the Weary Pilgrim

breathless...pregnant mystery

“We’ve lost the ability to hold our breath. Everything is instantly available, regardless of longer-term costs, and the damage we do to ourselves and our planet is immense. So we get into debt, we produce more emissions and become unhappy if we are not immediately gratified.”( Ann Pettifor )

Listening to an Advent sermon talking about pivotal beliefs, how faith hinges on their truths. If not, it is like gravity, Christianity collapses into a pile of irrelevant rubble. The focal point of the talk was the virgin birth, the incarnation.

I believe in the virgin birth, but...

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

   He will be great,
  be called 'Son of the Highest.'
   The Lord God will give him
  the throne of his father David;
   He will rule Jacob's house forever—
  no end, ever, to his kingdom."

 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."

 The angel answered,

   The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
  the power of the Highest hover over you;
   Therefore, the child you bring to birth
  will be called Holy, Son of God. ( Luke 1:29-35 The Message )

I really believe when we try and explain the Virgin birth, the incarnation of God becoming flesh, we reduce it to nothing more than a lab experiment, test tube fertility, Mary the anesthetized surrogate mother into which God places His egg, and His sperm.

That somehow it had to be this way, or Jesus would not have been sinless, Holy, without blemish. That somehow "sin" is genetic.

Mary asks how, and the angel says, " The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will hover over you." Here we have lost our ability to hold our breath, and loose ourselves in the eternal mystery of those words. To try and explain the incarnation is like trying to explain the opening verses of Genesis. In fact, I am haunted by the similarity, " the power of the Highest will hover over you." In Genesis it was the Spirit hovering over a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, and inky blackness...and God speaks, and creation unfolds.

Here into the life of Mary the Spirit hovers, God speaks, " the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God...His Kingdom shall have no end." The new creation unfolds.

Advent is a season of waiting, of holding our breath in expectation. I can not explain the incarnation. Yes our faith does hinge on this profound mysterious event, but it does not hinge on us having to explain it, summarizing it like biology lab.

Anytime the Holy Spirit comes into the story, there is always mystery...I hold my breath. But in the waiting, and the breathlessness I am lost in a truth that is beyond my wildest imagination.

Advent...let there be light

I wrote the following meditation looking at creation, the beginning of all existence, and Advent the beginnings of a new creation. In both we are awakened to the truth of a Triune God, like an infinitely powerful atomic structure. The Father, the Son and the Spirit hovering in unity, in a bond held together with such magnitude, when released life is created...and created anew.

Christmas is about Jesus, but, it is also about the imagination, the infinitely awesome creative power of a Triune God. Father, Son and Spirit. As was in the beginning, now, and forever and ever.

In the beginning was One,

And in the One was God, the Word and the Spirit,

The three were One.

Through the One, All things were made.

God the creator.

The Spirit hovering.

The Word speaking.

God thought; the Spirit moved; and the Word spoke,

And there was light.

In the new creation was One,

And in the One was God, the Word and the Spirit.

The three were one.

And through the One a new creation was made.

God the creator.

The Spirit hovering.

The Word incarnating.

God thought; the Spirit moved; the Word became Flesh.

The light came into the world.

By Ron Cole

CARTS...wheeling radical scandalous table fellowship

Amidst the world of empire, of wealth, of money and of injustice, Jesus announces into the chaos, the "Kingdom is near". It would be a word that would spark the memory and imagination of people from years gone by, and a word that would threaten the religious, and political status quo of the day. What ever they thought about the Kingdom, it would fall of the edge of human imagination...to where we would have to learn to see again, and rethink anew.

From here it would be as if Jesus grabbed the four corners of the foundations of the earth and gave it a shake, a chiropractic adjustment to realign. Jesus would proclaim the Kingdom in parable, radical scandalous stories filled with divine redemptive imagination that would reboot the hard drive of the human operating system. But it was one thing to hear these stories, to wrestle with their stunning and beautiful truth, it was shocking to see them lived out. The Kingdom was truly a world upside down...the poor on top, the weak on top, the sick healed, the lame walk, the blind see, the unforgiven forgiven, the outside were inside, debts were paid, boundaries and borders erased...God and religion were no longer a commodity, a product to be consumed and sold by religious peddlers of the day, to those worthy and to those who could afford buy.

We need to reclaim, and proclaim the truth of Kingdom...it's radical scandalous stories, that rock our world. But more! We need to be bold, and crazy enough to live the Kingdom out. The reality that the "Kingdom is near" is only true when the truth of Kingdom is lived out. If not, the Kingdom is a myth, our words drift off like a smoke screen and mean nothing.

One of the most central rituals of church culture is the " Lord's Supper, Eucharist ". I plumb the depths of the gospels and I imagine something far less ritual, but, more an everyday expression of the Kingdom being near, and yet future. Eating in Jesus day was a serious business, what you ate, how you ate, who you ate with, were all barriers as to got to sit around the table.

Jesus meal time practice shocked the social classes, and religious orders of the day. It was one thing to eat with outsiders, lepers, sinners, the poor, the mentally ill, but to announce and proclaim, all barriers, boundaries have been removed permanently, that you don't have to make a reservation to eat with God. Exclusion was over, everyone was welcome.

I wonder if the practice of our ritual says something else, more like...behave, believe and belong. It is then you have access to God and his table. There is no where in the gospels where any one made a statement of faith before they had access to Jesus and his table fellowship. He ate and drank with sinners. Even the ritual that we hold up as communion, the Eucharist, the last supper...there was no statement of faith by the disciples. I would even go as far as, despite wandering the dusty countryside with Jesus for three years, seeing the miracles, hearing the Kingdom stories, they still weren't really sure what Jesus was about. But far more than belief, Jesus gave them a profound sense of belonging, and they followed. The believing would come later. It was in the belonging that Jesus' table fellowship was all about.

Jesus believed in that welcoming, and in belonging it sparked a nuclear reaction that released a divine redemptive force beyond human imagination ( GRACE ), that the Holy Spirit could change an unrepentant heart, creating it anew. Remember what happened when Jesus called Zacchaeus out of the tree, and invited himself over to Zach's for dinner. Remember...go have a read.

CARTS on Friday was another busy night on the streets of Victoria's inner city. It is a collage of the city's marginalized ; folks living rough on the street, addicts, the poor, the working class poor and the mentally ill. Sure these folks have their issues, we all do. They are just more harsh and more visible. But they are very much a community. They care about each other, watch over one another. Every Friday they gather in the parking lot behind Capital Six Theater. Yes, for the bag lunches, clothes, cookies...but, they come for more than that. They come because they belong, they are welcomed, they are loved. They are accepted every last one of them, there is no exclusion.

It's a chance to talk. It's a chance to pray. It's a chance to build relationships. They know who we are and what we are about...Jesus. There is no Bible thumping, no fire and brimstone call to repentance. We offer the table fellowship Jesus offered all are welcome, all belong. And I believe with that little mustard seed of faith, that in the midst of that a the divine redemptive force of Grace can be released and the Spirit can move hearts in a new direction. On Friday nights Carts is a revelation that the Kingdom is near.

So as a church, we need to really look at this ritual that we call communion, the Eucharist, the Lord's Supper; is it really an expression, a revelation of Jesus and His Kingdom. Is it more of an expression of " whose in and whose out ." In the table fellowship of Jesus, everyone was in. Jesus did tell us to do this when ever we gather in remembrance of Him, but, not for whose in and whose out. This act should be a profound revelation of the redemptive imagination of His Grace, that all are in...now go out and live it in the world. Go out, and practice ways to express it's truth.

We need to find ways that express the radical scandalous truth of the redemptive imagination of Jesus and His Kingdom that is available to those considered disqualified, unworthy...not just for those who believe, but those who search for belonging. The truth of the gospels, the truth of Jesus meal time habits that were a revelation of his Kingdom, where the King sent his son out after initial invitations were turned down, to the streets, back allies, skid row hotels, ditches and gutters...anywhere, and everywhere till his table was full. We need to be revealing the same things in our rituals, our acts and our practices...and then live them out in the world. Jesus' Kingdom practices revealed the same shocking profound redemptive truth he told in his parables.

Do our christian cultural practices reveal the radical scandalous truth of the gospels? The Kingdom is near, and becomes closer if we are willing to build and reveal it. Are we willing  to use the redemptive imagination of Jesus and experiment, and explore different ways to missionally plant in the broken spaces and places of our cities, and communities?

terrorism on another front...IHOP rallies troops against an emerging enemy

Big, huge conference happening in Kansas, " the One Thing 09'", in which the speakers will address some of the biggest faith issues concerning the church today.

According to Mike Bickle of the influential charismatic movement ( IHOP ), International House Of Prayer, " emerging churches are turning 20 and 30 somethings to ' casual Christianity ' or even apostasy!Along with gays, Muslims, and abortionists, emergers form a quadrangle 0f evil threatening the pure ' end-times move' of God today."

You check out Mike Bickle and Lou Engle plugging the conference...

http://is.gd/5ihDA

It reminds me of my army days of a general, or battalion commander rally the soldiers for a frontal assault on a perceived enemy. It's obvious they should have left there fortresses and camp and done some real reconnaissance.

They also say the following on their website...

We will also address the growing crisis that is emerging in many churches across America. A new wave of confusion is systematically seducing many young adults into deception. Sincere young people whose hearts were once ablaze for Jesus are being allured into compromise on foundational biblical truths and practices, while at the same time they are increasing in works of compassion and justice. No amount of increased ministry activity can “balance out” their profound spiritual compromises. In the name of tolerance, they are settling for a humanistic and "politically correct" theology that trivializes the glory of Jesus. Many young adult ministries are falling prey to this as they are seeking “relevance” that dulls the razor’s edge of truth for the sake of man’s approval. It is not enough to mention Jesus’ name if they deny foundational truths about Him. Our works of justice must flow from deep allegiance to Jesus and the Scripture.

Really! If Mike Bickle and others in the war room had read intelligence from from other sources they would have discovered there are few emergent terrorist cells propagating their weapons of faith destruction. And interesting a couple of days ago I was in a FB conversation with Bill Dahl around him being approached by a publisher to write an article about the decline of the emerging church. Some early authors of emerging conversation are re-thinking the terminology and use of the word. Kan Kimball says this...

Although I am finding that the term [emerging church] has become so broad now and so confusing, it is very important to know that I am not by any means stopping being involved and pursuing the heart and mission of what the term "emerging church" originally meant.

And, Andrew Jones author, blogger, global missionary and practitioner of the emerging expression of church says this...

Words change. We give meaning to words and we take it away.

Both Dan Kimball and Andrew Jones are dropping the term while remaining faithful to the original intention of the conversation and movement. They represent many others in church leadership, bloggers, people on the fringe of the church, and ordinary people in church seats struggling to understand post-Christendom, and who might be move towards a post-emerging church paradigm.

I'm still using the word on my blog, and still writing about it. Why? Because in a sense I think it is important. I think for many there has been a sense of jet lag, many now are just catching up, ( yes really ) reading, thinking and beginning to ask questions and looking for safe places for conversation. They might not be using the term " emerging ", but they are asking and wrestling with same questions as many were in the beginnings.

For me the conversation and movement were, and still is important. Not because of the bells, smells, the ambient music of the alternative worship practice, but because it made me look seriously at postmodern culture...to take a serious look at the world outside the church. It made seriously look at interfaith dialog, conversations and cooperative interfaith justice. It really made me look at theology, especially in the terms of mission. Jesus not only spoke the truth of the Kingdom, he practiced the same truth he spoke.

I know Mike Bickle and IHOP do some wonderful Kingdom stuff, but I'm saddened when one part of the beautiful, diverse, and complex body of Christ attacks another. I know it's nothing new, but still it is a cancerous infection that really that makes the whole body sick.

 I don't think it was ever destined to be a brand, a label, a denomination setting up a structure of power, and theological dogma, and doctrine...it is still destined to be something much more humble. Perhaps if they understood it's embryonic beginnings, they would put their swords back in the sheathes.

It initially was a fragile, embryonic and diverse conversation being held between individuals over the internet, small gatherings, pubs and cafe's. The conversation had an elusive tentative nature what made it difficult to describe, what if anything unified those involved. The shear breadth of perspectives and diversity of conversation made it difficult to but a label on. But maybe, to it's demise one was put on and stuck, " emergent." It was a diverse matrix of relationships that bridged various faith communities that shared different theological traditions. It never really could have been described as a becoming into something, or possible as having arrived. In the conversation there was always an acknowledgment that it is a shared journey of becoming all the Jesus is, and trying to live that truth out.

So I pray that the spark that kindled this conversation that dared to dive into the redemptive imagination of Jesus is never snuffed out. That there will always be safe places of conversation, where we dare to explore faith to it's limits. That will honor the past, but that we will stretch what faith is...but never breaking away from the truth that we live in unity.

Fresh Expressions...life boats of exploration in changing seas

A man I have really grown to appreciate, and respect over the past 10 years or so is Bishop Graham Cray of the Church of England, and his tireless work around Fresh Expressions that evolved from the Missional Shaped Church document.

He's got a great personality, a contagious imagination, humble...and a fantastic sense of humor. There is a glimpse of his funny side on the video at the end of the post.

At 62 years old, a lot of clergy would be in their retirement slump, but, Graham has a passion for the church and the gospel. He is on the go constantly encouraging new pioneers and entrepreneurs to build something on the fringe that will spark the imagination of a disengaged culture. 

There are many folks involved in Fresh Expressions, but, Graham from an idea that evolved out of the ( Missional Church Document ), ( Download Mission_shaped_church-1 ,  ) has, and continues to nurture the culture from which it's embryonic growth started.

The Archbishop Rowan Williams, says this about Fresh expressions...

But, to live with risk like this, we need to have a clear and robust understanding of what the Church really is. It is not, in the New Testament, a carefully constructed human society, organizing itself in local branches, with members signing up to a constitution. Instead, it is what happens when the news and the presence of Jesus, raised from the dead, impact upon the human scene, drawing people together in a relationship that changes everyone involved, a relationship which means that each person involved with Jesus is now involved with all others who have answered his invitation, in ways that can be painful and demanding but are also life giving and transforming beyond  imagination.

The ’strength’ of the Church is never anything other than the strength of the presence of the Risen Jesus. And one thing this means is that, once we are convinced that God in Jesus Christ is indeed committed to us and present with us, there is a certain freedom to risk everything except those things that hold us to the truth of his presence – Word and sacrament and the journey into holiness. These will survive, whatever happens to this or that style of worship, this or that bit of local Christian culture, because the presence of Jesus in the community will survive.

Fresh Expressions, I’ve suggested, has helped us see something of this liberating vision. It’s true, from one point of view, that this takes us beyond a concern with denominational identity; and for some this is worrying. Is it really Anglican, or Methodist, or Baptist?  What I hope is that, in the next phase of the work of Fresh Expressions, as it continues to enter more fully into the bloodstream of the churches, we start asking instead – of Fresh Expressions, but also of some of our inherited patterns – ‘Is it really Church?’

In the most recent podcast of Fresh Expressions (UK), Graham Cray has some sofa time sitting down in conversation with others talking about Fresh expressions...its' beginnings, present and future.

Without a doubt we know in post-Christendom, things are not the same, nor can the stay the same. " Church ", is in decline, especially in North America, and Europe. We've hit the ice berg! We can continue to rearrange the deck chairs, and have the worship team play on...or.

More than ever for the church to survive it will need to be sustainable, fluid and missional. Some ships, churches may survive the collision with the ice berg. But, many won't and perhaps it's time to put out some life boats, filled with dreamers, visionaries, entrepreneurs, pioneers and explorers into the changing waters of to day to explore and experiment to build in different landscapes.

I encourage you to listen to the podcast, it is filled with great questions and answers. But, most...I encourage you to dream, not to get lost in your dreams...but to build your dreams.

You can listen to the podcast ( HERE ), click ( 1. December 2009 podcast extra ). Also in the sidebar of my blog, under the heading of Bill Kinnon's Missional Videos, there are 2 excellent videos of Graham Cray in an interview at Wycliffe College in Toronto talking about Fresh Expressions.

Resonate 3.0...Canadian Conversations

                              

Thanks to Jordon Cooper's work, he's let us know,  Resonate is back online with a new look and feel and the website is now powered by WordPress.  You can check out what Resonate is up to as a community, find out information about church planting, and also a listing of some of the emerging churches across the country.  The RSS feed and Twitter account is also working.

And with some more Canadian content, Bill Hogg over in Belles Bistro in South Surrey joins others in a conversation about the New Exodus...

from Kindlings Muse Canada West, Why are Canadian young people leaving the church? Why are young adults disconnecting from their childhood and adolescent faith? What can we do to address this? Listen in as your irrepressible host Bill Hogg ignites the conversation with our lively panelists: Trinity, Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn. Better known as Kindlings regular Dr Allyson Jule Co-director of the Gender Studies Institute @ Trinity Western; Marv Penner the Yoda of Canadian Youth Ministry. Marv the executive director of All About Youth, Director of Youth Specialties Canada, and oversees the Canadian Center for Adolescent Research. Andy Harrington rounds out our panel; he is Executive Director of Greater Vancouver YFC/Youth Unlimited.  He has a passion for social justice and a heart to see young lives transformed by the power of God.

You can listen to the podcast ... HERE .

biting into the complexity of sin...

 

Talking with a friend over coffee we tossed around upgrades in theological conversation. We tend to look for scriptural bytes in order to support out theology. In that we tend not to end up with a story, but something that is corrupted and fragmented. Our theology is of individualism...it's about me. Salvation is personal. Redemption is about me. Sin is about me. Listen to how much of our worship music is about "me", Jesus and God.

Sin is far more complex that breaking one of the ten commandments, a rule or a law. If we go back to Genesis we can not miss the reality of sin being " relational." And, when I say that, I'm not just saying my relationship about God. In that story we can not avoid the truth that the relationship involves God, Creation, and one another " humanity."

To confront sin is to confront all of that. Sin is personal, yes...but only partly. If we make it only that we have a theology that is fragmented...outside of the bigger story. If I make sin only personal, I can live by the ten commandments. I can be a good person. I can do good things. I might even be able to convince myself I'm not a sinner.

But if I believe as I've mentioned above in the relational complexity of sin...of God, creation and humanity...I am always with out doubt a sinner in need of Jesus. Salvation, redemption, restoration and new creation and the Kingdom are all about the complexity of relational sin.

The Spirit hovered over the murky void and the Word spoke all creation into existence. In the opening words of John's gospel, he says Jesus is the Word made flesh. Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom is near. He came speaking words of a new creation. If we are to believe that, then on the cross...the Word was crucified. On the cross, " All " of creation, absolutely everything hung in the balance for three days. The crucifixion, resurrection, and new creation...is about all the complexity of that relational sin.

The big story is about the complexity of that sin. From begining to end, it is a Kingdom story, in which we are apart of. The Kingdom is about restoring, rebuilding the relationship between, God, creation and humanity...all of the damaged matrix that hold it together. This is the Kingdom of Jesus. This is what he died for...and to which he calls me to die for.

Our theology of sin has to be more than personal...it has to be about the Kingdom.

I'd love to hear your thoughts...

The Mystery of Advent...

 

 

 

    ( image courtesy of Ben Bell )

It, defies logic, but, I believe.

I believe the mystery of Advent is new creation.

I believe in the Spirit of God, as in the beginning,

hovered over a poor marginalized girl on the fringe of society.

I believe in her vulnerability, openness and willingness,

the Spirit impregnated her with the presence of God.

I believe the same Word as in the beginning became flesh.

I believe for a time humanity nurtured God.

I believe as in the beginning the Word spoke creation into existence,

and from the womb of humanity, the Word made flesh speaks a new creation.

I believe now through God the Father, and Son the Word...the Spirit hovers,

speaking, ready to bring the new creation into being.

God with us, God within us,

building a new creation.

The Kingdom.

I believe.

( by Ron Cole ; 30th November 2009 )

the Truth...plain and simple

                                  ( painting by Mattia Preti 1655 )

It's remarkable that the greatest theologian that walked in the midst of humanity was Jesus. After all, was he not God in the flesh.

⁴⁴But Jesus loudly declared, The one who believes in Me does not [only] believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but [in believing in Me he believes] in Him Who sent Me.

⁴⁵And whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me.

⁴⁹This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell.

⁵⁰And I know that His commandment is (means) eternal life. So whatever I speak, I am saying [exactly] what My Father has told Me to say and in accordance with His instructions. ( The Amplified Bible ; John Chapter 12 )

So although no one has seen God except maybe Moses who saw the Glory of God tucked away in the cleft of a rock, away from the radiation that might have vaporized him. I think we can say with some confidence, as humanity, we have seen God, and heard God...and tend to ignore it.

If Jesus  thought theology had to be all figured out, that his rag tag band of ragamuffins all needed to march to the same tune, why didn't he just rent classroom space in local synagogue. I don't think Jesus came to create an institution who's biggest concern seems to be believing the right things.

To begin with, the faith that Jesus reveals to us is LIVED out in the wide open spaces of everyday life. It's to take a salt shaker and shake it every where, every last granule, into every nook and cranny of creation. It's to shine light into the path of your daily living. It is living in the reality of " CHRIST IN US ", allowing that truth to shine visibly into our daily living.

There is No Where in the gospels where the disciples make a statement of faith. Peter comes close on the road to Ceasarea Philipi, the others juggle answers between teacher, rabbi and prophet. You would think if you were a teacher and one student in the class gets the answer right you might want to look at your methodology, or maybe set the bar a little higher in terms of prerequisites for class enrollment.

But Jesus knows in the faith he has come to reveal there is far more learned in belonging and following. I find it fascinating, and breathlessly beautiful that Jesus opens the door to their faith journey, and leads them across the threshold into a wedding at the village of Cana. John in the opening of his gospel says that Jesus pitched his tent in the midst of humanity. Here Jesus reveals to his followers that they are to be his incarnational presence in the midst of humanity. The wedding is a snap shot of humanity, community and culture. There is the young and the old; family and friends. There is the messiness of dysfunctional family relations. But Jesus pours himself like kegs of wine into the midst of it all. Rather than have his students working out faith with ink and scroll in the sterile environment of the synagogue...in the midst of humanity is the scroll, the landscape on which real faith is worked out.

In the gospels you don't find propositional theological truth, you find the redemptive imagination of Jesus in radical scandalous eye opening parables about the Kingdom. It was a profound truth that captured imagination on one level. On another level it was a truth that couldn't be seen until it was lived out. I am the Truth, the Life, and the Way. Living Truth is Jesus. He lived the truth of his parables. This was the faith he came to reveal.

The evangelical preoccupation with “propositional correctness of Christian doctrine” tends to destroy the vitality of the Christian faith. The reason is that such an emphasis views faith as “little more than intellectual assent to propositions, losing the vital and dynamic connection with the person of Jesus Christ, who, for Christians, alone is the truth.”

In his survey of the rise of evangelicalism, Stanley Grenz claims that the “new evangelical theology,” which was formed in the fundamentalist battle with liberalism, “oriented itself to questions of propositional truth, in contrast to the issue of one’s relationship with God characteristic of classical evangelicalism.”

In our pursuit of propositional truth we have lost sight of the historical nature of theologizing. We treat Scripture passages as timeless and culture-free statements that can be assembled to yield a timeless and culture-free theology that stands over and above the shifting sands of our postmodern culture.

Similarly, Stanley Grenz and John Franke complain that because conservative theologians view the Bible as a “storehouse of theological facts,” the goal becomes that of compiling the “timeless body of right doctrines.”

For thousands of years we've been trying to figure God out with our theological construction, laws to keep us in line with our belief. The closest religion has come to nailing God down was on a cross, and we know how that turned out.

Jesus is the transcendent truth of God. It is a truth more like the laws of physics, an invisible force beyond human imagination that holds all creation together. Jesus, the Word that spoke creation into existence; is the same Word, made flesh that spoke radical scandalous theological truth in parables that sparked the redemptive imagination of the Kingdom. It was a truth that had to be wrestled with, a truth that unravels us, unnerves us, taking us to a space where we are no longer in control, a liminal place where we confront grace, mercy and love. It is a truth that can't really be etched out in granite. It's a truth in which it's timelessness, it's eternity is discovered when it is lived out.

I had coffee with an 84 year old friend a couple of weeks ago, a saint who has a real gift of sowing seeds of encouragement. He knows that the truth of Jesus can only be discovered by following Jesus. Faith has to be lived, not just believed. He's been phoning people in his church community to live the truth, to get out into the wide open spaces and live out the gospel.

In the Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is a parable of the Grand Inquisitor, where Jesus returns during the time of the Inquisition. Jesus performs a number of miracles echoing the miracles of the gospels. People recognize him and adore him, Jesus is arrested by the religious leaders of the day and sentenced to be burnt to death. The Grand Inquisitor visits Jesus in his cell and tells him that the church no longer needs him.The main portion of the story is the inquisitor explaining why Jesus return would interfere with the mission of the church.

The Inquisitor states that Jesus rejected the three temptations in favor of freedom, but thinks that Jesus has misjudged human nature. He does not believe that the vast majority of humanity can handle the freedom which Jesus has given them. The story ends when Christ, who has been silent throughout, kisses the Inquisitor on his "bloodless, aged lips" instead of answering him. On this, the Inquisitor releases Christ but tells him never to return. Christ, still silent, leaves into "the dark alleys of the city." Not only is the kiss ambiguous, but its effect on the Inquisitor is as well. Ivan concludes, "The kiss glows in his heart, but the old man adheres to his idea."

Dostoevsky's story is just that, a story, but I wonder if we haven't become more enamored with our ideas of God, our theology. I wonder if Jesus came back today, if he wouldn't mess things up for us.

The truth really is simple...the truth is Jesus. It isn't a profound theological statement...it's a person. You want to know the truth...follow the person. The truth is found in the gospels. The truth becomes tangible when we live it out. When we live the gospels out daily, the truth becomes visible.

faith...eutrophication, and new maps

I was reading these quotes from Gandhi in a devotional last night, and I got to think of my own faith journey.

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.

Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies. ( Mohandas Gandhi )

In my 10 years in the army ( 3 PPCLI ), I spent most of time in a Reconnaissance (Recce) Platoon . In that time I became very proficient in navigating with topographical maps and compass. You realize quickly that both are needed to navigate properly. Using just one or the other, honest positioning becomes more of a guess than truth. A reality is maps change, but compass bearings are constant. But another important truth is, maps need to be constantly updated. Land has the ability to change over time.

Examples would be eutrophication, a natural occurrence where lakes, streams and rivers can disappear. Or where climate and weather can erode or alter the shape of the topography of the land. What was one on the map 100 years ago is not there now. But that's not to say that the 100 year old map was not true. We can understand its truth back then, but we need to reinterpret the truth on the land we stand now. I hope that makes sense, because I want to transition the metaphor of maps and compass into a journey of faith.

Old maps at one time justified crusades, slavery, marginalizing women, in some churches women are still excluded from ministry. But new maps where we reinterpreted our position in history, and our experience have changed our position on truth. Combined with the Holy Spirit, this eternal compass will cause us to reposition ourselves. I believe Gandhi reveals a great truth, that faith is a state of constant development, that to navigate by old maps and dogma will always lead to a false position. That reason is very much apart of faith. That we don't grasp faith...we grow into it.

I think we need to reposition ourselves on new maps.