It's the Question that Drives Us

Weekly Question: What’s Heaven Like?

Erik — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:05:55 +0000

There are all kinds of ideas about heaven and what it will be like. If you had one or two sentences, how would you describe heaven as you understand it?

Religious Pluralism -Many Ways to the Top of the Mountain?

Erik — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:51:19 +0000

One of the things that I loved about studying in Austria was being engulfed by the stunning landscape of mountains. It’s easy to understand why mountains were typically associated with God or gods in the ancient world. There’s something majestic in their appearance. In the Bible, Noah’s ark rested upon a mountain in a sign of new hope. Moses not only came upon the burning bush on a mountain, but also received the Ten Commandments in the mountains…both events telling of God’s guidance and presence. In modern-day thought and philosophy, a mountain is also used in understanding God and faith. One of most common is the analogy that God sits at the summit of a mountain. God, however, has provided many paths up the mountain in order to get to God/heaven/paradise/afterlife. In short, this image attempts to explain the belief that all religions are the same.

Now I have Masters of Divinity degree; I’ve studied the intricacies of the Christian faith. I claim to be no expert, but because of my experience and training I am more attuned to the details of following the way of Jesus Christ perhaps than many. So I find it difficult to reduce Christianity into such a generic form that looks so much like other faiths, and I imagine leaders and scholars of other faiths would have the same difficulty. If Christianity is everything, then it is nothing. Something that has impacted my life to such a degree simply can’t “blend in with the crowd” of other faiths. But the reality is that this pluralistic view is not only prominent in our culture…it’s gaining steam. I just can’t brush it off as nonsense.

GOD’S CHASE

The ugly truth is that I have seen and read about non-Christians behaving more like Jesus than Christians; and I have experienced Christians acting out evil. How could I possibly view this issue in black-and-white? I would have to be intellectually dishonest to say that Christians have it down pat and the rest are spawns of the devil. My view on all this is predicated on the belief that no person is outside the reach of God’s love…that no one is a lost cause. God, rather, is chasing after each individual, revealing himself to all (1Tim. 2:4). Yet we recognize and respond to that in a variety of ways; and some ways better than others. A Zen Buddhist, for example, has come to understand God’s call for simplicity and meditation far better than me. I can learn from the example of Ghandi on how to love my enemies. If God is revealing himself to all, I believe I can see others’ responses to that and learn from it.

THE DISTINCTION OF JESUS

Yet, I cannot accept that all are the same. You see I may have a lot to learn, and I can learn from people with all different faiths and perspectives…but there’s this thing about Jesus. I could go into the many reasons why I have come to believe in Jesus Christ as opposed to other faiths, but for the sake of brevity let me just say that I believe that Jesus is the embodiment of God. If I want to know what God is like, I look at Jesus. So while many paths on the way to the mountain top may have similar traits and recognizable features, I believe that there is one way to God…the way of Jesus.

Weekly Question: Do we all end up in the same place?

Erik — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:35:43 +0000

It’s been some time now, but do you remember the finale of the show Lost? (spoiler alert for those on the Netflix schedule) It turned out they were all playing out this afterlife scenario! All the flashbacks and different confusing pieces were all explained as events in a place where time didn’t exist. Clever. But in the end they were also in a room that had an interesting stained-glass window that had symbols of major religions in the world. I’m assuming this was to claim the increasingly popular view that all religions are the same and that we’ll all end up in the same place in the end.

What do you believe? Is this really the case?

Weekly Question: Is Tenure a Good Thing or Bad Thing?

Erik — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:44:39 +0000

Recently the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to end Guaranteed Appointment for clergy. GA works much like tenure for college professors, and the debate of its worth mirrors the back-and-forth that surrounds tenure. On one hand, tenure and GA provides the kind of job security that would allow one to explore new horizons with little fear of backlash from the status quo. They also have been needed for minorities and women who otherwise would be under greater scrutiny from those unwilling to embrace equality. However, GA and tenure in their worst moments have helped to stabilize under-achievement -those barely willing to increase personal effectiveness or even work full-time. Understanding both sides, which do you fall on?

Weekly Question: Unfinished Business?

Erik — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:06:48 +0000

Here’s a simple question: What do you have going on right now that you’d love to just flip a switch and it would be accomplished? I can remember being a student and enduring ye ‘ol senioritis. Today, it would probably be ordination in the United Methodist Church. How about you?

When Power Becomes a Problem

Erik — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:14:25 +0000

The renowned psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm said, The ordinary man with extraordinary power is the chief danger for mankind — not the fiend or the sadist.” But really, all power can be dangerous if not treated with care. I remember telling a friend about attending a meeting in the Cleveland area with Haitian dignitaries who embarked on an expense-paid tour around the United States to collect ideas about fighting corruption. ”Why would they come here then?” asked the friend. Indeed. Perhaps they ran into Jimmy Dimora in their travels. Haiti is corrupt as it gets (see Earthquake Relief Funds), but America is not exactly the model protagonist.

Again, power is not a problem in and of itself. But those who take it without caution can very easily find themselves in danger of corruption…no matter their good intentions they had when receiving that power. My recent brainstorming about this topic has led me to come up with three things that lead to positions of power. I’m not sure this is a complete catalog of what leads to power, but if you have one of these three things consider yourself warned. If you contain all three in unison, I’m not sure you don’t need to pray for humility everyday before you get out of bed in order to avoid some form of corruptness.

Choices. It’s simple, the more choices you have the more power is placed in your hands. Coincidentally we live in a society that loves to set up a buffet of choices before you. Just go to the aisle in the grocery store (oh, wait you have to choose which store to go to first) and stand in front of the place that contains salad dressing. You feeling ranch? Great…which kind? Peppercorn? Buttermilk? Light? The choice is yours…and even in a small form it’s power. Contrarily Amanda and I have had an empty fridge lately in preparation for a move. ”What’s for dinner?” ”Well we only have a couple potatoes.” ”Sour cream?” ”Yep.” Then dinner is decided, but it was decided for us. The fewer choices, the less power you have. This leads me to the second pitfall of power…
Money. Money buys more choices. If Amanda and I had money, we probably could have gone out for dinner…but alas we were tapped for the month. There are few corruption cases that don’t involve money or the pursuit of money. I say this while Mega Millions has reached $540 million. Everyone dreams of what they would do with that money, and very little of those dreams involve doing good things for others. OK, I did think about giving some to my family members and other charities…but certainly not before I was going to take care of me first. The temptation messes with me even though I have no chance of winning the money!
Influence. You don’t need money to influence, but it doesn’t hurt either. Influence creates power over people, and again it is almost always behind corruption cases. Nearly all corruption involves someone who is in a position of influence, whether a Politician, CEO, Assistant Football Coach, or Pastor.

Notice how all three of these snares can very easily tether. Money can buy choices and influence, influence can create more choices and money, choices can be leveraged into more money and influence…and more choices.

Even as I write this a part of me thinks: “Well good thing I don’t have a problem with this.” With this statement, however, I’ve made myself into the baby gazelle that the hungry lion sets its eyes on. So as I try to understand my own hazards of power, I would ask you to consider yours. And try this prayer on for size…

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,Hear me.
Fromthe desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
Fromthe fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I,provided that I may become as holy as I should…

RafaelCardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

Weekly Question: What Do Oscar Gift Bags Say About Us?

Erik — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:08:46 +0000

If you’re nominated at the Oscars, you win so much more than personal satisfaction…namely a gift bag worth $62,023.26. What does that say about us as a society? For perspective, here’s roughly what you can also get for that amount…

An entire house through Habitat for Humanity.

124 heifers through Heifer International.

238,551 meals for children in Haiti through Trinity/HOPE.

Weekly Question: What Was the Worst Public Scandal?

Erik — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:22:47 +0000

Depending on how high a bar you set for certain positions of leadership, you might recall certain public scandals that were exposed with different levels of personal disappointment. Maybe it’s the Evangelical leader, Ted Haggard, who admitted to having an affair with a man in Denver. Maybe it’s presidential candidate John Edwards, who was found to be committing adultery while his wife Elizabeth suffered from cancer. Perhaps it was Bill Clinton or O.J. Simpson. Which public scandal was one of the most memorable for you?

Jesus Hates Religion?

Erik — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:13:28 +0000

If you haven’t seen the controversial video that went viral, called Jesus Hates Religion. Check it out here…

Does Jesus actually hate religion? Well, it depends on what your definition of “religion” is.

When I attended an evangelical church when I was a teen, I was taught that Jesus didn’t want religion, he wanted relationship. As a person who had grown up in the church without experiencing the transforming power of God, this made a lot of sense to me. In Joel 2:12-13, the prophet tells the people,

Yet even now, says the LORD,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 saying:

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

It is quite possible for someone to actually participate in a faith community, to fill a role on a committee or board or even play an instrument, not out of the conviction of their faith but as an honorable activity. Under this evangelical definition of “religion,” it’s hard to dispute their point. For years, the church was the main social outlet in societies across the U.S. Church was simply something you did…it was a part of the routine of life. And it was quite possible that belief had less to do with church for many individuals. Not anymore. Businesses are open on Sundays, and social programs such as kids’ soccer or basketball are now holding their games on Sunday morning. We now live in a “post-Christian” age. There have been plenty of positive or negative reactions to this new era, but what seems to be appearing is that church and Christianity as a whole is being embraced by those motivated by faith rather than simply “something to do.”

Yet not everyone understands the word “religion” in the same way Evangelicals do. In fact, religion itself is a really hard thing to define. Most religions include some belief in God, or gods; but not all religions do. In fact, some religions involve very little “belief” at all; rather portray an appropriate guideline to life and living. Some include descriptions of the afterlife, others don’t. So with these abstractions in mind, perhaps it’s appropriate to think of the Evangelicals’ view of religion in terms of “religious activity,” “religiosity,” “ritualism,” or even “legalism.”

Main-line Christians seemed to be most put-off by the Jesus Hates Religion video. And while the Evangelical critique has its merits, “religion” doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In some form or fashion, Christians everywhere put their belief into action, much of which is ritualized in some way. That behavior becomes corporate and organized in order to accomplish more. Hence the church, and yes, even the institutional church.

I guess what I’m saying is that Jesus doesn’t hate religion, but there is something wrong if religious behavior or activity takes the place of a free-flowing, unbounded relationship with God.

(by the way, check out this video as a pretty good response to the Jesus Hates Religion one…)

Weekly Question: What’s Your Experience with Legalism?

Erik — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:28:13 +0000

I’ve definitely had my run-ins with legalism, both in others and within me. Do you have any stories with your own encounters with legalism? How did you respond? What did you learn from the experience? Look forward to reading your thoughts…