by Doug Hammack
We’re doing a series of lessons called “Two Views.” The last lesson we looked at Two Views of God. This week, and for the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at Two Views of People, and after that, Two Views of Jesus.
In these introductory remarks before we begin our second installment, we talk about why we’d poke people’s settled religious views in the eye. Why irritate people over settled religious convictions? The reason is expediency. Our Christian spirituality has grown quite ill over the last few generations, and unless we go back and question our fundamental assumptions about following Jesus, we may never discern where we went wrong.
The last two weeks, we did a lesson on two views of God
• A view that evolves from an image of God the King
• A view that evolves from an image of God the Lover
We saw that the gods that emerges from these two divergent starting points couldn’t be further from one another
• And the way of living the Christian life that each of these views of God precipitate couldn’t be further from one another
The one creates a Christianity of requirements that must be met
• Rewards that accrue to us if we meet the requirements…
• Punishments that accrue to us if we do not
This view fosters religion focused on the great reward of the afterlife, but devalues the state of affairs in the here and now
• Focuses on the getting ourselves and others to heaven
• But doesn’t give much weight to Jesus words to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the prisoners, etc.
The 2nd view, based on an image of God as Lover, I said I believe to be a better, more full, more complete view…
• This view starting with the image of God the Lover, ends up demanding justice for all people on earth who God so loves
• This view hears Jesus teaching on the Kingdom of God, and repairing the earth, and has a framework to embrace it and live it
• This view causes us to see ourselves in the context of God’s purposes to redeem this planet…
• Not abandon it, burn it, and rescue a handful of faithful from it
That was last week’s lesson on 2 views…
In our next few lessons, we’ll be looking at the teachings of Jesus, and I want us to see, another two views…
• This time, two spiritual views of human beings
• And again, I will suggest that one of these views is better
• And I will suggest that the deeply ingrained interpretations we’ve made about the nature of being human…
• Doesn’t accurately reflect the heart of our religion
• Doesn’t accurately reflect the heart of Jesus
• Don’t accurately reflect the heart of God
But since I’m doing these lessons, under the rubric “2 views”…
• I thought I’d give a little mid-stream introduction
• Obviously, we began these lessons already w/ 2 Views of God…
• But I thought as I was preparing this 2nd installment, that I should give a little of the “why” behind them
Here’s something you should know about me…
My Myers-Briggs personality profile is ENFJ
• One of the first things listed about ENFJ personality types is this…
• “Values above all things harmonious human relationships”
Now, if you want to undercut harmonious human relationships…
• The best thing you can do, is poke somebody in the eye about their view of God, their view of Jesus, their view of people
(the 2 View lessons I’m going to do)
• Religion fosters differences
• And in polite society, anybody w/ a lick of sense, has learned not to poke people’s core religious beliefs in the eye
But here I am doing it.
• Me, the ENFJ, the harmonious human relationships, guy
• I did a lesson on two views of God
• And said (in a very schmoozing kind of way)
Hey, that view of God you’re familiar with…
I don’t think it’s a very good view!
Here’s one I think is better
And now, I’m about to do another lesson on two views of people
• Hey, the nature of the human being you learned in church…
• I don’t think it’s a very good view at all
• And here, I think this one is better
• I’ll poke a stick in the eye of one view of the human condition…
• And I’ll suggest one I think is superior
What a social faux-pas
Doesn’t this guy have any manners?
But it doesn’t stop there…
When I finish this lesson, I’m going to do a lesson on two views of Jesus
• And no surprise, I’ll poke a stick in the eye of one view and say that another is superior
And if I’m still standing, I’ll do one after that on 2 views of the Bible
And in each of these endeavors, this harmony-loving guy is going to…
(in as schmoozy a way as possible)
• Argue that our traditional ways of seeing God, Jesus, ourselves, and maybe the Bible…
• Are getting us into trouble
• Are drawing us away from the heart of Jesus
• Are polluting Christian spirituality
• And are making our souls sick
Why would I do this?
I know what makes for harmonious human relations
And messing w/ people’s religious comfort zones isn’t it!
But I’m doing this series of lessons on the basis of a singular belief I’ve told you about several times
• I believe that Christian spirituality is sick
• The evidence is all around us
• The symptoms are as clear to see as clear can be
• But for some reason, vast swaths of Christian people aren’t seeing it
• Many are, but most are not
• We’re going along like we’re ok…
And we are decidedly not ok
Think about this with me for a minute…
• Think back to 10th grade, when you took geometry
• Think back to the time you had to do geometric proofs
In the first weeks of the semester you were taught assumptions
• Here’s the nature of a point, a line, and of parallel lines
• Here’s the nature of angles against a straight line
• Here’s the nature of angles that make up a triangle
• Here’s the nature of this, that, and the other thing…
Then after you were taught the nature of the assumptions…
• You were taught to prove things on the basis of the assumptions
• Line 1: such and such is so
• Line 2: therefore, such and such is so
• Line 3: therefore such and such is so
• And line 4: this proves that angle ABC is congruent to XYZ
Then you were taught to go back and review the assumptions
• To review your logic on each of the lines
• And then to feel confident that the conclusion was true
I have a friend with a strong, strong dislike for Islamic Fundamentalists
• It could be said her dislike borders on detestation
Here’s how her geometric-proof thinking goes…
• Line 1: Islamic fundamentalists are taught jihad
They see me and my loved ones as the infidel
They have a low regard for the life of the infidel
They are fanatical enough to take their own lives to end mine
Their scriptures, their imams, their tradition make this so
• Therefore, Line 2: their religion is a false one
• Line 3: Islamic fundamentalists are spreading their religion
They are converting people at a faster rate than Christians are
They are scouring the earth to make disciples
And when they do, they make them as crazy as themselves
They are stealing people away from peace
They are stealing people away from the true God
They are stealing people away from heaven
They are stealing people away from divine purpose
• Therefore, Line 4: they are wrong, they are malevolent, they are evil
• Therefore, Line 5: I despise Islamic fundamentalists
And I do so as a child of the True God
I do so as a follower of the True religion
I do so as a follower of God incarnate on the earth, Jesus
So there’s my friend’s geometric proof…
Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 conclusion
• And if she goes back and checks her assumptions, they’re all good
• Yep, they want to kill my people and take over the world
• Yep, their religion is false
• Yep, they’re aggressive in taking innocent people down w/ them
• Yep, they’re keeping people from the true God
• Yep, I despise them for doing it
Now, my friend knows Jesus told her to love her enemies
• So she tries really hard to separate the “them” from their religion
• Tries really hard to separate the person from the belief
• Tries really hard to separate the culture from the individual
• And tries really hard to love the sinner and hate the sin
But for her efforts…
And for all her vocabulary gymnastics about loving sinner not sin…
• For all her efforts to see them different from their actions/beliefs
• She despises Islamic fundamentalists
• And when she watches her favorite news channel, her bowels get in an uproar, her bile gets worked up…
• When I get her on this topic, it’s clear: she despises these people
• And she feels justified as a follower of Jesus doing so
However, for all the accuracy of her assumptions (Lines 1-4)
Her conclusion is at odds with one fundamental reality
• The Jesus she follows, tells her that if she follows him…
• Something will happen to her that will change her conclusion
• Despite accuracy of each of her assumptions, in the end, Jesus tells her, she will love Islamic fundamentalists
• Even if they spitefully use her, Jesus teaches her, there will be a motivation of compassion that will cause her to pray for them
So even though the assumptions might be as logical as logical can be…
• The fruit of her assumptions indicates that at least one of them was wrong, wrong, wrong
• A B C, but along the way something got twisted
• The fruit of her inner state of being tells her so
When Jesus taught us how to know if religion is good or bad, right or wrong, he gave us a litmus test by which to know…
• See if the fruit your religion bears is good or bad
• Then you’ll know if your religion is good or bad
SLIDE: Mt. 7:16ff [paraphrase]
By their fruit you will recognize if a religious leader [or belief] is good or bad. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? No, of course not. Good trees bear good fruit, and bad trees bear bad fruit. This is how you can know [if your religion] is good or bad. It’s in the fruit that it bears.
We often treat our religious beliefs like geometric proofs…
Line A is good, check it… yep, it’s good
• We have scripture to back us up
• We have tradition to back us up
• We have what our parents taught us, our youth pastor
• The books we read back us up…
Yep, Line A is good
And our belief on line B is good too. Check.
As is Line C and so forth
However, the fruit of Christian spirituality in our generation is spoiled
• I’ve given you many paragraphs over the lessons of the last months
• These highlight the illness infecting Christian spirituality in our time
Which means, no matter how certain we are of Line A, B, and C…
• We need to go back and check
• Where did we go wrong?
• Where did we get off track?
• Which assumptions did we make that were wrong?
• We know something is wrong, just look at the conclusion…
Look at the fruit
And this is why, this normally harmonious guy, goes around poking eyes
• Hey, we need to look at the assumptions in line A
• Hey, if we buy line B we act/live this way, or that way
Which, by the way, Jesus said not to do!
• Maybe Line B deserves a reexamination
If we do not do this, our religion will die a slow death of suffocation
• We will suffocate under the toxic fumes of our false assumptions
• Poisoned by truths that are not true, we will slowly die off
• It’s happening already, we just don’t seem ready to face it
Spoke to a young pastor this week, 25 years old
• Starting a church for a generation of college kids
• Their children, he said, will be 4% Christian if trends continue
• We long ago ceased to be a Christian nation
• Christianity in our nation is dying
• Christian spirituality in our nation is sick
• It is to us to go back and see what is infecting us
So we’re doing a series of lessons on reexamining the belief-lines
• Two Views, I’m calling it
• 2 ways of thinking about these dimensions of our religion
• 2 ways of being followers of Jesus
Whenever I talk this way, I always feel the need to be encouraging
And here’s my encouragement…
• The sickness of our spirituality is nothing new
• Throughout history this kind of sickness infects the people of God all the time
• Happened w/ the Jews before Christ
• Happened w/ Christians since the time of Christ
• And in each case, we have recovered
The world economy is in bad shape right now
• But if history is any indicator, it will survive
• Some, betting on history, are buying up stock, waiting for an inevitable return of economic good times
I’m betting on history too, speaking to as many young people as I can find, waiting for an inevitable time when Christian spirituality will return
• In the scripture the image used was a diseased tree
• The tree always gets diseased
• And the diseased tree always gets cut down and burned
• But out of the stump of the cut down tree, a shoot of new life always comes
• And that shoot always restores the life/vitality
So, I do a lesson as a way of preparing us, and for you to prepare your children for the inevitable return of spiritual vitality, spiritual aliveness
And the signs are all around us…
• There is a rising tide of authors, ministers, speakers out there…
• They are leading the church toward a shoot of new life from a dying stump of a sick religion
• They are telling their readers, teaching their children about a way of seeing God
• A way of seeing Jesus
• A way of seeing their spiritual journey
• That invites them to be alive, to be awake, to connect w/ God
I want to join my efforts in leading NRCC w/ this larger flow of God’s Spirit in the West
• Alongside them, I want to be a voice for my grandchildren
• I want to prepare the way for a generation who will experience the life and vitality of following Jesus
• I want to blaze a trail for them to follow
• A way to be the people of God that will once again ring with life, health, vigor, and will shine with radiant light
And on their behalf, I’m willing to do what I don’t like doing
• I’m willing to be un-harmonious
• I’m willing to have people think ill of me
• I’m willing to shake up our thinking
• And I’m willing to do lessons on Two Views that poke people in the eye
I’ve been talking to college kids a lot lately
I buy them food…
Actually, you buy them food
It’s the money you give our community I spend to get a chance to talk to them
Usually, I invite someone I know to introduce me to people I don’t
• And I ask them questions about their religion, their spirituality
• And I tell them I’m a Christian minister, and I’d like to hear from them why the Christian religion isn’t relevant to them
And here’s what I never hear…
• Well that spiritual stuff, we just don’t believe it anymore
• Rationalism, secularism, enlightenment have removed the need for superstitious, spiritual belief
…I never hear that!
What I do hear is this…
• We’re very interested in spirituality
• We’re very interested in how we can develop on our own spiritual journeys
• However, we don’t have much direction
• We tend to loop back around the same thing again and again
• We don’t seem to make as much progress as we’d like
And so naturally, I ask the question, I ask them what they think about Christian spirituality
• And this is where it gets amusing…
• You know, I hear them say…
We’ve not thought about putting those two words together
I don’t think about Christianity having much to do w/ spirituality
I thought Christianity had more to do with what you believe
What doctrines you subscribe to
What you believe about Jesus, what you believe about God
And what you’re supposed to do and not do to be a good person
When these kids think about spirituality, they are looking for some way that something bigger than themselves intersects their life
• Some way that the transcendent touches them
• Some way that the mystical, or the magical touches them
• Some way that they are made into better people
• Some way they find a power to be better, to do better
But when they are motivated by these very spiritual impulses…
• The message they have picked up about the church does not lead them toward it
• A belief system is not the same as a spiritual path to follow
• Line A belief, leading to Line B belief, leading to Line C belief…
• Leading to conclusion, doctrine, statement about the way things are…
They don’t believe this will make them a better person
• So off they go to yoga exercises, chanting, meditation class
• They’re trying to tap into something that will help them to be and do better
And the funny thing about this, is that Christian people are in the same boat
• we’re also looking for a spiritual path to follow
• we’re also looking for a way to be and do better
• but the critique from outside observers…
• the path we’re on isn’t helping
• the beliefs we found our paths on, aren’t working
• they see us, they see our paths, and they thank us kindly, but go elsewhere
so what is it about our beliefs that makes for this anemic, feeble spiritual path
• well, one of the things is the way we’ve interpreted our core, foundational beliefs
• the way we think about the very nature of God
• the way we think about very nature of ourselves and other people
• the way we think about the person of Jesus we follow
• the way we think that Jesus saves us
• the way we think the Bible leads us
• the way we think prayer helps us
so, with these introductory remarks, I’ll pick up next week and begin to speak about 2 views
• 2 views of our selves
• 2 views of other people
• 2 views of the human condition
We’ll look at how Jesus talks about being human
We’ll look at how the ancient wisdom writer of Ecclesiastes sees being human
We’ll look at how the early Christians were derailed by a heresy
And how that viral heresy continues to infect us today