Moody Thinking

We celebrate writers who develop their narratives over the course of the book. The best writers can begin a portion of the story, let’s say a character, and put that portion away for some time in order to develop the story. Then something happens later in the book and the character’s introduction in chapter 1 is given a true context. The character, or some thought about this character, will reemerge and bring the open circle to a close.

There is one writer who does this better than anyone else, and I think every other writer’s work is a representation of this writer’s original thought. For this statement to be true, this writer would have to exist long before any other writer or even those people who used oral tradition before writing. Even better, this writer operates through sovereign control and uses actual events to tell his great story.

I think you see where I am going here.

God is the greatest writer ever. Often, we become so reductionist about the Bible that we miss the larger story, the meta-narrative. We are too busy looking for life application in individual verses to see God’s big picture. The big picture is God and his glory as shown in what many have divided into four categories: creation, the fall, redemption, and reconciliation.

Here’s a great example. The Book of Jonah is a historical account of a prophet who flees God’s calling and boards a ship heading to another part of the known world. God sends a storm and a big fish (or whale) where Jonah spends three nights before he acknowledges God’s power and the whale (or fish) sends him toward where God called him the first time.

I believe these events actually happened. (Belief in God + text verification = previous sentence). This Old Testament account provides history and a great moral lesson to the readers on compassion and following God. It stands as a great and important part of the Old Testament canon.

However, that’s not the end of the story. Hundreds of years later, God himself comes to earth. The religious establishment of the day wanted to see signs because they were looking for reasons to discredit Jesus and doubt his claims. Here is his reply:

An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. – Matthew 12:38-40.

So the events of Jonah were not isolated incidents but are a part of God’s great story of redemption. The story of Jonah tells part of the story of Jesus. The sign of Jonah fulfilled in Jesus shows God’s immense artistic talent in developing his meta-narrative, which is all about him. We should celebrate the Bible as God’s great story as well as his guidance for life.

I ate dinner last night at a gathering of friends to support a person who had lost his father to cancer on Sunday. He and his wife had been a backbone of support for his father and mother in these last few weeks as the cancer began to take its toll.

Death brings a certain weight to conversation, and this weight was present last night. However, I was struck by the overwhelming sense of peace that this couple exuded in the midst of this loss. They had been expecting that this day would come soon as they decided to withhold treatment in the last couple of months. However, no amount of preparation can prepare someone for those final moments and the quiet after those moments have passed.

Yet, this couple, while noticeably bearing this heavy weight, saw this man’s death as a release, the end of suffering and the culmination of joy in the presence of Jesus.

The English Renaissance poet George Herbert shows how one can see death as other than terrifying.

(From Luminarium.org)

DEATH

DEATH, thou wast once an uncouth hideous thing,
Nothing but bones,
The sad effect of sadder grones :
Thy mouth was open, but thou couldst not sing.

For we consider’d thee as at some six
Or ten yeares hence,
After the losse of life and sense,
Flesh being turn’d to dust, and bones to sticks.

We lookt on this side of thee, shooting short ;
Where we did finde
The shells of fledge souls left behinde,
Dry dust, which sheds no tears, but may extort

But since our Saviours death did put some bloud
Into thy face ;
Thou art grown fair and full of grace,
Much in request, much sought for, as a good.

For we do now behold thee gay and glad,
As at dooms-day ;
When souls shall wear their new aray,
And all thy bones with beautie shall be clad.

Therefore we can go die as sleep, and trust
Half that we have
Unto an honest faithfull grave ;
Making our pillows either down, or dust.

The death of Jesus on the cross turned death from a monster into a welcome friend, as it is now the passage to life face to face with Jesus. Death seems to be a final point, casting a dark cloud over everything. However, my friend last night spoke of death as a comforting release for his father who could now go to Jesus free of cancer and pain.

My friend was not hiding his feelings behind a false attitude of bravado as though he had not experienced great suffering. He and his wife were honest about the difficult journey their family has faced and will continue to face. Yet, they were not without hope.

The Apostle Paul writes of this idea in 1 Corithinians 15:

“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory, O death, where is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This passage culminates a section where Paul explains how the death and resurrection of Jesus gives us hope in death. These verses do not mean that death is not painful but that we have hope in death because, for those who trust in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, death is now the passage to heaven.

I saw this hope firsthand in friends dealing with immense pain because of their loss while at the same time living with joy in God’s work. May we all have this same hope.

In the last post, I discussed that money and possessions, by themselves, are morally neutral. Items become idols when we associate a value to them that is greater than God. Since biblical times, the pursuit of wealth has caused many to reject God. Consumerism/Materialism is not a modern problem, but one that has existed for all time.

Jesus gives some insight to how possessions can lead us away from God in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:19-24):

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”"

The point of this passage, as usual with Jesus, is the heart. Hence, he says “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” When we take the focus off of Jesus and put it onto anything, then we have put our hearts on the wrong things.

Because it is addressed specifically here and in other places in scripture, I think money holds considerable potential to become an idol. We focus on earthly wealth because it is right in front of us. It does not take a ton of faith in our culture to be considered successful. We set goals and we seek to attain them, for that is the American Dream.

However, Jesus shows us that our goals are too small. We spend all of our energy to build castles of sand, to store up treasure that will ultimately be destroyed or stolen. We could learn much from one of the wealthiest kings of all time, Solomon, whose book Ecclesiastes shows that the pursuit of these earthly joys is vanity.

Note that there is no middle ground between the pursuit of Jesus and the pursuit of money. His words are clear: “You cannot serve to masters.” For too long, we have blended the two, recklessly pursuing money and expecting God to bless us, provided we keep up outer appearances. We think that our church attendance, and maybe even our giving, can cover up our greed.

God is not after your money; he is after your heart. Generally, we can see where our heart is by where we are putting our money. The problem is not money itself but what we make of it. Money, like anything else, makes a terrible God; and we will destroy ourselves by pursuing it above God.

When dealing with the particular sins of any culture, there is a tendency to focus on the symptoms rather than the disease, so to speak. In a consumer-driven culture, we can see the results of defining ourselves by wealth and possessions, and our minds turn to denouncing the possessions rather than the underlying cause of why these things became a problem in the first place.

Sound confusing? It is. But I think we can clear it up.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take nothing out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Notice that the problem is not money, but “the love of money.” The issue here is found earlier in the passage: “Contentment.” When we do not find contentment in God in any circumstance, we seek to find that contentment in other things. One of the most prevalent areas where we seek to find contentment is in wealth, possessions, etc.

I live in the Deep South, where outward appearance defines so much of a person’s place in our culture. We have a bad habit of making sure everything is perfect on the outside. We feel that if we can reach a certain standard then we will be fulfilled. Thus, we buy the cars, the houses, the clothes, the appearance, and whatever else we need to meet that standard.

This standard, though, is a moving target, and people find that they are never truly fulfilled in pursuit of it. So we proceed to the next level of consumerism, where the cycle repeats itself. The problems here are not the possessions but the value we associate to them. Most possessions are morally neutral. They are neither good or bad. Money itself is not evil or good. The problem comes when we associate a value to these things that puts them on a level higher than God, which leads us to idolatry.

Note that Paul says if we have food and clothing then we will be content. If our daily needs (not wants) are met, then we have no reason to chase the fleeting desires of possessions. Pursuing contentment anywhere but in God leads to disastrous consequences: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”

We should be content in whatever situation God has placed us. The issue here is one of the heart. Are we content with what God has given us, or are we chasing the idea that one more goal obtained or possession gained will finally give us contentment?

I realize I am little late on this movie review, but with a 2 year old, a thesis, and a full-time job, my only option for movie watching is usually long flights. So I watched “The Invention of Lying” on the very small in-flight movie screen for the first time last week.

First, we should establish the known facts. 1. Ricky Gervais is an atheist. 2. I am a Christian. So we fundamentally disagree on major issues, but I think the movie makes some good points and raises some interesting questions while at the same time presenting Gervais’ somewhat short-sided view of religion in general and Christianity specifically.

Ricky Gervais is very funny and pulls off subtle humor brilliantly, especially in an age when a lot of modern comedies rehash the  over the top “let’s drink and make jokes like 10 year olds” bit that sells more straight to DVD movies these days. Ricky Gervais plays Mark Bellison, a working stiff in a world where everyone tells the truth… always. He writes screen plays for televised readings about previous decades and loses his job because he could not find a way to make the Black Plague entertaining enough.

When facing an eviction, he becomes the first person capable of lying in order to get more money than he has out of the bank. He then carves a whole new life for himself by being the first person to be able to bend the truth, albeit without necessarily malicious intent. He takes in significant winnings in Vegas and reinvents the Dark Ages into the greatest historical event ever.

I found myself laughing out loud several times, especially when at the big moment of the movie where he is making his impassioned speech to his love interest, his friend continually interrupts him with side comments questioning what he is doing. Again, subtle humor at its finest.

That said, one of the major themes of the movie is the “creation” of religion at Mark’s mother’s bedside. She is facing death and is terrified of what is, or is not, to come. In order to comfort her, Mark lies and tells her that she will go to a place where she will be with everyone she loves and that everyone gets a mansion and will live in happiness forever. With these comforting words, believable because supposedly no one can lie, she dies happy.

The world is subsequently turned on its ear. Everyone crowds around Mark’s house, asking about the “Man in the Sky” and what happens when everyone dies. Mark then constructs a religion and writes down the “10 Commandments” on two pizza boxes. Later, when battling depression, Mark makes an appearance in sandals and a while sheet with long hair and a beard, a parody of Jesus.

The point here is not hard to miss. Religion was created in the minds of those unable to cope with the unknowns of death, namely that our lives simply end. Because humanity is incapable of critical thinking, they accept what Mark is saying, albeit while asking particular questions about the details that he cannot answer. The movie does not seem to hold the creators of religion as evil but as people trying to make the best of a bad situation, telling a white lie that snowballs out of control and becomes a cultural phenomenon.

This argument is not new and has been made by atheists for many years. The problem I have with this approach is that it basically assumes that humanity is largely stupid, willing to follow a delusion based on a white lie. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis argues that one of the factors in his decision to turn from atheism is that, as an atheist, he had to admit that the vast majority of the human race was completely wrong. I do not wish to argue from the masses (so to speak), but it is an interesting point that an overwhelming majority of people believe in a God of some kind. In this majority are some of the smartest, logical, and sincerest people the world has ever known.

Love is more than genetic matching.

In the end, Mark makes a plea for his love not to think simply about science (genetics is the most important part of seeking a potential mate) but to consider love and make a decision based on her feelings. She pleads: “Mark, tell me what the man in the sky wants,” but he refuses, for the second time, to lie to her because he wants her to choose him because it is her choice. While I very much appreciate the emphasis on inability of science to provide the right choice over an emotion like love, the subtle criticism of those waiting for an answer for God is not missed.

The atheist seems to think that seeking the will of God is an unwillingness to make a decision for ourselves. In that indecision, we turn to a higher power so that we do not have to deal with the issue and subsequently lay blame on God for the consequences of decision. While I agree that many will unfortunately treat God’s will as such, I will say that for committed Christians, waiting on the will of God is the most logical step a person can take.

If I believe that God exists and that he is all-powerful and all-knowing, it would be foolishness to look anywhere else for guidance. So I am not unwilling to make a decision, I am actually making the best decision possible by asking the source of all knowledge who controls all things for guidance. To do otherwise would be the height of stupidity.

I appreciate the movie’s perspective and its criticism as well as its comedy. I am by no means offended as the producers simply put an artistic expression on an age old argument. But, there is a coherent perspective from Christianity that challenges this view. Let me stand on a soap box for a moment: Christians should not be “afraid” to see this movie because the exchange of ideas allows us to interact with one another on this world. We Christians have a bad habit of insulating ourselves against any divergent view and as such our faith is weak from lack of testing. We prove this movie’s point by showing ourselves incapable of critical thinking if we cannot handle any view other than our own.

Thank you for taking the time to read this review. Feel free to comment with whatever perspective you have, whether or not it agrees with mine.

Thanks to some of Donald Miller’s works, I have been reading the Bible from a different perspective lately. It seems that we have now taken the Bible and have run it through the filter of how it can improve our lives, thus we make God’s word about us instead of about him. So the new perspective is to read the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, not from a “what can I get out if it” perspective, but from a “What does this tell me about God” perspective.

I have been more fulfilled since starting to read the Bible this way than ever before. For once, I am not the center of the universe. God is. Unfortunately, we are so caught up in ourselves that we immediately take God’s story about himself and dissect it into the best benefit for us.

When we become the center of the story; we are immediately committing idolatry, acting as though God’s entire purpose it to make us happy. We have to see God for who he really is… the all powerful, unchanging, King of the universe. Our proper posture is worship of him, not assuming that he exists for us.

Now this all sounds good, and I think most of us would agree that God needs to be the center. However, I think we tend to focus on what we get out of God instead of God himself. We need to check our thinking and make sure God is the center. God has done so much for us, and we should thank him and worship him because of his goodness.

But we must be careful to worship the giver and not the gifts. Reading the Bible has become seeing God’s story. What tremendous mercy that we are called into God’s story!

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. – Matthew 11:28-30.

We have a bad habit as believers of constantly reverting back to depending on ourselves for our own growth in Christ. When presented with a series of steps, we will always try to make that our new law because our sinful nature desires that we do all the work and receive all the glory. 

So we strive. But we do not strive to rest in God as much as we strive to follow some system that is supposed to lead us to God. The system, wrapped in spiritual terms, becomes a new law for us and we fight to follow the steps. 

When we get worn out, we simply turn to a new system. This is the reason why Christian bookstores can carry so many books about the steps to following God and will continue to have best-sellers. We constantly look for the next big thing that is going to finally bring us close to God for the rest of our lives. 

Sound familiar? The problem is not in the books themselves but in how we turn them into the system that takes us away from depending on God and toward depending on ourselves. Jesus has called us to rest, to utter dependence on him. Anything that burdens us with rules of righteousness is another repackaging of the law. Jesus operates by grace in that he moves in our hearts to draw near to him. 

Are you burdened by the rules and responsibilities of our law-driven Western Christianity? Come to Jesus and find rest for your souls. Do not bring your list of accomplishments. Bring your heart. What you take away will be far greater than whatever you can gain on your own.

As I was getting ready to leave the gym today, a friendly old guy at the locker next to me who had just arrived said “You must have gotten here before breakfast today.” I smiled and replied, “Nope, I ate breakfast. I’m on the way to second breakfast.” (I eat before working out and after).

He smiled and said, “So you’re just running between two breakfasts.”

That line has stuck with me today. Sometimes we get so focused on the destination that we forget to look around and experience life between these destinations. We forget to enjoy the ride, the process if you will, of arriving at where we are going. Yet I believe that if we look at ourselves, we will realize that the destinations are the culmination of everything that has happened before.

I will not wake up tomorrow and run a 3:30 marathon, but if I ever do, it will be the result of intense training over a period of years. Mandy and I are working toward the goal of our son growing into a man and leaving the house. What if that was the only thing we focused on? We would miss the wonderful experiences of him growing up.

At the same time, do not miss out on Second Breakfast. We fall to the other extreme and focus merely on the process and never make the destination. Without a perspective on our destination, we will never have a point to the process.

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.

A balance exists between the two where we gain the proper perspective on both the process and the destination. The process is becoming who God wants us to be. The destination is actually being who God wants us to be. From these two perspectives, we gain the insight we need to enjoy life daily while keeping the end in mind at all times.

If you find that perspective balance between the process and the destination, let me know.

Originally posted at Gatewaylife.net. 

Matthew 7:21-23

Note: Post published at http://gatewaylife.net. I am guest blogging there for the next few months.