The End of Suffering

I am reading Scott Cairns The End of Suffering, for the second time this week. Since the book is only 115 pages, it is fairly easy to get through in a single pass. Although, this time around I will be taking my time to focus on each chapter intently. I highly recommend this book to anyone, and have begged most of my friends and family to read it.

I will give you a small taste of what Cairns’ book has to offer:

Those of us who struggle with habitual sins-and we know who we are-are very likely to break our hearts over the business of turning away from those chronic mark missings. Our problems with recurring sin, and the more general human problem of being enslaved by sin, is never solved simply by our rejecting that sin, no matter how many times we try, no matter how strenuously we struggle to reject it.

This is because merely rejecting sin-that is, focusing on not sinning-is finally just another species of infernal no.

“Just say no” is an insufficient principle.

The strongest man or woman in the world is not nearly strong enough to triumph over his or her sin simply by saying no to it. What we need is the strength-giving grace occasioned by our saying yes to something else, by our saying yes, and yes, and yes-ceaselessly-to Someone else.

It is not our finally turning away from sin that frees us from sin’s recurrence; rather it is our turning toward Christ-and the mystery of our continuing to turn into Him-that puts sin behind us.

Amen.

The End of Suffering can be found at Eighth Day Books here in Wichita, KS (or you can buy it from them online!).

Thanks to my good friend Jack for recommending this book to me.

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 5:14 – 30)

The Parable of the Talents

What is going on in this parable? Over the years I’ve heard the same message from the pulpit… “Don’t squander the gifts of God like the third servant.” Now, as a young man this seemed to make sense to me, if God gives you a gift you should use it for the advancement of His kingdom. Fine. I’m more than okay with that, but what exactly does that have to do with the Parable of the Talents?

If you read verses 24 – 30 you start to get a different angle on the story, and one that has been all but ignored when this parable has been used in sermons I remember from years past. Let’s look at what is going down with the third servant:

²⁴“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Wait a minute! The man calls his master out in verse 24, telling him that he was “harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.” This doesn’t line up with the usual explanation given for this parable, so I’d like to flip it around.

First off, we know that Jesus was talking to 1st Century Jews like himself, and in the prior verses, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Christ was warning that we will not know the day of His return, so that we must be prepared for it. *

So, it would make sense that a continuation of a Kingdom theme would be present. Christ, in my estimation, is not at all talking about investing money or gifts (Usury was in fact illegal for Jews at this time). He is talking about His kingdom, and the first two servants took that call out into the world, He is as well making an argument against the nation of Israel and it’s teachers, the Pharisees.

The third servant represents Israel. Israel was given a great honor, they received the blessing of God through His covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1 – 3). They had been given the chance to a be a blessing to all nations, but had failed. When the servant sees the master he calls him out for “harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.” This seems to be an instance of a Jew pointing out that God was harvesting from the Gentiles as well, and not only those from the nation of Israel.

The master then agrees with the servants assumption, he has in fact been gathering where he had not scattered seed. He goes on to call the servant lazy and wicked, rebuking him for not taking the call of the Kingdom of God seriously.

This is my understanding of the parable, what do you think?

* We will not get into the various other interpretations of the Parable of the Ten Virgins at this time. Also, I have read interpretations that verse 13 does not belong with verses 1 – 12, but as a beginning to the parable in verses 14 – 30. Not only do I disagree, but I would be hard pressed to force that understanding to fit. Without that final verse the previous twelve make very little sense, and have been diluted down to almost no meaning.

Thanks to Joe Skillen and my dad for emailing back and forth with me on this topic, sharing with me their wisdom and knowledge.

Marcus Borg Lecture: Part 1

My father and I went out to a lecture given by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan at Plymouth Congregational Church (one of the most beautiful churches in town) here in Wichita, KS. We were interested in hearing what these two men, who some Christians hold in high regard, had to say. I’ll go through the first main section Borg’s lecture, and tackle the second section and then Crossan’s lecture at a later date.

Borg started out talking about the need for “adult theological re-education” in the church. His reasoning? Christianity has “become unpersuasive to millions of people in our time.” My first question for this is why, but Borg skips the questioning and goes straight to his belief that Christians have been misinterpreting the scriptures and that the existence of miracles in the scripture makes it difficult to believe. To him, Jesus Christ was nothing more than a Jewish peasant who had nice things to say. All of the miracles, or any of His claims of divinity and even His resurrection are all myths fabricated by the “post-Easter” church in order to better understand/explain the death of their teacher.

My first problem with this? Borg’s insistence that because the Western church has failed, (and we have, time and time again) we must just be wrong. Instead of trying to reconcile our errors with the teachings of Christ he simply disregards anything that he personally has a hard time understanding and guts roughly 80% of the stories and teachings of Christ as myth. This is an illogical step, trying to reconcile Biblical understanding and enlightenment era reasoning is the first step to becoming a relativist. And there is no doubt in my mind that Borg is a relativist, as Borg does not believe in absolute truth, he made that very clear when he removed it from his understanding of the Word of God. According to Borg, all religions are valid, making him a pluralist as well (why any Christian would listen to the words of a pluralist and regard them as truth is beyond me). At this point I began to wonder what the point of his “belief” in Christ was. Unfortunately he never answered this.

The next part of Borg’s lecture focused on removing some of the “myths” of the church. First of all, he regards substitutionary atonement as unBiblical. Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:18:

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

Christ suffered and died for our sins, at least according to the Scriptures, so his insistence that it is unBiblical makes me believe that he took his whiteout to that section. Other Scriptural passages that discuss substitutionary atonement include; 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:10 – 13 and 1 Peter 2:24.

Borg then went on to talk about Christ as “Superman,” faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap buildings in a single bound etc. He simply removes the miracles as myth, gives no reasoning other than it doesn’t make sense to people and moved on. This is about as weak an argument one could make against the miracles found in the Scriptures, and one that literally needs no refuting from me. His argument just doesn’t stand up on its own.

Borg then goes on to discuss the second coming of Christ as the belief in a “killer Jesus.” He disregards the prophecies, both OT and NT about the Son of God and his judgment of the living and the dead. He also has no answer for the book of Revelation. I will admit that second coming eschatology is not my strong point. I myself am too busy trying to live my life with Christ as an example to worry myself about the myriad of metaphors regarding the reconciliation of the new creation. I know Christ’s eventual return to be truth, and that is enough for me.

Edit: As I was sure that many people would want to argue my lack of scripture for this last paragraph I give you these two references. Hebrews 13:14:

“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”

In other words, the cities of this earth will perish, but God’s eternal kingdom will be fulfilled in the second coming of Christ. His second coming is referenced in Revelation 21:2 – 4:

“2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”

The final argument presented in this section of his lecture regards the belief of “Jesus as a great teacher.” Borg simply states that he believes that Jesus was a great teacher, but that it is inadequate and “often banal.” I simply can’t understand how Borg can completely disregard this as banal, since it is the only item of the historical Jesus that he regards as true.

I will continue with the last section of Borg’s lecture (The Nature of the Gospels) in a later post. Then I will talk about Crossan’s much shorter lecture in a third post. I hope this has been informative and I welcome your comments.

Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan

I will be attending a lecture from Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan at Plymouth Congregational Church on Friday night. I’m excited to go and listen to these two men talk. If you don’t know who they are, I suggest you do a little reading. It’s interesting, as I don’t agree with much of what these two men have concluded about Christianity and Christ in particular, but I believe that there is no better way to get an open dialogue going than to listen when you have the chance.

If you live in Wichita I would suggest you go if New Testament scholarship or historical Jesus studies interests you at all. Click here for more information.

4 Ways to Donate to Haiti!

I’m working on a new post as I’ve started reading another N.T. Wright book titled The Contemporary Quest for Jesus. But before I write any further on that post I want to make sure that those who read this blog or stumble upon it have taken time to donate some money to relief efforts for Haiti.

As a Christian it is hard to believe that God’s beautiful creation could contain such pain and suffering, but until we are reconciled into a new creation we need to stand up and support those that are suffering around us.

Here are a few ways to donate money:

1. Donate to World Vision.

2. Text “Haiti” to 90999. This will donate $10 to the Red Cross’ relief efforts. It will show up on your next cell phone bill.

3. Text “Yele” to 501501. This will donate $5 to Yele Haiti. This foundation is run by artist Wyclef Jean.

4. Donate to Doctors Without Borders. They lost their buildings in Haiti and need money to continue to give aid.

Along with financial donations, continue to pray for those affected by this disaster and those trying to help bring relief to our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

The Authority of Scripture

Lately I’ve tried to define the phrase “The Authority of Scripture.” I’ve wrestled with it, fought with myself and asked most people I knew what they thought it meant. As I’ve read (and finished) Wright’s book The Last Word, I’ve started to (better) understand what the phrase means. The time line of my search looks something like this.

After reading several books by young hip pastors I started to wonder if what they were saying about Scripture was true. Most of them seemed to regard the Holy Bible as some old book from a different culture, which in turn has no place in our modern world other than to teach us to be nice to people. I disagreed, but I didn’t know why. Knowing that I wasn’t going to find my answer by reading more of the same I turned to the Bible and tried to figure it all out. While doing so I wondered if there was some short book that could kick-start my journey… I stumbled upon Wright’s book at Borders one day. I bought it.

After reading through what this man has had to say, I have to say that I mostly disagree with the post-modern Western Church. I’m not church bashing and I’m not saying that any of these pastors or teachers aren’t Christian or that they aren’t saved.

I’m going to end this post with a quote from the last chapter of Wright’s book:

“‘The authority of scripture’ refers not least to God’s work through scripture to reveal Jesus, to speak in life-changing power to the hearts and minds of individuals, and to transform them by the Spirit’s healing love.”

This isn’t the end of my struggle toward faith. It’s only the beginning. God has already started to work through the scriptures and Jesus has become real to me in a way that only scripture can make Him. The true power and authority of scripture has been revealed to me and I know that as I move forward that God will be able to transform me in a way that fluffy emotional stories can’t. Without the basis of scripture we are building a Christ for ourselves. A false idol that is self-serving. A fake Christ that I’ve held onto for far too long, because the only Christ is the one who pours Himself out through His word.

What I Believe

I’ve been working on a new post and wanted to go ahead and put up a short post about what I believe. That way everyone who reads this knows where I stand.

And what I believe is this.

The Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended into hell.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Peace on Earth!

During the time of Jesus’ birth the Roman Empire was experiencing the Pax Romana. A time of limited military campaigns and general peace among Romans (including civil war) and their enemies. The Pax Romana lasted about 200 years (27 AD to 180 BC).

In the face of this, the angels praised God and said:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).

Peace on earth! During a time of what, for an empire defined by blood shed, was quite peaceful the angels made sure that they noted the peace that only Jesus could bring. The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) was born into a world of human peace, but true peace had eluded us until that day.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Jesus was promising his disciples peace, but a peace the world could never give them. He was promising a peace that one can have only through the acceptance of Jesus as your Lord (John 14:6).

So, as we finish the season of the celebration of his birth I’m going to be focusing on the peace that was brought into the world on the day he was born. A peace that no one but my Jesus could give me.

Merry Christmas!

Another Last Word

I’ve continued reading Wright’s The Last Word today while also trying to spend more time in the scripture (and write for myself, run some Christmas errands, pick up sidewalk salt etc.). Wright writes a wonderful intro to Chapter Three:

“When the time had fully come, God sent forth his son…” (Galatians 4:4). Understanding Jesus within his historical context means understanding him where, according to scripture itself, he belongs.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures. He even appears to two apostles on the road to Emmaus,  “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:17). Jesus knew that he was “bringing scripture to its long-awaited climax” (The Last Word 45).

All power on heaven and earth was given to Jesus by the Father, and Jesus himself was the fulfillment of OT scripture with the NT scriptures being a continuation of the larger narrative of Christ and his people. With this in mind the authority and power of scripture becomes more clear to me.

The Last Word

Over the past two days I have been reading N.T. Wright’s The Last Word. This is my first foray into the works of the noted theologian.

I am roughly half-way through the book but it has brought up some questions I’d like to post for discussion. I’ll post one of them tonight and we can get the dialogue rolling.

• All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). If this is the case, then what authority can the Scriptures hold?

Of course, an obvious answer is that Jesus is the Word made Flesh (John 1:14) but that still doesn’t answer the question of what authority the Scriptures that we use today hold over our lives as Christians.

That is all for now. I’ll continue this discussion as I read and re-read this book and others on the topic of the divine nature of the Scriptures, a topic which very recently has become of great interest to me.