i'm on my way

i'm making the trip.

yes, i am driving to Noveau Brunswick. i've done it once since graduation three years ago and hated it. it took so much longer than i remembered! plus i got a speeding ticket from some grumpy french cop, or was i the grumpy one? anyway, i'm coming back next week for my sister's graduation. my dad is flying into toronto and we are driving up together. i figure one more visit to ye olde alma mater can't hurt too much.

i would love to see as many of you my friends as possible in that short time. we will arrive thursday early afternoon and leave friday early afternoon. so i have a few hours to visit.

you know who you are. let's make it happen.

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a rant ... of sorts

right now in canada the big deal is the fight for the traditional definition of marriage. i have struggled with this. i believe strongly in marriage. i think that it is one of the greatest illustrations we have of relationship with God, and one of the greatest opportunities we have to love on people (in and through the marriage and family). i also believe the practice of homosexuality is a distortion of God's good intention for us and contrary to his good plan for us. however, i cannot in good conscience join the fight for the traditional definition of marriage.

why? several reasons. i think that the church on the whole (there are exceptions) has done a terrible job of loving those we don't like. homosexual people already face persecution in our culture, and instead of providing a safe haven the church has contributed to the persecution. we have become a place where people are afraid to admit their weaknesses, struggles, and sinful behaviour for fear that they will be judged, condemned, or shunned. i am afraid that fighting to defend the traditional definition of marriage only contributes to an already ugly image that our culture has of the christian church. i realize that Christ told us that the world will hate us, but are they supposed to hate us because we hate them back or because our love and acceptance is so radical that they can't stand it?

donald miller in searching for God knows what puts voice to some thoughts that have been developing in me better than i ever could. here is some of what he said:

As a Christian, I believe Jesus wants to reach out to people who are lost and, yes, immoral - immoral just like you and I are immoral; and declaring war against them and stirring up [people] to the point of anger and giving them the feeling that their country, their families, and their lifestyles are being threatened is only hurting what Jesus is trying to do. This isn't rocket science. If you declare war on somebody, you have to either handcuff them or kill them. That's the only way to win. But if you want them to be forgiven by Christ, if you want them to live eternally in heaven with Jesus, then you have to love them. ...So go ahead and declare war in the name of a conservative agenda, but don't do it in the name of God. That's what militant Muslims are doing in the Middle East, and we don't want that here. (pp. 188-189)

A moral message, a message of us vs them, overflowing in war rhetoric, never hindered the early message of grace, of repentance toward dead works and immorality in exchange for a love relationship with Christ. War rhetoric against people is not the methodology, not the sort of communication that came out of the mouth of Jesus or the mouths of any of His followers. In fact, even today, moralists who use war rhetoric will speak of right and wrong, and even some vague and angry god, but never Jesus. Listen closely, and I assure you, they will not talk about Jesus.

In my opinion, if you hate somebody because they are different from you, you'd best get on your knees and repent until you can say you love them, until you have gotten your soul right with Christ.

I can't say this clearly enough: If we are preaching morality without Christ, and using war rhetoric to communicate a battle mentality, we are fighting on Satan's side. This battle we are in is a battle against the principalities of darkness, not against people who are different from us. In war you shoot the enemy, not the hostage. (pp. 190-191)

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a new kind of christian

i finished reading a new kind of christian by brian mclaren today. it was very thought provoking. i have that feeling like i was privileged to listen in on a conversation that was incredibly insightful, but that also sent me reeling. i feel like there is so much that i've already forgotten, so much to ponder, so much to let sink in. i think i need to let my mind soak for a while. in fact, my mind is so overloaded, i don't even have the wherewithall to post a summary of some of the most challenging ideas here for discussion. maybe later.

for now, if you have read the book, what did you think of his ideas about modern and postmodern, individual and corporate salvation, and/or heaven and hell?

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brokenness and relationship

on my journey thus far (read about it here) i am finally coming to a place where i am beginning to see the light. i cannot express how wondrous that is. light means hope and joy and life and - of all things - emotion. i am beginning to feel God again!

part of my journey includes asking searching questions like what does it really mean to be a christian? how does one become a christian? what would cause a rich, successful, kind, generous, for all appearances "got it together" kind of person to desire to be a christian? why is christianity something that every person should subscribe to? what makes it something that everyone needs, whether rich or poor, kind or a jerk? as i ponder these kinds of questions, i am slowly becoming more and more convinced that the message of christianity, the message of jesus, is incomplete and useless without an understanding of our brokenness. unless we first understand that we are all screwed up, that each one of us has contributed in some way to the filth and sin that surrounds us, then there is no need for a messiah. jesus is the solution to a worldwide problem, and unless we recognize that problem we will never recognize jesus for who he is. i am becoming more and more convinced that this is all that our faith is about. God came to rescue us, to restore us to relationship with him. it's not about morality, it's not about politics, it's not about heaven and hell, it's about restoring a broken relationship.

as i continue down the road, my mentor has assigned me to read two books: searching for God knows what by donald miller, and a new kind of christian by brian mclaren. i just finished the former last night around 12:30 am. it was excellent. and the coolest thing about it was that his book was exactly about what i have been thinking about like i described above. except that his thoughts were much more fully developed and he said it much better than i ever could. this book for me was a reinforcing and further developing of the core idea that i was becoming convinced our faith is really all about.

in his book, miller formulates our faith as a relationship with God, begun in the garden of eden and tragically broken through the deception and betrayal of adam and eve. the rest of the bible then is the story of God slowly and lovingly restoring that broken relationship. the bible does not include a how-to list for getting right with God. there are no bullet points or theological charts. there are stories, poems, visions, songs, parables, and letters. these are the literature of relationship, of heart and soul. the answer to man's problem is not in believing some fact, but in God himself. we find new life not in believing that jesus is God, but in giving ourselves to him in relationship as a bride gives herself to her husband in a marriage union. and scripture is full of God's love, anger, and passion as he patiently works to restore us from our betrayal.

miller begins by first establishing that our faith is best understood as relationship with God, then develops a comprehensive personality theory explaining human behavior as a direct result of God's absence. he says that we were designed to be in relationship with God, and without that we will die. the result of adam and eve's sin was death because their sin destroyed their relationship with God, it cut them off from God and without God humans die.

i could go on, but you would be better off reading the book for yourself. i thought it was one of the best explanations i have ever heard for the entire message of the bible. every theological tenet i believe in makes more sense when understood in this framework of relationship. it explains our brokenness, our need for God, why we die, why we wear clothes, why jesus matters, why the jews were chosen, why the ten commandments were given, and most importantly, why people have and do die rather than give up their faith in jesus christ. it's not a new idea, but it is, for me, a most beautiful way to understand my faith.

have you read it? what did you think?

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