The Internet Monk Archives

Klasie Kraalogies: Bound, Chained and Suffering

Bound, Chained and Suffering
By Klasie Kraalogies

In my last post, I hinted at the painful consequences of purity culture – a disastrous marriage. It is not my intention to air dirty laundry. But some very basic facts will out. These are not the thrust of this post.

Marriage is forever. No matter what. Only 2 exceptions were allowed – unfaithfulness (in the full, physical sense), and if it appears one party was never a true believer. The latter I have never seen occur. You see, since all of this happened in an ecclesiastical context, with each marriage ostensibly divinely ordered, in a direct, personal manner. “God hates divorce”. And should one of those things happen, the suffering party would have to enter a life of celibacy. The latter is a bit stricter than some, but not unique.

Fine. So what happens when, not too long after the wedding, the gradual reveal begins that the new partner is a narcissist – with a temper problem? Or, as has often happened in other cases, the young wife discovers the husband has a heavy hand.

From the Washington Post, dated May 9, 2018, Hännah Ettinger:

The burden of proof was on me, and at stake was my family’s support, the validity of my faith and my character. I couldn’t win. For him, and many other Christians like him, the only reason to end a marriage is when a partner has been unfaithful and is unrepentant. In my marriage, no one cheated, so there were no “valid” grounds to divorce, no matter how emotionally abusive, disrespectful and unstable our marriage had become.

This set of beliefs has been front and center in the news recently as Paige Patterson, a highly respected leader in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) of churches and the president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was called out for making similar statements about abuse and divorce. Since 2000, he has been recorded advising women in abusive marriages to “pray about it,” “settle it in the church of God,” and “if you suffer for it, and if you were misused, and if you were abused, and if you’re not represented properly, it’s okay. You can trust it to the God who judges justly.” Patterson has responded to the online backlash over these comments by saying that he cannot apologize “for what I didn’t do wrong.”

Think about that. Carefully. Domestic abuse is a major, major issue. Consider the following statistic:

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime. (NCAD, https://ncadv.org/statistics).

This does not take into account years of mental torturing. And what is even more, children in such relationships suffer, tremendously. But here we have a religious leader who councils those who suffer that, well, to put it bluntly, they should suffer some more – potentially (and understanding something about abusers, most likely) till death do us part.

The longer the abuse continues, the more difficult it is to depart. And even when attempts are made, they are often unsuccessful. Consider that on average, an abused woman will attempt to leave 7 times before it is definite
(http://www.domesticabuseshelter.org/infodomesticviolence.htm).

And now moreover these preachermen lay this burden on top of the abused woman (or man) – that their divorcing will be an unspeakably evil act. From people that confess to believe that God is Love, this is incomprehensible. Fundamentalism is a curse.

I was successful on the second attempt. With strong support and encouragement from my children. It cost a lot – emotionally, physically, financially. Financial security will be elusive for a long, long time. But the abuser is not there. And yes, healing will take a long time… a life time.

But of course – the burdens don’t end there. After the dust settles, the fundamentalists return, urging celibacy.

Prooftexting till the cows come home. Again – where is the love? It is said that the new plague upon the land is loneliness.

Loneliness isn’t only making us sad. It’s fast becoming a public health crisis in the Western world.

Lonely people are more likely to get sick. Chronic loneliness is as harmful to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness is even more damaging to your body than obesity and diabetes and has been linked to high blood pressure, dementia and premature death.

(https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/should-canada-develop-a-strategy-to-combat-the-growing-problem-of-loneliness-1.4494726)

But so what? As long as literal interpretations are adhered to, who cares about suffering? But their own Scriptures judges them – John 13:35.

We will do much better if we care for one another. And that includes supporting those that have to separate or divorce – or find new connections as they restart life.

• • •

PS: If you or anyone you know are caught in an abusive relationship, don’t stay quiet. Don’t continue suffering. It is your right to leave, and if there are children, to take them with you. Forget the preacherman. Forget the “bible-thumping” parents. Forget “family honour”. Do not become a statistic. Also remember: Not all abuse is physical. There are many varieties of abusers, narcissists and sociopaths out there. Be honest with yourself and your circumstances.

In Canada: http://endingviolencecanada.org/getting-help/
In the US: https://www.thehotline.org/

Faith Across the Multiverse, Parables from Modern Science- Part 4, The Language of Computer Science, Chapters 10- Squirrel Interrupted By Andy Walsh

Faith Across the Multiverse: Parables from Modern Science

Part 4, The Language of Computer Science, Chapters 10- Squirrel Interrupted

By Andy Walsh

We are blogging through the book, “Faith Across the Multiverse, Parables from Modern Science” by Andy Walsh. Today is Chapter 10- Squirrel Interrupted. The squirrel being referred to is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, an ongoing American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Squirrel Girl. From Wikipedia: Doreen Green, known as Squirrel Girl, is a human superhero with the proportional strength and speed of a squirrel, as well as the ability to speak with squirrels, like her sidekick, Tippy-Toe. While originally introduced as a mutant, she was later retconned to be “medically and legally distinct from being a mutant.” She can also command an army of squirrels, which she typically uses to overwhelm her foes. As The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl begins, Squirrel Girl has left her home in the Avengers mansion to major in computer science at Empire State University.

She attends lectures on the fundamentals of relational databases, teaches finger binary (which allows counting to 1,023 on your fingers), and illustrates the core features of program flow control. Computer science seems an odd fit for a superhero, but the main theme of computer science is formalizing how we accomplish tasks. So the comic book uses computer science to formalize combating evil. The usual hero process is:

Find a problem.
Find the person causing the problem.
Punch that person until they stop causing the problem.

Squirrel Girl’s approach to superheroics is to listen to that person to understand their underlying concern and then resolve it, or identify how they are causing a problem and circumvent it, or persuade them to pursue a different goal, or being a comic book, sometimes just punch them until they stop.

Walsh’s point is that many of us would like our lives to be planned in this way, heading toward some satisfying resolution that will make the challenges and diversions seem worthwhile. Christians generally cast God in that planning role. This creates expectations that God is doing all the heavy lifting on our behalf. It also informs how we tell the stories of events in our lives that already happened; we frame them such that the way things wound up was inevitable and intended all along.

He gives an example from his own life; he and his wife decided to move their growing family from a small starter home to a brand new house in a new development. To put a down payment on the new house it was necessary they close on the old one. That down payment initiated the construction process, meaning they had sold their current residence for a future one that wouldn’t exist for a few months. They were able to rent their old home from the new owner, but that arrangement was one month too short. So they cobbled together a plan involving storage, rental, crashing with friends and staying with his in-laws.

Then about a week and a half before the move-out date, they got word that the new house was finished ahead of schedule—a rarity indeed as anyone who has constructed a home knows. They just had to close, but the closing process usually takes a month. In their case, the closing process was completed in just two days and they were able to move directly from the old house to the new. Here is what Walsh says:

I could certainly tell this story in terms of divine Providence in which God arranges all the details so that there is a happy ending. We needed the weather to be clear so that the construction went smoothly; that’s something we might ascribe to God. Did God also orchestrate the supply chain so that all the materials were available? What about the painters and closing agents and mortgage brokers and everyone who contributed to bringing the plan together in the final weeks; was God affecting them in some way?

I could ascribe all of those outcomes to God, as they fall within common ideas of what he is capable of. And as a believer, I do feel a certain desire to frame my stories in a way that makes God look good. At the same time, I want to be careful how I do so, in order to honestly represent God and not inadvertently make him look bad. I want to consider how it looks to claim God went to all that trouble just to spare a middle class family some inconvenience in their move to nice house in the suburbs. That claim seems self-serving when so many other greater needs are apparently going unmet.

I have great sympathy for Walsh, here. There certainly was a time when I had similar notions of divine Providence and “how God works in our lives”. In fact, I had a similar experience with selling and buying a house that could have resulted in financial hardships for my youngest son, but didn’t thanks to propitious timing. And like Walsh, I have come to suspect that “evangelical narrative” is a first-world problem and just a little bit self-serving.

But still, it seems scriptures teach, and the church traditionally has had, a doctrine of divine Providence. Consider the Eastern Orthodox view, as expounded by Father Stephen Freeman:

We live in the midst of the Providence of God. That we exist, and how we exist are His Providence. Everything around us reflects the working of His goodwill towards our well-being and salvation. St. Paul describes this:

… the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth– in Him. (Eph. 1:9-10)

Of course, we encounter any number of difficulties and hardships, things that seem to work the opposite of our well-being and salvation. Those actions of human freedom are not considered God’s Providence. But even with these things, God’s Providential working makes our well-being and salvation possible, such that St. Paul can say, “For those who love God and are called according to His purpose, all work together for good.”

So, in every direction and every way, we encounter God’s Divine Energies, His working things together on behalf of all and for all. There is a path towards “seeing” these actions (energies): the practice of continual thanksgiving for all things. It is the giving of thanks that reveals to the heart the hidden work of God. It is a practice that silences the passions and, as an expression of our human energies, unites us with the very Providence for which we give thanks.

So, trust in Divine providence is a form of self-emptying on the part of the believer. As Fr. Freeman says it’s a cruciform providence. Jesus says, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38) This is a clear declaration of His self-emptying and abasement, a kenotic action that is consummated on the Cross.

Walsh thinks that a better analogy for God’s Providence is the computer science process of “just-in-time-compiling”. From Wikipedia:

In computing, just-in-time (JIT) compilation (also dynamic translation or run-time compilations) is a way of executing computer code that involves compilation during execution of a program – at run time – rather than prior to execution. Most often, this consists of source code or more commonly bytecode translation to machine code, which is then executed directly. A system implementing a JIT compiler typically continuously analyses the code being executed and identifies parts of the code where the speedup gained from compilation or recompilation would outweigh the overhead of compiling that code.

JIT compilation is a combination of the two traditional approaches to translation to machine code – ahead-of-time compilation (AOT), and interpretation – and combines some advantages and drawbacks of both. Roughly, JIT compilation combines the speed of compiled code with the flexibility of interpretation, with the overhead of an interpreter and the additional overhead of compiling (not just interpreting). JIT compilation is a form of dynamic compilation, and allows adaptive optimization such as dynamic recompilation and microarchitecture-specific speedups – thus, in theory, JIT compilation can yield faster execution than static compilation. Interpretation and JIT compilation are particularly suited for dynamic programming languages, as the runtime system can handle late-bound data types and enforce security guarantees.

Walsh says that the Bible portrays God as a just-in-time God, and that there are several places in the Bible that discourages getting too far ahead of yourself. For example, when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they did not have access to a reliable food source. So God provided manna, but they were forbidden from storing it up. They had to trust God’s provision from day-to-day. In 1 Kings 17 there is the story of the prophet Elijah and the widow running low on food because of a drought. Because she gave of her limited resource to Elijah, the oil and flour didn’t run out until the drought ended. Walsh says this is an example of provision coming no sooner that it is needed, and also of someone who had a choice between looking out for themselves and trusting their own needs would be taken care of if they provided for someone else’s.

Then there is Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:25-26, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Walsh says, and I agree, that we are discouraged, not from planning ahead, but from worrying ahead. And the main reason for that is because worrying is indicative of becoming too absorbed in yourself (which is definitely a first-world problem). You are only thinking of your own concerns and focusing on how you yourself are going to resolve them.

A cruciform providence, I can get on board with that.

How the Bible Actually Works (Intro)

How the Bible Actually Works (Intro)

I received my copy of Pete Enns’s new book today, and next week we will begin blogging through it in more detail.

As I’ve said in our recent posts on The Bible and the Believer, one of my tasks this year will be to work on answering two questions that Pete raises regularly in his writings and podcasts:

What is the Bible?
What is the Bible for?

Whereas his earlier books focused on the first question, this one moves to the second. This is an important move, one which I as a pastor appreciate.

It may be all good ivory-tower fun to discuss the nature of the Bible, to examine various critical theories that help us understand who wrote it and why and what kinds of literature they used, and how it all fits together and became “the Bible.”

It is another thing altogether to ask how this sacred book, as it is actually constructed, speaks God’s message to people of faith and helps us know God and live as God’s people in the world.

Pete Enns begins by describing the Bible we actually hold in our hands, using three terms (not usually emphasized in my evangelical background) to describe it:

Ancient
Ambiguous
Diverse

We’ll come back to these characteristics next time, but for now, here’s the money quote about where this is all leading:

I believe that God knows best what sort of sacred writing we need. And these three characteristic ways the Bible behaves, rather than posing problems to be overcome, are telling us something about how the Bible actually works and therefore what the Bible’s true purpose is—and the need to align our expectations with it. (p. 9)

The Learning, Conversing, Serving Community (5)

The Learning, Conversing, Serving Community (5)

In this book, we will view the local church as a sort of learning organization, in which both learning and action lie at the heart of its identity. We will explore the practice of reading — perhaps the most important component of learning in the twenty-first century — and consider how we can read together in ways that drive us deeper into action.

• Chris Smith

We are spending some time during these winter months considering Chris Smith’s fine book, Reading for the Common Good: How Books Help Our Churches and Neighborhoods Flourish.

In our final post on RFTCG, we look at Chris’s chapter on “Becoming a Reading Congregation.” I’m skipping a few chapters, but encourage you to pick up the book and read them. They further extend ideas we’ve already discussed, about working for the common good of our neighbors and the world around us, dealing with creational, economic, and political engagement in our local communities.

So it boils down to this — How do we encourage, build, and maintain communities that are devoted to learning, conversation, and service? How do we get our congregations to buy into the idea that we show our love for God, our neighbors, and the world by “seeking to know God and the world” (p. 134, emphasis mine)

1. Start by encouraging the slow, attentive, shared reading of scripture.

Again, Smith is not just talking about encouraging people to read their Bibles. This is about learning to practice shared reading through such practices as lectio divina and having conversations in various groups and exploring ways of how to read scripture and discuss it together.

Here is an area in which I believe liturgical churches should have an advantage, for our weekly worship is chock full of biblical texts. But I know from experience that the readings don’t always sink in. In our Lutheran tradition, we almost always preach upon the Gospel reading, whereas the other readings are simply presented. I believe there are simple ways to introduce, present, and use these readings that will continually reinforce the contexts and interrelationships of these readings. If we would just try a little harder, we could easily raise the biblical literacy level of our congregations.

2. Find ways to connect reading to as many church practices as possible.

Those involved in charitable ministries can read books and articles to help them understand the blessings and pitfalls of their work. Teachers can refine their skills through continuing education by reading. Leaders can do the same.

He wisely reminds us that some people are not readers and shouldn’t be coerced or left out of the conversation. Also, people have different capacities when it comes to reading and learning. Recognize this and adapt your learning efforts appropriately.

3. Create conversational spaces.

He suggests looking at four types of spaces: (1) Spaces in which you are already having discussions, such as Sunday School classes, small groups, leadership teams; (2) New spaces you create in which to have discussions, such as seminars, workshops, etc.; (3) Forming book clubs both in the church and in the community; (4) Have people in the church who love to read and write do book reviews that can be shared in newsletters, church websites, blogs, and in meetings.

As we seek to become a reading congregation, it’s not enough to read books; we need to talk about them with others. Reading and conversation go hand in hand. I doubt it is possible to promote the practice of reading without having a space in which to discuss books. It is in conversation that we make connections between what we read and how we live. It is through these connections that books endear themselves to us. In conversation we are also energized to dive even deeper into reading. (p. 137)

4. Make books and resources accessible and find ways of curating and recommending them.

I thought the following example was instructive:

Although bookstores or libraries are the most common ways of making books accessible to a congregation, they are not the only options. The Renew Community in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, a church with a deep commitment to nurturing the practice of reading, is pastored by J.R. Briggs. For each sermon series, the Renew Community recommends several books for its members to read. J.R. and other church leaders choose these books to engage as many people in the congregation as possible, spanning a variety of reading levels of familiarity with Scripture. Copies of these books are kept in the foyer. The church even has a line item in its budget for books. It gives copies to members who agree to read and discuss them with one of the church’s leaders or with others in the congregation. (p. 140)

Chris also recommends, from his own church experience, that congregations keep reading lists on various subjects, accessible to the congregation in the church publications, library, and online.

5. Strive to sustain a reading culture.

Ultimately, this requires helping all ages in our churches develop habits of reading, learning, conversing, and serving.

Finding ourselves in the last days of the modern age, we have inherited a world ripped asunder and smashed to the tiniest of bits. We are starving and gasping for air, cut off from many of the channels that feed and sustain us. Our best hope, it seems, lies in religion (from the Latin root religare, meaning “to bind again”), the slow work of binding together things that have been torn apart. The vision of the local church as a learning organization sketched in this book is a religious vision: binding together individual Christians in their church communities, church communities in their places, and places in the wondrous whole of creation. Faith and work, being and doing, a rootedness in history and a vision for the future, all brought together with fervent prayer that the Great Healer might continue the work of mending our broken world. (p. 147)

• • •

Note: We are using some of our friend David Cornwell’s pictures to grace this series. David is a big fan of Chris Smith and the work of Englewood Christian Church. For more of his wonderful photography, go to David’s Flickr page.

Another Look: An Ordinary God

There Were Seven in Eight. Jackson Pollock

Another Look: An Ordinary God
From 2014

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

• Romans 11:33:36, NRSV

• • •

In an opinion piece at RNS, Mitchell Stevens argues that, while society is not becoming less religious, the “god” people worship has generally become diminished. God is a mere shadow of his former self.

God is not, to borrow Friedrich Nietzsche’s image from 1882, dead. And neither is religion approaching extinction, despite what its staunchest opponents may have wished. The number of people in the world who have rejected religion has been rising rapidly; nonetheless, as of 2012 only 13 percent of the world’s population would describe themselves as convinced atheists, according to a global survey by WIN-Gallup International. Here in the United States, only 5 percent would accept that designation.

However, religion has been growing much less important. God once was seen as commanding the entire universe and supervising all of its inhabitants — inflicting tragedies, bestowing triumphs, enforcing morality. But now, outside of some lingering loud pockets of orthodoxy, we have witnessed the arrival of a less mighty, increasingly inconsequential version of God.

Stevens supports his case by making the following observations:

Religions explain much less than they used to.

God is being given less credit for the outcomes of our personal experiences.

The worship of this God is also less demanding, and religions tend to impose fewer restrictions on adherents. People are also less likely to go along with the standards religions might promote.

Most today hold their religious beliefs more lightly than their ancestors.

The commenter quotes the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who predicted that religion would not be “o’erthrown” but simply become “unregarded.” Then he concludes:

Religion’s supporters can take comfort in the fact that, so far, most minds still find room for some sort of God. But as religion recedes and we contend less and less with the strictures of ancient holy texts, it is an increasingly distant, indistinct, uninvolved, ordinary God.

• • •

Mitchell Stevens is describing life in a secularized age, with little room for transcendence, mystery, awe, and humility. In our world, humans can recreate any sort of miracle or spectacle by means of CGI on a 3-D Imax movie screen, and so it has become hard to be “wowed” by almost anything. The most distant stars in the universe and the smallest particles of matter seem accessible to humans, and the fact that I can view them all and hear them explained in my living room or on the device in the palm of my hand threatens to diminish the wonder of life itself.

As I sit here tonight with my laptop, I have easy and quick access to a quantity of information my ancestors could never have imagined even existed. They gazed into the night sky and felt miniscule. They could explain so little, compared to what we know today. Sure, we still face intractable challenges like cancer, poverty, and warfare, but the very fact that we see them as “challenges” rather than as “powers and principalities” holding dread sway over us signals that we live in a different age.

Is it possible for us to imagine anything we cannot ultimately master, given enough time and resources?

Is it still possible for us to imagine a God who is beyond our knowledge and control?

Where is this leading? Religion may have a future, but what of God?

Another Look: Church Year Spirituality

Note from CM: In our worship service at church this morning, I will be continuing our series on “Why We Worship as We Do,” and our subject is the Church Year. The worship we practice each week is set within a larger annual calendar. This post, repeated and updated over the years, explains the benefits of following this yearly cycle.

• • •

The diagram on the right gives an overview of the annual Church calendar.

Advent is the season when we prepare for Christ’s coming. (4 weeks)
Christmastide is the season when we celebrate Christ’s incarnation. (12 days)
In Epiphany, we remember how Christ made God’s glory known to the world. (up to 9 weeks)
The Lenten season leads us to the Cross, the climactic event in Holy Week, which concludes Lent. (40 days plus Sundays)
Eastertide (the Great 50 Days) celebrates Christ’s resurrection, new life, and his ascension to glory. It concludes on the 50th day, Pentecost, the day of the Spirit’s outpouring.
The Season after Pentecost (or Trinity, or Ordinary Time) is the time of the church, when by the Spirit we live out the life of the Gospel in community and in the world. (up to 29 weeks)

I don’t know why so many Christian groups think they need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to “discipleship programs.” This time-tested annual pattern for the life of individual believers and the Church together that is focused on Christ, organized around the Gospel, and grounded in God’s grace, is sheer genius. It is simple enough for a child. It offers enough opportunities for creativity and flexibility that it need never grow old. Each year offers a wonderful template for learning to walk with Christ more deeply in the Gospel which brings us faith, hope, and love.

My favorite book on church year spirituality is Robert Webber’s Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year. Here is his summary of the subject:

Ancient-Future Time presents the historical understanding of the Christian year as life lived in the pattern of death and resurrection withChrist. This spiritual tradition was developed in the early church and has been passed down in history through the worship of the church. It enjoys biblical sanction, historical staying power, and contemporary relevance. Through Christian-year spirituality we are enabled to experience the biblical mandate of conforming to Christ. The Christian year orders our formation with Christ incarnate in his ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and coming again through Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. In Christian-year spirituality we are spiritually formed by recalling and entering into his great saving events. (p. 21f)

In today’s post I will merely list five primary reasons why I think it advantageous for Christians together to form their spiritual lives — their walk with God through Christ — around the liturgical year.

Five Reasons to Practice Church Year Spirituality

It enables us to live in God’s Story. Church Year spirituality forms Christian people around the story of redemption in Christ. It does not focus on “principles” or “steps” or “programs” for spiritual growth. It is thoroughly Jesus-shaped and uses the biblical story to conform our lives to his. As Israel was shaped by their story of slavery, redemption, covenant, and Promised Land, so the New Israel is formed by the story of Messiah.

It keeps the main thing the main thing. Church Year spirituality is Christ-centered. It is shaped around the events of his incarnation, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of his Spirit. At every turn we see Jesus, we hear Jesus, we follow Jesus.

It recognizes that one’s calendar forms one’s life. Church Year spirituality is down-to-earth, utterly realistic about the day to day, season to season patterns of life that shape our behavior. All our lives we have developed habits by the way we mark and use our time. A spirituality formed around the Church Year is designed to form our habits around following Jesus. We take the place of disciples, and walk through the same experiences they had as they lived with Jesus day in and day out, season after season, over the course of three years.

It links personal spirituality with worship, family, and community. Church Year spirituality recognizes both the individual journey and the corporate pilgrimage. What happens on Sundays is of a piece with what happens during the week as our corporate worship and our daily lives as individuals and families are shaped around the story of Jesus.

It provides a basis of unity and common experience for Christians everywhere. Our unity with other Christians is in the Gospel story. This is summarized in the Apostles’ Creed and the other creeds of the church. Propositional doctrinal statements have their place as ways to express more detailed understandings of the meaning and significance of God’s saving acts, but our unity with other believers is in Christ. We celebrate this throughout the year when churches of various traditions and denominations celebrate the Church Year and conform their worship and congregational lives to it.

Marking the Liturgical Year is a salutary way for Christians, families, small groups, and congregations to walk with Jesus over the course of the year.

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” (John 1:38-39)

It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Col 1:28)

• • •

If you would like to read the entire series for which this post was the introduction, here are the links:

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: February 16, 2019

Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind. Peter Bruegel the Elder

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: February 16, 2019
Rant and Rave and Vent and Grumble Edition

You may want to avoid this Brunch. I invite you to do so if ranting and raving and venting and grumbling (especially about politics and religion) bothers you. I myself hesitate to participate in this, because I know it is probably only going to add to the noise bombarding our lives in this hysterical culture we have created in the 21st century. Nevertheless, there are times, in my humble opinion, when such grousing is warranted.

Especially when it comes to the abuse of power. My own reading of the Gospels leads me to conclude that this was the thing that most often set Jesus himself off (try on Matthew 23 for size). Oh sure, he got exasperated with how slow and inattentive the disciples were sometimes, but what really ticked him off were people in positions of authority sticking it to the little people, especially when they rationalized their self-righteous cruelty by appealing to religion or the Bible. He didn’t take too kindly to the secular variants of this either, calling Herod a fox and pretty much dismissing Pilate as a clueless dullard.

Well folks, I’ve reached my Matthew 23 moment and I’m going to be blunt and honest in expressing my less than charitable feelings about some of the folks who are running things around this joint.

You have been warned.

Of course, we must start with…

OUR NATIONAL DISASTER — PRESIDENT TRUMP

One thing that is abundantly clear from reading the full text of President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border — he’s barely even deigning to explain why there is a particular crisis today, or why that crisis is so grave that it requires the military to combat it. At its heart it’s a contemptuous document. It’s the proclamation of a monarch, not an argument by a president.

• David French, National Review

This is a sign of the end of the American Revolution. We, the people, who declared our independence from the rule of kings, have a president who thinks he is king, that he alone understands the problems of our nation, and that no one else should be able to stop him from doing what he wants. By his own words (“I did not need to do this”) he has contradicted any idea that we are facing a “national emergency.” The only emergency to him is that he might lose face and fail to get what he wants.

And if you think, “Oh Chaplain Mike, you’re just another one of those liberals who doesn’t like President Trump and wants only to see him out of office,” just stop. Stop! The president just trampled upon the most conservative of values in this country — the rule of law, limited government, and the separation of powers to guard against tyranny.

Lest you think I am just picking on the current POTUS, I am not. Recent presidential administrations have been cracking this door open bit by bit, spurred on by the hyper-partisan climate and government gridlock. But Trump has done more than that. He’s blown the door off its hinges. This is the most transparent of power grabs. The president of the U.S. has declared this “emergency” (which he admitted he didn’t really need to do) so he can literally steal taxpayer money that has already been stipulated by Congress for other purposes and use it for his own agenda.

Worst of all, the president’s party, you know, the one that supposedly represents conservative values, is probably going to simply shut up, bow their heads, and get in line. I suggest a new symbol for the GOP — the jellyfish. That’s how much backbone they have, letting this king wannabe completely take over their party.

Two years into his administration, Trump has recognized that the institutional power of the Republican Party has all the effectiveness of the Maginot Line. He can ignore its leaders, scorn them, or just smash through them with no lasting political damage.

Trump’s declaration of a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border is a high point, or low point, of a familiar pattern that is right out of Groundhog Day—or the Netflix series Russian Doll. Again and again, Trump embraces a policy, or reveals a character trait, that hits at the heart of what the Republican Party claims to stands for. In response, there is unhappiness, even anger, but never action. If you think the Republicans in Congress are going to stand up to Trump’s fake national emergency in order to defend the party’s long-held principles, or to assert the constitutional authority of the legislative branch, you haven’t been paying attention for the past three years.

• Jeff Greenfield, Politico

Our national emergency, our national crisis, our national shame is a president who has gone off the rails and a Republican party that’s too intimidated, too lacking in principle and courage to do anything but go along for the ride.

This is a direct assault by this president on the Congress’s Article I powers. Usually, presidents use these powers to do things like levy sanctions on countries that are slaughtering their own people. What this president is trying to do is to redirect money already appropriated for a project that Congress already has declined to fund—the last time only a couple of days ago. That is purely a dictatorial action. It is an abuse of power. It cannot be allowed to stand.

• Charles Pierce, Esquire

• • •

THE BAPTIST APOCALYPSE

And now to the world of religion, to churches that have long boasted in their independence, their preaching of the gospel, their strong insistence upon morality and sexual ethics.

Turns out the foxes have been guarding the hen house.

Doug Myers was suspected of preying on children at a church in Alabama — but he went on to work at Southern Baptist churches in Florida before police arrested him.

Timothy Reddin was convicted of possessing child pornography, yet he was still able to serve as pastor of a Baptist church in Arkansas.

Charles Adcock faced 29 counts of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Alabama. Then he volunteered as a worship pastor at a Baptist church in Texas.

The sordid backgrounds of these Southern Baptist ministers didn’t stop them from finding new jobs at churches and working in positions of trust.

• Houston Chronicle

In the past 20 years, a disturbing number of Southern Baptists in church leadership roles have engaged in sexual misconduct, according a recent investigation detailed in the Houston Chronicle. Many of these leaders were able to procure jobs in other churches after their sexual misbehavior in a congregation. Some were even registered sex offenders. Some, in fact, are still working.

This investigation has uncovered, for the first time in SBC history, the scope and depth of the problem of sexual abuse in local SBC congregations.

In all, since 1998, roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct, the newspapers found. That includes those who were convicted, credibly accused and successfully sued, and those who confessed or resigned. More of them worked in Texas than in any other state.

They left behind more than 700 victims, many of them shunned by their churches, left to themselves to rebuild their lives. Some were urged to forgive their abusers or to get abortions.

About 220 offenders have been convicted or took plea deals, and dozens of cases are pending. They were pastors. Ministers. Youth pastors. Sunday school teachers. Deacons. Church volunteers.

Nearly 100 are still held in prisons stretching from Sacramento County, Calif., to Hillsborough County, Fla., state and federal records show. Scores of others cut deals and served no time. More than 100 are registered sex offenders. Some still work in Southern Baptist churches today.

Journalists in the two newsrooms spent more than six months reviewing thousands of pages of court, prison and police records and conducting hundreds of interviews. They built a database of former leaders in Southern Baptist churches who have been convicted of sex crimes.

The investigation reveals that:

• At least 35 church pastors, employees and volunteers who exhibited predatory behavior were still able to find jobs at churches during the past two decades. In some cases, church leaders apparently failed to alert law enforcement about complaints or to warn other congregations about allegations of misconduct.

• Several past presidents and prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are among those criticized by victims for concealing or mishandling abuse complaints within their own churches or seminaries.

• Some registered sex offenders returned to the pulpit. Others remain there, including a Houston preacher who sexually assaulted a teenager and now is the principal officer of a Houston nonprofit that works with student organizations, federal records show. Its name: Touching the Future Today Inc.

• Many of the victims were adolescents who were molested, sent explicit photos or texts, exposed to pornography, photographed nude, or repeatedly raped by youth pastors. Some victims as young as 3 were molested or raped inside pastors’ studies and Sunday school classrooms. A few were adults — women and men who sought pastoral guidance and instead say they were seduced or sexually assaulted.

• Houston Chronicle

•

I will let Jesus himself do the ranting, raving, venting, and grumbling about this issue.

If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!

• Matthew 18:6-7

Klasie Kraalogies: Purity Culture?

Purity Culture?
by Klasie Kraalogies

In January 2015, the Washington Post announced that the famed Joshua Harris, author of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”, announced his resignation from his church, and headed off to seminary. Then, by August 2016 we read that he had started grappling with the reality that maybe he wasn’t quite correct. However, from 1997 when the book was published, the no-dating-no-sex-contact-no-nothing model of courtship blossomed in the US. But…. Let me tell you an older story. You see, Joshua Harris was a virtual liberal hippy compared to the teaching on sexuality (and marriage) of some. Joshua-come-lately was way behind the curve.

In the 1960’s there arose a sect in South Africa that decided, beyond all the normal don’ts of fundamentalism – no TV! no Sunday sport! modest dress! (btw, that is generally meant for the female of the species, more than the male) that all forms of dating and courtship are wrong, designed by Satan to trick the faithful, just like old Potiphar’s wife (see painting by Guido Reni). When the time is right, maybe when you are 19, maybe when you are 59, he will show you your wife (it never goes the other way, mind you), and the, once everyone has prayed and feels that it is God’s will, well, presto, there is your life partner! Some version of the Isaac and Rebecca story – minus the servant.

I can see you everyone, or almost everyone reading this roll their eyes. But let me challenge you thus: Where does this come from? Is this not simply a slightly over-the-top result of the teaching, and more important, the culture around sexuality that has been practised in, well, many societies for ever so long? Some, like Rome, made a fetish of perpetual virginity, somehow imparting the idea that true spirituality excludes all thoughts and actions of giving an inch to our reproductive biology. The multitude of scandals out there (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47134033) shows how workable that approach is. And it would be unfair to single out Romish fallibility – Rome is hardly unique.

That is all understood. But let’s travel back to the mid-eighties and examine a particular young fellow.

Once the young man reached the age when the nether stirrings are undeniable (about 12/13 years old?), he was suddenly confronted with the idea that sex is sin. Why? He wasn’t married – and still way too young. He was most emphatically not allowed to notice the swelling breasts, the long legs, etc etc around him. He couldn’t even touch their hands. Even briefly thinking about a girl was a horrible thought crime. And, since the preacherman loved to quote the plucking of eyes and the cutting of tongues, he started avoiding contact with the opposite sex as much as possible. Any or all women could be Potiphar’s wife! If they aren’t married, God might have destined them for someone, so looking at them is the same as adultery with a married woman! He suffered unending mental agony – and it is years before he discovered simple things – that “wet dreams” and even erections are involuntary. He felt driven to confess his dreams.

Everything was sin…

The result is a given. At a far too young age, he becomes convinced that he is being led to marry – but he does not know her of course.

Thus he marries. And suddenly his whole universe must flip -up is now down and down is up and evil nature is now godly nature (sometimes), all by the stroke of a pen on a marriage certificate. How to work out this mess? And while this is going on, he quickly discovers the personality of his now life partner – and to his infinite dismay, he discovers he is wedded, death-do-us-part someone his psychiatrist will inform him 2 decades later is likely suffering from NPD (narcissistic personality disorder). More about that another time.

You, see, he wasn’t allowed to have a friendship even – purity was understood and preached as if one was running a sterile laboratory. Not as respect – the word didn’t come into it. Respect was for parents, government, and especially, preachermen. So he walked headlong into a nightmare, in the agony (as he now understands, with the wisdom of time and suffering) of seeking an outlet to the natural desire for friendship, companionship, and romance, bequeathed to him by one-and-a-quarter billion years of evolution.

And of course, by ecclesiastical and parental decree, that is where he must stay, because anything else is sin. Which of course leads to hellfire.

Yip, as you have probably guessed, this is autobiographical. And much has been left out. But I am by no means unique. If we return to the after affects of Harris’ book, we discover testimonies like this:

Instead of protection, these teachings led to suffering, to dysfunction, and yes, to abuse. And as one discovers the more you dig into this, the damage is much worse for the young women than the young men. For some, normal intercourse remains an impossibility, as years of shaming and teaching have left psychological scars that precludes true intimacy.

I would close with the observation that much of this is cultural – but the church is culture, by and large. I am not a Christian, but it would be a fairly easy task to put together a positive and informative sexual ethic that is not incompatible with the basics of the faith, that does not rely on ancient instincts of power, control and shaming. Other wise the damaged lives will just keep on proliferating. I, for one, have had enough.

Faith Across the Multiverse, Parables from Modern Science- Part 3, The Language of Biology, Chapters 9 Redeemable Ant-Man By Andy Walsh

Faith Across the Multiverse: Parables from Modern Science

Part 3, The Language of Biology, Chapter 9 Redeemable Ant-Man

By Andy Walsh

We are blogging through the book, “Faith Across the Multiverse, Parables from Modern Science” by Andy Walsh. Today is Chapter 9: Redeemable Ant-man and Walsh goes into a detailed regale of ant colony lore. Which is not uninteresting. If you’ve ever seen pictures of the results of pouring molten aluminum into an ant hill; you know that it shows the proportionate equivalent to a city with a complex network of interconnected tunnels and chambers.

Ants are farmers; they cultivate fungus that has actually become domesticated to the ant colony. Ants keep livestock such as aphids and “milk” them for their secretions. They even defend the “herd” from other predators like shepherds protecting their sheep. Some ant species engage in warfare with other ant colonies in territorial disputes. How are all of these complex tasks organized? Where are the blueprints for the colony’s nest? Where is the knowledge of farming techniques maintained? You could argue it is encoded in their genes, but that can only be true in the most abstract sense. Does it make sense to perhaps talk about the ant colony as a collective unit having some notion of a will that directs nest building, fungus farming, aphid herding, warfare, and so forth? Is it plausible that such a will could be constructed from the bottom up, out of the individual contributions of the ants? And if that’s the case, are the ants free in any sense or do they blindly serve the will of the colony. Is all this information suggestive of a scenario where an individual can operate individually, and yet also realize some form of collective will? Walsh says:

Even though we are used to thinking of ourselves as indivisible wholes, we are a confederation of trillions of cells, many, but not all, of whom share a genome, who have gathered together to be “me” for a while… Some organizing principle I identify as myself persists and holds them all together, yet without an obvious hierarchy. There is no “me” cell that can claim superiority, or even a first among equal status… All of the cells are dependent on the others in some way. All cells send signals, and all cells respond to signals sent by other cells. Where do “I” live? We intuit that we reside inside our heads, looking out through our eyes, but something about that picture doesn’t fully resonate with modern biology…

… One can easily tumble down a rabbit hole reflecting on matters of mind. You start to think about how you think, then you realize you are thinking about thinking, and before long you’ve got yourself tied up in knots wondering who watches the watcher-watching watchers. Just “who” is doing all this thinking, and is that the same person also thinking about my thinking, and so on and so forth…

And so Walsh takes on the question of consciousness and the nature of the ‘soul”. Is it just physicality and neurological impulses? We have no empirical evidence of consciousness without a physical living brain. The Bible makes many references to one’s soul, and similar ideas can be found in a variety of other cultural and religious contexts. It is expressly not a scientific concept, since science, by definition, deals exclusively with the physical.

The model of identity that makes the most sense to Walsh is the idea that our mind or consciousness is an emergent level of organization of (at least) our brains. Or to put it another way, our mind is fully mediated by our brains, but not strictly reducible to the brain. He brings up the writings of Douglas Hofstadter and his book, I am a Strange Loop. Walsh says the analogy behind that title is that our mind is a form of strange attractor, like he discussed in Chapter 3.

I’d like to bring up some points we discussed in our review of Minds, Brains, Souls, and Gods by Malcom Jeeves. Malcolm mentions the InterVarsity Press book, “In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem”. and says this:

Personally, I find the most convincing approach in this volume, in the sense of doing most justice both to the science and to Scripture, to be the one written by Nancey Murphy. She labels her view “Nonreductive Physicalism”. If we must have labels put on us, I prefer to call my view dual-aspect monism, as I’ve mentioned before. By this I mean that there is only one reality to be understood and explained – this is what I would call the “mind-brain unity”, hence the word monism. By saying “dual-aspect”, I am affirming that in order to do full justice to the nature of this reality we need to give at least two accounts of it an account in terms of its physical makeup and an account in terms of our mental or cognitive abilities. You cannot reduce the one to the other. This may seem like a linguistic quibble, but my concern is that the term physicalism as Nancey Murphy uses it, could be taken by some as giving precedence to the physical aspect of our makeup over the mental. I think that would be to ignore that, as I said earlier, we can only know and talk about the mind-body problem by using language and the mental categories it employs. So in this sense at least, not selecting out either the mental or the physical would avoid giving precedence to either. If pressed, I would say that referring only to the physical, as in Nonreductive Physicalism, runs the risk of seeming to endorse a materialistic view which, in turn, implies that the mind is “nothing but” the chattering of the cells of the brain.

I made the following analogy: flowing water, in a river or channel may exhibit subcritical or supercritical flow. Subcritical occurs when the actual water depth is greater than critical depth. Subcritical flow is dominated by gravitational forces and behaves in a slow or stable way. It is defined as having a Froude number less than one (The Froude number is a ratio of inertial and gravitational forces. · Gravity (numerator) – moves water downhill. · Inertia (denominator) – reflects its willingness to do so). Supercritical flow is dominated by inertial forces and behaves as rapid, turbulent, or unstable flow. Subcritical flow is laminar and is defined by relatively simple mathematical formulas. The relation between subcritical and supercritical flow is not a continuum. When the Froude number reaches 1, a nick point occurs where the flow jumps to supercritical. The flow is now chaotic and indeterminate.

My theory is that there is a Brain-Froude number of 1. Our evolutionary brain development reached a “nick point” with regard to reason, self-awareness, ability to think about the past and the future, conceive of God, and so on. It’s not that our fellow animal kin have no ability to do these things, but that their development is of a rudimentary kind that is below the “Brain-Froude” number of 1 i.e. sub-critical. As commenter Robert F said during that discussion: “…a large enough magnitude of material cause-and-effect cascades into a qualitative change.” Our mind/brain reached supercritical flow; we are now “in the image of God”. We can perceive and experience Him and reflect His reality. We can understand His communication to us and we can respond—in short we can be in a relationship with Him, as He intended.

What is it of us that survives death? The empiricist would say nothing, and I have no empirical data to dispute that. All I have is, like Paul, a trust in Christ, that where He is there I will be until the end when I am given the resurrection body. The classic passage on the resurrection is 1 Corinthians 15:

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

So I agree with Malcolm Jeeves here, a soul is something we are, not an immaterial something we have. We are embodied beings. That is why the New Testament emphasis was on resurrection of the body, not dying and going to fluffy white cloud heaven as a disembodied “soul”. As Chaplain Mike said in a previous post:

We look for the redemption of the body, not release from it. Our hope is not in the immortality of the soul, but the resurrection of the body. Our hope, our home is not in heaven “up there” or “out there.” We look for all creation to be set free from its bondage so that we may all share together in the freedom of a new heavens and earth.

Sounds like something to hope for.

Wednesday with Michael Spencer: Confessions of a Poor Player

Wednesday with Michael Spencer
Confessions of a Poor Player (2009)

I love chess. I’ve loved it since I was a kid. I’ve kept my first chess sets. I can recall every hand held set I ever took to school when I was told not to. I still stalk ebay looking for a particular plastic set that I wanted when I was a boy, but could never afford.

I coached our school’s chess team for 5 years and loved every minute of it. Those were some of my very best times with students. Every so often, I’ll go on a riff reading chess books, studying games and playing chess computers for weeks at a time.

Of course, I love the gear. I have an Isle of Lewis set that I ordered from the UK at a shipping rate I don’t want to discuss. (Actually, I have two.) I just bought a Chinese style set that I don’t need. I own two tournament sets. I’d be really happy to run the chess room in any pub anywhere. Hire me.

I’m a fair study of the history of chess. I’m average in a few openings. I can teach the game well and do basic analysis for beginning students.

But I’m a bad chess player. Very, very bad.

Chess is a very unforgiving game, especially against any competent player. If you want to know what I mean, set your chess computer to the level of anything above an amateur and see what happens to you if you play anything less than perfection.

Chess isn’t a game for blunderers and people who make serious errors. You can tell a computer to take it all back, but after years of making the same mistakes, that sort of cheap grace doesn’t go very far in making a real player.

I’m not mentally equipped to play the game well. My ability to concentrate is sporadic. My mind works with multiple topics and makes quick judgments. I see my own actions, but rarely calculate consequences with any real accuracy. My move always seems like the best move. I like to believe that my errors will be overlooked, and of course, that’s never the case.

So I have a house full of nice chess sets and books. I can keep a game going while I’m working on other things. (I’m getting cooked right now by Sigma Chess.) I can teach the game, appreciate the game, tell you stories about great chess players. But I’m a very poor player and always will be.

Sound familiar? Anyone?

I know a lot about Jesus. I have a lot of books about him. I know stories about great Christians. I’m a very good teacher of the basics of Christianity. I’m great at explaining how to get started. I have all the standard information memorized.

I study the Bible, and I know it well. I teach it and I can answer most of your questions. I think I’m right most of the time, too. (Surprised?)

I enjoy the music, the worship, the fellowship, the discussion. I can play the songs. I can lead in prayer and preach a good sermon. I like liturgy, church history, reformation theology…even Christian blogs.

I’m an educated minister, a trained amateur theologian and a writer with a decent reputation. I have a lot of mail saying I’ve been helpful to people wanting to live this Christian life. I’ve tried to pass my faith on to my children and to live it out at home.

But, like chess, living out the life of a disciple can a very unforgiving business. I blunder, make wrong moves, throw away opportunities and live by a double standard. God can’t point at me with any pride and say “There’s someone doing it right.”

I’m just not very good at following Jesus. I’m a “poor player.” I collect the stuff, the stories and the information. I hang around and admire, even hope to imitate. But I’m not much of a player at living out this Jesus business.

I’m better than the beginners, but I’m nowhere near the saints. I have a lot of “know” and very little “do” in my Christianity. I’m more of a fan than a follower.

Of course, religion is like chess. The Kingdom of God, thankfully, is not.

The Kingdom of God is a very forgiving place. My blunders and short-sightedness; my poor playing and missed opportunities; my laziness and distraction…..Jesus knows about them all. Jesus seems to enjoy calling people like me- and you- to be disciples, even when he knows what we’ll be like.

In the Gospels, Jesus’ disciples were very poor players, and sometimes Jesus was frustrated with them. But mostly, he kept showing them- over and over- grace, the Kingdom, the cross, the Gospel. Over and over and over.

The Kingdom has the high call and the deeper life, but it also has the grace to catch me and the laughter to let me keep on trying. The Kingdom asks us to live like God’s people, but the Gospel forgives and perseveres with us when we’re utter losers.

It is ridiculous that I’m a Christian. But I am. It’s ridiculous that I, with my record and likely future, call myself a minister. But I am. It’s ridiculous that I can have the Holy Spirit poured out in my heart and I can live with “Abba, Father” as my homing cry. But the Kingdom of God is like that. Ridiculous. Gracious. More than generous.

My “game” isn’t what’s on display here. Oh yes, I’m playing (or running, to quote Hebrews,) but the race is won, the game is over. I’m part of a team where the victory has already been announced, but the games go on, just to make Jesus look good.

My poor Christianity is discouraging and sometimes disgusting. It would make a lot more since if I were cut, told to quit and sent out.

Instead, I’m included. I share the victory. I have a place at the table and in the Father’s house.

Grace changes my perspective on the game. It is what it is, but grace is a greater thing, a deeper, more beautiful thing. I must be careful not to become a fan of the game and forget why I’m here at all. I must remember that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of rules and morals and taking stands in the public square, but of righteousness and joy and the Holy Spirit. I’m not called to be a trophy Christian, but to be a trophy of his grace.

I’m a poor chess player, but I’m trying.

I’m a poor Christian, but I’m trying.

The difference is that all I’ll ever be in chess will be the sum total of my efforts.

But all I am and will ever be as a Christian is because of Jesus and what he has achieved for me in my place. In the Kingdom, my game is secondary. My faith, even as a loser, glorifies the King who saves me. Whatever happens in me- as imperfect and incomplete as it will be- will never be more than the evidence that his grace refuses to quit, give up or send me where I deserve. To the praise of the glory of his grace, I will live, die, live again and reign with him.

In the present, God delights in what his son has done, and that delights spills over even to my poor playing. In this Kingdom, I am free from condemnation. Free to grow, free to fail, free to be myself and free to try again. What I will be is God’s promise. I live my life in his grace and love; out of that good ground, the fruits of his Spirit will grow.