Stuck in the middle…with you?
I’m starting to think that there is very little middle ground in North American Christian circles.
It seems that you are either a social and economic conservative, intent on ‘keeping to a literal interpretation of the Bible,’ and espousing a very strong set of convictions (see my posts on Evangelicalism),
or
you are a social and economic liberal, with a low-view of Christ (e.g. not divine, etc.) and God (Deism),
or
you are a part of a Christianity that is primarily cultural (i.e. family-tied) and is very closed on almost every respect.
I’m not any of these. And I feel alienated because of it.
It’s difficult, because for the last 3 years I’ve had a exhilirating time delving deeply into the Word: learning the original (or as close as we can understand) languages, defining contexts – both historical and literary, redefining my theology to align with what I truly and utterly believe is the biblical theology. But, because of this, I’ve had to make some concessions. Concessions like, maybe the Old Testament isn’t entirely a factual, scientific document; maybe only the Gospel of John calls Jesus divine; Maybe the Rapture doesn’t exist (ok, that was an easy one); maybe there isn’t a soul separate from the body and that heaven and death and end times as we commonly understand them have little to do with each other?
I’m not a Liberal. I believe in the Creeds and all that they entail. But, as you see, I’m not a fundamentalist by any modern sense of the Word. I can’t adhere to any determinist view of God, but I can’t hold to any true open theism either. I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. A magical middle that doesn’t entirely seem to exist.
I’ve said from the start that I keep finding the Jesus and the Christianity I’ve always been looking for – a robust, intellectual, revolutionary, ancient and transcendent Christianity. Sadly, I’ve been losing a hold on how to understand our Church – its culture, place, and meaning. I see so many things that are contrary to what I now hold to believe the Bible is saying, and that people are creating part of a cycle that has little to do, and is often contrary to, the call to usher in the Kingdom of God.
So why am I worried about this? Why couldn’t I just start ignoring other Christians and live my own life, apart from them? Well the thing that I’ve learned more than anything else from God this year is how important faith community is to the Christian life. We need each other, consistently and constantly. We need to eat meals together, join in praise together, mourn together, hold each other up, hold each other accountable, save each other from trials and tribulations and be unified in love, because I believe that these things are good and well for our beings and our walks with the Lord. Strike that, it is imperative to our Christianity.
So how do I do that when I’m not sure about most, if not all of it, any more?
Suggestions would be great.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 30, 2008 at 9:24 am, filed under Christianity, Church and tagged Church, Disillusionment, Evangelicalism, North America. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
The King has come.
The Good Shepherd, dated mid-3rd Century
The King has come.
The King, who came through a young, obedient girl. The King, who came under the care of a socially-scorned couple. The King, who came from the town of the old king, under the oppression of many evil kings. The King, who brought outcast shepherds and foreign powers to witness your birth and life. The King, for which the very angels sang out in celebration upon the Earth. The King, who in very nature God, in communion with God and by the power of God, became lowly man.
The King, who would take in all that is God’s nation on Earth, and make it what it was to be. The King, who would show love to the unloved, justice to the oppressed, freedom to the captive, and hope to the hopeless.
The King, who would take on the sin of all humanity, so that we may be saved. The King, who on the Third Day rose again and defeated Death. The King, whose kingdom is now, but not yet. The King, whose new creation will herald renewed, complete, and everlasting communion with God.
The King, who will return soon.
Merry Christmas,
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 25, 2008 at 11:28 am, filed under Christianity, Internet and tagged Advent, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Jesus. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
O Come Emmanuel
Since coming to grips in my biblical studies with the implication of what a Jewish Messiah was to do and what they were to look like, and how Jesus both fulfilled and changed it, this has come to be one of my favourite Christmas carols.
In the 1st Century, The Jews had been in exile for nearly 600 years, and were wondering what God was up to, letting them toil under foreign oppressive evils for so long. They were constantly trying to remind themselves that God was still their god, and that his Messiah would come as promised. It was messy, since many ‘Messiahs’ came along and inspired many for awhile, only to fail miserably, like the Maccabees.
This song is a true advent song: It is all about the waiting and the hope for Israel and the World. Rejoice is reflective here, it’s a command: despite trial and oppression we need to rejoice in the coming of God’s Messiah. Once more, this song illustrates how Jesus is the Emmanuel, the Messiah, and the Saviour, not just in the freeing of Israel the people, but of all people from Death.
In this day before the joy of the Incarnation of God, Emmanuel (God is with us), let us remember our need to rejoice out of obedience and not feeling, as we wait for the Second Coming of our Emmanuel, to help usher in a new creation and the fullness of his Kingdom.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 24, 2008 at 9:00 am, filed under Biblical Study, Christianity, Music and tagged Advent, Christmas, Emmanuel, Jesus. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
A simple song, with a good message
Sufjan Stevens, Put the Lights on the Tree
Put the lights on the tree
(Put them on the tree)
Put the ribbon on the wreath
(Put it on the wreath)
Call your grandma on the phone
(Call her on the phone)
If she’s living all alone
(If she’s all alone)
Tell her Jesus Christ is here
(Tell her He is here)
Tell her she has none to fear
(There is none to fear)
If she’s crying on the phone
(Crying on the phone)
Tell her you are coming home
(You are coming home)
WK
This entry was written by , posted on at 12:41 am, filed under Music and tagged Advent, Christmas. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Advent Songs: Rudy
Rudy, by the Be Good Tanyas:
Rudy lives on the borderline
Between civilisation and basic survival
The summertime treats him fairly well
But the wintertime is a bitter cold rival
It’s wintertime now in Georgetown
And the streets come alive with the Christmas lights
And Rudy sleeps on the warm air grate
With a newspaper blanket
On December nights.
Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino knows it’s Christmas time
Jingle bells and Christmas shoppers dashing through the snow
God bless ye merry gentleman
Who have found it in your hearts to flip Rudy a thin
Cuz I’ll be home for Christmas
But this man has no place to go.
Christmas has no meaning at all?
These people of greed and incredible waste
Who seek the deeper meaning in a shopping mall
With a yuletide spirit of impatience and hate
Rudy is a patient man
Who tries to see the beauty in everything
Is not a very demanding soul
Whose only wish is to live until the spring
Nobody knows the reasons why
Things turn out the way they do
And there ain’t no one to tell you the reasons why there’s fortunate folks like me and you
Rudy must have people somewhere who wonder what became of a man
And Rudy must wonder the same damn thing
As the crowd passes by and he sticks out his hand.
Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino knows it’s Christmas time
Jingle bells and Christmas shoppers dashing through the snow
God bless ye merry gentleman
Who have found it in your hearts to flip Rudy a thin
Cuz I’ll be home for Christmas
But this man has no place to go.
Rudy died on the borderline
Of a civilized world on Christmas Eve
And the shoppers shopped and the temperatures dropped
On a man whose absence won’t be greived
Peace on the soul of the cop who found him
In a booth with his hand frozen to a telephone
Y’know, I think I know who he had on the line
And Rudy won’t spend this Christmas alone.
Deck the halls,
Rudolph the red-nosed wino knows it’s Christmas time
Jingle bells and Christmas shoppers dashing through the snow
God bless ye merry gentleman
Who have found it in your hearts to flip Rudy a thin
And I’ll be home for Christmas
But this year Rudy gets to go
And I’ll be home for Christmas
But this year Rudy gets to go
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 23, 2008 at 9:08 am, filed under Music and tagged Advent, Christmas, Homelessness. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.