Flawed Glass

The greatest Christian heresy today may be the worship of doctrine—the elevation of one set of beliefs (mine or ours) to the level of absolute and infallible, which suggests that I/we can’t be wrong, which implies that I/we end up worshiping myself/ourselves. The heresy (or is it idolatry?) is rooted in a belief that we humans are capable of comprehending God and/or Jesus absolutely. “But the Bible says...” is the justification, again, rooted in an assumption that our interpretation of the Bible is absolute and infallible. “But it’s not an interpretation; it’s God’s word!” OK, let’s go there. Moses asked God, “Let me see you!” and God said, “OK, go into that cave and I’ll pass by the opening of the cave, but you’ll only see my back, because you can’t handle all of me at once!” (Exodus 33:18-23) Paul wrote, “We see as if through a flawed pane of glass—we understand in part.” (I Corinthians 13:12) Matthew presents Jesus as a second Moses. The Sermon on the Mount recalls Moses’ experience...

I am not a psychologist. I have eight graduate hours in psychology (just enough to be dangerous), including a four-hour course in abnormal psychology, which I took in 1970. So even the little education I have in the field is seriously dated. But I have access to resources and know how to do research. I also have training and certification in several counselling models and in conflict resolution, again somewhat dated. So, I have some familiarity with the language and can recognize most symptoms of mental disorders, even if I can’t name them, and that comprises the layman’s perspective I bring to address a sweeping and controversial topic. My comments here will comprise as much question as statement. The impetus for writing is “Guns don’t kill; people do.” I actually agree with that statement . My concern is that at no level of policymaking and administration with capacity to make a difference is anything being done to address the issue of people who kill with guns. The dismissive appro...

  Next month I will have been a pastor for 58 years. I was a licensed minister and preached now and then for eight years before taking on my first (student) pastorate in August of 1968; so the Judeo/Christian Scriptures (the Bible) have been a part of my official work for 66 years. I am amazed—and often disturbed—at the many diverse and often contradictory ways those Scriptures have been understood and applied. Actually, it’s not the variations that disturb me; it’s the anger and bitterness with which we Christians—you know: “blessed are the meek…” “blessed are the peacemakers…” “love your enemies…” Christians—treat each other when we don’t agree. Due to the animosity, I’ve come to prefer the word Christlike over the word Christian as a goal for living. Not everything that is called Christian is “like Christ.” Most recently I’ve seen hostile exchanges over the concept of God’s sovereignty. From where I sit it’s that God can do whatever God darn well pleases. Okay; I can wor...

  After battling chronic depression and serious neurological pain for years, with his business failing and seeing no livable future, our youngest son took his life last August. The grief remains demanding for our family. It flared up again this morning when I ran across one of the most difficult passages in the entire Bible. It’s the story of Jephthah (Judges 11:1-39) . Jephthah is called by the people of Gilead to lead a fight against the Ammonites. Verses 30-31: “And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’” Jephthah went to battle, he was victorious, and when he returned home his daughter came out to greet him. Jephthah is devastated. The text won’t allow us to pretend otherwise. He cries out; he tears his clothes; he names his grief and he says, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought ...

  Four Principles for Christlike Discussion of Controversial Subjects In our confirmation culture, being right is considered an achievable absolute, and being wrong is synonymous with unpardonable sin. Disagreement is not tolerated and is met with belligerence and hostility and even violence (verbal or physical). Relationships are damaged or destroyed in the climate of intolerance. In the teachings and life modeling of Jesus of Nazareth and in subsequent Christian ethical teachings, relationships are paramount, and love is the only valid basis of relationships. We are called even to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48 and Romans 12:20-21) and both Jesus (Matthew 5:38-42) and Paul (Romans 12:17-1 and 1 Thessalonians 5:15) teach non-retaliation as a Kingdom of Heaven ethic. Sadly, relationships die, because they are human and death is part of being human. There’s even a biblical model for dealing with the death of relationships; it is a form of resurrection: “You have heard...

Almost daily I make new discoveries in the Bible, even after 66 years of studying the texts in preparation for preaching and writing. I can't find it now, but recently I read that we should never get to the point that we confuse the pursuit of truth with the possession of it. Shakespeare wrote, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”   And St. Paul wrote, “Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.” (I Corinthians 8:2) I found the new discovery in a text found in all three Synoptic Gospels, viz., the familiar story of the rich, young ruler [1] (Matthew just calls him “someone,” Mark calls him, simply, “a man,” Luke calls him “a certain ruler”)—isn’t it strange how words, phrases, and ideas get attached to scriptural accounts? In this case it’s not inaccurate. Later in the narrative Matthew does say he is “young;” Luke calls him a “ruler,” and all three accounts mention his wealth. It’s just not generally go...