I heard a good talk last night (good by my definition - see sidebar further down); for me it was familiar stuff for the most part, citing the different contemporary perspectives on Jesus and drawing from the diversity of people like NT Wright, John Piper, Rob Bell, and such like. A mundane description would be "re-framing (but not redefining) Jesus and Christianity in a post-Christendom world". The more interesting (to me) way to see it is: "Is your Jesus my Jesus?" or "Get out of your hidey-hole and realize that the world's moved on!" But it was a good talk because it made my mind wander onto new avenues, every now and then being re-directed by a key word or phrase that triggered a new connection. The issue is that today's world knows little about Christianity ... oh, they know of Christianity, but not about Christianity. Thus most churched people are lost when it comes to talking to non-Christians. I raised this in the group discussion time, but it seemed all the responses were church-style platitudes - none really seemed to get to grips with the realities of living and serving our relativistic world. So here I need to explore three of my mind-wanderings catalysed by the talk:
A recent study showed that well connected people post limited personal information on Facebook; it's the disconnected and lonely people that post deeply personal information. This says a lot about our modern society which touts the view "you can be all you want to be" ... unfortunately what we want to be turns out not to be very nice.
NO, the internet world of discussion is not much about discussion, but is rather plagued by a culture of aggressive self-promotion (how many "Likes" did I get today?) that competes for the attention of everyone, of anyone ("please pay me some attention!"). If we want to become what we need to become to introduce others to Jesus, then we'd better see behind the veil of internet cosmetics and through to the underlying reasons why people are exposing themselves, the environment and pressures they wrestle with, and why they're addicted to implicit voyeurism. 3. Is the real question really "Who is Jesus?" Of course it is ... well maybe, ummm. Huh, well perhaps. Hmmm. There is a huge focus today on re-framing Jesus (and sometimes redefining Jesus) among the emerging strands of "new-Christianity": we have the emerging church, alternative church, mystical church, Alpha courses, re-invented traditional church, and much more. But many times all that's being achieved is a new description of Jesus, not a new knowing of Jesus. Jesus said that he who has seen him ("seen", as in really looked behind the surface) has seen the Father. This is the real question, can you see the Father? What makes a person choose to change? Something has to be either pushing or pulling. The pull of Jesus is the revealed beauty and Truth of God. Yet, too easily we get diverted by the easy beauty of the gods ... mystical, power promising, ego-massaging affirming gods, the "you're-ok-love-will-overcome" gods. None of these embody God's necessary partnership of perfect love with perfect justice. Conversely, a push to change has to come from something we want to escape, a revulsion or fear of seeing behind our own façades to the dirt that lies inside. The conventional Christian's platitude is that Jesus convicts through the spirit, Jesus draws through the Spirit, Jesus satisfies the hunger and thirst through the Spirit. But Jesus and the Spirit point to God the Father ... there lies the final person of our deserved attention. Martin Lloyd-Jones has a beautiful way of capturing this: "What gives us conviction of sin is not the number of sins we have committed, it is the sight of the holiness of God". And one might extend this to say "What gives us a desire for God is not our craving for emotional satisfaction, it is the sight of the holiness of God". For a glimpse of God's holiness cannot fail to convict and cannot fail to stir the deepest desire for more. So is the most important question "Who is Jesus?" Yes and No. It's a YES if we understand that in the answer we see the Father. It's a NO if all we simply do is re-frame a topical Jesus into a comfortable expression for our contemporary culture. When all is said and done And so in the end the challenges we face are these. a) If I am to be the face and voice and hands and feet and eyes and ears and touch and heart and mind of Jesus, if I am to become what I need to become to reach others for Jesus, then do I myself see the Father? For only then will I be able to truly convey who Jesus is. b) Am I aware of what lies beneath the surface of this society, do I know how to "read" my culture, can I see behind the façades, and am I aware of the changes both coming and gone? For unless I am, I will likely be talking past those I seek to reach. Jesus knew the Father (I only do what I see the Father doing). Jesus was the master of reaching beyond the veil of all those he encountered. This is who he calls me to be, so that I can say to others "Look at this Jesus, and see the Father".
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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