Flawed Glass

  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 ...