Friday, August 29, 2008

Dallas Willard and The Golden Compass



I have begun to wonder, after only beginning to read The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard about what sort of Christianity we have been taught to believe in the 21st century United States. In chapter two of his excellently written book, he poses a scenario to the reader. Rather, he tries to paint a picture of modern-day Christianity as he sees it. What he writes in his book is that there are two kinds of Christianity at work today: right-wing and left-wing Christianity (his language, not mine). Right-wing Christianity is that which teaches that no matter what we do, no matter how we live, if we accept Jesus as the payer of our sin-guilt bill, then we will be assured entrance into heaven when we die. Left-wing Christianity teaches that what Jesus was most concerned with was the destitute, discarded, and overlooked peoples in society, so we need to do all we can to include as many as we can. Right-wing Christianity ends up focusing so much on the payment of our debt incurred through sin that it inadvertently de-emphasizes the day-to-day walk and transformation that is meant to take place in the life of a follower of Christ. That doesn't mean that there aren't those who truly are transformed by Christ on a day-to-day level, but that is more the exception than the general rule. Left-wing Christianity ends up becoming this "love-conquers-all" sort of fluffy, feel good religion with the name of Jesus attached to it. Both brands of Christianity end up ignoring the current, life-changing power of a daily relationship with Christ, and you have a large population of people who call themselves Christians because they either intellectually accept the payment of their own bill or they try and be nice to other people, and then go on living their lives as they did before they were "Christians". And the primary source of this, the primary cause of this break is faulty preaching that is too blindly accepted as truth. Needless to say, this sort of writing has challenged me to think about what I've learned in my few short years of calling myself a Christian. It has caused me to re-think what my daily actions and what my life actually reflect as far as transformation is concerned. What sort of Christianity do I really believe in (as reflected by my day-to-day actions)?

Juxtaposed against my reading of The Divine Conspiracy is also my reading of the series by Philip Pullman His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). Philip Pullman is well-known as an atheist. Even if I hadn't already known such a fact, it would not be hard to see through his writing in these three books and the sort of picture he paints of the Church and God in these books. The two together, in this series are tyrranical, blind in their faith, uncompromising, and downright evil. This is the picture Philip Pullman paints of the Church and God. In the end of the series, God is killed. And because of that fact, many Christians flocked together in protest when the movie The Golden Compass was released in theaters. But when I look at the sort of God and Church that Philip Pullman depicts, I don't know if I would want to defend them. I wouldn't be opposed to the killing of that God and that Church. I honestly think that Christians too quickly flock to those key words of "God" and "church", without asking what they are really standing for. And ironically enough, Dallas Willard says the exact same thing. (I may or may not have picked up the idea from his book). What exactly do we embrace when we fight for the survival of the "God" that Philip Pullman depicts. Now, I should say that Philip Pullman has a very skewed vision of what God and the Church really are, or what they were meant to be, and that is a sad thing. But, unfortunately, the only people we have to blame for that view he holds is Christians themselves. We have committed such crimes in our religion due to the fact that we have believed the wrong "gospel" that now Philip Pullman, and others besides him, have a skewed view of God and the Church.

So, instead of pointing fingers at other people and attacking them, why don't we instead challenge the doctrine we have so blindly swallowed for so long and instead embrace the true God of the Bible, the true redemptive power of Jesus's sacrifice on the Cross, and allow God's truth to actually transform our lives into what they were meant to be.

"And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3

"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" John 8:31-32

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Tattoo, Part 2

I had a chance to really share about my tattoo in depth with my friend David (pronounced "Daveed") yesterday, and I would like to share more with all the imaginary readers I have.

As mentioned, the Chinese symbols on my back mean "living sacrifice." That is a phrase taken out of the Bible in Romans 12. As I told David, I think that Romans 12 gives one of the best snapshot views in the Bible of how Christians are meant to live now that they have eternal life and a relationship with God. Within that chapter, I think that the phrase "living sacrifice" is the best single descriptor of what a Christian is not meant to be in practice.

So, why did I get this tattoo? It was certainly not to just be trendy and edgy as a Christian. I got it really as a commitment, a challenge, and a reminder. I got this tattoo as a commitment to God and to myself to diligently do what I can to be a living sacrifice: to lay down my will for the sake of God's will, even when I don't understand; to lay down my will for the will of others when it benefits them and can reveal God to them. I did this as a challenge to myself: to push the limits of how I am now being a living sacrifice, and how I might sacrifice more for the sake of God and others. And every time someone asks about it, I am reminded of these things. That's why I got this tattoo.

The Support Battle Begins

I can now say that I have officially begun the "support raising battle." I do have to raise a substantial amount of money to work full time with Student Venture, but that is not so bad as I would have thought. It is, in fact, or it can be, a great process to go through. I don't know if I've bought into that yet, but that's just because it's hard for me to believe. I'm thinking, "This looks so un-fun to me, how could it possibly be enjoyable for anyone else?" But that's just me assuming that the world revolves around me and how I feel...ah, humanity.

The surprising thing is, as I have begun the support raising process, I've found nothing but encouragement along the way. I've been invited to have dinner cooked for me (who doesn't love that?), as well as had friends tell me they really want to hear about the ministry and what I'm going to be doing. I am really excited about what I'm going to be doing, and the work I'm going to do with high school students, but it's easy to forget that. When I get to tell someone about it, I'm reminded of how good it will be and how much I'm looking forward to it. So, maybe this support process isn't so torturous as I first made it out to be...

Thursday, August 21, 2008

A New Start


I don't blog much, but I want to. So, now with a new job starting up for me, I am going to attempt to post more often. So, here it is! My first true attempt at blogging.

I just got hired on with Student Venture, which is exciting and scary. I am going to be working to raise support for probably the next few months. I once loathed the idea so much that I didn't want to join staff with Campus Crusade for Christ or any other non-profit organization. Gradually, I started to think that maybe it might not be so bad. But now, as I am working through some support-raising materials (mostly training messages), I am beginning to see how good a process it can be. I don't necessarily think it will be more fun, but I am gaining slowly more and more Biblical perspective on what support really is, and how long that sort of thing has really been going on. So, hopefully, I will keep focused on what is true as I go out to raise support for this job.

I also got a new tattoo (my first). And that is exciting. I have been thinking about it for quite some time now and finally just decided to go out and do it. I knew exactly what I wanted to get and where it was going to go. The only pitfall is, once you get one, you want a second...and so on. I'm already thinking about what to get next, but I am going to let this tattoo marinate/percolate first. But keep your eyes peeled for the next installment, so to speak. I will post pictures of the tattoo ASAP.