Cruciformity

I’ve been slowly sifting through old posts in my RSS feeder and came across a great post on the reliability of the Gospels over at Ben Myer’s blog by Prof. George Hunsinger. Click here for a great read.

I particularly like his closing paragraphs:

It is finally not we who read the NT, but the NT that reads us. It calls us and our detached role as would-be authoritative, evidence-weighing spectators radically into question. That is why it is so dangerous. Many of those original “unreliable” witnesses to the resurrection of Christ, like Peter and Paul, went to their brutal deaths as martyrs. “When Christ calls a man,” wrote Bonhoeffer, “he bids him come and die.”

No one who is not willing to take this risk should venture to read the NT. But many of those who have turned to it spiritually have found, throughout the centuries, that they end up saying with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68). I suggest that you might want to read the opening chapters in The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

I must be one of the last people to hear about this. In any case, A. N. Wilson, a man who has mocked Christians and Christianity in his writings over many years, has re-committed himself to faith in the old, old story. Have a read - he’s a brother!

George Herbert

LORD, who createdst man in wealth and store,

     Though foolishly he lost the same,

          Decaying more and more,

             Till  he  became

               Most poor :

               With  thee

             O  let  me  rise

          As larks, harmoniously,

     And sing this day thy victories :

Then  shall  the  fall  further  the  flight  in  me.

My  tender  age  in  sorrow  did  beginne :

     And still with sicknesses and shame

          Thou didst so punish sinne,

              That  I  became

                Most thinne.

                With  thee

              Let me combine,

          And feel this day thy victorie,

     For,  if  I  imp  my  wing  on  thine,

Affliction  shall  advance  the  flight  in  me.

My New Testament 3 course has been something like a wild safari tour of Canberra as Brian Rosner has pointed to various aspects of the letter creating a deeper understanding of Paul’s world and his theology. Well, maybe safari tour is the wrong metaphor - actually, Brian’s lecturing style sometimes makes you think you’re at a trivia night! (a foible I’ve come to whole-heartedly embrace). In any case, we’ve not only seen the sights of the strange (and even obscene) culture of the place, but also, once you see the letter from the heights of its proper Jewish context, you see how amazingly well organised it is and how well it fits together! Surely a feat worthy of our own Walt Burley-Griffin! So for you bible readers out there, there’s no doubt that Brian’s forthcoming commentary in the Pillar series will be well worth the purchase price.

Current college work, combined with my fascination with the argument of Romans last year, has recently compelled me to read Paul in my quiet times each day and so I’ve started with Galatians. Galatians is confusing and riddled with statements under hot debate (cf. recent discussions on the meaning of pistis christou and ‘justification’ or ‘righteousness’ language) but also lines of passionate devotion to life in living Messiah - Jesus. I love it. Check this out:

I have been crucified with Christ; and no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:19b-20, HSCB).

Paul is SO personally charged by his understanding of Christ’s love for him that he busts into the first person in the middle of his rebuke to the Galatian church. If I was to get a tattoo of something that said something meaningful about me and who I wanted to be, these words be right up there as a candidate. On second thoughts I might end up looking like Ben Cousins without the physique…

I say this as a means of saying that I’m keen to nut out Paul some more on this blog. I want to think out loud some of the things where my faith and traditions have been challenged and some of the things that I’ve been learning in class and reading in writers like Michael F. Bird, Francis Watson, Tom Wright, and Richard B. Hays (not to mention Brian S. Rosner!). The above verse is a great example of a verse that can be ripped out of its context and be made to mean something completely different to what it’s intended (along with Romans 7, 8, and 9… I could keep counting!).

So anyway, stay posted for some more wrestling with Paul, trying to capture what he knows of my life in Christ.

Hi folks. It has been a long time between posts… Yes, hard at work again. I’ll show the picture of the fish I caught in Darwin really soon.

Actually, I’ve just finished an essay for Church History that just about knocked me out cold. The Anabaptists. To be honest, my constant frustration during this essay was reading Mennonite scholars who read their current ideals back into their forebears’ stories. Thankfully there were a couple of writers with some sense.

However, with that rant out of the way I have to say, in reflection, that the 16th Century Anabaptists had some remarkable stories! Interestingly, they were one of most feared and persecuted groups in the time of the Reformation by Catholics and Protestants. Yet there is a high correspondance between some of their ideas and the ideas of most of the churches we go to today.

One group of Anabaptists decided that their Christian calling involved violently invading a city called Münster and establishing it as the New Jerusalem. They set up some guy as a Messianic King and aimed to forcefully (and polygamously) bring the Kingdom in.

Thankfully, there were other winsome examples. of people labelled ‘Anabaptist’. One story that has struck me and goes well above and beyond my behaviour as a Christian is depicted in this picture here. Facing arrest, Dirck Willems fled for his life across a frozen lake. When his pursuer broke through the ice, Willems gave up his chance to escape by turning to save his persecutor. He was then captured, imprisoned and burned at the stake in 1569.

You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemiesa and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:43-5)

Perhaps the most depressing thing about my all-too-recent studies, after hammering away at Greek and Hebrew vocab, is opening up my required reading and having to do English vocab. One of these words was ‘exculpate’ - “To show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing”. But while unfamiliar with the word, sadly, I’m all too familiar with the concept. If only I could communicate clearer the first time and avoid all of those frustrating meta-conversations. Hopefully nobody saw me unsuspectingly walking down a naughty street at Kings Cross earlier tonight and drew the wrong conclusions. Hopefully people don’t find me guilty of being extraordinarily boring because of the state of my blog!

In 2 Cor 10, superficial, swish, sweet-talking leaders had persuaded the congregation that Paul had reared that he was passé, embarrassing and even dangerous. So Paul is in this kind of situation where he needs to exculpate himself. And part of me really wants Paul to lay down some smack. Do you remember Mr Mayage in Karate Kid being underestimated by young punks? He gives it to them. I really want Paul to give it to the Corinthians and show them what a real apostle looks like.

Here Paul uses warlike and powerful imagery that suggests he might just do this. He says that he fights to demolish arguments, take captive thoughts to obey Christ, and punish disobedience. He’s not to be underestimated because he’s got the ammunition to make serious damage! But here Paul’s attitude to power is not the same as that of ‘the flesh’. Can you see the weapons that he uses? The strength of his appeal to them: by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ.

2Cor. 10:1 Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am humble among you in person, but bold toward you when absent. 2 I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are •walking in a fleshly way.a 3 For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way,a 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

In 2 Cor 10-12 Paul does exculpate himself, he sets forth the truth about his claim to being a genuine apostle. But doesn’t set the record straight in a way that is all too common in our world: using violence; or looking to get some kind of revenge or recompense; or looking to gain a soap-box for his own cause; or look to push other people down to push himself up. Paul is not the same as others in this regard. He paradoxically demonstrates the genuine power of his apostleship “by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ. His medium and his message show that his ammunition is the love and grace of the Lord Jesus, powerful to demolish strongholds.

Well, it’s been ages since I’ve written here. I’ve decided to change my approach which will hopefully mean that I’m more motivated and this site becomes a little more useful.

I’ve recently been struck by the ways in which Christians are not the same. My reflections on this have ranged from 2 Corinthians where our beach mission team spent time reflecting on God’s power being demonstrated through our weakness; to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s reflection that an unchanged life reflect ‘cheap grace’; but also to a Ben Folds tune called ‘Not the same’ which I’ve been getting into recently. When I say ‘getting into’ it, I’ve been really loving it, and and I’m really interested in the puzzled expression of outsiders on Christian conversion. Why are the children of God so different?

The obvious example of this clear difference is Jesus. Jesus, the Lord and ruler did not come in the way of other human kings. Jesus was the son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and give is life as a ransom for many. Jesus was refreshingly, graciously, lovingly, perfectly different. Inspired and empowered by Jesus, Christians are also called to follow this old but somehow refreshingly new way of living.

I want to write more on this and the next time I will share some reflections on 2 cor 10-12 left over from beach mission.

I was given a good reminder today, as I train for some form of Christian Ministry.

I met up with a friend for breakfast and we started asking about what it is that would prevent us from going off the rails. What should I do to safe-guard myself against shrugging off the responsibilities of being a Pastor? What checks can I put in place to ensure that I don’t abuse the signficant position of power that I would be given? From what I know about myself, and from the stories that we’ve all heard , it’s scary to think that I am capable causing others such serious hurt and pain, and to so-regrettably drag down Jesus’ reputation.

Should I create boundaries around myself, Pharisee style, to make sure that I would never do anything like that? To some extent it’s clear that I should steer clear of things that could be temptations; remove distractions like TVs, X-boxes and magazines from the office, minimise time alone with attractive women, steer clear of alcohol. I should ensure that I don’t intellectualise ministry too much by over-studying, and that I shouldn’t neglect serious contemplation by under-studying. Maybe I could set up a water-tight timetable with achievable goals. I could force myself to read through the shocking stories of church tragedies as a deterrence. I could ensure that I have a balanced life, with an exercise program, the right friends asking me the right questions, go to bed before eleven, and ensure that I get rest in my holidays and on my days off.

But how do you set up a boundary against something like apathy? There are temptations that it seems that I can’t keep away from. It seems that there is something deep inside me that I cannot fence off.

Now, I do think that some of the things listed above are helpful, but I was reminded this morning that there’s something that is most-effective: A genuine, passionate love for Jesus. In the end, getting married to the loveliest person, and living the most balanced lifestyle will do nothing to protect you against stuffing up in ministry if you don’t love Jesus.

““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-46 HCSB)

Here’s the challenge: Give up EVERYTHING and develop a full dependence and love for Jesus.

I need to pray for this like crazy. I need to do whatever I can to remind myself of his wonderful person. It’s worth doing this because of the the damage that can be done to his people and his reputation. But most importantly, it’s worth developing a genuine love for Jesus because he is worthy of it.