Faith in an Age of Skepticism

I love to read stories. I confess that I don't particularly enjoy classic novels. I am more of a best-seller reader. If the book is about spies or international intrigue, I will knock it out in a couple of days. I love the way that you can become engrossed in the book, experiencing the world from the pages. I love how the characters become real to you. A good novel does that, it makes the people and situations seem real.

I think that this is why it is so hard for many people to read the Bible. What happens is that we forget that, unlike our favorite novel, these people are in fact real. The Bible is not based on a true story--it is a true story. Sure, there are several genres of literature, such as poetry or parable, but the stories happened and the people were there.

Sometimes I like to think about the people who were behind the scenes. While we know a lot about Moses, Aaron, or pharoah, what was life like for the little guy. What was life like for an Israelite father who was trying to raise his two kids? What was life like for someone whose name we don't know, but lived through the things that we now recognize as the Exodus?

My guess is that they were fairly skeptical about all that was going on. We see quite a bit of grumbling from the people, and it makes sense when you consider their less than secure circumstances. I would assume that the group was fairly mixed. Some people were devout, others may have even left the camp at night to go back to Egypt.

Sometimes I wonder if the Exodus would work today. I'll be honest, it took a lot of faith to leave Egypt--faith in Moses, in God, and in the whole idea of a Promised Land. That kind of faith is harder to find today, and my generation is a big part of that. Recently I was talking with someone about how people a couple generations ago often just took things on faith. They were slow to question it, and they were generally more trusting. I don't see that happening much today.

My generation questions everything. I mean everything. We question commercials, preachers, news clips, scientific findings, content labels, philosophies, nutritional labels, and lessons about the Bible. We put everything to the test because too many things are simply untrue. We know this because there is so much information. There are entire websites dedicated to disproving things or setting the record straight. It takes about 20 seconds to look up something to see if it is true or not. We have a lot of information at hand. I read somewhere that one newspaper has more information about the world than a typical person in the nineteenth century would have had in their entire life.

So how do you speak truth to people who test everything? First, be honest. If it is complicated, say it is complicated. If there are multiple views, respect that there are multiple views. Second, speak about experience, your experience. Facts are not nearly as convincing as hearing what you have gone through or how you experienced something. Third, be patient. I will not be convinced without time to think it out. Teaching people truths about God or about life can be challenging, but again we are faced with being part of a process. We have to let others come to the conclusions.

Part of the Process

I don't want to be part of the solution, I want to have the answer. I don't want to fix my part, I want to fix the whole thing. I don't want to work on something to a point and then hand it off for the next step, but that is the way that life works. We are called to be a part of the process, and very rarely are we the total solution.

Can you imagine the disappointment that Moses had when he was standing on the peak looking down into the land that he would never be able to enter? After all that he had been a part of, the plagues, the sea, the commandments, Moses still was not allowed to be a part of the next step. Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land in the same way that we often don't get to see the end of the story.

A few months ago I came across an old picture of our church's youth ministry. It was definitely from the early 80s, and it reminded me that I am just one of many ministers who will have an impact at my church. People were here before, and people will be here again. The key is to embrace the present and do your best with the part that you have been asked to play.

This is not easy to do in most cases. Just ask the sons or daughters who cannot convince their parent to come to faith. Just ask the friend who has no idea what to do when someone they love is experiencing emotional pain. Just ask the minister who sees a kid messing up her life and cannot figure out what she should do to help.

We live in a quick fix world now, and solutions are supposed to be fast. There are entire corporations whose sole purpose is to provide solutions to problems. If I need an answer to something, all that I need to do is Google it from my phone and I have it. That is not how life works, though. Solutions do not come easy, and people cannot be fixed when someone finds the perfect answer. Isn't that essentially what Job's friends did? They came with quick answers trying to fix a situation that was simply immune to a quick fix.

So what do we do? We change our perspective. If we approach these things with a win or lose mentality, we have already lost. If you beat yourself up because things are not better even though you tried your best, you will always feel like a failure. Like I said before, the answer is to understand that you are part of the process, but not necessarily the solution to the problem. Imagine putting it on yourself to save the soul of your friend. You try and try, but you are not succeeding. Then suddenly they call you and say that they have become a Christian because they heard a song that made them think about things in a completely different way. See, you were part of the process and so were the people who made the song, and so were the people who put it on the radio. Embrace your part, do it well, but do not become defeated.

I doubt Moses felt like he had been defeated, disappointed yes, but not defeated. Moses allowed himself to be used by God and had a huge part in the process of saving the world. Whatever issues you face, remember that you are a part of the process, but also remember that you have a God who is control of the whole.

Ministry

How many times have you heard that every Christian is a minister? I heard it often growing up, and I guess it made sense some of the time. However, in my culture, paid ministers were very different from the "member ministers." Pastors wore suits, even when it seemed extremely uncomfortable to do so like when attending a prayer breakfast or doing lawn work. Pastors had great hair too, while the other church members just tried their best. Pastors also spoke with a hint of King James as if they had been born in 16th century England but moved here when they were 3 or 4. Then there is the movement that led many pastors to believe that they were actually CEOs so they needed to present themselves as corporate giants. Even today these things are true about many pastors. But why?

I am sure that part of it is a cultural expectation. Pastors should be the best dressed because they represent God, and God loves our best. Included in this is the idea that the first thing you should notice about a pastor is his or her piety which I supposed means that he must always be serious as if one wrong step will send someone to hell. This culture may come out of the fact that our pastors should be better than us because we know ourselves and we need to be able to aim higher.

Another part of our views on pastoral piety is found in history. In church history priests and clergy were often powerful economically and politically. We also have in the back of our mind the picture of monks walking somberly around a gray backdrop praying silently to themselves. The historical pictures and influences perhaps frames some elements of expectations for what clergy should look like.

Sometimes I forget that I am a minister. I suppose that I am still getting used to it. I am still trying to figure out what it means to be act like a minister in non-ministry times, or if there is even such a thing as a non-ministry time. How does a minister act at Walmart? How does a minister treat his or her waitress? Is the behavior required of the minister any different than it would be from another Christian? The answer is probably not, but there is this feeling that my "ministerness" should be evident wherever I go. In Leviticus the priests were definitely set apart. Their guidelines for living were stricter, and their responsibilities much more serious. As we use the phrase 'every member a minister' I think that it is important to invesigate why these feelings exist and how they impact the people in the pew.

You are not God

Here is something that we all need to hear: we, you, are not God. You are not, in fact, even close to being God or acting like God. God is a wholly holy other. Even though we know this logically, are there still times when we wonder why we cannot do things like God does? Are there times when we think that God is just a somewhat improved version of who we are?

The book of Leviticus is a tough read, let's be honest. There are cubits and strange woods that would probably make great hardwood floors. So what is the point of reading the blueprint for the tabernacle or how the priests should dress? Here it is: it is to remind us just as it reminded the Israelites that God has high demands. For a people who depended on ceremony to have access to God, there could hardly be enough instruction. God demanded that the people live holy lives so that He, being holy, could approach them. He also wanted them to be different so that He could be glorified.

Sometimes we wander into dangerous territory when we assume that God is just like our buddy who sits on the couch with us. While we should celebrate that Jesus' death allowed us to have ongoing fellowship with God, free from all the ceremony and sacrifice, we should also keep in mind that God remains a holy other. It is difficult to balance the holiness of God with the idea that God wants to know us intimately. I don't know the answer to that, but it bothers me when people begin prayers with "hey big guy." It also bothers me when others begin with "Oh holiest God who maketh the raineth." There is a place for conversation with God and a place for reverence. I think the key is getting our hearts right. If your heartsong is to approach God with a little more reverence then do it out of honest feeling but not out of obligation. If you want to just hang with God, do it out of thanksgiving and truth, not because it sounds trendy.

God is different, but He is also our Creator and our Father. What He seeks is a real relationship with all the honesty that you can muster.

This again?

I need change in my life. I don't necessarily want my life to change, but I need to experience new things and not feel that I am in a rut. Admittedly, working with students provides me a great deal of this and sometimes I need relaxation, but I still love change. I think that it is a generational thing. I recently watched a video that described how rapidly our society is changing. We are flooded with information and something new comes along seemingly everyday. People refer to the rate of change that we experience as exponential, which for you who have erased all math knowledge, means things change at a pace that is hard to keep up with.

We live in a world that where we become complacent with things that did not even exist 15, 10, or 5 years ago. How can we live without cell phones? How did we connect before Facebook (MySpace does not count--it was terrible)? How did we know answers to meaningless questions before Google? We take these things for granted, and sometimes get bored with them. In its brief existence, Facebook has changed formats several times because we wanted it to be better or at least different.

It is not just technology that creates change. People my age will average 3 to 4 careers in different fields. On a less positive note, people also have a good chance of changing mates. Change is a part of our society, for better or worse. But what about those times when we cannot sense the change? What about times in our lives when all we pray for is change and yet we don't see it?

In Exodus we read the story of the Israelites journey through the wilderness in search of the Promised Land. While they are on their way, God provides a miraculous food source everyday so they do not starve. But, the people get tired of it and begin to grumble against God. They want some meat in their diet so God sends them quail, lots of quail.

Let's be honest, even when God has provided for us in miraculous ways whether that is financially, through relationships, or through other concrete ways, we get tired of what we have or of where we are in life. I am not saying that is wrong to want to make your life better or desire to have things like security or advancement, but if we spend all of our time thinking about what we do not have, we will easily begin to grumble against God for what we do have. Even if the grass is greener on the other side, it is still just grass, and what can you really do with grass?

Moses

Few people in history have suffered from as much frustration as Moses must have suffered. Here was a guy who was called by God, spoke with God, performed miracles for God, and yet people still challenged his leadership. People say that a vision casting talk only lasts 21 days before the people have to be reminded. Apparently that is also about how long it takes for a miracle to become irrelevant to people. Moses took people out of slavery, took care of them in the desert, and guided them to a land where every need would be met, but the people constantly complained and rebelled.

Leading people can be really hard whether you are a minister, a teacher, or even just an influential friend. The problem is that even if you are trying to take others to the promised land, going back to Egypt is always easier. Change is hard, and progress can be an uphill battle. When we experience the kind of frustration that Moses encountered, it is helpful to focus on the goal rather than people's responses. Imagine Moses having yet another meeting about going back to Egypt while the pillar of fire that God provided the people was burning in the background. People probably asked if Moses was positive that this is what God wanted them to do even as they passed through the Red Sea. Had Moses not maintained his communication with God, he may have been tempted to drop the staff while some of the people were still walking through the parted sea.

The thing is people are people. We all have our tendencies to be antagonistic, especially when we experience change or growth. While there are times when we want to just throw our hands up and leave people in the desert, God calls us to impact lives even when it is hard.

Abraham

I am connected. I am connected to having a Walmart two miles away. I am connected to having about 40 restaurants within a five mile radius. I am connected to the great city where I live, with all of the services and conveniences that I could ask for. There isn't even any real traffic. I am connected to the comfortable.

What would happen if God asked me to sever these connections? What if I was asked to leave it all behind? What if God asked me to connect to the uncomfortable, or worse yet, come unconnected to everything? Most likely I would say "what about my kids" or "people here need God too." I would think about my financial situation and my mortgage. I would think about how much a move costs and how I like for things to be organized and planned.

It amazes me that I encounter so many people who have followed God's call to be uncomfortable. Whether it is a missionary who goes overseas or a family man who quits his job to attend seminary, there are people who have heard God say go, and they went. Like Abraham, they listened to God, even when there were no concrete answers. There was no strategic plan, just a promise. And, while it should not be surprising for us to believe that someone trusted God's promises, it really isn't that easy to do, not when we are already connected.

Abraham left his land where he was rich and respected, and he traveled to a place that was occupied by hostile and foreign people. He left land that was his to live on land that was others, all the while believing that both were actually God's. However, by leaving the comfortable, he was used by God in ways that he never could have imagined.

Is the problem that we are not supposed to get comfortable? I think it may just be human nature to settle in, especially once we have children. I suppose the key is to remember that we are following a plan that is not our own, or at least not of our design. When we think that we are calling all of the shots, it can be really painful to interrupt our plans. When we simply enjoy the journey, we realize that God wants us to make the most out of each opportunity because we never know when the next one will start.

Joseph

I don't know how many times I have looked to the story of Joseph to explain the world around me. We all encounter times when nothing around us is going right. Our jobs, our relationships, our finances, each of these can seem out of control sometimes. Worse yet, it can seem like there is no end in sight nor a way out, despite our best efforts. For more than two years I found myself in a job where all I found was pain and discouragement. I prayed frequently that God would give me a new option or change the situation. And for more than two and a half years, God did not.

In those situations we feel that God is not listening. Or maybe we are not living up to his standards and so we cannot be rewarded. Maybe we simply need to take a leap of faith and take care of things ourselves. Maybe we just need to suck it up and deal. And yet, God tells us that He wants us to have an abundant life. How does that work?

Here is the thing: having an abundant life does not come easy. We have to invest to reap the reward. And sometimes that process is long and confusing. It certainly was for Joseph who as far as anyone can tell was a good guy. He was a good guy who found himself beaten by his brothers, sold as a slave, unjustly imprisoned, and forgotten. Joseph had to wonder at times if God was with him, and yet he remained faithful and trusting.

How powerful is it when Joseph tells his brothers that they meant their actions for evil but God meant them for good? What a great perspective. Joseph is saying that he understands that God was using him to save his family. In effect, God was using Joseph to secure the line of promise that would ultimately lead to Jesus Christ. The truth is that God was always with Joseph, and He is always with us. We may not understand all that is going on in our lives, but we can trust that God is working, guiding, and present.

Genesis Part One

After almost a year I am returning to the world of blogging. As this is the first Bible Study Devotion, it seems fitting to discuss the beginning as we find it in Genesis. The book of Genesis is perhaps my favorite book of the Bible if you are allowed to have such things. It contains so many rich stories and theological truths. From the story of creation to the story of Joseph, there is so much to be gleaned from the book. Today I want to focus on the story of creation.

For most people who think theologically, which is just about every Christian, they hold certain elements of theology to be their central theme. For many this is the story of the crucifixion whereas they focus on Jesus dying for their sins and thus live better lives because of it. For others it is the book of Revelation where the focus is on what will happen in the future. Still others emphasize the covenants that God made to His people. For me, the central story of my theology is the story of Creation and the Fall.

Here is why: this story demonstrates that God is a God of order and purpose. The creation narrative reminds me of 2 things: 1. that God designed the world and is in control of it, and 2. that God is the one who sought fellowship with human beings. Remembering that God created the world down to the tiniest detail is a source of comfort when I feel that the world is a tough place.

While the creation narrative is important to me, it is perhaps the Fall that informs me more about God than any other passage. The central thought is this: despite the fact that people literally turned their back on God, he simply initiates a plan to bring them back to himself, even if it takes thousands of years. When Adam and Eve sin and are cast out, he already has a plan for Jesus to come and to save the world. We see this in Genesis 3:15. It is a story of forgiveness, mercy, and love. It is also a story of consequences, promises, and hope. It is my story and your story. Thank God.

Format Change

In the past this has been a blog for reflection and thoughts on ministry. It is now transitioning to become a blog for Bible study and devotional thoughts. This is an effort to give me a deeper devotional opportunity, and it will allow readers to have a deeper appreciation for Scripture and the message that God has for them.