A Confused Community

I just finished reading about Zimbabwe and the horrors that exist due to a militant dictator. They do not even have the freedom to write the words that I just penned. It would cost them their life and maybe worse, the rape and torture of their wife and daughters. We have so much in America and act like life is so difficult. We search for meaning and dignity while we fail to give it to others. We create theologies and ideologies that reflect our lack of wisdom and empty lives. We make community about us. We create little worlds that reflect our version of life and expect other people to march to the drumbeat of our version of community.When it does not satisfy, then we blame . . . we blame the government, or jobs, our schools, our spouses . . . our churches. So we keep trading them with the hope that the next one will be better than what we are experiencing now. What we fail to realize is that the common denominator in all this is us. For community to happen, we need something or someone larger than ourselves to be at the center. This is where Rabbi Jesus comes in. He has faith in us because He sees a different picture of who we are. He restores us to our creative design and touches us at the core of our soul. His Spirit gives us the gift of community. It is here we discover the meaning of life.

Character and Respect

I came across a story just the other day that humbled me. Ex-President Bush was giving his first speech since leaving office. Regardless of what you think and feel about how he lead our nation, it was obvious that in the transition time he treated the incoming President with dignity and respect even when it was not given in return. Of course the media hungry for gossip and opinions (what ever happened to investigating truth) asked George Bush what he thought of President Obama and the recent choices he has made. His response was simple - "he deserves my silence." This was a golden opportunity to take a shot back at an administration that demonized him. This of course is not news worthy. If he would of criticized President Obama there would of been papers scrambling for a front page article on this historic event. I was humbled by his silence in light of his situation. Character matters! Doing the right thing even when you are not treated with the same respect matters. In a world that is caught in it's own inflated ego . . . we need more people who simply refuse to enter the polotical world of gain at everyone else's expense. Our ability to remanin quiet before our accussers speaks a great deal about our character.

Choices

We live in a world that values choice. Choice about the kind of car we drive, house we live in, choice about our education and career, we even have choices in the design of our cell phones. We often delude ourselves into thinking that we are the ones who are making the choice, when the reality is someone else or a group has chosen for us and convinced us that their choice is really our choice. Call it advertising, image spin or influence, we are subject to those we convince ourselves are the best choice. So based on our choices, we divide ourselves and oppose those who make different choices than us. In the midst of our fighting,(just listen to people of opposing parties politically or denominational) along comes this crazy teacher and says: You did not choose me, I choose you . . . and our world of choice is shaken. We resist and rebel this dynamic. We invent theological concepts to appease our understanding of someone else making the choice for us, and like most things we usually get it wrong. Why is it so hard to have the Rabbi Jesus at the center of our world rather than ourselves? Why do we resist the God in flesh Rabbi coming to us and choosing us? Why are we so bent on making life about us? I guess it comes down to our choice in Who we follow.

In the Dust of the Rabbi

This week we are going to be asking ourselves "who is your teacher?" There are many influences that impact us everyday that we do not reflect on, as a consequence we fall under their spell and adapt our "Christianity" to its influence. Being intentional about who we listen to does not mean that we avoid all things we deem unchristian for the sake of everything in the religious circle we associate. It does mean that we think with a particular mind and consistently reflect based upon the one that we choose to believe. Belief is an interesting dynamic that can lead us into truth as well as decieve us with illusions that make sense to our little circle of religious zealots, but to those who are seeking, they look on and ask why doesn't the Emporer have any clothes on. So why do we select this particular teacher? Why do we choose to believe their version of truth? Why do we sit at this particular place under this particular teacher? How does it cause us to live? Are we a blessing as a result or are we painfully endured by those around us who desire nothing more than to find Jesus?