Geoff's Miscellany

What is faith?

What is Christian faith? I don’t mean “what is ’the Christian faith’?” I mean, when I Christian has faith in Christ, what does ‘faith’ connote? Many Christians carry a meaning of the word faith around in their heads that leaves them with no actual ground to stand on for living the good life hinted at in Deuteronomy 30, the Sermon on the Mount, Micah 6:8, and Romans 12-15.

One of my least favorite things in which to participate, at any church, is a fund raising campaign.

If they are put on by an external committee or a fund raising team from the denomination they are often worse than awful. Here’s my list of beefs:

1. They often utilize fliers that misrepresent Scripture. Often with quotes like this, "Are you going to build a house for me to inhabit?" 2 Samuel 7:5
2. They take up a great deal of church service time that is explicitly designated for Word and Sacrament (or Ordinance if you're Baptist).
3. A great deal of stake is put on them that makes them a time of tremendous stress on pastors, deacon boards, and committed families.
4. They feed into an event rather than Scripture/discipleship oriented church calendar.
5. Giving is treated as a sort of supernatural transaction.

Here are my thoughts:

Jesus is pretty clear about loving your enemies:

Mat 5:43-48  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (44)  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (45)  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (46)  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (47)  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (48)  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Luk 6:27-36  “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, (28)  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. (29)  To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. (30)  Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. (31)  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. (32)  “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. (33)  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. (34)  And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. (35)  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. (36)  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

One of the weirdest stories in the gospels is the transfiguration. Despite how strange it is though, its meaning is apparent. All three versions of the story contain God’s command to the bystanders:

1. Mat 17:5  He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."
2. Mar 9:7  And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."
3. Luk 9:35  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!"

In all of these gospels, Moses and Elijah (two of the biggest names in the Old Testament) are present.

Toward the beginning of John Wesley's journal, he goes through a series of questions that he asks people who are critical of what he and the early Methodists are doing. They are pretty intense, but most Christians, even now, would approve of them. I wonder why we don't do this kind of thing.

1.  Whether it does not concern all men of all conditions to imitate Him, as much as they can, ‘who went about doing good’?

   Whether all Christians are not concerned in that command, ‘While we have time, let us do good to all men’?

Luk 12:16-21 ESV  And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, (17)  and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' (18)  And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. (19)  And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' (20)  But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' (21)  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

Pro 11:25 A generous person will prosper, and anyone who gives water will receive a flood in return.

Pro 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the barn is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

There might are less chores with less tools, but with well managed tools comes greater success.

I can think of several applications of this Proverb to contemporary existence:

1. If you do not own a lawn mower, you’ll have less maintenance, but you’ll have to pay more in the long run for people to do your yard.
2. If you do not own a tools, then you won’t have to organize them. There will be no need to put up your tools, have a sweet tool box, or to oil them. But if you have one it will be cheaper to repair your house.
3. Any tools that improve your productivity should be cared for just like the oxen barn. A barn full of oxen, left unattended, will eventually smell like what fills it. Similarly, a computer that is not properly maintained, a car not properly tuned up, or a guitar not properly stored will all let you down more frequently than the alternative. But if you do not have these tools, then you cannot have the blessings that come with them.
4. If less people go to your church, you’ll have less problems. But conversely, potentially less of the work of the gospel will be accomplished.
5. Your body will eventually fall apart, but it will happen much faster without use! Put the work of taking care of it into practice and it will likely work much longer for you.

1. Keep my garage clean and organized.
2. Stop borrowing my friend’s calculator.
3. Keep my books in alphabetical order.

TLDL

The things of the Spirit in Romans 8:1-17 are actually the same sorts of things we find in the four gospels. This is what Paul wants us to be mindful of in our day-to-day life with Christ and his church.

Whole Thought

Romans 8 is, by many accounts, one of the most beautiful passages penned by Paul and by some accounts, perhaps the most beautiful passage in Scripture. What has always intrigued me about Romans 8 is Paul’s notion of the Christian life on a moment by moment basis.

Being able to think is a disadvantage with which most people are not burdened. Being able to think merely makes you aware of the outrages around you. - Arthur Jones

You should not be over much righteous nor should you seek overmuch to be clever. Why destroy yourself? Ecclesiastes 7:16 (author’s translation)

In Greg Boyd's book, God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God, Boyd makes a claim that at first seems to be non-testable. He notes that certain viewpoints about the future, the possibilities of life, and of God's nature tend toward certain mind sets.

Along the same lines, if we believe that even God faces possibilities, we will be more inclined to see possibilities as positive than if we believe God faces an exhaustively settled future...People who believe this will be more inclined to see their lives in terms of possibilities. They will be more inclined to adventurously and passionately envisage and pursue what they could be instead of resigning themselves to what was supposedly settled an eternity ago about what they will be.  Boyd, p 94