What If Jesus Was Serious?

The other day I had a thought. It was birthed out of my browsing and random readings of the ramblings of fellow bloggers/kingdom of God expounders.

The thought: What if Jesus was serious when he said: Love and pray for your enemies, do not judge others, give to the poor, and don't worry about your life? 

I Tweeted this thought and shortly thereafter, Greg Boyd responded and said: "THAT, my friend, would change EVERYTHING!"

 This thought contains some pretty radical/upside-down/nonsensical statements, yet they are the commands of Jesus to the people of his kingdom. I mean, to most people (and most within Christendom) loving enemies, not judging , and not worrying about your life, are usually not big priorities. We often tend to do the exact opposite and then reach around/over Jesus to pick and choose whatever other part of the Bible we think would support ignoring what he said. We do this in so many areas of our lives, and there is a very long history of those in the church doing this! How can this be,when Jesus, the very one we claim to follow, said that ALL previous Scripture was about HIM! We therefore should view ALL scripture through the lens of Jesus. This is one of the primary reasons that I would identify myself with the Anabaptist tradition. Jesus is the center and lens through which we view not just all of scripture, but all of life!

Here is a short clip from Greg Boyd on this topic:


 

 

What are some topics/areas of life where you have seen others jump over Jesus to other parts of scripture to justify their non-Christlike behavior? 

Viva la Revolution !

Confronted by Peace (Interview @ The Pangea Blog)

As many of you know this last year I've gone through a huge transformation in my life. I have gone from being a Soldier in the US Army, caught up in the idolatry that is nationalism, to a pacifist, committed to the way of Jesus and the ethic of peace. I owe a huge part of this journey to my friend and mentor, Kurt Willems. Earlier this year I reached out to him for advice and counsel as I wrestled with the nonviolent, enemy-love, teachings of Jesus. Over this last year our friendship has grown. He has been there from the beginning and through my process to become a Conscientious Objector. For his role in discipling me I will be forever thankful.
       Over the last month or so we have considered doing a interview/blog post (about my story and our friendship) together on Kurt's blog: The Pangea Blog  The holidays kept getting in the way, he took a trip to Seattle (which I'm still jealous over), I had more Army training, and my wife left for two weeks leaving me in a non-blogging mood. All that said, this week we finally got our heads together and did this interview. So, without further waste of time, below is the link to our collaboration. I hope you will enjoy it!


                                Confronted by Peace: the surprise of nonviolence is leading my friend out of the army



Peace,
Matt

All the Power In the World

"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him." (John 13:3-5) 

       So, have you ever imagined what it would be like to have all the power in the world? What would you do with that power? Would you use it to go back in time? How about take control of the whole world? You could end all poverty and suffering, end all evil. You could force everyone to obey your rules, your way of doing things. Either way, you could do a lot of good or a lot of bad. Well, here in scripture we find that one man, Jesus, DID have all that power. Notice it says, “knowing that the Father (God) had given all things into his hands”. Imagine having "all things" put into your hands. So, what does Jesus do with this power? Does he go out and right all the wrongs of the world? Does he impose his will on the rest of humanity? Does he force the world, through laws and the power of the sword to submit to his ethics and reign? No! He lays aside his outer garments, ties a towel around his waist, pours water into a bowl and begins to wash his disciples' feet. HE SERVES THEM! He lowers himself to that of a household slave, and serves humanity. He serves not only his loyal disciples, but also the disciple who he knew was about to betray him to death. 
      FOOLISHNESS! You may say. What a wasted opportunity! How many lives he could have saved with all that power! How many wrongs and injustices of the world he could have made right! To the kingdoms of the world and those within, yes it is foolishness. Yes, it is utter madness! But to those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers, to those in the kingdom of God, this way of doing things should be normal.
       People of the kingdom of God are many times in the scripture called to "walk as Jesus walked", to live and act like Jesus did. This should be our normal mode of operation. We should not be concerned with gaining power and authority over others in order to enforce a "right way of living". We certainly don't have all the power in the world laid into our hands, yet the church has a very long history of trying to attain it. If we truly wish to follow in the footsteps of our master, we should seek to change the world the way he did. He had all the power, yet used none of it. He served, he loved, he died not only for us but for the ones who nailed him on the cross(with some of his last words he prayed for and forgave those who were crucifying him).
       Let us not concern ourselves with the ways of control and power this world seeks. Let us spend more of our time, energy, and money: serving, loving, dying for, and forgiving the world. We can change the world around us and as a whole for the better. But NOT with the ways of this world. We must partner with God and the way of his kingdom, the power-under, self-sacrificial  love that looks like the cross. That's what we should do with all the power in the world.

Jesus Hangin With Sinners

In the Gospel of Mark we find this story:

"Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.  As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him."

       At first glance, this may look like an ordinary calling of a disciple. In a sense it was, but it was also more than that. Jesus was a well-respected Rabbi (teacher of the Jews). He had a following. You notice, he couldn't even go for a walk on the beach without a "large crowd" following him ! So, Jesus begins to teach the crowd, probably some stuff along the lines of , "love your enemy", "turn the other cheek", "when you throw a party, invite the outcasts and sinners not just your friends". What does Jesus do next ? He invites Levi the tax collector to follow him. So what ? you might say. What's the big deal ? To understand the significance we must understand what a "tax collector" was in those days.
       In Jesus' day there were two groups of people that the local people really hated. The Romans and the Tax Collectors. The Romans were the pagan, conquering, occupying government of the land of Israel at the time. They enforced heavy taxes to fund their military campaign's, slaughtered innocent civilians, and took peoples homes (the normal stuff a tyrannical, government does). Oh, and any notion of "standing up to a tyrannical government" ( the idea that is so prevalent in the good USA), they dealt with that by torturing and executing you on a cross ! So, how did the Romans collect their heavy taxes ? They instated local Jews to do the collecting for them. That's where the second group, (the one Levi belonged to) the Tax Collectors come in. These guys would collect the taxes that the Roman government required, and more often than not, add an additional amount on top of that to make a profit. You could get rich very quick as a tax collector, ripping off your fellow countryman. For this reason, the Jews hated the tax collectors and considered them almost as evil as the Romans. So, in this context we see Jesus inviting a tax collector to join his inner-circle of closest friends. The story continues : 

"While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him."

Ok, so now Jesus is not only inviting a tax collector to "follow him", he goes to his house and eats dinner with other tax collectors and sinners ! A big party of sinners ! As we see below, the religious people of the day were not too happy with Jesus. 

"When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees (the Bible-experts of the day) saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

You see, back in that time (and very much the case today), it was not considered a good way to follow God by hanging out with sinners. The idea was: we who are following God will hang out with ourselves and leave the other people to themselves. It was looked down upon to talk to a sinner, let alone go to his house and party with him and his friends ! So, why did Jesus hang out with sinners and tax collectors ? Jesus answered them below:

"On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In other words: You people who think you are well and don't need me because of your supposed good-standing with God, I'm not going to waste my time on you. But the ones who are the outcasts, the looked down on, broken, those who you would turn away from your church because they have a "greater sin" than you, God loves them too, that's who I'm going to invest my time in. 

That's what I want to do. I'm going to spend more time hanging out with the sinners, hanging out with the people who think they are beyond God's reach, the people that "religion" and "Christians" have turned away because they don't look, act, talk, behave, or believe EXACTLY the "right" things spiritually, politically or otherwise. Those are the people Jesus came to, and invited to be his friends and party with him. I don't know about you but I'm going to give it a shot. 

Peace   

***Scripture quotations from Mark 2:13-17 *** 
 

The Myth Of A Christian Nation: Part 3 (The Kingdom of the Cross)

Last week I started a book review of Greg Boyd's book, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest For Political Power Is Destroying The Church. I read the book earlier this year and it was one of the key influences in my journey From Soldier to Pacifist . If you'd like to catch up on the series you can find Part 1 and Part 2 in my humble (and still very small) book review page here , or by scrolling to the top of the page and clicking on the Book Reviews tab. Anyways, time for Part 3: The Kingdom of the Cross.

Myth of a Christian Nation, Chapter 2 - The Kingdom of the Cross:

       In the previous chapter (the kingdom of the sword) Greg spoke about the mode of operation that the kingdoms of the world run by. Greg called it the "power over" kingdom. In this kingdom fear, coercion, manipulation, laws, and power are all used to bring about the desired results. It is not so in the kingdom that Christ came to establish, The Kingdom of the Cross.
       Greg starts the chapter by stating this: " The heart of Jesus' teaching was the "kingdom of God". He spoke about that topic more frequently than any other, and it pervades all his actions as well."(page 29) This kingdom, as Greg explains, operates and advances by using "power under". He explains that this kingdom always looks like Jesus on the cross, dying for the very ones who put him there. Greg puts it this way, " the cross is the ultimate symbol of the kingdom of God, for it defines what the kingdom always looks like. It looks like Christ--self-sacrificial and loving. It looks like grace."(page 33) This is the way of life that we are called to in the kingdom of God. We are called to "walk just as he (Jesus) walked" (1 John 2:6). Greg says that "as we allow Christ's character to be formed in us-as we think and act like Jesus-others come under the loving influence of the kingdom and eventually their own hearts are won over to the King of Kings. The reign of God is thus established in their hearts, and the kingdom of God expands." (page
30)
       Greg continues by explaining that the kingdom not only looks like Calvary, we can also see the kingdom and how it operates by looking at the life of Jesus. Greg says, " the kingdom of God is also displayed throughout Jesus' entire life and ministry, which all had a Calvary quality to it. Jesus embodied the kingdom of God; his very identity was about serving others-at cost to himself." (page 35) In the following pages Greg points us to 3 examples from the life of Jesus that embody the way of the kingdom.
       The first example is Jesus' treatment of and encouragement for us to emulate children. At one point in the gospel's children try to come and see Jesus. In typical kingdom of the world fashion, his disciples turn the children away. Jesus rebuked his disciples and beckoned the children to come to him. Jesus was trying to show that the kingdom of God is not only for those who are viewed as important (as adults were in that culture) but also for the children as well. Greg says, " children illustrate the nature of the kingdom of God because they have not yet been conditioned to believe they need power, money, and social respect to be great."(page 36) In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says that we as adults must become "like little children" if we even wish to be in the kingdom. Greg says, " For adults to participate in the kingdom of God, Jesus is saying, we must become deconditioned from kingdom-of-the-world thinking and acting, return to the humility and innocence of little children." (page 37)
       The second example from the life of Jesus is when he washes his disciples' feet. John's gospel tells us that Jesus knew that "the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God" (John 13:3) So, having all the power in the world laid in his hands, what does Jesus proceed to do ? He " got up from the table, took off his outer robe, tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him" (John 13:4-5) Amazing !!! The one with the most power in the universe becomes a servant ! Greg puts it this way, " THIS is how power is wielded in the kingdom of God. If you have all power in heaven and earth, use it to wash the feet of someone you know will betray you!"(page 37) By doing this Jesus showed that he "would not rule by a sword, but by a towel".
       Finally Greg recounts the story of Jesus healing the ear of an enemy. When the temple guards came to arrest Jesus, one of his disciples pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. Jesus responded by rebuking Peter, and telling him to "put your sword back in its place". Jesus reminded Peter that "those who live by the sword will die by the sword"(Matthew 26:52). Then, Jesus turns and heals the servant with the cut off ear. Greg adds, "So, far from using his divine authority to fight back, calling legions of angels and forcefully controlling his enemy's behavior, Jesus used his diving authority to heal the ear of a man who came to arrest him. Though he could have exercised "power over" the servant, he displayed outrageous, unconditional love instead by coming under him, by serving him."(page 38) Greg explains that whenever we trust in and use this "power under" way of life, by serving at cost to ourselves, we are advancing the kingdom of God. Whenever we don't, we are merely participating in the kingdom of the world.
       To end the chapter Greg lists five ways that the kingdom of God contrasts with the kingdom of the world.

• A contrast of trusts: " The kingdom of the world trusts the power of the sword, exercising "power over", the kingdom of God trusts the power of the cross, exercising "power under".
• A contrast of Aims: " The kingdom of the world seeks to control behavior, while the kingdom of God seeks to transform lives from the inside out."
• A contrast of Scopes: " The kingdom of the world is intrinsically tribal in nature.....defending and advancing, ones own people-group, nation, ethnicity, state, religion, ideologies, and political agendas. The kingdom of God, however, is intrinsically universal, for it is centered on simply loving as God loves."
• A contrast of Responses: " The kingdom of the world is intrinsically a tit-for-tat kingdom; its motto is "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". But kingdom-of-God participants carry the cross, not the sword. We, thus, aren't ever to return evil with evil, violence with violence. We are yet, to manifest the unique kingdom life of Christ."
• A contrast of Battles: "The kingdom of the world has earthly enemies and, thus, fights earthly battles; the kingdom of God, however, by definition has no earthly enemies, for its disciples are committed to loving "their enemies", thereby treating them as friends, their "neighbors".

       As kingdom people we are called to manifest the way of Christ in all aspects of our lives. Greg explains that even if we win by "kingdom of the world" standards, we will have lost by "kingdom of God" standards if while in the process, we don't look like Christ carrying the cross to Golgotha in order to die for his enemies.



Greg asks this final question: In light of Paul's teaching (that everything we do must be rooted in love, 1Cor 13:1-3) how might our churches be different if we took it seriously ? What would happen if the ultimate criteria we used to assess how "successful" or "unsuccessful" our churches were was the question, are we loving as Jesus loved ?

      


      



The Myth of A Christian Nation: Part 2 ( The Kingdom of the Sword)

       So, earlier this week I started a book review series on Greg Boyd's amazing book, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How The Quest For Political Power Is Destroying The Church. I've read it before (and am re-reading it for the purpose of this series) and I am very much in support of its message ! I highly recommend it to anyone, and especially to Christians in America. Enough said. If you want to check out the first post (Part 1) on the book you can find it here. To quickly follow new posts in this book review series check out my very short book review page located here. So, now that we are done with the prolegomena ( a preliminary discussion), we can get on to my humble review of Chapter 1, The Kingdom of the Sword.

Myth of a Christian Nation, Chapter 1 - The Kingdom of the Sword:

       " The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. " (Luke 22:25-26)

       Jesus says that the kingdoms of this world "lord it over" others. They use authority and power to influence their domain through laws, enforcement, and fear. Greg says it best: " Wherever a person or group exercises power over others--or tries to--THERE is a version of the kingdom of the world. While it comes in many forms, the kingdom of the world is in essence a "power over" kingdom. In some versions--such as America--subjects have a say in who their rulers will be, while in others they have none.....there have been democratic, socialist, communist, fascist, and totalitarian versions of the kingdom of the world, but they all share this distinctive characteristic: they exercise "power over" people." (page 18)
       The kingdom of this world has and will always be like this. That's how our fallen world works. People take control, make the rules and regulations they feel are right, enforce these rules on their citizens, and sometimes try and enforce them on others around the globe. Greg points out that this ability to enforce rules and keep evil in check is the primary purpose of these kingdoms. He argues that based on Romans Chapter 13, God uses the kingdoms of this world, in their fallen and sinful state, to keep evil and wrongdoing in check. It is our job as citizens of whatever kingdom of the world we find ourselves living in to live in conformity to its laws, insofar as it does not conflict with our calling as citizens of the kingdom of God.   I believe John Howard Yoder sums it up best in the following statement on God's relationship with the kingdoms of the world: " It is not as if there was a time when there was no government and then God made government through a new creative intervention; there has been hierarchy and authority and power since human society existed. Its exercise has involved domination, disrespect for human dignity, and real or potential violence ever since sin has existed. Nor is it that by ordering this realm God specifically, morally approves of what a government does....the librarian does not create nor approve of the book she or he catalogs and shelves. Likewise God does not take the responsibility for the existence of the rebellious "powers that be" or for their shape or identity; they already are."  
       Greg goes on to explain the relationship that Satan has with the kingdom of the world. In the gospel of Luke it says that when the Devil tempted Jesus, he showed him "all the kingdoms of the world" and then he said: " To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you will then worship me, it will be yours." (Luke 4:5-7) Jesus, of course, does not go on to worship the Devil to acquire these kingdoms. But, as Greg points out, Jesus does not dispute the devil's claim to own them. Later in Jesus' ministry he refers to Satan as the "ruler of this world". ( John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) In 1 John 5:19 we find this statement: " the whole world lies under the power of the evil one". Greg further explains that this term "ruler" which Jesus attributed to Satan, is a political term used to denote the highest ruling authority in a given region. Jesus is basically saying that Satan is the CEO of all earthly governments ! Greg's point is that while every action of a government may not be in itself "evil", we as Christians must never forget that "even the best political ideology lies under the influence of a "power over" cosmic ruler who is working at cross-purposes to God" ( page 22).
       Further on in the chapter Greg talks about the "tit-for-tat" way of the kingdoms of the world. He explains it like this: " If you hit me, my natural (fallen) instinct is to hit you back--not turn the other cheek ! Tit-for-tat, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth--this is what makes the bloody kingdom of the world go around." (page 24) Greg continues the discussion by relating the example of the current conflict in the middle-east and some of the reasoning behind what is going on. He speaks about how sometimes, our us-vs-them mentality is a result of historical conditioning against the other.  Greg says this: " Much of the profound animosity Islamic terrorists feel towards "satanic" America is fueled by a cultural memory of what Christians did to Muslims during the Crusades. Believing that America is a Christian nation, they direct their collective, historically acquired hatred toward it. Now, you might be tempted to respond by saying, 'Well, they did a lot of bad stuff to Christians throughout history as well'--and you'd be right. But this is exactly the sort of thinking that fuels the endless tit-for-tat kingdom of the world." (page 25)
       I hope you are getting the point. To sum it up then we can boil it down to four short points.

#1 The kingdom of the world rules by a "power over" method, using laws, regulations, and the fear of the sword or punishment to accomplish its goals.  

#2 While God did not create the kingdoms of the world he uses them in their fallen state, he orders and sorts them much like a librarian sorts the book in a library. He does not have to approve of them and their ways but wisely uses them for the best possible good.

#3 All of the kingdoms of the world are under the control of the Devil/Satan. While not every act of a government is in itself evil, we as Christians must be mindful that even the best government still lies under the influence of Satan who is working at cross-purposes to God.

#4 The kingdom of the world plays by a "tit-for-tat", eye for an eye, us-vs-them, rule set. It more often than not sets us and our ways of life and thinking against that of those from an opposite way of life.

Greg finishes the chapter by giving us a taste of what is to come in Chapter 2. He mentions that the kingdom of God operates completely different than the kingdom of the world. He says: " The kingdom of Jesus was, and is, a radically different kind of kingdom indeed, and it is this kingdom that all who follow Jesus are called to manifest in every area of their lives." (page 28) 


I hope that this review has been in at least a small way beneficial to your time. I hope you will go and pick up a copy of this great book and see what it has to say for yourself. We'll end with a question.


Jesus was the only person who ever truly and fully had "power over," yet he chose not to exercise it. Do you feel that this is a model for us to follow or a choice unique to Jesus' mission? Explain your answer.  
        
      

      

How To See God Today

       People often ask if God exists. They want to know if he is real. They tend to say things like: I can't see God, how do I know he's there ? Where is God in the world today ? What is God like? Well, I think there are two places people can look to see God.

       First, in the Gospel of John we find this: "No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."(John 1:18)
The Bible says that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus, has made God known. What he did, said, taught, and commanded was in itself the very essence of God. So, look at Jesus. Study and imitate him. In doing so, you will "see God".
       Second, we can also see God in the flesh today ! In his first epistle, John says this about seeing God: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." ( 1 John 4:12) So if we love one another God lives in us ? Really ? And if God lives in us, that means people get to see God ! They get to see what he is like and how he acts. But wait, what was the catch. It says, "if we love one another". Interesting. So when we love one another, that's when God lives in and through us. It seems like the key to seeing God is love. What is love? What does it look like ?
       Let's take a look at one more verse: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. " (1 John 3:16)
There's a couple things we can draw from this text. First, it says that love looks like Christ laying down his life for us on the cross. When we lay down our lives, our desires, passions, goals, for the sake of others, it looks like Christ. That is love. Love is always sacrificial. It always looks like Jesus on the cross, dying for the very ones who put him there. To the degree that someone lays down their life for others, it is love, and we are seeing God in action. To the degree that we see someone taking the life from others, their time, money, happiness, sense of worth, or their very breathe, we see what happens without God. A life lived without love, is a life without God.
       The question then is this: When people ask us how to see God, do we tell them, watch us and see ? Do we tell them to look at our lives (that should be filled with God's love) ? Can we point them to the love our church shows to those in our community ? Can we point them to the love we have for one another? I hope so, because God wants to be seen. He isn't hiding. It's up to us. Picture Jesus on the cross, dying and praying for the ones who put him there. He loved them. Go, and do the same. Live and love as Christ loves you and gave himself for you.

Shalom and Happy New Year !