My brother to be exact. You need to read this. He could probably use your prayers that he would speak prophetically to his leadership and that they would hear him.
shalom, matt
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9 years ago
Dangerous Theologies: Theology of Moral Control
I’ve recently been reminded of how dangerous some theologies are to the lives of ordinary people. Theology is defined by my MacBook this way:
theology |θēˈäləjē|
noun ( pl. -gies)
the study of the nature of God and religious belief.
religious beliefs and theory when systematically developed.
Well, there you have it, a concise and 90% useless definition brought to you by the fine people of Apple. Theology, as the 10% useful section informs us, is the study of God. Theologies are a collection of religious beliefs, sometimes systematically written down into doctrinal statements and creeds, or, in the case of professors who have no lives, systematic theology textbooks, foisted upon unknowing Bible college students. Theologies, as a rule, aren’t necessarily detrimental; in fact, quite the opposite, really. They can be quite useful in communal settings to unite a believing community underneath a common system of belief. The Apostle’s Creed has for centuries served as a declaration of belief for the Body of Christ.
Theologies become dangerous when they serve purposes other than declaring a common faith. When they are used to ostracize and alienate and excommunicate those who see things differently; when they are used as weapons to destroy community and dismantle relationships and friendships; when they become a means of controlling (and thereby destroying) our freedom in Christ.
So what I would like to do is take a couple weeks and unmask a few “theologies” that you would do well to avoid being around and buying into.
Theology of Moral Control/Morality
This is perhaps the most prevalent and the most difficult theology to spot of them all, because it looks like real Christianity. Let’s consult the on-board dictionary again for a good definition of morality.
morality |məˈralətē; mô-|
noun ( pl. -ties)
principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
• behavior as it is affected by the observation of these principles
• a particular system of values and principles of conduct, esp. one held by a specified person or society
• the extent to which an action is right or wrong; behavior or qualities judged to be good
It is the last of the definitions that interests me the most here. Morality is about good vs. bad behavior. It is about determining what is right and what is wrong. Now, on the surface this is not a bad thing. It is generally a good idea to determine right actions and wrong actions. It is right for me to love my wife and treat her with respect. It is wrong for me to kill her. See: one action is right, and one is wrong. And, by the way, I’ve never killed my wife. I digress…
The danger in moral control theology is that many of the actions deemed “wrong” by a particular church body have little, if any, basis in Scripture. Many times they are defended with out-of-context Scripture quotations that ignore the intent of the author and the context of the passage. Or, worse, they are based on old, worn-out, prejudices and traditions that have long since died away, and were themselves outgrowths of shaky interpretations of Scripture. Basically, moral control theology is based on what people have decided is wrong, not necessarily what is actually right or wrong in Scripture. These traditional thought patterns, many times passed down from one generation to the next with no explanation for the reason, are used to control the behaviors of the individual church members, mainly by pouring on large dosages of guilt and fear: guilt because you broke the rule and fear over what God will do to you if you break it again.
Some popular rules that get thrown around that have no basis in Scripture, but are regarded as wrong because of perceived social stigma, preconceived ideas, or denominational tradition include, but are not limited to: dancing, watching secular movies, listening to secular music, drinking alcohol, smoking, “cussing” (or using a wildly-varying list of “bad words”), you must attend church on Sundays, no instruments in church (a cappella churches only), you must read, listen to, watch, or wear Christian products only, you must dress up for church, no running in church, don’t wear your hat in the sanctuary, and don’t, under any circumstances, watch Scooby-Doo or read Harry Potter. I’ve heard of a church in the tri-county area that actually tells their constituency what movies they can and can’t watch, what they can and can’t wear to church and what music they can and can’t listen to. It’s a matter of membership for them, too. There are other rules I’m sure in different churches, but these cover the basics.
I said earlier that moral control theology is hard to discern because it looks like real Christianity. Churches that foist this type of theology on their members judge the maturity of the Christian based on their compliance with these dogmas. There is a complete lack of awareness, or at best a vague congizance, of the signs of true Christian maturity and discipleship: a desire for the disciplines, a hunger and need for Christian community, a God-centered and others-centered life, an awareness of God in the present moment, a desire to live the Way of Christ, to live in Ultimate Reality, to “seek first the Kingdom.” Moral control theology reduces discipleship down to compliance with church rules, usually determined by the authority figures at the top of the church hierarchy.
And let me say this: I’m not opposed to living a right life. But when all we seek to do is obey rules we miss out on the life of Christ, a life of freedom and love. We fall into the trap of the Pharisees.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. __Jesus in Matthew 23__
We focus on the wrong things, put emPHASIS on the wrong syllABLE (so to speak), obey “rules” and neglect life. Jesus said, in John 8, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Why then would we return to bondage under man-made rules that have no bearing on our Christian discipleship? Why do we not trust the Spirit’s work in the lives of individual disciples? Why do we not allow God to work through the disciplines to move us to places of maturity in HIS time? Moral control theology betrays a distinct lack of trust in God to bring about maturity and growth, instead relying on man-made rules to bring about quasi-changes that rarely are permanent. At its worst, moral theology ignores grace, by not allowing for the freedom to make mistakes and the room for God to redeem and use those mistakes for our growth and maturity.
May you find freedom in Christ, freedom to live life, love more fully and revel in the grace of Almighty God.
shalom, matt
Strange
Okay, for the strangest thing I've seen all year...
The girl has a beautiful face and is a darling, but I've never heard of anything like that happening before.
shalom, matt
Five Lessons for Everyone (Part 2)
Your Life is Not About You
I know this sounds like something straight out of Dr. Phil’s mouth, but it’s not. It dovetails nicely off of the preceding idea that we aren’t that important. Our over-privileged society has ingrained in us and (unfortunately) our children (might be my fault, too) the idea that everything is centered on us. We are an ego-centric culture. We are crazy over ourselves, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs (assuming that we are a chocolaty breakfast puff that turns milk brown and sludgy, of course). It is a nasty reality to face when a teenager, or maybe even worse, an adult, discovers that life is not about them and they have to come to grips with a new reality that doesn’t focus on them. It is a nasty reality, but on the other side of that awakening, that “death to the false self,” is a beautiful resurrection of Christ- and others-centeredness. How different would our world be if humanity understood this lesson, if we died to our own self and turned outward towards a much larger world than we first imagined it to be?
You Are Not In Control
How much do you and I hate this one? Seriously, is there a more helpless feeling than to be out of control? Yes, there is. To realize you are out of control and there is nothing you can do about it. This is a terrifying prospect for us control freaks. Life is beyond anything we can get our arms around. Walk in a hospital’s cancer ward or a funeral home and ask the people there if life is in their control. Better yet, walk into an AA meeting and ask an alcoholic if they feel like life is in their control. You’re not in control. Learn this lesson with the reality that life is hard. The two go hand-in-hand. We need to be okay with this. Not happy about it necessarily, but okay with it. We have to be willing to learn from what life hands us. The message of the cross is that God, in his infinite love, is willing to give up control, “put himself out there,” to us. Jesus, according to Philippians 2, “became nothing,” that is, gave up control of his rights as God, humbling himself and dying. God: willing to be out of control. Can we be as willing to give up control as well? Dag Hammerskjold, former U.N. Secretary-General said, “At some moment I did answer Yes to Someone--or Something--and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life in self-surrender had a goal.”
You Are Going to Die
It’s amazing how many people just can’t seem to accept this fact. Last time I checked the death rate was still 100% among every living thing on earth. An old Hindu saying says, “The surprise of surprises is that although everybody who has ever lived in this world has died, for some reason, we think we won’t.” Dr. Ira Byock writes, “Death is not primarily a medical event. Death is a personal and spiritual event, yet we are largely concerned about preparing for the medical.” There is an great line from Dr. Cox in an episode of Scrubs where he tells J.D. that everything that they do as doctors is, at best, a stall for the inevitable. You are going to die. If we cannot accept our own death then we cannot truly live, because we live in fear of the inevitable end that could come at any moment. Jesus said that not one of us can add a single minute to his or her life by worrying. I used to spend a lot of time worrying about my own death. I didn’t want to die. Who does? But worry and fear turn into anxiety, which can be debilitating and life-stealing. We have to come to terms with our own fear over the unknowable. No one knows what happens at death, which is partly why we fear it so much. No one likes the unknown. If we can live in the reality of the kingdom understanding of death, that it is not final, does not have the last word, that, as Paul writes, it has lost its sting, that on the other side is glorious resurrection and the continuance of an eternal life already begun in the present, then we might be able to acknowledge the reality that we are going to die. And then we might be able to truly live.
shalom, matt
Prayers That Aren't Really Prayers
I found this on a blog called the overflow. So much truth to it. Time for me to think about my prayer life. I really like the idea of toasting Jesus at dinner instead of the perfunctory "bless this food" prayer. Anyway, read on. shalom, mattOnly once in my life has anyone ever confronted me on my prayer life.
No, not like if I pray or when do I pray, but actually on how I pray. It came from Ron Ritchie, a trusted 70 year old mentor. I was 32ish when he looked me in the eye over lunch and in a way only a man who looks like Moses/Grizzly Adams could have said, "Brian, you use God's name like a comma when you pray. God I pray that (comma God) you would help me do blah blah blah (comma God).... " I think it was the first time in my life I'd actually truly thought about how I spoke to God and what words I chose.
He also introduced me for the first time to the PRAYER TOAST. We did it every night after bible study with Ron and our clan of disciples over dinner for a year of Tuesday's. I use it all the time in restaurants now. Rather than bowing your head and wondering if you're going to get the prayer done before the waiter returns to interrupt you awkwardly, you just ditch the head bowed deal, grab your beverage, raise it to the sky, and thank Jesus for the fellowship, the food you're about to eat, the amazing chance to enjoy breath in your lungs, and invite God's presence to be at the table with you. It's really refreshing. You should try it sometime. Inviting God to join your table and thanking him for the blessings of food and friends is always sincere and very rare today.
Well anyway, ever since that year of prayer challenges by Ron, I've been particularly sensitive to my own prayers and annoyed by some of the traditional habits of the church today in prayer. A couple of things that have happened this week made me think of it, so I decided to blog them. Here you go, here's my list:
Five Lessons for Everyone (Part 1)
I’ve been reading a book called Adam’s Return: the Five Promises of Male Initiation by Richard Rohr. The book looks at a wide range of cultural male initiation rites that communities used to initiate a young boy into manhood. Among other things, and the subject I’d like to take up briefly here, the book talks about the five lessons that every young man must learn in order to be the leader that he must be as a male in his community. The five lessons are:
Life is hard.
You are not that important.
Your life is not about you.
You are not in control.
You are going to die.
These lessons were not simply found in Israelite culture, but in cultures across the board. Scripturally speaking these are lessons found, and not accidentally, throughout the Written Word. I think that these are lessons, male initiation aside, that we all need to learn if we are to understand our relationship to God and to each other.
Life is Hard
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble on account of me.” Because of Jesus we will have trouble. Let me add this: because we are human we will have trouble. Because we are alive we will have trouble. You can’t avoid hardship. It’s not a matter of if but when and how severe. And the larger question is, How will we respond to it? We are a culture that avoids suffering, detests it, pretends like it doesn’t exist. We bury ourselves underneath a plethora of pleasures and distractions, seeking to forget that we are hurting, that the world is bent and broken, and that we ourselves are, deep down in the dark places of our souls, bent and broken. We must learn, and it is not an easy lesson to swallow, how to suffer and how to learn from our suffering. God uses suffering. Nothing is wasted in God’s kingdom. He uses everything--including our suffering. Life is difficult. How will we respond to it?
You are Not That Important
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve wanted to say or have said to a teenager seeking counsel from me that they aren’t nearly as important as they think they are. At first glance that seems like a harsh statement, but it isn’t. Here’s why: We are a very, very privileged country, our teens especially succumbing to our culture of conspicuous consumption, believing that everything is owed to them and that the sun rises and sets at their beck and call. Parents don’t help much, feeding their teens insatiable appetite for more with...well...more. Jesus said that life is more than food and drink. We need to understand and to impress on younger generations that the world is bigger than our own field of vision. It’s bigger than our own wants and needs. It’s bigger than our own personal destinies. Now, none of this is to downplay how important we we are in the eyes of God. And I believe that if we understood that, and if we understood that He sees every human being as important, then our own field of vision would expand. Our importance is not based on what we think of ourselves, what we own, what we do, but on Who we belong to and what we look like in His eyes.
to be continued...
shalom, matt
Reason 212 Why I'm Cooler Than My Brother
The number 1 song on the day I was born: (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty by KC and the Sunshine Band.
The number 1 song on the day he was born: "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes.
Need I say more.
Go here to find out what the number 1 song was on the day you were born.
shalom, matt
Living. Moving. Being.
For in him we live and move and have our being. __Paul in Acts 17:28__
This passage has hung over me for, well, at least a year, perhaps longer. It is one of those passages that seem to be a black hole of meaning, endlessly deep and powerful, full of possible interpretations. I never have been able to get my mind around it, plumb the infinite depths. It just seemed like the thing I was seeking (or was it seeking me?) was hovering over me, that it was just out in front of my face, just beyond my grasp, like one of those electronic rabbits at the dog track. And like those dogs chasing the fake rabbit, I was in hot pursuit, but I simply could never get my brain to wrap its tendrils around Paul’s words.
That may have changed last week.
Maybe.
Rewind to Sunday morning at 5:30 AM. I was in my car on my way to work. Now normally there is very little thought process happening in my brain at 5:30 AM other than “keep the car on the road.” But for some reason, perhaps my mind was finally at a point where it could hear the Spirit, but I thought about this passage. Like I said, I’ve chewed on it and chewed on it—the Latin word is meditatio, meaning “to ruminate” (which is what a cow does to its cud)—and this time it seems like I’ve—pardon the expression—“hacked up” a possible meaning.
What if this is a Trinitarian statement, hinting at the work of each of the “members” of the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Watch.
In him we live… Christ is our life. Christ came to give life. Christ is Life. Paul wrote in Philippians, “To live is Christ” (1:21). He continues in Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (2:20). Jesus himself said, “I came to give you life” (John 10:10). Oh, and by the way, Jesus said, “I am the Life” (John 14:6). I’ll stop now, but there are more. There can be no argument that Jesus is a Life-giver, all of Christendom, nay, all of humanity is banking on that reality.
…and move… The Spirit is the “force” (with apologies to George Lucas, Luke Skywalker and Yoda) behind our movement, which makes sense given that is the Spirit of the Life-giver. Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3, “The wind (read: Spirit) blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Jesus tells his followers on the night of betrayal that the Spirit will guide them into all truth. All throughout Acts we find the Spirit guiding the apostles, guiding the followers of the Way, the early Church into situations that would lead to the glory of God. The Spirit even physically moves people at times: “The Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away…” (Acts 8:39). The Spirit is the mover in our lives, the power through which we do everything that we do for the Kingdom.
...and have our being… Hang with me on this because I need to break out my limited linguistic and grammatical knowledge (which would fit on the head of a pin) to make this make sense. In Exodus 3 Moses asks God what His name is. God says, “I AM.” Without going into the ridiculous depth of that answer I will say that “I AM” comes from the “be” verb: am, is, are, was, were. Microsoft Word © tells me, by my hitting Shift + F7, that synonyms for “be” are “exist,” “alive,” “be alive,” be real.” So God simply says, “I exist.” When we say that we have our being in God we are saying that because he is—because he “be’s”—we are—we “be.” We have our be-ness. We are made in the image of Be, therefore we are Be-ings. In his being-ness I find my be-ing, my existing, my aliveness, my realness. “Be” also has as its meaning “be present” or “be there.” Presence. There-ness. These attributes not only beautifully describe God, but they describe how we are to “be” in this world. We are presences, “there-ers” to the world, available and always living in the now. So in the Father we have our be-ness, our presence to the world and we are made available to all. Just as he is present to the world in his “Be-ness” we, too, are present to the world in our “Be-ness.”
Now to backtrack to the beginning of that passage that I intentionally skipped over to point out the role of the Trinity in our lives, I would like to take a quick look at the phrase in Him. I’ve always thought that this phrase, which appears over and over again in Paul’s writings, particularly in Ephesians and Colossians, applied to Christians only. But I’m not so sure. Remember that when Paul says in him we live and move and have our being that he is talking to a group of philosophers in Athens, a decidedly polytheistic culture. Paul is telling them (or so it seems to me) that all of humanity lives, moves and has its being in God. He even concludes his statement by quoting one of their own pagan poets to underscore his point. Think about that. Think about what that changes in how we present the good news. People aren’t somehow entering into a club that we’ve already bought memberships to; no, when they accept Christ as the reality of life they are awakening (the Biblical word for this is "enlightenment") to a reality that they have been a part of all along, namely, that in God, all along, they have been living and moving and being right along with us. They are now awakened to that fact and all of life looks different. Every action, thought, or word is seen in a different light now. How sweet is that!?
Now it is your turn. What are your thoughts?
shalom, matt
Willow Creek
I got fired for thinking this way.
Hurray for Willow Creek. May God bless their search for a new way of ministring.
shalom, matt
p.s. Willow Creek is one of the largest churches in America, located in the Chicago suburbs. Many churches have tried to immulate and immitate them and to try and be as successful as they are.
God the Recycler
Everything belongs; God uses everything. There are no dead ends. There is no wasted energy. Everything is recycled. Sin history and salvation history are two sides of the same coin. I believe with all my heart that the Gospel is all about the mystery of forgiveness. When you "get" forgiveness, you get it. We use the phrase "falling love." I think forgiveness is almost the same thing. It's a mystery we fall into: the mystery is God. God forgives all things for being imperfect, broken, and poor. Not only Jesus but all the great people who pray that I have met in my life say the same thing. That's the conclusion they come to. The people who know God well--the mystics, the hermits, those who risk everything to find God--always meet a lover, not a dictator. God is never found to be an abusive father or a tyrannical mother, but always a lover who is more than we dared hope for. How different than the "account manager" that most people seem to worship.
God is a lover who receives and forgives everything. The Gospel says "you will know the mystery of salvation through the forgiveness of sin" (Luke 1:77). "Fore-given means being given to beforehand--before you earned it, were worthy of it, or maybe even asked for it. So forgiveness breaks down the entire world of meritocracy and the notion of deservedness. Our logic of quid pro quo is useless in the realm of the Spirit. Instead, if we are open to it, we will be led into the realm of mercy and grace--the unique world of God. __from Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr__
shalom, matt
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