I was recently sitting in on one of the Sunday school classes here at the Portico. They were studying John Wesley's, Three Simple Rules. We have a banner hanging in the sanctuary with these rules inscribed:
As I listened to the class discuss the second rule, it struck me that simplicity actually threatens the modern world. Seven billion people on the planet trying to survive. Everyone out to make it...to get theirs... We live in the age of "what's in it for me?"
And we know it. We sense that it is tacky. We know that it is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. We probably don't even want to live this way. But we're afraid of living any other way. We figure that it is just about the time that we let down our guard and start thinking about the other guy that whatever is left of the rug we're currently standing on will suddenly be ripped from beneath us and it will be over.
Of course, for all practical purposes, it is over already. As long as we remain enslaved to that fear of what will happen if, we are certainly not winning whatever game that the modern world has taught us to play. Our salvation lies in something other than the "me first" model that has brought us to this place. Yet, for whatever reason, we can't seem to shake the addiction... My daughter has a hamster. They say it runs something like six miles a night on that wheel on the outer side of the cage. It doesn't really go anywhere but it usually gets tired enough to sleep through most of the following day. It's back at it each night though...
Wesley lived in a far less complex era. Nevertheless, he still saw the value of offering the faithful a simplified version of the faith. Here, try this... here are three simple rules to live by. See if this helps with the craziness...
The way I see it is that we are all waiting for the other guy. We'd be glad to take the plunge--embrace a more simplified, just and selfless existence--just as soon as everyone else agrees to do the same. But that's just it, isn't it? It doesn't work that way. And, of course not...
I remember listening to a millionaire talking about what it took to become as wealthy as he had become. He said, "Don't kid yourself. It's not easy to get to where I've gotten in life. If it were, everyone would be doing it. But that really doesn't matter, does it? Because this isn't about everyone else. The question is how much do you want it."
Though there is certainly a difference between being materially rich and spiritually rich, I suspect the lesson still applies. It is not about the other guy. As long as we are waiting around for everybody else to get excited about living decently, we're probably not going to get too far ourselves. If we desire to be rich in spirit even just simplify our lives a bit, then we will have to take the first step... and probably the second and third as well. The fact is, if these things were easy, everyone would be doing them. So it comes down to you and I, doesn't it? Have we had enough of the "me-first" model? Are we willing to try something else--even if we can't get everyone around us to agree to the same?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Crazy Stuff
One of my favorite Biblical stories takes place in 2 Kings 5. It is the story of Naaman. Naaman is a commander in the army of Aram. The Scriptures tell us that he is a good man but he suffers from leprosy. Aram and Israel are neighboring nations who have fought in the past but are currently enjoying a fragile peace. The King of Aram hears through his Israelite slave-girl that there is a prophet in Israel who could cure Naaman of his leprosy. The king of Aram sends a letter to the king of Israel on Naaman's behalf in hopes of healing. Of course, the king of Israel sees this whole thing as a setup: ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’
But Elisha hears word of the request and tells the king to send Naaman on. This is where the story gets especially interesting. When Naaman arrives with his party at Elisha's house, the prophet shouts instructions out through the door. He tells Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan seven times. The commander is furious. He is especially angry about the simplicity of the answer and the fact that Elisha didn't even come out to see him and raise some kind of religious spectacle. But his associates manage to calm him down. They tell him basically, "why not?" Why got give it a try? Just because a solution is not complicated does not necessarily mean that it won't work. Of course, when he finally goes and washes the seven times in the Jordan, he becomes clean.
Last night I was thumbing through the channels and I came upon an infomercial. It was Kevin Trudeau selling a series of books written by Robert Barefoot. Both of these people have come under enormous suspicion and criticism by the federal government. The two men were having a conversation about the benefits of Coral Calcium and Vitamin D. At one point, Robert Barefoot said something to the effect of 90% of all disease could be cured by taking Calcium and spending two hours a day in the sunshine--without sunscreen.
The claims coming out of Barefoot's mouth seemed preposterous. I could scarcely imagine that he was making them on television and with a straight face. He was talking specifically about the suppression of scientific evidence proving the benefits of Calcium and Vitamin D in battling everything from MS to cancer. When asked about why people don't know about this stuff, he pointed to the Pharmaceutical Industry and its financial connection to everything from the national media to the FDA. When pressed on how something so simple (and inexpensive) could possibly work better than hundreds of billions of dollars worth of drugs, Barefoot simply said, "God knew what he was doing."
I've seen those Velcro straps that people wear just below their knees. They look like nothing more than a strip of cloth but people swear by them.
In the movie, "Idiocracy," Joe Bauers wakes up 500 years in the future to find that the gene pool has worked its way to the least common denominator. While an average person in 2006, Joe is far and away the smartest person on earth in 2506 but his intelligence only serves to get him into trouble. At one point, he notices that the people are using a Gatorade-like product called Brawndo to irrigate their crops. Consequently, all the crops are dying and it is posing a national crisis. Joe tells them that they could solve the crisis if they would use water instead but the proposition is ludicrous to the people of the twenty-sixth century. Clearly quoting some advertisement that he had heard over and over again, the Secretary of State, proclaims, "But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes."
I've recently been reading the book of Acts. And I came across something that I had never really noticed before. There are two separate stories in which the Gospel message comes into conflict with the way that people make money (Acts 16:16ff and Acts 19:23ff). The stories are telling in that in each case there is a clear conflict between God's message breaking in to a community and the financial stress that this new reality creates.
Our society says that it wants to be healthy. But I sense that there are some crazy problems that stand in the way. One of these is money. The other one is a misappropriation of faith. We have been led to believe that health is complex and costly. We have been led to believe that we need experts to tell us and sell us on what our body needs. And the assumption driving this escalating race is the belief (and I suspect a false belief) that the more complicated something is, the more likely it is to be helpful in our vain pursuit of health. Curiously, for all the expertise, complicated drugs and expensive treatment, our people seem to be sicker.
Naaman didn't want to believe that his leprosy could be cured by the simple suggestion of a prophet in Israel. Happily though, he had a few friends who helped him understand that his health was really more important than his pride.
But Elisha hears word of the request and tells the king to send Naaman on. This is where the story gets especially interesting. When Naaman arrives with his party at Elisha's house, the prophet shouts instructions out through the door. He tells Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan seven times. The commander is furious. He is especially angry about the simplicity of the answer and the fact that Elisha didn't even come out to see him and raise some kind of religious spectacle. But his associates manage to calm him down. They tell him basically, "why not?" Why got give it a try? Just because a solution is not complicated does not necessarily mean that it won't work. Of course, when he finally goes and washes the seven times in the Jordan, he becomes clean.
Last night I was thumbing through the channels and I came upon an infomercial. It was Kevin Trudeau selling a series of books written by Robert Barefoot. Both of these people have come under enormous suspicion and criticism by the federal government. The two men were having a conversation about the benefits of Coral Calcium and Vitamin D. At one point, Robert Barefoot said something to the effect of 90% of all disease could be cured by taking Calcium and spending two hours a day in the sunshine--without sunscreen.
The claims coming out of Barefoot's mouth seemed preposterous. I could scarcely imagine that he was making them on television and with a straight face. He was talking specifically about the suppression of scientific evidence proving the benefits of Calcium and Vitamin D in battling everything from MS to cancer. When asked about why people don't know about this stuff, he pointed to the Pharmaceutical Industry and its financial connection to everything from the national media to the FDA. When pressed on how something so simple (and inexpensive) could possibly work better than hundreds of billions of dollars worth of drugs, Barefoot simply said, "God knew what he was doing."
I've seen those Velcro straps that people wear just below their knees. They look like nothing more than a strip of cloth but people swear by them.
In the movie, "Idiocracy," Joe Bauers wakes up 500 years in the future to find that the gene pool has worked its way to the least common denominator. While an average person in 2006, Joe is far and away the smartest person on earth in 2506 but his intelligence only serves to get him into trouble. At one point, he notices that the people are using a Gatorade-like product called Brawndo to irrigate their crops. Consequently, all the crops are dying and it is posing a national crisis. Joe tells them that they could solve the crisis if they would use water instead but the proposition is ludicrous to the people of the twenty-sixth century. Clearly quoting some advertisement that he had heard over and over again, the Secretary of State, proclaims, "But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes."
I've recently been reading the book of Acts. And I came across something that I had never really noticed before. There are two separate stories in which the Gospel message comes into conflict with the way that people make money (Acts 16:16ff and Acts 19:23ff). The stories are telling in that in each case there is a clear conflict between God's message breaking in to a community and the financial stress that this new reality creates.
Our society says that it wants to be healthy. But I sense that there are some crazy problems that stand in the way. One of these is money. The other one is a misappropriation of faith. We have been led to believe that health is complex and costly. We have been led to believe that we need experts to tell us and sell us on what our body needs. And the assumption driving this escalating race is the belief (and I suspect a false belief) that the more complicated something is, the more likely it is to be helpful in our vain pursuit of health. Curiously, for all the expertise, complicated drugs and expensive treatment, our people seem to be sicker.
Naaman didn't want to believe that his leprosy could be cured by the simple suggestion of a prophet in Israel. Happily though, he had a few friends who helped him understand that his health was really more important than his pride.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Weight of the World
...And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 1 Kings 19
I've always enjoyed the stories about the prophet, Elijah. He is truly the man who stands at the very intersection of earth and heaven. One moments he is boldly proclaiming the Word of God. And the next moment, he is running for cover in fear of his life. The text above takes place shortly after what is perhaps Elijah's greatest moment as a prophet. He has just taken on all the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. He calls upon the name of the Lord and indeed the Lord comes in mighty power. The statement and the lesson are clear--there is no god like the Lord! Nevertheless, as soon as the contest is over, Elijah immediately begins thinking about the consequences. He knows that Ahab and Jezebel will soon be gunning for him for what has happened. So Elijah scurries to a cave, apparently to hide out from all those people that were out to get him.
The Lord comes to Elijah and ask him about all this. Elijah's response is wonderful--at least for those of us who are able to laugh at ourselves. Here is a paraphrase of Elijah's response: Lord, you cannot imagine how incomprehensibly hard it is to be me. I am the only person in the whole world who cares enough to remember you. It's just a matter of time Lord. They'll be coming soon. I'm finished here.
Now to be fair, prophets do feel like this sometimes and Jezebel probably did want to see Elijah dead. But Elijah had just seen the power of God in an unusually dramatic display at the contest on Mt. Carmel. So what's the deal?
Sometimes we misjudge our role. Whether it be as servants or parents or leaders or simply people on the planet--sometimes we imagine that everything turns upon us. I call it the "thank God for me" syndrome. Religious people seem to be especially susceptible to it. And the reason here is because religious people tend to be conscientious.
Being conscientious, of course, is generally a good thing. Conscientious people feel the weight of the world and they want to do their part to carry the load. However, this can also lead to trouble, particularly when we start comparing ourselves to other people. It begins when we start noticing that other people don't seem to be paying as much attention as we are. We begin to tell ourselves that these people don't care as much as we do or that they simply cannot do as good a job as we can. And sometimes this is true. And this further complicates the problem. We already believe that we care more than everyone else so if we also believe that everyone else is doing a poor job anyway, then we might just as well do it ourselves. And the longer this goes on, the more we get the idea that we're carrying the weight of the world all by ourself.
This is sort of what happens to the prophet Elijah. In his noble effort to do the right thing well, he finds himself further and further isolated. To the point, if fact, that Elijah believes that he is the only one left--the only faithful person on the planet. And once you become the last faithful person left on the planet, there is little else to do but run away to a cave somewhere and wait for the inevitable.
This, btw, is a common theme in zombie movies. You can only fight zombies alone for so long. Sooner or later, something has got to give. Either they overwhelm you with their sheer numbers or you discover (as they do in the movies) that they're not all zombies. There are always others who are willing to stand beside you and hold off the dead people. You just might have to leave the cave to find them. And you might have to accept the fact that their concern and technique might not be exactly the same as yours.
Oh, here's how that story ends:
And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Haz'ael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli'sha the son of Shaphat of A'bel-meho'lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And him who escapes from the sword of Haz'ael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Eli'sha slay. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Ba'al, and every mouth that has not kissed him." So he departed from there, and found Eli'sha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli'jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Eli'jah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?" And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Eli'jah, and ministered to him.
I've always enjoyed the stories about the prophet, Elijah. He is truly the man who stands at the very intersection of earth and heaven. One moments he is boldly proclaiming the Word of God. And the next moment, he is running for cover in fear of his life. The text above takes place shortly after what is perhaps Elijah's greatest moment as a prophet. He has just taken on all the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. He calls upon the name of the Lord and indeed the Lord comes in mighty power. The statement and the lesson are clear--there is no god like the Lord! Nevertheless, as soon as the contest is over, Elijah immediately begins thinking about the consequences. He knows that Ahab and Jezebel will soon be gunning for him for what has happened. So Elijah scurries to a cave, apparently to hide out from all those people that were out to get him.
The Lord comes to Elijah and ask him about all this. Elijah's response is wonderful--at least for those of us who are able to laugh at ourselves. Here is a paraphrase of Elijah's response: Lord, you cannot imagine how incomprehensibly hard it is to be me. I am the only person in the whole world who cares enough to remember you. It's just a matter of time Lord. They'll be coming soon. I'm finished here.
Now to be fair, prophets do feel like this sometimes and Jezebel probably did want to see Elijah dead. But Elijah had just seen the power of God in an unusually dramatic display at the contest on Mt. Carmel. So what's the deal?
Sometimes we misjudge our role. Whether it be as servants or parents or leaders or simply people on the planet--sometimes we imagine that everything turns upon us. I call it the "thank God for me" syndrome. Religious people seem to be especially susceptible to it. And the reason here is because religious people tend to be conscientious.
Being conscientious, of course, is generally a good thing. Conscientious people feel the weight of the world and they want to do their part to carry the load. However, this can also lead to trouble, particularly when we start comparing ourselves to other people. It begins when we start noticing that other people don't seem to be paying as much attention as we are. We begin to tell ourselves that these people don't care as much as we do or that they simply cannot do as good a job as we can. And sometimes this is true. And this further complicates the problem. We already believe that we care more than everyone else so if we also believe that everyone else is doing a poor job anyway, then we might just as well do it ourselves. And the longer this goes on, the more we get the idea that we're carrying the weight of the world all by ourself.
This is sort of what happens to the prophet Elijah. In his noble effort to do the right thing well, he finds himself further and further isolated. To the point, if fact, that Elijah believes that he is the only one left--the only faithful person on the planet. And once you become the last faithful person left on the planet, there is little else to do but run away to a cave somewhere and wait for the inevitable.
This, btw, is a common theme in zombie movies. You can only fight zombies alone for so long. Sooner or later, something has got to give. Either they overwhelm you with their sheer numbers or you discover (as they do in the movies) that they're not all zombies. There are always others who are willing to stand beside you and hold off the dead people. You just might have to leave the cave to find them. And you might have to accept the fact that their concern and technique might not be exactly the same as yours.
Oh, here's how that story ends:
And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Haz'ael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli'sha the son of Shaphat of A'bel-meho'lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And him who escapes from the sword of Haz'ael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Eli'sha slay. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Ba'al, and every mouth that has not kissed him." So he departed from there, and found Eli'sha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli'jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Eli'jah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?" And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Eli'jah, and ministered to him.
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