Does God Suffer?

I've been thinking a lot about suffering lately. And by lately, I mean for the past six months.

I don't know how this happened, but during the past six months I've really come face-to-face with my own brokenness. It seems like everyday my brokenness pops up out of nowhere to say, "Hi, how ya doin'? Remember me?" I know that suffering leads to perseverance, which leads to character, etc. (Romans 5:3-4), but I honestly cannot see how my present suffering will lead to any future hope. All I can see are my doubts, fears, and despair.

It also doesn't help that when I am suffering, all I can picture God saying is, "Suck it up and take it like a man. Don't be such a crybaby."

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe, just maybe, God can actually relate to my suffering.

If Jesus is both fully God and fully human at the same time, then that means Jesus had the full human experience, right? And as I skim through the Gospel, I see Jesus experiencing not only the highs of the human experience, but also the lows. Soon after He was baptized, Satan tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). He wept for the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35). In Gethsemane, Jesus' soul was "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" (Matthew 26:38). And then, of course, there is the cross, where Jesus died humiliated and abandoned.

So the next time I feel like no one can possibly understand what's going on in my head, maybe I should reconsider.

Do you believe God can relate to human suffering?

Sh*t Emergent Christians Say Part 2

Okay, folks. Are you ready? Here it is: "Sh*t Emergent Christians Say Part 2!"

This Week In Cool Stuff: 2/24/12

-Well, looks my home state of Maryland is legalizing same-sex marriage. Hot dog!

-Also in "Hot dog!" news, the Blair Partnership recently announced that J.K. Rowling is writing her first post-Harry Potter novel. Unlike the boy wizard series, this book will be geared towards adults. Either way, can't wait to read it!

-Christian Piatt posted my "Sh*t Emergent Christians Say" video on his blog. Wait until he sees the sequel!

-And finally, Odd Future released a new video called "Rella." I must warn you, though. The video includes slapping, profanity, coke, and Tyler, the Creator as a centaur. Basically the typical crazy shit you would expect from Odd Future.



Golf wang!

Sometimes the Pharisee

Lent is upon us once again. I'm not going to bother with giving something up, though. Whenever I tell myself, "I'm going to give up X for 40 days," it never happens. I do, however, want to get back into using the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer for daily Bible reading. I kinda fell out of the habit a few weeks ago.

The gospel reading for Ash Wednesday is Luke 18:9-14--

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

We all love to identify with the tax collector. We've all been the person standing in the back of the church afraid to show his/her face. But I think sometimes we can be the Pharisee. I know I can.

In the parable, the Pharisee proudly lists his accomplishments before God. "I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income. I do this. I do that." And if I can be honest with you, I sometimes find myself bragging about my own accomplishments. "Oh, I'm not like those other Christians. I'm LGBT-inclusive. I'm egalitarian. I buy fair-trade."

Now don't get me wrong. All of those things are good things. But not when you do them just to show off to your friends, you know?

So hopefully this Lent, we can all learn to be more like the tax collector and less like the Pharisee.

In what ways are you the Pharisee?

The Pilgrim and the Mystic -- A Spoken Word Piece

Last night I performed this piece at an open-mic night. It's an imagined conversation between Christian from The Pilgrim's Progress and a drunken redneck mystic. As I was writing this piece, I realized that I was writing about my own spiritual struggles. Enjoy!

This Week In Cool Stuff: 2/17/12

-Chris Brown's performance at this past Sunday's Grammys stirred up a lot of controversy. Sasha Pasulka at HelloGiggles writes that by letting Chris Brown perform at the Grammys, the producers are sending a message that domestic abuse is no big deal. The People of the Second Chance, on the other hand, explain that forgiving Brown does not equal condoning domestic abuse, just like how forgiving a bully does not condone bullying (I can vouch for that).

-Also in Grammy-related news, scientists have discovered why Adele's song "Someone Like You" makes you want to cry like a baby. I always thought it was because Adele sings it with so much emotion.

-Crystal S. Lewis writes about Straightianity, which is a version of Christianity that says you cannot be both LGBT and a Christian. Excerpt:

"Their fear of abandoning anti-gay interpretations of scripture is the same kind of fear that reared its head when theological “progressives” in prior generations argued in favor of the abolition of slavery, the teachings of Galileo and women’s rights. We’re talking about a fear of moving forward, a fear of the unknown and a fear of being wrong."

-Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber recently spoke the Colorado senate judiciary committee for legalizing same-sex couples.

-Bo Sanders at Homebrewed Christianity writes about the dangers of making God into our image.

Sh*t Emergent Christians Say

Okay, so I had to jump on the "Sh*t _____ Say" bandwagon! Naturally this video isn't meant to be taken seriously. Hope you all enjoy!

This Week In Cool Stuff: 2/10/12

Okay, let's see what the blogosphere's been talking about this week:

-Over at the Emergent Village blog, Michael Dowd calls out the "idolatry of the written word". According to Dowd, as our world changes, so should our interpretation of the Bible. That's not to say we can read whatever we want into scripture. But rather our understanding of the Bible must evolve as time progresses. Good stuff!

-Dr. James F. McGrath at Exploring our Matrix debunks Calvinist preacher Kevin DeYoung's ten reasons to believe in a historical Adam.

On a similar note, RJS at Jesus Creed shows the contradictions between Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

-Shay at Anarchist Reverend writes about the recent Rolling Stone article about LGBTQ suicide and the need for a better conversation. Excerpt:

"It’s not about making more “It Gets Better” videos, or being out and proud role models (although I do think those things help, for sure). Instead it is about empowering youth to be their own change agents. Find out what they need and make sure they are able to do it. It certainly needs some adult push but only because our systems are so ageist as to think that youth don’t know what they need and can’t articulate it."

Right on! If our theology teaches that one group of people is doomed from the start, then something is obviously wrong.

-Speaking of which, a federal court declared Prop 8 to be unconstitutional. It's about damn time!

I Hate (Bad) Religion

(Image found at Loux Family Blog.)

About a month ago, I asked if it was possible to hate religion and still love Jesus. It's a question I've been asking myself for quite some time now. I'm nowhere near an answer, but I did figure out one thing.

I actually don't hate religion.

By definition, religion is just how one worships and serves the Divine. When religion is done right, it's good. But when it's done wrong, watch out!

And that's what I hate: religion gone bad.

I hate it when religion says queer people have no hope.

I hate it when religion says women are second-class citizens.

I hate it when religion says it's "God's will" that bad stuff happens, like girls being raped.

I hate it when religion makes you sign a contract.

I hate it when religion says only one brand of Christianity is the right one.

I hate it when religion says you have to vote for only one political party.

I know that Christianity is a lot more than all of that crap. But sometimes the crap is all I see.

How you do see past all the crap?

The First Stone (Guest Post by Ray Carroll)

Today I am pleased to share this guest post from Ray Carroll, author of the book Fallen Pastor: Finding Restoration in a Broken World. Enjoy!

It had been two years since I had preached. A friend of mine had asked me to share with his congregations a few things I had learned.

Moments before I stepped back into the pulpit, a thousand thoughts ran through my head. Not surprisingly, hardly any of them were good. The majority of them were about how I had committed adultery two years before. How I had been immediately dismissed from my church, the fallout in my marriage, my isolation from everyone around me, my self-loathing and the pitiful state I had been in since that time.

Since that time, I had remarried, found a church that was willing to restore me and been somewhat able to restore myself. If I had learned anything that I could share with the people who were now looking at me as I stood behind the podium, it was that God’s grace was much bigger than I had ever known when I had served as a pastor.

I preached that day from John 8 – the woman caught in adultery. Yeah, I know. Stupid, right? Actually, that passage had spoken volumes to me in the past two years.

Here’s a woman, caught in the act, cast down at the feet of Christ. On the other side of Christ was the crowd, ready of cast stones, ready to judge her for her sin. The only friend she had in the world that moment was Jesus. In those minutes that raced by during that sermon, I tried to relate how Christ showed all the people in the crowd that they weren’t any better than that woman. All of us are in dire need of forgiveness.

It had only been thirty minutes, but I stepped down for the invitation, exhausted. I didn’t expect much. Just a couple of verses of “Just As I Am” and then maybe we’d hit the Chinese Buffet after church.

I bowed my head as everyone sang the obligatory verses. Then a hand on my shoulder. “Bro. Ray, I’m visiting here today. I’m a deacon in another church. I’m about to tell you something I’ve never told anyone. I committed adultery ten years ago. I needed to know that Jesus could forgive me. I needed to know that I wasn’t alone. Would you pray with me?” Absolutely.

Right after he walked away, another hand on my shoulder. A middle aged woman, “I have to tell you something. I’ve been in a bad, adulterous relationship for a long time. I’m going to go break it off today. I just needed to know there was hope. Would you pray with me?” Yes.

My favorite story in the book of Acts is in chapter 16. Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel and after an incident, they are unjustly beaten within an inch of their lives and jailed. They didn’t complain about their pain or situation, but sang hymns of praise to God. The result? The salvation of the Philippian jailer and his family after they saw the power of God.

The moral of the story is that even in the midst of the worst of times, God is still in control and has a plan and purpose for our pain and suffering.

I realize there’s a huge difference between a pastor who chose adultery and the missionary work of Paul and Silas. After my affair, I had to make a conscious decision to repent and move toward God. There were days that the consequences of my sin – the sin that I chose – were awful. And I accepted that. I knew life wouldn’t ever be the same, but I also knew that despite the path I had chosen, God could take my mess and make it into His message.

That day, after preaching that message, I started to get it figured out a little. Almost like God was telling me, “You can’t ever mess it up enough that I won’t get the glory for it.” Reminds me of a familiar verse, “God causes all things to work together for good . . .”

After the service that day, I wept as I told my wife Allison about what had happened. We remembered the days of the past but looked forward to a future where God would lay things out the way He wanted.

She said, “There’s no hole too deep that we can dig that God can’t dig us out of.”

I said, “Yeah, but I don’t want to find out again.”



Ray Carroll is author of the newly released book, “Fallen Pastor: Finding Restoration in a Broken World.” He blogs at www.fallenpastor.com and is a contributing writer at Provoketive Magazine.

This Week In Cool Stuff

-Fred Clark at Slacktivist tells us the story of Zelophehad's five daughters and how they challenged God's rules in Numbers 27:1-11. Here's what Clark says this story tells us about God:

"This particular story about Z’s daughters shows us what God is like. And what we learn about God in this story is that God listens and God agrees with Mahlah and her sisters. The rules should be fair, they said, and God said yes, yes they should, that’s what they’re for.

If we want to talk about rules then, from this point of view, this story can be seen as giving us a rule about rules: If they are unjust, then they must be changed. 'The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying.'"

So I guess those process theology folks were right all along!

-My good friend Rachel Held Evans wrote a beautiful post called They Were Right (And Wrong) About the Slippery Slope. Money quote:

"Yes, the slippery slope brought doubts. Yes, the slippery slope brought change. Yes, the slippery slope brought danger and risk and unknowns. I am indeed more exposed to the elements out here, and at times it is hard to find my footing.

But when I decided I wanted to follow Jesus as myself, with both my head and heart intact, the slippery slope was the only place I could find him, the only place I could engage my faith honestly.

So down I went."

From personal experience, the "slippery slope" is actually quite fun! A little bumpy sometimes, but still fun.

-Christian Piatt writes about raising a child with Asperger's syndrome.

-Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira over at Relevant Magazine writes about the sudden interest in Christian libertarianism. Excerpt:

Probably one of the biggest disgraces of this 'one nation under God' is that the government has had to step in to help those the Church should’ve been helping, to do what the Church was called to do. The Church failed—and government stepped in. Perhaps the reason many now lean Libertarian is because they’d like the Church to take back—and take seriously—its calling to transform this world. It’s Jesus—not Uncle Sam—that people should see and know whenever blessings flow and mercy, justice and love roll.

I used to identify myself as a libertarian years ago, but then dropped out of it. I don't want to get into a bit political debate, but to me it felt like there was a lot of that Ebeneezer Scrooge mentality. "If they rather die, then they better do it and decrease the surplus population."

-And finally, for all of my fellow children of the '80s, here's what you get when you cross Ferris Bueller with a car commercial:



Genius!

God the Father . . . and Mother?

(Image found at Jesus-passion.com.)

(DISCLAIMER: Throughout this blog post I will use the pronoun “he” to describe God, which might contradict everything I say in this post. But it saves time instead of saying “he/she/it” all the time.)

If you spend as much time on the Christian blogosphere as I do, chances are you probably got wind of John Piper’s recent comments about a more “masculine Christianity.” According to Piper:

“God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother," Piper said. "The second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male...God appoints all the priests in the Old Testament to be men; the Son of God came into the world to be a man; He chose 12 men to be His apostles; the apostles appointed that the overseers of the Church be men; and when it came to marriage they taught that the husband should be the head."

“Now, from all of that I conclude that God has given Christianity a masculine feel,” Piper continued. “And being God, a God of love, He has done that for our maximum flourishing both male and female... He does not intend for women to languish or be frustrated or in any way suffer or fall short of full and lasting joy in this masculine Christianity. From which I infer that the fullest flourishing of women and men takes place in churches and families that have this masculine feel.”

True, most of the nouns attributed to God in the Bible are distinctly masculine: King, Lord, and Father. However, after doing some research I personally think these words are meant to be metaphors for how God relates to His people, rather than definitive statements about His gender.

Today I want to focus on the image of God as father. As someone who grew up without a father, the father image immediately resonated with me. The King of the Universe is also my . . . dad? The father image shows us just how intimate God’s relationship with His people really is. But does this mean God is exclusively a father, and does not have any mother qualities at all?

Nope! Turns out God has qualities of a mother as well as a father.

Probably the most well-known Bible verse that uses the mother image is Isaiah 66:13--"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” [Emphasis mine] In our culture, comforting children is usually thought of as a mom thing. Mom nurtures the kids, while dad disciplines them, right? But in this case God the Father doesn't just discipline His children: He comforts them.

Another key scripture is Matthew 23:37--“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I [Jesus] have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." [Emphasis mine] Notice how Jesus doesn't say "as a rooster;" He says "as a hen." Once again, this verse tells us that God the Father has those nurturing qualities usually reserved for mothers.

It's also interesting to point out that although the father image is used more throughout scripture to describe God, the word "father," according to scholar John Dominic Crossan, actually refers to both father and mother. Here's an excerpt from his book The Greatest Prayer:

"From all those various biblical examples---from Exodus and Deuteronomy to Proverbs and Sirach---I draw two very important conclusions. One is that despite its male-oriented prejudice, the biblical term 'father' is simply a shorthand term for 'father and mother.' In fact, unless context demands exclusive male emphasis, it is usually wiser to presume an inclusive intention.

Another is that 'father and mother' does not just intend 'parent' in charge of children, but rather 'householder' in charge of a home or extended family. The biblical concept of householder does not envisage the single-occupant or even nuclear-family household. It imagines the extended multigenerational household as in those Sabbath day commands. It contains brothers and sisters, unmarried sisters and married brothers, clients and dependents, male and female slaves, animals, lands and tools."

I don't know if God is exclusively male, or even if He has a gender at all. But I don't really understand why so many Christians believe Christianity only has a masculine feel, when God shows characteristics of both a father and a mother.

Not Another Dating Book: A Review

(DISCLAIMER: The publisher gave me an advance copy of this book for free for the sole purpose of this review. However, no one is paying me to write this review. Now back to the review.)

Over the past couple of years I have had the privilege of getting to know Renee Johnson-Fisher. She has definitely talked me down from the ledge on more than one occasion (figuratively speaking, of course, but close enough to the real thing). I am privileged to consider her a friend, and I am privileged to review her brand new book, Not Another Dating Book.

As the title suggests, the book is not your typical "If you have sex, you will get pregnant and die" crap that you read in most Christian dating books. True, a lot of the devotions in this book are about fleeing from fornication, but it's not the entire book. The devotions in this book talk about what to look for in a mate, how to maintain a relationship, and how our relationship reflect God's relationship with us.

Renee is at her best when she writes about her history with dating and relationships. She's not afraid to talk about past relationships gone bad, and how she struggled with singleness for years before she met her husband Marc (which was when she was half-way finished with the book).

Thumbs up for me!