Just a random thought so not a real post but, technically, an aside. Pam and I keep talking through the idea of whether or not people with language disorders understand the biblical idea of God doing so much through speaking and God the Son being described as the Word differently than those who do not have such language disorders. God speaking and being the Word are major themes that are found throughout the Bible. God speaks and creation happens. Jesus speaks and a man who is paralyzed is healed even though he is far away. God’s language is so much a part of Him that one of Jesus’s title is the Word, the Logos.
How is the realization of that truth affected by language disorders? Certain communication disorder affect a person’s very ability to understand language. i.e. language disorders. I don’t mean issues of fluency, articulation, and voice problems, which are speech issues. Language issues are a different matter and Pam and I find ourselves wonder how these language disorders affect the way people with them perceive and understand the God who speaks and is the Word.
Hopefully, if I post enough about this she will do some research concerning the question. 😉 She has the opportunity to do some really cool research to present to ASHA and other organizations.
One of the most memorable lessons in ministry I was ever taught came from a conference I attended where Leith Anderson spoke about poker chips. This wasn’t the illustration that I was expecting to hear at a meeting full of ministers, but it was brilliant and I have tried to minister by it since I learned the lesson from Dr. Anderson.
Leith said that whether a minister realizes it or not each minister has an account of “”chips” that determines whether or not the people in the church will trust and follow him/her. Those chips are given by the parishioner and earned by the minister’s actions.
Wear a nice suit during your introduction to the church, earn a chip. Preach a great message during your first weekend as a minister at the church, earn three chips. Preach a good message when a parishioner invites a friend to church and the friend brags about the message, earn five chips. Preach a bad message that goes long on top of being bad, lose seven chips. Forget to visit someone’s great Aunt Gerdie when her dog is sick, lose five chips. Visit Aunt Gerdi when you are sick and everyone thinks you should be in bed, earn ten chips. Visit her on your birthday and earn twenty chips.
An account of “chips” tell people they can trust you.
The point is that all these small events are adding or subtracting “chips” to the trust account of a minister. Over lots of time and lots of small events and trustworthy moments a minister build up a substantial account of chips and that equals a substantial amount of trust. You get to make big changes and survive big mistakes when you have built up a lot of trust.
Unfortunately, many ministers want to make the big change without ever spending the time building up the chips in their account to enable people to trust them with the change. Then when things go wrong they often blame the church, rather than considering if they had built up enough chips to make such a big change. After all, Jesus told us to “count the costs” (Luke 14:28). You need to consider if you have the resources to finish the change that you are leading the church through. If you don’t have the resources of trust then spend time building them up before you start that big project. Sometimes parishioners think “You’ve never had a conversation with me longer than 30 seconds, why should I trust you when you say we are going to make big changes in the church?” Build up your chip account and that opinion very well may change.
One of the other things that Dr. Anderson said concerning these trust chips that really struck me is that the best ministers learn that they receive a greater number of chips if they learn to give away their initial chips. What does this mean? Here’s an example.
“Pastor, I really appreciated the Tenebrae service. It was very meaningful.”
“Thanks, I appreciate you saying that. You know George & Brenda really brought the whole thing together. They put a lot of work into the evening to make sure people connected with God. Could you tell them how much the night meant to them?”
There are some that you need to guard your chips from.
See that is sharing the chips, also known as directing credit to other people. When a minister makes sure and points to others, that is a chip multiplier. It shows parishioners that the minister isn’t just going to bogart all the attention and credit for him/herself. I’ve known a few people who you had to watch out for, because they were not only trying to selfishly make sure all the credit was directed toward themselves but they might also try to steal your trust chips for themselves if they could. I learned very quickly to guard my chips when I was around them.
Anyhow you can, and should, read Leith Anderson do a much better job of discussing this HERE.
“As total man, as ideal man, as the man of possibilities or the man of decision, man must himself accomplish things which he cannot accomplish. The divinization of man makes him not more human, but rather more inhuman. An anthropology which, in the modern post-Christian sense, intends to be the heir of theology, loses sight not only of the real God but also of real man.” p. 107.
I drove along side a gentlemen today who was driving a red Ford Fiesta. The only reason I remember him or his car is because while we were at stop light on Post Road/Church Street/Division Street (the name of the road is an entirely different story – this stupid road changes names 3 times in the length of 4 miles and thus makes it nearly impossible to give directions to anyone who doesn’t live in the area). While we were stopped at the light I noticed a small movement on the Fiesta’s front bumper. The guy had accidentally hit a robin and it was stuck in one of the air holes built into his car’s bumper. The poor little creature was obviously almost dead and I am pretty sure there was no possibility of recovery for it. Still I thought the guy would want to know so I started to signal him.
This is where I need to say that there isn’t really a universal gesture for “Hey you have a bird stuck in car’s bumper.”
I started out with an understood friendly, small, double honk to get his attention. Then I rolled my window down and shouted “you have a bird stuck in your bumper!” The guy didn’t roll his window down but looked at me smiled and nodded. I was sure he didn’t get the message. So I tried again. This time I pointed to the front of his car. I was sure the point would work. After all, I just wanted to make the guy aware of the situation. What better way than a point? Once again, he smiled and nodded. In fact, I am pretty sure that he added a thumbs up to the nod and smile. The light turned green and we both started to drive.
I went along side him trying to get his attention, but this guy was apparently very serious about road safety and thus kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of him. I decided to follow his lead and waited till the next stop light (there are plenty of them on Post Road/Church Street/Division Street) because while it is physically one road surface the city planners apparently thought it should have enough street lights for 3 separate roads, since it has three road names.). Once we stopped I pulled out my best form of communicating the truth of the basically dead bird stuck in his bumper.
I screamed, pointed, and I began to flap my arms like a bird. I even made a few bird sounds while I was doing this. Since I don’t really know the sound a robin makes I went with crow and dove sounds. An interesting combination of caws and coos. While not technically accurate for a robin stuck in a bumper, I did think it would still communicate the message more effectively than not including the sounds. I was very convincing. Unfortunately this guy most have been listening to a very interesting radio show, because he was too engulfed in whatever he was listening to for me to grab his attention. His eyes stayed forward. There most have been a segment of the radio program that caused him tension because I also saw his hands grip the steering wheel a little tighter. When the light turned green he turned left and I lost him.
So if you see an older gentlemen driving a red Ford Fiesta can you look and see if he has a bird stuck in his bumper still? Maybe you could also caw and coo at him so he will get the message about the bird.
As you hopefully know by now mid-term elections happened yesterday. Maybe you voted, maybe you didn’t. Maybe there was mix of the candidates you voted for winning and losing, or perhaps your candidates pulled a flush and either completely won or lost. Perhaps you actually don’t like candidates from either of the big parties and you struggled with even the possibility of the candidate you support winning anything past a local election. Whatever the outcome I would like to remind you that if you are a follower of Jesus Christ then no government or politician is your hope.
Yep this is kind of what I meant. We should be annoying.
As important as I think voting is (and I do think it is very important) no politician or, especially, political party is the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom on earth. Jesus is the one who has brought about and will one day finalize the kingdom of God on earth. I am therefore convinced that we need to vote our consciences, pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), and constantly hold all our political leaders and parties, whether we voted for them or not, accountable to do the things Jesus would do if He were in our government. Jesus cares for the weak. Therefore, we should encourage the government we vote for to care for all those who are weak. Jesus cares for justice for all. Therefore, we should makes sure the officials we vote for do also. Etc. Etc.
Paul says the following in 2 Corinthians 12:7:
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Now Paul wasn’t talking about politics. Nope, this verse was about God making sure that Paul stayed humble. However I believe our political leaders need the same thing. Followers of Jesus need to be “thorns in the flesh” of our political leaders to make sure that their achieved power doesn’t build up their pride and keep them from doing what they ought to do.
So why not be a thorn in the side of your elected political leader. Annoy them, bother them, pester then. I think it’s a good thing to do.
I’m presently reading Man: Christian Anthropology in the Conflicts of the Present by Jurgen Moltmann and I am amazed by something Dr. Moltmann wrote when this book was published in 1971. Here’s the quote that I have been sharing with quite a few people recently:
“A new collective or expansive consciousness is brought about through television. Man becomes a contemporary of men who are far distant and takes part in their sufferings. A new consciousness arises through constant participation in culture, economics, and politics. One becomes a participant in ever widening circles. An unbounded consciousness of solidarity arises from this. The most distant become neighbours, although often at the same time one’s neighbours become unknown strangers.” p. 24.
The italics are mine to emphasize what I think is so amazing. As I write this I sit in the middle of Emy J’s coffee shop, surrounded by people I know, respect, enjoy, and love. People who I spend a lot of time listening to and talking with. HOWEVER I could just as easily use the internet to be involved in the lives of people all around the world that I will never meet and basically sit solitary in the midst of this coffee shop. What Dr. Susan Turkle calls “Alone Together.” The quote from Dr. Moltmann sounds like it could have been written yesterday regarding “social” media and the influence it has in our society right now. “Knowing” people all over the world without knowing the people who live next door to us.
There is a ton of good that can come from social media. I used it today to spread the word concerning Tapestry providing the meal at the Place of Peace this week. It is a very effective method for me to be able to connect with others so that together we can be engaged in our community with the love of Christ. At the same time, just as their is a ton of good that can come from social media, there is also just as much bad that can come with it. It enables us to become best “friends” with people who we will never actually meet in real life, while ingoring the people around us who are actually physically a part of our lives. Social media can allow us to disenage with the people around us who “just don’t get it” because they don’t agree with us, while engaging with an ever shrinking group of people who completely agree with us (and that group shrinks each time we realize that someone doesn’t think the exact same as you or I – wait I just realized you don’t like basset hounds as much as I do. I’m sorry you are no longer a part of the group.).
So is the media in your life bringing your closer to those both far away and close to you, or do you find that you are caring more and more for people who you will never meet, while simultaneously caring less and less for the people you actually physically are around?
Last week I mentioned that I was going start posting every now and then on Thursdays concerning theology and what I see as some practical ways such theology affects our lives. This is either the first or the second of those posts (it depends upon whether you consider the intro post a post on theology in and of itself or not). I thought I would start with my personal favorite theology – the theology of the Trinity.
I have to say that I find this icon of the Trinity a little freaky.
The traditional understanding of God as Trinity is that there is one God in three persons. The persons are distinct from one another, while being one in essence. The Trinity is the central mystery of God that I believe everything else comes out of. It is paradoxical and doesn’t make sense within the created universe BUT I am certain that it is also true. The Trinity means that God is singular and multiple at the exact same time. God as Trinitarian means that God is the he that is they, the them that are him. Basically it means that in and of himself God is community. He is His own community and needs1 no other. I believe this is why 1 John 4:8 says “God is love”. God is the Father loving the Son, the Son loving the Spirit, the Spirit loving the Father, and on and on in a “big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey“… mess of interactions.
But my goal for these posts isn’t an explanation of the doctrines. There are plenty of really good books for that. Alister McGrath`s Theology: The Basics is an excellent little entry level primer on the core doctrines of the Christian faith. You can go much further with McGrath if you like that book (he is one of my favorites). As for a good book on the Trinity I would recommend Stanley Grenz’s Theology for the Community of God. I believe Grenz does a great job of explaining the social aspect of the Trinity. Those authors and others do a much better job than I could on examining the biblical nature of the Trinity. What I am hoping to do with this post is to talk about how the Trinity should affect our daily lives.
IF (and by “if: I mean “since”) God’s nature is communitarian (i.e. Trinitarian)2 and we have been called into His divine nature (1 Peter 2:4) that we might know His love that surpasses knowledge and thereby be filled with filled “to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19) THEN this truth should affect how we live.3 In other words, we are most like God when we too are loving in such a way that we (those of us who are believers and followers of Christ) become one. Such love take lots of distinct persons and makes them one in being (or Who we receive our being from). Still distinct persons, with differences, opinions, and even disagreements, yet one in purpose and Lord. This is why Jesus tells His followers that others will know that they are His disciples if they love one another (John 13:34-35). In other words, we literally look most like Jesus when we love each other in such a way that we are one. Why? Well because God is Trinity – the three who are one, the one who is three. We bear His image when we are in our nature what He is in His nature. I believe this is also why Jesus responds with two answers when He is asked “which is the greatest commandment” (Mark 12:28-31). Us loving God (Mark 12:29-30) naturally involves loving others (Mark 12:31) because that is God’s nature. You can’t really love a God Who is community in and of Himself and then not like community in your own life.4
As someone who is proclaiming to be a Christian what I do should come out of the nature of God. We are called to be hospitable (Romans 12:13) because God is community in and of Himself and He seeks to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10) (i.e. the fellowship we were all original destined for with Him and with each other). Our hospitality comes from His nature. How can allow someone else to be forsaken and alone when I claim to love the God Who is never alone because He is three Who are one? The same goes for so much else. What is the danger of sin? The rebellion of it separates us from God and from others. Just look at the Eden story (Genesis 3), Adam & Eve are separated from God and from one another. Evil breaks apart the fellowship that comes from being in union with God. Why do we share the good news of the kingdom of God? Because God longs for others to be a part of the fellowship of His nature. God longs for none to be separate (1 Timothy 3:3-4 & 2 Peter 3:9) so we must seek to bring others into His fellowship. Heck, God even gives us a description of the new heaven and new earth as being without a sea (Revelation 21:1). Why won’t there be a sea? Well because large bodies of water seriously separate people in the Ancient Near East.
I know this is a rather long post but I hope I am getting one very specific point across. That point is that God cares deeply about us being connected to Him and us being a part of connecting others to Him, because in and of Himself God is true community. He can’t help but desire for His nature to be spread because inviting others in displays the love each member of the Trinity have for each other. Just because the Trinity is a mystery and a paradox doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t direct how we live out the lives God has given us. The Trinity shows God as love. Love so great that is connects in an unbreakable manner. That is what God offers to us and expects us to offer to others. That fellowship that takes many and makes them one is His very nature. He is Trinity and He wants His followers to live in such a way that reflects that nature. So go and live out that type of love. It won’t be easy but no one ever said imitating God’s very nature would be. If it is easy then it probably isn’t the nature of the uncreated God.
Here’s a video of a basset hound running for those of you who made it all the way to end of this post.
I stress needs here because while I believe that God does not need a relationship with us, He does invite us into relationship with Him. That invitation is important because if He needs us in order to be in relationship then God is no longer omnipotent. [↩]
which explains why Jesus’s only cry recorded during the passion of His crucifixion was from separation. Nails in His body, not a peep, but forshakeness and He cries out – Matthew 27:46 – separation goes against His very nature [↩]
In my opinion IF/THEN is a good way to look at theology, because IF something is true THEN it should affect life. [↩]
And you can’t truly worship the God Who is trinitarian when you are separated from your brother or sister – Matthew 5:23-24. [↩]
Yesterday I was running on two of my favorite sections of the Green Circle Trail (the Paper Mill and River Pines sections). It was a beautiful Fall day, which made for enjoyable running. When I was running over the footbridge that traverses the Plover River I looked down and saw that someone had written “Stop and Take It In” right in the center of the bridge. You can see a photo of the script above.
As you can see from the image below, it was really good advice. I love Wisconsin in the Fall.
The messianic hope was never the hope of the victors and the rulers. It was always the hope of the defeated and the ground down. The hope of the poor is nothing other than the messianic hope.
Last night I was talking with Pam about some thing I have been thinking of for a while, and especially after finishing the book “Practicing Theology“, a collections of essays editted by Miroslav Volf. I often feel like theology is treated like something ethereal and other worldly that has nothing to do with real life. Christians often have little ideological “check boxes” that you need to say the correct thing concerning, which are then once they are checked they are promptly disregarded as having nothing to do with real life.
“Do you believe in the Trinity?” “Are you Calvinist or Arminian?” “Please explain your understanding of salvation?” “Okay, now that we have gotten through that stuff let’s talk about practical things.”
But our big beliefs are really what define how we live. If you say you belief in one thing and then you consistently do the other, even when confronted by a realization that you big belief says otherwise, then there is a really good chance that you don’t actually believe what you say you believe. That’s why they are called foundational beliefs. Everything else, from further beliefs to daily practices, are based off of these foundational beliefs. The big things are the most practical, not the least practical.
The way we picture Jesus should affect the way we live.
For example, one Christian practice is the practice of hospitality. This isn’t begin good at throwing parties, actually when done wrong parties could very well be the exact opposite of the definition of hospitality found within the Bible. We understand biblical hospitality through understanding the foundational beliefs of Christianity. our understanding of the Trinity, as the God Who is community in and of Himself and invites others into His community, should lead our understanding of biblical hospitality. If you just invite people over for big, fancy, controlled gatherings is that really representative of a God Who invites us into His real self? Our understanding of salvation also affects how we live out hospitality. If we understand salvation to be a free, gracious gift that is unearned and we aren’t worthy of receiving on our own, how does that change the ones we invite into our lives? If you and I only invite the worthy into our lives, do we really believe that salvation is the grace of God, or do we secretly believe we are chosen because we are worthy?
For those of us who are believers our foundational believes are/should be the most important thing in directing how we follow Christ. A.W. Tozer put it this way:
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
I would put it this way:
For good or bad our real foundational believes are the most practical things in our lives.
So for a while on Thursdays I am going to be posting about various foundational Christian beliefs and how I believe them to be incredibly important for our daily lives, rather than just theological “checkboxes” to be checked and then forgotten. I’m not saying that i will do this every week, but I will do it consistently till I have covered the ones that I believe are foundational. In other words, I will pretty much cover the beliefs that are covered in the Apostles’ Creed. For those who don’t know it, her is the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,he is seated at the right hand of the Father,and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic Church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting.
So I was talking with Pam about this while we netflix binged on episodes of the Blacklist and I told her I was thinking about doing a weekly blog about this. When I get passionate about something I have a tendency to start talking pretty fast and raise the pitch of my voice a little. I’m sure I was doing this when I was talking with Pam because this is important to me (just ask Mindy at Emy J’s who I talked with concerning this earlier today as she was pouring my coffee). Pam started smiling as I was talking and I was sure it was because she recognized the brilliance of this idea. Instead she said through her smile “You should call it ‘Theology Thursdays’!” I tried to convince her that Theology Wednesdays would be better because of the fun of the dissonance of people thinking “He should have done this on Thursdays because it would sound better.” Since one of my foundational beliefs is that Pam is among the smartest people in the world I figure I should listen to her. Therefore, Theology Thursdays begin next week with the Trinity.
If you have ever been to a baptism at a Tapestry worship gathering the Creed will sound familiar, since it forms the questions that I ask of anyone being baptized. [↩]
So for a while on Thursdays I am going to be posting about various foundational Christian beliefs and how I believe them to be incredibly important for our daily lives, rather than just theological “checkboxes” to be checked and then forgotten. I’m not saying that i will do this every week, but I will do it consistently till I have covered the ones that I believe are foundational. In other words, I will pretty much cover the beliefs that are covered in the Apostles’ Creed. For those who don’t know it, her is the Apostles’ Creed: