical wilderness may stop by once or twice a year to buy a card for a religious occasion or something like that.

If you’d like to talk, you can find me at Barnes & Noble.

A Simple Pattern of Spiritual Formation

I’ve been reading Skye Jethani’s excellent new book, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God. I hope to comment on it more this week, including a full review.

For now, as a Sunday afternoon meditation, I offer this excerpt in which Jethani sets forth a cycle that describes the way many of us experience spiritual formation, drawing closer to God and enjoying a more intimate, loving relationship with him.

Note: this is not a “system” or “program” that someone came up with as a creative path for spiritual growth or formation. Rather, it reflects a pattern that has been observed in the lives of people, one that also reflects ancient wisdom and testimony.

By studying the spiritual development of children, Jerome Berryman outlined a simple but insightful pattern that I believe applies equally well to adults. When given quiet, contemplative spaces, children will more often report a sense of God’s presence with them. This resulted in Berryman’s first exclamation, “ahh!”—a sense of wonder and awe. “This sigh,” he said, “suggests the presence of the nourishing mystery that feeds and yet overwhelms us with awe.”

As our minds with their cognitive ability catch up to the experience, there is a second exclamation, “aha!”—discovery. We come to recognize God more fully, and with him we discover new truths about ourselves and the world around us.

These discoveries result in joy—the exclamation of “haha!” Our dreary and frightening vision of the world is replaced with a joy beyond understanding. Finally, this cycle of awe, discovery, and joy compels us back into a posture of anticipation and silence so we might be with God once again.

(emphases mine)

A quiet, contemplative space…

A sense of wonder and awe…

A growing understanding…

A sense of joy that leads us to seek God’s presence in contemplation once more.

If this is the way of spiritual formation and a deepening, conversational relationship with God, then it rebukes much of what we call Christian education and discipleship. We often move directly to cognitive development, emphasize prayer primarily in terms of intercession and supplication, ignore altogether the importance of spaces that encourage contemplation, and talk about emotional blessings such as joy primarily in terms of attitudinal choices, obeying the intellectual content we’ve been fed.

Life has become school.

And we are poorer for it.