Chapter 1: The Best Christian Attitude Award
Chapter 2: June the Ten Commandments Lady
This week we read
just two small chapters, but they sure did pack a punch. Some of my favorite passages were the same
ones that Maria listed, especially the one about not being sure Jesus needs an
invitation to come into my heart. Like
Rachel, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about or feel the presence
of Jesus in my life or that of my family.
My grandfather was a Methodist minister; my mom was a church
musician. There is even a family story
that tells about my first Sunday in “big church.” I was sitting with my dad, as my mother was
playing the organ. And at the time when the
congregation was to go forward for communion (think hard bread nub and little
glass of juice), my dad got me up to go the kneeling rail. But the usher said, “I’m sorry, sir, children
don’t take communion here. She can sit
in the pew and wait for you.” Apparently
that didn’t sit well with me, because I made a little scene. My mom says all she could hear was my little
six-year old voice crying out, “But I should be invited… I’m baptized.” No, I don’t remember my baptism, but it
apparently made a big impression on me.
Maria has some great
questions for us to consider. I’ve taken
on two of them.
1. What does it take to be saved? I also share a belief that we about salvation in a mixed-up kind of way. Its one thing to “pray the prayer” or whatever we think that looks like, but the real question comes when we ask, “What difference does Jesus make in my life?” How do we live out our salvation? Do we have to talk about it for it be real? Does everyone’s salvation look the same? As I heard Rachel speak, I felt like her salvation moment came when she didn’t help her classmate, because it wasn’t going to do anything for her. She said, “I’ll never forget the look of dismay and betrayal on his face and the way my heart sank like a stone when I saw it” (38). I wonder if the moment of salvation comes in that sinking heart, when we realize that we will always choose our own best interest first, and that we don’t want to live that way all the time. Salvation is the path out of self-interest. It is the way that leads to living the gospel – the good news – that Jesus instructed us to live. Love, give, care, visit… Jesus didn’t really talk so much about thinking our faith. It was really more about living – purposeful living. This is where Rachel’s statement from the introduction is so helpful to me. Our journeys are about moving from certainty, through doubt, and to faith. Everyone has different questions… it’s the “Love God,” and “Love your neighbor” parts that are so confounding. Because they take action. Thinking and talking alone won’t cut it. And they are really very hard.
I am also from the family called Methodist. Our founder, John Wesley, was an Anglican priest in England and “the Colonies” for over 10 years before having his own personal salvation experience. We know the date because he wrote about it in his journal, and because he talked often about it being a turning point in his life. He said that while he was listening to someone read the Preface to Martin Luther’s study on the book of Romans he felt his heart “strangely warmed” – realizing that Jesus had not just died for the sins of the world, but for him… This personal assurance revolutionized his preaching, his teaching and his actions in the world. No longer did he wait for people to come to him – he went to them – in the fields, at the mines, in the hospital. And he cared for people, organizing hospitals and orphanages to be run and supported by the church. For Wesley, faith wasn’t just about believing, but needed to be evidenced in church and in everyday living. I think Wesley’s life and ministry fits well with this model that Rachel speaks about. Maybe that’s why I am so drawn to this book.
2. How should our faith affect our politics? So this one is really where I’m living right now. I have no words to speak of it, at least right now. It’s just too raw and confusing.
3. What does Jesus think about someone like June? Is professing to believe Jesus enough to excuse a life of hatred? I think Jesus is very sad. I think he could possibly be mad. And so I’m not sure that everyone gets in – think “sheep” and “goats”. I do not that think that professing faith in Jesus is enough. Faith without works is dead. And I don’t really believe that “going to heaven” is a good enough reason to commit your life to Christ. Jesus is not an insurance policy. If that’s the reason we've hooked our horses to Jesus’ wagon, then he should just cut us loose. Faith is Christ is about kingdom building. The city on a hill is not surrounded by thick walls and moats with alligators. It’s there to give light to those around, and to give refuge for those seeking to live within the power and the influence of the Light. And I certainly don’t believe that life in Christ can be in any way a life of hatred. That is totally antithetical to who Christ is and what he calls us to be. In fact, I think this is the biggest challenge of Christianity in the US. (See question #2.) No wonder the majority of unchurched people between the ages of 18 and 30 say that they like Jesus but want no part of the church.
I really am thinking more and more about faith being an evolutionary process… that if we believe what we have always believed, we’ll get what we’ve always gotten. Jesus spent a lot of time and energy challenging the conventional wisdom of the day. He paid for it with his life. And he asks us to do the same. The question about my evolution has always been “Will you be brave?” Some days the answer is “Yes” and I become someone new – God’s new creation.
Happy reading - see you soon!
Deb T.
1. What does it take to be saved? I also share a belief that we about salvation in a mixed-up kind of way. Its one thing to “pray the prayer” or whatever we think that looks like, but the real question comes when we ask, “What difference does Jesus make in my life?” How do we live out our salvation? Do we have to talk about it for it be real? Does everyone’s salvation look the same? As I heard Rachel speak, I felt like her salvation moment came when she didn’t help her classmate, because it wasn’t going to do anything for her. She said, “I’ll never forget the look of dismay and betrayal on his face and the way my heart sank like a stone when I saw it” (38). I wonder if the moment of salvation comes in that sinking heart, when we realize that we will always choose our own best interest first, and that we don’t want to live that way all the time. Salvation is the path out of self-interest. It is the way that leads to living the gospel – the good news – that Jesus instructed us to live. Love, give, care, visit… Jesus didn’t really talk so much about thinking our faith. It was really more about living – purposeful living. This is where Rachel’s statement from the introduction is so helpful to me. Our journeys are about moving from certainty, through doubt, and to faith. Everyone has different questions… it’s the “Love God,” and “Love your neighbor” parts that are so confounding. Because they take action. Thinking and talking alone won’t cut it. And they are really very hard.
I am also from the family called Methodist. Our founder, John Wesley, was an Anglican priest in England and “the Colonies” for over 10 years before having his own personal salvation experience. We know the date because he wrote about it in his journal, and because he talked often about it being a turning point in his life. He said that while he was listening to someone read the Preface to Martin Luther’s study on the book of Romans he felt his heart “strangely warmed” – realizing that Jesus had not just died for the sins of the world, but for him… This personal assurance revolutionized his preaching, his teaching and his actions in the world. No longer did he wait for people to come to him – he went to them – in the fields, at the mines, in the hospital. And he cared for people, organizing hospitals and orphanages to be run and supported by the church. For Wesley, faith wasn’t just about believing, but needed to be evidenced in church and in everyday living. I think Wesley’s life and ministry fits well with this model that Rachel speaks about. Maybe that’s why I am so drawn to this book.
2. How should our faith affect our politics? So this one is really where I’m living right now. I have no words to speak of it, at least right now. It’s just too raw and confusing.
3. What does Jesus think about someone like June? Is professing to believe Jesus enough to excuse a life of hatred? I think Jesus is very sad. I think he could possibly be mad. And so I’m not sure that everyone gets in – think “sheep” and “goats”. I do not that think that professing faith in Jesus is enough. Faith without works is dead. And I don’t really believe that “going to heaven” is a good enough reason to commit your life to Christ. Jesus is not an insurance policy. If that’s the reason we've hooked our horses to Jesus’ wagon, then he should just cut us loose. Faith is Christ is about kingdom building. The city on a hill is not surrounded by thick walls and moats with alligators. It’s there to give light to those around, and to give refuge for those seeking to live within the power and the influence of the Light. And I certainly don’t believe that life in Christ can be in any way a life of hatred. That is totally antithetical to who Christ is and what he calls us to be. In fact, I think this is the biggest challenge of Christianity in the US. (See question #2.) No wonder the majority of unchurched people between the ages of 18 and 30 say that they like Jesus but want no part of the church.
I really am thinking more and more about faith being an evolutionary process… that if we believe what we have always believed, we’ll get what we’ve always gotten. Jesus spent a lot of time and energy challenging the conventional wisdom of the day. He paid for it with his life. And he asks us to do the same. The question about my evolution has always been “Will you be brave?” Some days the answer is “Yes” and I become someone new – God’s new creation.
Happy reading - see you soon!
Deb T.
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