Reflections
Thoughts about living a more beautiful story.
How partying might make you more like Jesus
“A glutton and a wine bibber.” That’s how Jesus’ critics described him. What does this suggest about Jesus’ eating and drinking habits? Well, when was the last time you called someone with a runner’s body a glutton? Isn’t it possible Jesus enjoyed food - maybe a little too much at times - and just might even have had a few extra pounds around his waist?
And when was the last time you called someone a wine bibber who was a teetotaler? Well you probably have never used the term wine bibber but I looked it up and the Greek word for that literally means “one who drinks wine” and the derisive meaning attached to it was one who REALLY LIKES drinking wine. In other words, “a wino” as one Bible dictionary says.
How far away is God, anyway?
To the people who wrote the Bible, the organization of the universe was quite simple. There was “down here”, “up there” and “down there”. It was a 3-tiered cosmos.
There was no solar system. There were no galaxies. There were no billions and billions of miles of empty space in all directions outside the atmosphere of a spherical planet. There was just this place, and it was the center of God’s attention and activity.
But now, since Copernicus 500 years ago and especially since Galileo 400 years ago, we know better. There is no “up” and “down” from a rotating spherical planet that is part of a solar system in a small galaxy among billions of galaxies in a rapidly expanding universe. If God is “up there” and the devil is “down there”, where exactly are those places?
The amazing way gratefulness changes my brain
Although I’ve always been optimistic at heart, I’ve not always noticed the simple beauty of the world around me. The beautiful aspects of people I interact with in simple and profound ways would often get lost in my quest for efficient productivity.
But things started changing when I made a very simple decision last year. I decided I would take a couple minutes each morning to simply write down three things I was grateful for at that moment. At first I decided I was going to do it daily for 21 days. Here’s what I discovered…
The beautiful art of asking questions
What is your reaction when you are at home and you have an unexpected knock on your front door? I know what mine is. There is a quick impulse to just hunker down as if I’m not home. Maybe they will go away.
A couple decades ago when I was a young pastor, Ann and I were visited by a couple of Mormon missionaries at our door. I decided to engage them in conversation, but didn’t hide the fact that I was a pastor in a local church. We ended up conversing for a while, and then had a couple follow up meetings in our living room, where I did my best to show them how Mormonism was wrong, and in turn they tried to show me why it was actually the best way to follow God.
Can you guess how many conversions were recorded by either side? Yep. Zero.
Evaluate the fruit of your spiritual practices
A few months ago as Ann and I sat around the dining table enjoying our Sunday tradition of pancakes and eggs, I took a deep breath and uttered a sentence I had been hesitant to say out loud. I looked across the table and said to her, “I think attending our church is doing more harm to my spiritual life than good.” I said that because on the majority of Sundays, I found myself engaged in multiple inner arguments with the way the service was structured, the way the songs were produced, some of the ideas in the song lyrics, and the decisions made by the preacher in how he or she handled the Biblical text he was using.
Whether it was the COVID shutdown, my own spiritual evolution, or a combination of both, I’ve found the evangelical worship service format increasingly frustrating and irritating to something deep within me. Because I love the leaders at our church, I want to emphasize this represents a change within me, not something wrong with the work they are doing. The worship service format is the same one that I’ve loved, produced, and participated in for decades. But something has been changing, and it’s inside of me. What used to bear good fruit in me is not having the same effect.
Quit burying your doubts
I would read things, particularly in the Old Testament, that just seemed morally wrong. There were descriptions of God seemingly bumbling forward, just trying things out as the human race developed. There were places God seemed immoral in how he treated individuals and groups of people. And the notion of God sending people to suffer tormenting pain for eternity just did not seem morally good, and I was sure God was morally good. Such places in the Bible made me question all sorts of things. The temptation to gloss over the questions and doubts was strong.
But there’s a great story in Luke chapter 7 that helped me see a healthier way forward.
My story of following Jesus toward a more beautiful story since the 1980s, with evolving and expanding views of the love of God in and out of pastoral ministry.
Want to jumpstart your own journey? These books, podcasts, and individuals have guided me toward a more beautiful story and could help you too.