3 Things I Learned While Moving

Ok, so it has been a week or more since I last posted and prior to that, I had been posting every couple of days. My apologies to my handful of followers ;-) I know this was important to you.

At any rate, the reason for my silence has been that we've been moving to a different house (same city) and that kind of messes with your writing schedule.

What happened was that on a Monday, we found out that we needed to move by Friday. So, Monday was taken up with paperwork and formalities, Tuesday I had to work (I substitute teach, so my schedule is fairly volatile) and so we really moved in three days. If you've ever had to move much, you know that this was a crunch. I counted while talking with a great friend of mine during one of our many trips in the truck and I think I've moved houses or cities something like 8 times before I graduated high school and then another 7 times after. Needless to say, I'm getting good at this. Unfortunately, virtuosity in moving all of your worldly possessions does not ease the stress and frustrations that come along with it.

Here's what I learned this time around:

1. Practicing Grace is Hard
 I know this comes as a surprise, but having grace in stressful situations is hard. All sarcasm aside, I think it is a little silly how, when life is comfortable, we have no problem talking about how Christians ought to have grace in conflict, but at 12:30 am after a long day of moving, wrangling children and dealing with financial strain and after your spouse has spent 8+ hours at work, on her feet, talking with clients all day....grace is a little more difficult to demonstrate and even harder still to talk about. As soon as that grace word is out, I'm instantly convicted of my short temper and harsh responses to innocent questions. But! This is where one really discovers if grace is a part of ones daily language and rhythm or if you (like me) have been doing more lip-service than practice.

2. Given Enough Space and Time, People are Gatherers.
 I'm not a hoarder. In fact, I personally love to live simply and not have random things just laying around. For example, my wife will attest to the fact that I do not now (and probably never will) understand the complex purposes of the "throw pillow". It is an intellectual conundrum; a mystery really. But even given my aversion to collecting junk, it was incredible to find how much stuff we had collected. See, we moved from a 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 story house into a single-level, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. The drastic change in available room forced something that has probably been the most refreshing: Purge. Just to give you a taste, we gave away something like 6 bags of toys in great condition, 4-5 bags of quality clothing/coats, sold a weight machine and couch among other things...It's just incredible how much we had and didn't need. I think that this one is simply a reminder to me and whoever wants to accept it to be conscious of what we have and what we need. I believe everyone can probably give away more than they do. I know this is generally true of how I have been living.

3. People Will Surprise You
I know that this seems pretty much like common sense, but it was an incredible week in which more than once, I had a handful of guys ready and willing to do some heavy lifting (talking about lifting an outdoor play set up and over a 7 foot fence) at something like 7 pm (for those readers that are not in Kansas, this is well after the sun has gone down). It was not only incredible that people were willing to do this, but who was willing to do this. I've known a couple of these guys less than a year and hung out with others maybe twice in the entirety of our acquaintance. Still, many stepped up to help unexpectedly. I don't want to spend too much time on the counter-point, but there were also many I thought who would make last week easier who, in fact made it more difficult or didn't show at all. Now, I'm not angry with or bitter towards any of these, mind you. People have lives and things come up, but it was surprising nonetheless. The take away on this point is that all humans are somewhat inconsistent -- for better or worse -- so we ought not hang too much on our expectations and learn to be flexible, grateful and forgiving in all situations, especially stressful ones.

That's not nearly all of what I experienced in the last week and I wish I could show it all to you, but it would be too much for a blog. Instead, let me encourage you with this:

What Got Me Through
 The one thing that carried me during the most stressful week of 2014 thus far was the practice of finding space in the chaos. I'm talking about internal space; room in my inner man where I could breathe deep, remember that Christ is my sustenance and press on. Life will be surprising, trying and bountiful; what we have to do is remember that relationships hold more value than anything else and that one relationship -- with God -- can make crucible events in life into more than just painful episodes.

Can you relate? Tell me about it in the comments!

Pax,
The Dread

Don't be Stupid, Don't be Dangerous

Tonight I went to get a tattoo…

It’s kind of a story, but the short of it is that the artist was ill and so he left early and so I ended up sitting around for 3-4 hours and NOT getting one. But! There is a bright side to this story and so I thought I’d share it with you…

I have several ideas for tattoos all of which I may eventually get. As of now, I have approx. 10 depending on what you count as “1”…

But tonight as I went in to get one, I was undecided walking through the door. Thanks to my long wait, I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted. Now, if you know me personally, you know that 4 hours sitting in a chair is not really boring to me. It’s more like “me time”. I am very much an introvert and so just being alone for a while was nice. In fact, I didn’t even really get on my phone. 

The design I decided on will complete the inner portion of my left arm half-sleeve. What’s currently there is a piece for my second son and a sugar skull; both of which are kind of in the traditional tattoo style. So, in keeping with that theme, I decided on doing a serpent and a dove (neither pictured) in the same color scheme and style. The serpent and dove are a  play off of Matthew 10 when Jesus tells those he sends to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” or, as the message version puts it “be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove”. And this got me thinking…

Are we, who are called to ministry in whatever form, wise as serpents and harmless as doves?

I fear the reputation that we get is often the opposite.

Too often Christian leaders are guilty of being as cunning as doves and as harmless as serpents…

Have you ever seen a dove in real life? When I was a kid, we bird-sat for some friends and they had a dove.  The one thing I remember about that bird was that it was stupid. I mean bad. It would let you hold it but would make the most irrational decisions. Like flying into the window or fan…it survived :)

Have you ever come across a serpent in the wild? Growing up in western Kansas, it was no joke when you heard a rattle while walking through tall grass. I spent a portion of my childhood in a farm house (though we didn’t work the farm) and my siblings and I spent much of our time outside. I distinctly remember watching out for snakes as I knew the potentially deadly repercussions of carelessness.

I guess my point with this blog post is simply that I, as a Christian with influence, want to be sure to keep the combination correct: wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. 

It’s interesting that without the animal symbolism, that doesn’t sound weird: be wise and harmless. I feel like most people would say “yeah, wise and harmless, those seem to go together”. Somehow, though, it doesn’t seem to be the common worldview where I’m from. Most people who are deemed “wise” are often proponents of violence in some way or another. There’s food for thought. 

So, the bottom line is this: let us self-examine regularly. Are you being the correct combination of serpent/dove? Or are you being stupid and dangerous with your words and ideas. Not trying to attack people, but let’s be careful with the roles we’ve accepted in life.

Post your thoughts to the comments!

Pax,

The Dread

Brief blog

So I've been neglecting this blog recently...no excuses here.

Honestly, I've had plenty of topics on hand that I hope to flesh out soon ("hope" being the operative word there), but life has once again sped up with the Spring (and hopefully my final) semester of grad school bearing down on me. So in the mean time, I'll try to get out some brief thoughts.

1. Oh be careful little Christian what you say

Sometime in the near future, I hope to get out a well thought out and reasoned "top 10" list of Christian-y phrases that get under my skin. This idea started out as a vent-session, but I quickly realized that it may be a timely post as new generations are starting to come into leadership. Besides, who doesn't like a good "top 10" list? I know I do. Bottom line, it's always good to think well about using phrases that have been handed to you from our Christian sub-culture (some quick examples are "Our Lord", "love on you..." and "you've just gotta have faith"). Most if not all of these traditional phrases have some grounding in Scripture and mean something, but many rarely think about what exactly that meaning is and if they're using it in the right context. Think about it.

2. Create! Do it!

Perhaps it's because I am sincerely an introvert (not a shy one, mind you) that I find it so spiritually refreshing to be alone. Regardless and without any citations, it's been found that quiet time is sorely missed in our American culture (not to the exclusion of other cultures, but I'm writing from experience here). What has been most rewarding about the time I can steal to myself (usually before anyone else wakes up in the morning) is the creative energy it yields. Now, I know that not everyone is a musician, painter, etc. but we all are creative in some way or another. Whether you tap into that creativity or not is a totally different topic. Truthfully, it's healthy for the soul. Create. do it.

3. Get out there and move

While I have no intention of turning this blog into a fitness blog, I am wildly passionate about health and I find the human body fascinating. The romantic in me must fight using annoying phrases like "we're God's masterpiece" (well, I guess resistance is futile), but truly I believe we are. What's more, is that I think the mind/body dichotomy is not as clear cut as tradition has lent. I think that the areas in which our mind and body interact are much more closely related and so as much as we should be careful what we think and say, we should also not forget to do. Get moving. It's good for you.

Okay, those were a few short ideas that have been rattling around in my head. Feel free to comment on any/all of them in the comments below!

Pax,
The Dread

Arguing God: Worth It?

What follows is one of my Grad school papers, so apologies up front if it comes across as highly academic; it is. :-)

            In theology, it is not uncommon to ask oneself why it is valuable to posit arguments for the existence of God. “Surely God can prove himself if he so chooses”, one might say. Still there is a long legacy of these arguments and it is their perpetuation which merits some attention by modern philosophizing believers.

How Do You Know God?

            In order to discover the value in arguments for God’s existence, it is first helpful to make some observations about how one comes to know of God. First, a distinction must be made in general: all ways that people claim to be able to know that there is a God eventually distil into one of two ways of knowing. Either knowledge of God is learned or else it is directly experienced.

            In regards to learning, we can see that there are many world religions and traditions within them that claim to yield belief in God. In Christianity, specific, there are formal arguments that have been handed down by theologians and philosophers throughout history. One such argument is the teleological argument which claims that there must be a God because all creation seems to be moving toward a designated end. Another is the cosmological argument which points to the idea that there must be a source for nature and that all matter and energy originated somewhere. Arguments such as these have been handed down throughout the years without abandon and seem to be very convincing for some[1].

            The second and arguably more controversial way we know of God is through experience. The trouble with pointing to experience as a way of knowing God is that it is logically irrefutable (that is, no one can say you did not experience what you claim to have indeed experienced) and it is highly subjective (specifically, the individual’s interpretation of perceived experiences play a huge, uncontrollable factor). Thankfully, there are recorded experiences that can be looked to for comparative purposes in order to discern what is normal and what is novel. Still, experience has been one of the main ways that people tend to claim to know God.

 One famous example of this is transmitted through literature to us from famed philosopher, Rene Descartes. In his mediations Descartes essentially proposes that we can know that God exists because we exist; thus, our mere pondering is proof enough[2]. Another well known example comes from the darling of Evangelicals, C.S. Lewis who pointed to our intrinsic awareness of morality as proof of a higher power; namely, God[3]. Both of these examples take the human observation of reality to be quite authoritative and, while one could argue their validity, it is undeniable that the tradition of looking inside oneself for an answer to the question of God’s existence is well established in human thought.

The Worth of an Argument

            In order to proceed and answer the question of whether or not it is a worthy venture to develop arguments that attempt to convince people of God’s existence, we must realize that apologetic reasoning of this kind falls in the category of “learned” means for knowing God. This is so because sophisticated reasons are unlikely to simply fall into a person’s experiential world without being planted there by some means of education. So, when we look at apologetics and question the validity, we need to look at the value of tradition.

            The passing down of knowledge and culture is essential in the human experience. As foundational as traditions can be, we must also understand that ideas that are rooted in identity are the kinds of ideas that people are willing to die for[4]. Christianity especially is guilty of this charge as it was founded on a martyr and has a lifestyle of martyrdom built into it. So when we ask about logical arguments, we cannot sell short their powerful application.

            Furthermore, it seems to be that if some people will resist belief in God on the grounds that there are logical problems, then it follows that some will embrace theism if said problems do not exist. Therefore, it is reasonable to attempt to dissolve cognitive dissonance for people as a means of transmitting belief in God. This logical truth provides some cause to continue to develop apologetics. Still, it must also be said that arguments for God’s existence do best when they take on an inductive form and when they have an additive effect; that is, it has not been necessarily proven that God exists and it is rare that someone is convinced by only one argument. Finally, a person must be willing to accept the premises necessary for logical arguments to gain ground and if they refuse on principal, then it is pointless to continue any form of argumentation[5].

            One final thing can be said about the value in arguing for God’s existence with non-believers and it is this: It is true that many people are driven away from a theistic stance because of professing believers and not because of Church doctrine. I personally have had long conversations with people in which I try to debunk misconceptions of theism. One such person is a childhood friend of mine whom I will call Todd.

            Todd was raised in a physically and emotionally abusive home by legalistic parents, one of which hailed from an atheistic background and the other from a fundamentalist background. What’s more is Todd’s long experience with his neighbors who are professing Mennonites – supposedly one of the most pious denominations of Christianity. Sadly, Todd not only had witnessed these Mennonites stealing from him but also wild parties and rumored orgies. All of these experiences totaled up a much distorted picture of the Christian God in Todd’s mind. When I decided that it was time for me to leverage my lifelong friendship with Todd against his disbelief it began in the form of me inquiring about his logical reasons for doubting Christianity.

            Not surprisingly, Todd’s biggest hindrances to belief were rooted in the duplicity and perceived inconsistency of the “Christians” in his life. Along with not wanting to associate with hypocrites, Todd struggled with theodicy; after all, if God was good, why was he allowed to be marginalized his whole life? My point in disclosing Todd’s case to the reader is not to merely point to the reality that people have logical issues with theism, but to also relate that I utilized my formal education in arguing on God’s behalf in concert with my own experiences in order to help Todd begin to traverse his swamp of cynicism and jadedness towards theism and Christianity.

            Had it not been for the apologetic arguments for free will and ecclesial doctrines that were settled by much philosophizing, I would have had little to point to during my conversations with Todd. The value of intellectual pursuits in regards to discovering God is immeasurable because of the pay out; namely, the soul of a lost brother or sister. To this end, we must use all means necessary and there are few means as powerful as that of human reasoning.

Concluding Thoughts

            It is part of a Christian’s duty to attempt to spread the Kingdom of God via the good news of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. To do this, we must understand that we will face opposition and it will rarely come in the form of people attempting to discredit our experiences. As previously stated, that is an impassible mountain to traverse because the slopes of it consist of subjective interpretation. Therefore we must be prepared for any and all logical conundrums that might exist for the sake of the gospel of Christ and the mission of the Ecclesia.

            Like the parable of the prodigal son, we must be aware that people who have ran from God, believing that it is reasonable to do so, need guidance to come to the realization of the mess and depravity to which they have run and the logical validity of returning to the Father. Utilizing the traditional arguments of the Church must never take a backseat to the experiences of Christians; instead, we should strive to open the eyes of the unbelieving heart to the reasonableness of God.

References

Baird, F. E. (2011). Rene Descartes: 1596-1650. In From Plato to Derrida (pp. 400-404). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Evans, C. S., & Manis, R. Z. (2009). Classical Arguments for God's Existence. InPhilosophy of religion: Thinking about faith (pp. 96-97). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Lewis, C. S. (2001). What Lies Behind the Law. In Mere Christianity (pp. 23-25). San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

McGrath, A. E. (2010). Science, Religion and Proofs for God's Existence. In Science and religion: An introduction (pp. 61-65). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Moreland, J. P., & Willard, D. (1997). Apologetic Reasoning and the Christian Mind. InLove your God with all your mind: The role of reason in the life of the soul (p. 154). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

---

[1] (McGrath, 2010, pp. 61-65)

[2] (Baird, 2011, pp. 400-404)

[3] (Lewis, 2001, pp. 23-25)

[4] (Moreland & Willard, 1997, p. 154)

[5]  (Evans & Manis, 2009, pp. 96-97)

A Gift to the Emergent People: A Book Review

Hello readers!

So, upfront warning, this is a book review. Not many people care to read those, so I figured I’d throw that out there in the beginning. I will say, though, that you want to read this book.

Those who know me know that I benefit from an incredible relationship with my older brother. Aside from being indirectly responsible for my passion for theology and study, he is an academic, a Bible scholar and a Kingdom of God servant. One of the many ways that we engender Koinonia between us is by suggesting and pointing at great books that help us to develop an intellectual life as a form of worship. This is how I came across Emerging Prophet: Kierkegaard and the Postmodern People of God by Kyle Roberts. So, after reading it in its entirety in about three days, my brother asked me to write this review.

Here we go.

First, let me give some general thoughts about the book and point out some important features. This book was the product of a personal fascination with Kierkegaard on the part of Roberts and a deep need in the Emergent culture of Christianity for some structure. Roberts does a fine job of demonstrating throughout the book how Kierkegaard was, in many ways, a prophetic voice for the generation that is before us today. In his day, Kierkegaard was sorely out of place and anything but a follower of trends. As the intellectual world headed into modernism, Kierkegaard was laying the foundations for a healthy theology of sin and ecclesiology (among other things) through his titled and pseudonymous works. Roberts’ thesis is that Kierkegaard’s thought essentially anticipated what would come after what was developing before his eyes – prophetic indeed.

One of the most contributing factors of Robert’s work is how he thoughtfully crafts a parallel between Emergent cultural concerns and Kierkegaardian theological thought. One thing that can be rightly charged to Emergent Christians is an all-too-common aversion to critical thought and scrutiny in proclaiming and defending their beliefs. Specifically, we (yes, me too) can fall prey to the ease of not wrestling with the broader implications of the doctrine of the fall and human sin. Kierkegaard’s major gift is in the language and structure he gives to the innate convictions of post-modern thinkers and Roberts demonstrates this well in his writing.

I think that personally, this book was impactful in giving me the sense of a tradition. One of the most difficult things for those who identify themselves as part of the Emergent culture is the potential for a lost sense of tradition; especially when re-thinking ecclesiology in all of its complexity. Growing up in the modern-minded church with all of the cultural assumptions that goes along with that imparts a sense of identity. When one challenges the social norms (especially in the context of the church) and then bravely steps away from some of those traditions, it’s easy to feel like you might be alone or that there is no connection to history. This book allows those of us who are starting to look at the pragmatic application of our faith to be able to point back in history to a well respected philosopher and say with confidence that there are good grounds for believing what we believe and there is a tradition we can connect to.

Having said all of this, it is only fair to point out that not everything was totally agreeable to me (this is healthy, though). I feel that after reflection I had a cognitive issue with the strong language of Kierkegaard in his assertion that there are no objective truths and only subjective ones. This seems like an extreme claim based on what we experience in the world. An example: I can say with sufficient certainty that while it may be true that I, as a subject, experience my coffee, there is still actually and objectively coffee in this cup on this table. This is an objective truth with no reasonable reason to doubt it. So, I would personally take a more moderate approach and say that there are objective truths, but that they are only relevant to the extent that we experience them subjectively. This restrained claim seems to be more humble in that it leaves room for error and functionality. This point of contention aside, it is still true that Kierkegaard points out what many Emergent thinkers believe: an objective assent to a list of doctrine is insufficient to the Christian life; only subjective submission to the person, Jesus, is sufficient to impart life.

In conclusion, this book has far more gifts and spiritually forming ideas to give the Emergent generation than I could possibly espouse here. I can say from experience, however, that if you want an approachable book that will help you critically think about your faith, this is it. Also, if you want to better understand the Emergent culture, this is a great place to start (though it couldn’t be said accurately that this book contains all of the movement; that would be presumptuous). At the risk of sounding like a salesman, this book is worth the read. There is a reason I read it as quickly as I did and that reason was not to get it over with. ;-)

Peace.

P.S. the ISBN number is 978-1-61097-222-2. I bought it from Amazon.

Stepping around Jesus to get at God

Okay, so I don't always do indicting think pieces, but this one has been rattling around in my head since Sunday.

I grew up in the Christian, main-stream, Evangelical, pop-Christianity, insert your label __(here)___ church. So I feel like it goes without saying that most of the things that I could be critical of about Christianity, I have probably held as my view point at one time or another. Now my ego would love to chalk it up to the fact that I was young and impressionable when I practiced my faith in a way that was less-than thoughtful, but the reality is that we should all take responsibility for the inconsistency between our beliefs and our practice.

The thing that has really bugged me in the last week is this sense that, a lot of times, Christians who are thinkers get wrapped up in thinking about God and how exactly God is and forget that we were given a clear picture of him in Jesus (John 14:7-11).

Now, some might like to debate the extent to which Jesus intended when he said "If you've seen me, then you've seen the Father" but I'd like to suggest that he meant it in a similar way that I would speak of myself in relation to my earthly father. That is, I am my father's son and while we are ontologically and really different persons, we are both of the same bloodline and hold the same values and believe the same thing (now this is a limited analogy since my father and I have some variance on beliefs; for Jesus, however, he and the Father have the same point of view; that is, they are both all-knowing. So we can trust that they in their wisdom have drawn the same conclusions about reality and act/believe the same things).

So if Jesus says more or less "I am the clearest picture that any of you ever have or ever will get of God", then I feel like we can trust him on this if we're believers in Christ. Now, being a philosopher/theologian myself, I know how easy it is to get caught up in my theories and debates about things regarding the nature of God (i.e. how exhaustive is God's foreknowledge? To what extent does he grant us free-will? How does salvation work? Does prayer work? etc.) without acknowledging the fact that Jesus is God. I feel like I should re-emphasize that last bit:

Jesus Is God

Now the point may seem moot among Christians, but so often we don't act like it. More specifically, we don't act like God is Jesus. We get this picture of an old man scowling in the sky when we think of God or the Father (some of this may be due to our experiences with our earthly fathers) and then we think of this buddy-Jesus, cuddly-Jesus or Jesus-my-homeboy. The reality is that Jesus was something of a rascal and, if not God, was no kind of good man. But we Christians proclaim him God incarnate. Let's give that some weight.

I'm all for people theorizing about how God functions in his relationship with humans, but I get nervous when people emphasize points that Jesus didn't. We lose our Christocentric faith in exchange for a well-thought out conclusion. 

I was recently at a small group meeting in which, in discussion, I said something to the effect of "well, lets remember that the way that Jesus did evangelism was through relationships, so we shouldn't be afraid to come close to atheists". Immediately, the response from the whole group was something to the effect of  "yes, but Jesus called people out about their sin!" (everyone phrased it in their own way, of course).

Now, my point isn't that I don't think Jesus "called people out", but that Jesus led with love. The fact that he has the authority of God aside, Jesus never asked people why they were demon possessed. He never ridiculed the Roman centurion for letting his child get sick. He just loved them. So why should we act like we have any kind of authority to hold people's beliefs or actions against them? Without going on a Scripture-slinging-frenzy, I feel like the Bible is pretty clear throughout that judgement is not our responsibility. Even more clearly, it states that love IS our responsibility. Can we ignore this?

I submit that the reason that we tend to ignore this is because we latch on to this idea of God that requires a perfect-behaving kind of righteousness instead of the kind of righteousness that comes from Jesus and is not sourced in our actions. The Kingdoms of this world are concerned with our behavior; the Kingdom of God is concerned with our hearts. Let's not try and understand God or behave in such a way that is essentially by-passing Jesus in order to get to some philosophical picture of God because it makes sense. Most of what Jesus did doesn't make sense; his Kingdom is upside down from our fallen understanding. It's hard, but it's the way of the cross; the way of Jesus.

Don't step around Jesus  

Peace,

The Dread

Do and Be Crossfit

Ok, so I haven’t blogged in a while and this is largely due to the fact that I’ve once again started my master’s classes in Theology which is mostly reading and writing…and I have to force time for that. Needless to say, my blog isn’t my top priority…so take that for what it’s worth.

I have, however been plagued with a couple of ideas on the Christian life that could easily be a year or more worth of sermons. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time to flesh these thoughts out into said sermons, so instead I’ll try and get the bare bones out here on my blog, so thank you in advanced for taking the time to read this.

Here goes…

For the last two months or so, I have been doing Crossfit or have been a Crossfitter or whatever you like. If you’re not familiar with Crossfit, feel free to watch this video. For me this is quite a spiritual experience and it's that idea that i'd like to really address here.

So, while I’m in no way, shape or form the strongest person alive, much less at my local gym (Cowley Fitness), I can definitely say that I am the fittest that I have ever been in my life; even more so than when I was a collegiate cheer leader or a Universal Cheerleading Association Staff Member and that is saying something.

So where am I going with this? Well, the name Crossfit (I believe) is about “cross fitness” or the idea that all aspects of fitness – agility, flexibility, strength, endurance, etc. –  find their intersection inside the kinds of work outs (known as “wod’s” or “work out of the day”) that are programmed for Crossfit. In short, every work out is a total body work out and improves every aspect of fitness simultaneously. For this reason, I’ve often found myself thinking throughout the day “wow, while doing Crossfit, EVERY physical task in life is easier”.

While I could stay here and plug Crossfit all day, that’s not really my main point...

So, while Crossfit is about being as fit as you can be (which I’ll get to a little later…perhaps in another blog) the name just rings in my ears as a theologian and I have come to the conclusion that, as Christians, we are called to be “Cross-fit”.

WOA! I’m not some fitness nut, but I love Jesus!

Hold on, I’m not saying everyone should do Crossfit (notice the hyphen/no-hyphen distinction).

As Christians, we are meant to be continually “fit for the Cross of Christ”. Jesus says in the synoptic gospels:

If you want to follow me, you must take up your cross daily and actually follow. If you try to hang on to your life, you’ll lose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?       – (my paraphrase of Mark 8:34 & Luke 9:23 and following).

So let’s chew on this a bit:

1.    “If you want to follow me” – this is clearly a conditional statement. Assuming you are truly looking to be a Christ follower, i.e. disciple, then here’s whats up…but only if you’re wanting more than just weekly attendance and your conscience cleared for the week.
2.      “You must take up your cross daily and actually follow” – bear in mind that this is pre-crucified-Jesus that’s speaking here, so there is no “redemptive” or “salvific” context for the original hearers. What they hear is essentially “if you want to follow me, you must be shamed to the point of being dehumanized and this is going to painful and gruesome”. You can imagine their confusion…Now this is also clearly a metaphor, so don’t freak out.
3.      “if you try to hang on to your life, you’ll lose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” – I’d like to put forth a slightly different interpretation of this passage than what you may be thinking. I think that this point is more about Christian living and less about salvation through Christ; that is, I don’t think that Jesus is giving some coded message for how to get to heaven, but is instead showing us that in order to live like Christ (i.e. follow), then you must order your life starting with Christ and his sake which is the good news that God loves and forgives.
4.      “and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” – This question solidifies his point that following him is about lowering yourself and being prepared to look ridiculous in front of people (remember the crucified were often buck naked) but the alternative –  that is, trying to hang on to your pride and gain some sort of status, security, “the whole world”, you know, whatever – is a lost cause because in as much, you will not be able to “save your life” or “really live”.

Now that is the quickest breakdown of that passage that probably exists, so bear in mind you could get a book out of this one passage and I’m not trying to do that here.

My point is that if we’re to be disciples of Christ and not just disciples of the Christian church or religion, it means remaining “Cross-fit” daily. So what does that look like? Well, I could attempt an exhaustive list, but I don’t think Microsoft Word has enough pages to cover it, so instead we’ll go back to Scripture for a good answer.

In the book of Mark, Jesus sheds light on the “main thing”:

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen up, Israel, the Lord our God is the one and only God and you must love him with all your heart, all your soul all your mind and all your strength. ‘ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. No other commandment is greater than these. 

– (my paraphrase of Mark 12:30 and following).

So, let’s chew some more:

1.      The most important commandment – this means “listen up”
2.      Israel’s God is the only God – this means that we can trust that we’re talking about the real God as far as we can trust the Word’s of Jesus. This is a big idea, but I don’t have space to get into it here.
3.      Love God with all your heart – typically understood to mean your will and/or affections
4.      Love God with all your soul – I put forth that while we could theorize about what that soul is made of, we can generally agree that it is all the parts of you that are not the physical parts.
5.      Love God with all your mind – traditionally understood to mean your reason, logic, thoughts, etc.
6.      Love God with all your strength – contrasting with the “soul” part, this means all the parts of you that ARE physical.
7.      Second command: love people as yourself – pretty clear, but very hard to do
8.      No other command (including the big 10 from Moses) is greater than these – that is, these trump all others (though they are not mutually exclusive from all others).

Again, that was a quick run down, so I’ll zoom in on what is relevant to this blog post and we’ll do it in reverse order.

First, being Cross-fit (remember the hyphen distinction) means loving other people like I love myself. Now, you may hate yourself (and that’s a WHOLE other issue), but generally we all care about ourselves and to this extent, we should regard all others with the same care. This is vital, but not what I’m trying to get to – just know that there is much much more to be said on this point.

Second, being Cross-fit means loving God in four specific ways that all sum up to equal your entirety. I’ll make it into a neat package for you:

Love God with…

• Your heart and mind – that is ALL of your will and affections and ALL of your intellect and reasoning. How do we do this? By continually working on lining our will, affections, intellect and reasoning up with the things of God; this means wanting and willing the things of God and it means spending time thinking and meditating on the things of God.
• Your soul and strength – that is ALL of the parts of you that are intangible or non-physical and ALL of the parts of you that are physical. Now, typically we’re okay with the intangible – after all, no one but God and myself know exactly how much of my intangibles I have truly given to him, and this affords us the ability to maintain a superficial façade of piety and goodness. The trouble is the second half for most American Christians – leaders included, or rather leaders especially – because it’s convicting. We like our laz-E-boy recliners, our cans of soda, our chips and dip and our generally over chemicallized, over gmo’d diet. After all, “this is ‘merica”. The truth however, is that we are stewards of everything that God has given us (Matthew 25:14-30) which includes our bodies and according to Jesus, we are to love him with them by using them to do the things of God and keeping them in the best shape we can.

So, let’s conclude:

Being Cross-fit is the only way to truly follow Jesus and that looks like following his two greatest commands in their entirety. I can love people everywhere I go by showing compassion, not trying to change or judge them and simply being there with them (I know there are other ways, but these are some of the simplest). I can love God in practical ways as well by wanting the things he wants, meditating on him and his will for creation, by truly giving him all the non-measurable, non-physical parts of me and by loving him with my body by taking care of it as best I can and using it to do physical good in this physical world.

Again, I’d love to unpack all of this, but that would take a very long time….and I might yet do it. For now, however, suffice to know this:

If you want to be the fittest version of you that is possible, do Crossfit.

If you want to follow Jesus and live the only real life worth living, be Cross-fit.

Thank you all for reading.

Peace,

The Dread.