Middle Class Christianity

During yesterday’s sermon I talked about the opportunity the homosexuality “issue” affords us to reflect upon key Christian concepts like salvation, grace, repentance, love and judgment. Because of our sometimes narrow and even distorted understanding of these words, we may be ill-equipped to think about, much less talk about a complex issue like homosexuality.

Take the word “judgment,” for example. Since I’ve moved to the northeast, I would have to say that if there is one sin that most people assume is the unforgivable sin, it’s judging. I pointed out yesterday that judging is as essential and inevitable as breathing. Even saying that we shouldn’t judge is itself a judgment. One cannot not judge. We are all constantly judging what’s right or wrong, what’s appropriate or inappropriate, what’s helpful or unhelpful. We judge our own behavior, and we judge other people’s behavior. (Evaluating other people’s behavior is partly how we judge how we’re going to act.)

Mission Impossible?

Last night, after sharing a meal with our Alpha participants, I attended the second of four dialogue sessions on homosexuality. A couple of years ago the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America mandated that dialogue sessions around this issue occur throughout the denomination before the matter is allowed to be discussed again in 2009. While it seemed like a good idea before I attended the first meeting, it now feels more like “Mission Impossible.” There are too many people and there is simply not enough time to even begin to discern what the key issues are, much less actually dialogue around those issues.

Learning the Plays

The Lord’s Prayer has been a magnet for my spiritual life for many years. There was a time when I was “into” all sorts of fringe spiritual stuff — Jungian psychology, New Age healing practices, exploring other religions, the daily use of runes — you name it. Fortunately, I retained enough of a connection to my Christian roots to have a daily “quiet time,” which included reading Scripture and praying. I usually ended my devotions by reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

The Grace that Opposes the Proud

After worship yesterday someone asked if I would send her the prayer of confession that we had on the screen. I thought I would include it here.

I’m seeing that it’s God’s grace as much as his distaste that causes him to oppose our pride. He sees how destructive and life-depleting pride is. And now that we’ve decided to follow Jesus, pride is just so unbecoming.

The Fellowship of His Sufferings

I’m going to end this series of posts about friendship with Jesus by saying a word about suffering. While “suffering” may seem too big a word to include many of the relatively minor hassles and irritants in our lives, even these lesser interruptions can be unrelenting and disruptive enough to make our days depressing and our relationship with Jesus unsettling.

The Family Business

I’d like you to pay attention to something today.

Everything.

Bill Donahue, in his book, In the Company of Jesus, tells the following experience he had in a seventh-grade science class:

True Friend or Just Friendly?

One of the things we look for in a friend is someone who will accept us as we are and love us no matter what. Is Jesus that kind of friend? Does he really love us or is he just putting up with us? Does he seem distant a lot of the time because he’s trying to keep his distance — maybe because of the odor?

Friendship with Jesus

God talks to his friends. God called Abraham his friend (II Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23), and talked to him. Moses was also a friend of God, and God talked to him: ”The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Apparently, if we want to “hear” God speak to us or sense his leading in our lives, it helps to be God’s friend.

In his comment yesterday, Steve raised an important question about the extent to which friendship is possible between non-equals. It’s an important question from a couple of angles.

Time to Graduate?

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Other pressing matters led to my getting a late start on this post this morning. So I’ll just introduce a topic that I’ll be reflecting upon more later.

Graceful Prayer

“Rejoice always; pray continuously; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18). Note the bookends holding up continuous prayer: rejoicing and giving thanks. Frankly, rejoicing isn’t the first thing I think to do in most circumstances; or giving thanks, for that matter. “Rejoicing always” seems even more unrealistic than “praying always.” And while it’s one thing to ask God for help with whatever’s happening, it’s quite another to thank God for what’s happening.