Spiritual Adaptation

 Aren't you tired of having to change? There is always something new to learn. There is always something new required. It is confusing. My wineskin is stretched. Perhaps Darwin was right, adapt or die. It is survival of the fittest out there. It touches every area of living: education, business, politics, family, and even church. I have spent a good part of my life trying to find the balance between status quo and change. I have stood between those wanting rapid change and those wanting no change. I have try to moderate, mediate, meditate, and modulate those matters which threaten to murder our ministry. But perhaps we need a new paradigm for ministry to match the fast pace of change which we are experiencing. I am going to confess right up front that I don't like what I am proposing. It goes against my grain. But, it is necessary and I see no way around it. The alternative is to die. So when the alternative is death, then it makes it a little more imperative to think outside the box.

On the battlefield, you have to quickly adapt to the enemy. In business you have to quickly adapt to the competition. In traffic you have to quickly adapt to the other drivers. In medicine you have to quickly adapt to the new procedures and drugs. In reaching the lost we also have to quickly adapt to the challenges presented by an ever-changing society who walks different paths and hears in different ways. Of course I want to be clear that adaptation does not include changing God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, or the nature of salvation and church. But, the ancient truths need to be mobilized in modern vehicles.

Adaptation is about finding out where people are. I mean literally, "Where do they live and what paths do they walk down?" I have started mapping out the major features around our church neighborhood. Within about five miles of our building we have four parks, three medical facilities, one hospice center, three public schools, and eight churches. We have one new apartment complex and one new sub-division being built. We have high end homes and low-income houses, including trailer parks near us. We have at least four shopping areas nearby. We have one assisted living facility. And, yes there is a Star Bucks. So where should we be if we want to meet people with whom we can share the gospel? We have to adapt and be where people are.

Another adaptation is to know how people experience spiritual things?  This one is hard and has a lot of land-mines to it. It is clear to me that there are at least five ways: music, relationships, innovative learning, fun/play, and meaningful service. The question is whether we are willing to adapt our methods (not message) in order to reach people with the truth of the gospel in ways that connect with them. The problem we have is that we are not very quick to adapt and therefore we lag behind a fast changing society, so that when we are making a change the society has moved on to something new. We seem to be a day late and a dollar short, as they say. I said I don't like this. I like routine. I like predictability. But, I have to admit routines don't last very long these days and society is anything but predictable. This is why we have to know what the essentials are and not have too many sacred cows. We might need to sell some cows to survive. 

In essence I am saying we must become lighter on our feet. We have to be more like 21st Century special force units instead of 20th century tank units. Can the Spirit adapt quickly to the changes of this world to lead us to victory? What do you think?

Structure

   In John 16:13 Jesus tells His apostles that the Spirit of Truth is coming and when He does He will guide them into all truth. Notice three other places where this word "guide" is used. The first is Matthew 15:14/Lk.6:39. Jesus says that the Jewish leaders are blind guides, and if the blind lead the blind then they will both fall into a ditch. I am constantly amazed at well-trained guide dogs for the blind.  A blind person can travel across town with an experienced canine companion, crossing streets, walking around obstacles, avoiding unexpected hindrances, all without chasing a stray cat. These dogs are trained to get their friend to where they are going without harm. Blind dogs do not make good guide dogs. Just saying!

The second place I find "guide" is in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. This African is riding along in his chariot reading Isaiah 53 in his new KJV (I threw that in to see if you were listening) without understanding who was the subject of the text. Philip asks if he understands his reading, and Candace's treasurer says, "How can I unless someone guides me?"  That chariot was heading for a theological ditch until Philip arrived. He now has a guide, and the rest is history, i.e. a new brother in Christ.

The third Scripture in Revelation 7:17 is about a shepherd who guides the sheep to springs of water. How important is that?  A large part of the shepherd's job is to get the sheep to places of survival, from one oasis to another.

There is something in common in these passages. Is the idea of structure. "How so?" you ask.  Another word for a guide is an instructor. Do you see the our word? Structor! An instructor bring structure into a person's other wise destructive life. Do you see structure in destructive? An instructor who gives instruction leads to construction or reconstruction, not destruction, unless something causes an obstruction. A guide in concrete work frames the path, putting limits on the wet, poured concrete so that it actually forms a clear, smooth, consistent pathway. This is what the Spirit of Truth is doing. He provides a framework for the disciples' learning, setting boundaries. He tells them to go here, not there; look at this, not that; stop here, go there, listen to this, ignore that, pursue this, and run from this. Philip brought structure into the life of the eunuch. The framework looked like a cross. When this man was baptized he became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which he was committed. (Rom.6:17)

Jesus' aim in sending the Spirit was not merely to provide them with a written New Testament, but to provide them through the work of the Spirit a newly shaped life. Just as a personal trainer reshapes your body; just as a coach reshapes a team; just as drill sergeant reshapes a man to be a fighter, so the Holy Spirit reconstructs us according to truth. He is keeping us out of the ditches and on the road which leads to living water. Do you need that kind of structure in your life?

Stumbling is Not Funny

    Did you know it is your job to make the paths of others straight and stumbling block free as much as is humanly possible?  It is a serious matter to hinder someone from entering the kingdom of God.  I have trouble with some of American's Funniest Home Videos because it looks like to me that when they fall that they may be seriously hurt. There is nothing funny about someone being seriously hurt. We knew the Three Stooges were playing and that the Coyote always puffed back up after being flattened. But, as I grew older I saw people fall down never to rise again. I also saw people trip and fall to sustain injuries from which they never recovered. I kept waiting for them to puff back up, but they never did.

There are five chapters of red letters at the end of John (13-17) spoken with a very specific aim in mind. Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling." (16:1) Jesus mentioned them in His prayer in John 17 saying, "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled." (17:12)  Jesus took his job of protection seriously.

Have you ever gingerly taken an older person's arm as they walk across a parking lot to help stabilize them so they don't take a tumble? There is something satisfying about them being safely seated in their car. Did you know it is not enough to not trip a blind man as he walks by? It is my job to help the blind man get to where he is going. It not enough not to push a child down as they play on the playground. I am to watch over them and make sure they can get up and down the slide without landing on their head. We are all going somewhere. But, we will not get there if we fall. How can we casually walk by stumbling people and not reach out a hand to stabilize them? How can we think it funny when a drunk man falls down? 

John was great because he spent his short life removing rocks from the path of the King. He lost his head for his efforts. He was trying to make it easy for people to reach Jesus and for Jesus to reach people. That is our job. And, God forbid that they stumble over us and never reach Him because we got in the way!  I am so thankful for all the folks who made my path easier and not harder. I forgive those who knowingly or unknowingly tripped me up. But, praise God I am still standing and making my way along the path. If you want to help me get to heaven then join me on the path. But, if you are just going to make my way harder, please don't bother.

Square Peg/Round Hole

It was May, 2010 that I began my daily study of the mind of Christ, the Challenger Deep of the spiritual ocean. As expected this journey has taken me on a wild ride, one which is far from over. One observation I have thus far is that transformation into the thinking of Christ has been subtle and gradual. It is also about what He did not discuss as much as what He did teach. My feeble attempt to step into His world as He stepped into mine, to see what He saw, hear what He heard, and to notice how He responded to it all with supreme wisdom has enriched me beyond words. As I try to think His thoughts I find that I also, to some degree, share His feeling or emotion, both the more agitated extremes and the peaceful expressions.

What I have also attempted to step out of, as I explore the mind of Christ, is the world of Christian denominationalism, a world that did not exist in Jesus’ day. Of course He was no stranger to the division of Judaism and the pantheon of pagan gods, but His ministry of building His church and ushering in the Kingdom of God was not a reaction to competing religious groups. He was not presenting a better product to draw people away from their inferior ones. Jesus was not focused on persuading people to reject some denominational bias in favorite of the “truth” as presented by Him. He was not interested in rearranging doctrines to open some combination lock to get people into heaven. Jesus was not presenting an alternative to well-worn religions. He certainly corrected errors when these sought to force Him into their traditional molds. But, He presented no systematic theology to prove Calvinism or any other ism wrong.

Here we are today after 20 centuries of Christian squabbling over every conceivable point of doctrine and practice, divided into hundreds of competing views and positions. We have some idea that our job is to convince those, for the most part, who know of Jesus, and many who have had some Christian affiliation, to accept our brand, the ingredients of which vary from person to person and from church to church, and to become what we are. If we are successful we grow and the person who is so fortunate to actually find our peculiar recipe for doing Christianity will eat and be satisfied so that they need shop for no other place to eat.

This paradigm of thinking is a round hole into which we try to fit the square peg of the mind of Christ, and the teaching and practices which come from His mind. We have to figure out how Jesus might answer questions that were never raised in His day. Of course we have the rest of the New Testament along with the specific doctrinal and moral challenges to the gospel that provide more references from which to reason. But, we struggle to make our day fit with His and theirs. So as not to be misunderstood, I certainly believe that proper exegesis and hermeneutics can help us unravel modern denominational questions, but such is not a replacement for the purity of presenting Jesus “as is” to a world that is fundamentally flawed in exactly the same way it was when Jesus came.

Whether it is denominational dogmas of today, the emerging philosophies of today, or the prevalent psychological diagnoses of today, the words of Jesus cut through every one of them and finds the deepest needs of a person’s life. Those who trust any denominational position, any philosophy, or any therapeutic treatment for their salvation and quality of life here and there will miss Jesus’ most basic teaching. He and He alone makes us okay. Knowing Him is the essence of eternal life. Becoming His disciple is our calling, and becoming like Him in every way is our mission. I have found out over the past nearly six years of pursuing the Mind of Christ that it is so vast and deep and rich that there is much more than enough to keep me occupied for transformation into His image. If this is what we mean when we say we want to be just a Christian, then fine. But, we normally mean that we don’t want to be some denominational person (except for the group whose name we wear).

Imagine if we were to push a restart button on this thing we call Christianity and concentrate on knowing Jesus so that we can know God, which was His main reason for coming. What if we were to pursue the many-faceted implications of the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ? What if we were to focus on how Jesus went about training the twelve and what He thought they needed to know in order to carry out His mission to the world? What if we were to spend time struggling with the differences among the four different accounts of Jesus life and ministry? What if we were to spend a lot more time sitting in the seats of the apostles and hearing Jesus’ words for the first time? What if we explored our own fickled understandings and responses to what He said just as the early disciples struggled to understand what He intended? What if we wrote down His imperatives in His own words and tried to live them out? What if we just took His word at face value and believe He actually meant it? Wouldn’t these give us plenty to do in Christianity instead of codifying denominational doctrines? Isn’t His teachings on love enough to keep us busy?

Why does the history of Christianity focus almost entirely on the divisions and contentions of the church? What happened early on to lead to where we are today? Surely Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul warned us about those critical errors that lead us so far astray from a pure and sincere devotion to Christ. But, could the answer be instead of debating every twist and turn that routed us to our present day, we focus on simply becoming more purely and sincerely devoted to Christ? Is that just too simple?

Rod Myers

Am I A Foot Coach?

 
 
 

I am in John 13 in case you did not figure that out. The second of Peter's replies to Jesus' attempt to wash his feet was "Never shall you wash my feet!." Impulsive Peter! He so often speaks without thinking, without realizing what he is saying (sounds like a possible presidential candidate to me). What he says sound noble. He recognized from day one that the sinful was in the presence of holiness. (Luke 5:8)  Here he recognizes greatness touching leastness. He knew who Jesus was. He had confessed that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. (Matthew 16) But somehow Peter thought it was up to him to manage the relationship. How could someone know who Jesus is, i.e. Lord, and think that Jesus needs to be managed? That somehow Jesus is going to do something inappropriate? Peter is treating Jesus like a very good man who in his naivete just did things that did not match who He was. Jesus did not need a handler, a manager or a PR person. He was more than capable of running His own life. And Peter-sinful man he was actually thought that he was capable of guiding and coaching Jesus. Peter thought this foot-washing thing was a dumb idea. Bless Peter's heart! He wanted Jesus to look good and this, he thought, was beneath Jesus' dignity and station. So Peter's going to stop this charade and get Jesus off His knees and back at the head of the table where He belongs. Notice that Peter does not say "let me do that Jesus-give me the towel-I'll finish the job." Was it Peter's humility that got in the way or his pride? Was he too humble to let Jesus wash his dirty feet or was he too proud to let Jesus wash his dirty feet? Literally Peter said, "By no means shalt thou wash unto me the feet unto the age." This was emphatic-never means never-but does it, or only never as long as Peter held on to the idea that he knew better than Jesus. This is a fundamental flaw that will pop up again in Peter's life. (Acts 10-11) Later Peter will use "never"-"I have never eaten anything unclean" implying "and I never will." He ate those words too.

 

This one single thought correction could save us so much struggle: Jesus knows what He is doing even when He is doing it to us. If we just stop talking and start receiving we surely will have a freer life.

The Stream of Political Correctness

There is no hotter topic today than political correctness. It is a stream that is polluting the river of this nation. It is characterized by judgment (btw ironically another stream that pollutes our river is judging those who judge). The way it goes is that someone says something, uses a term, that is perceived to be offensive by someone else. The flag is thrown, the foul is described, and the penalty is set. However, once a person has failed the political correctness test, they are forever branded as a racist, or as insensitive, or as a bigot, or as incorrigible. In this political correctness game rules are being made up as the game is being played, and people are chastised for not knowing the rules. Snap judgments are made against the offender. A jury is convened in social media or in the news, a sentence is imposed, and off to political correctness jail. There is no possibility of parole because everyone knows that politically incorrect people cannot be rehabilitated. Think about what is happening here.

There is a sorting out process going on. There are now victims and offenders. You are one or the other. You either wear a white hat or a black hat (though I suspect by using this metaphor I have just committed some unpardonable politically incorrect violation. I suspect all hats have to be grey these days.) When things are sorted out, then division occurs. There are the good guys and the bad guys. This leads to polarization and strife. Labels are slapped on folks and good luck trying to peel them off.

Of course there are offensive things which most of us can agree should not be said or done. But, the landscape of political correctness is becoming increasingly complex. How does one break the code and figure out when they are in danger in stepping in something that is going to stink up their life?  This is made so much more difficult when the rules don't apply to everyone. One person can say a word and it is culturally acceptable. Another uses the same word and they are dragged out of the city and stoned. Another complication is there seems to be pretty awful things happening that I would think any human would conclude was detestable, but I am told by many that I am overreacting and that it is really ok. (E.g. Planned Parenthood killing babies and selling off their body parts for profit.) I am told that I shouldn't be offended by sexual misconduct because it is none of my business, but when millions are outed by someone hacking into a popular cheating website suddenly folks are committing suicide, getting divorces, and losing their jobs. Excuse me but is it ok for someone to do whatever they want with whomever they want whenever they want? I am confused. Is an affair politically correct or not?

It seems to me that we have a whole bunch of folks playing a politically correctness game who are totally unqualified to play. Controlling the thoughts of others is a pretty serious game. Some would call this cultist. Creating and managing a culture of fear is a high stakes game. Social pressure to conform to a norm created by people whose moral and spiritual compass seems woefully off is dangerous. It might sound a little too simplistic, but I will venture into the world of political incorrectness by suggesting that those who know the Creator of the Universe, have actually read and studied His word, and who have been transformed by His Son to become new creatures just might have a little better view of how flawed we all are, how much we need someone higher than ourselves to be doing the correcting, and to be sorting out who really are the good guys and bad guys, hats and all.

Streams of Thought

Did you see the orange water in the mine spill in Colorado as it colors the pristine waters of the west? It is sickening. You wonder what it is doing to the wildlife which depends on these rivers for life. It makes you wonder how people along those rivers and streams will be affected in the days to come. Will their drinking water be contaminated? Will they have respiratory problems? Is this just a temporary problem or will it have long term effects? Will there be more birth defects in the future? So many questions flood into our minds.

But what about the streams of thought that course through our land? What if we could visibly see these streams turn orange at the first sign of toxic thinking? Would we be shocked at what we see? Would we be afraid that our mental environment may be changed forever, and that the effects on our existence might be irreversible? What level of alarm would we experience? Can we agree on some things here?

1) Thoughts matter. Do they? Does it really matter what we think? Is one thought as good as another thought? Are all thoughts equally true? And do thoughts make any difference? Do the collective thoughts of a society affect the course of that society? Can we agree that thoughts do matter?

2) Thoughts have consequences. Do they? Does thought precede action? Do we think it before we do it? I know some say I did it before I thought, but is that really true? Perhaps we do things before we think it through, but can we do anything without first thinking it? Are the consequences of differing thought equally healthy, functional, and reasonable? Should we judge the validity of a thought by its outcome?

3) Thoughts are contagious. My thoughts can infect your thoughts. I can persuade you to think what I think. A thought can become a part of societal thinking, something commonly accepted. Thoughts rarely remain isolated. They are shared and often accepted, and believed. These thoughts become values, and these values change society.

 

In the days to come, I plan to share some thoughts with you about common thoughts we hear expressed today. I want to shine the light on these thoughts, inspect them, challenge them, and see if they are worthy of our great nation, and more importantly worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who will not allow their thoughts to be challenged are in grave danger of being close-minded, biased, and inbred with untested thinking. I will make my case clear. I believe the greatest mind is the mind of Christ. His thoughts above all thoughts are worthy to be a standard by which we judge all things. In fact, I believe all our thoughts will be one day judged by the standard of His thoughts. I hope you will take this journey with me, and share this with others. Come let us reason together!