Troy Sims

#3 – Most Overlooked in John’s Gospel: Where Are You Staying?

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This is the third in a series of undetermined length where I’ll be looking at passages that I feel often get “skipped over” when considering the gospel according to John.  If you haven’t read the previous posts, please, please read at least the first one as this will continue to build off of that one.  You can find previous articles here:

  1. Only Son of God?
  2. Born Again?

Here, we consider:

John 1:  38 When Jesus turned and saw [two of John the Baptizer’s disciples] following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying [literally abiding]?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. (NRSV)

John 6:56  Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

John 14:  18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (NRSV)

John 15:  4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. (NRSV)

John 17:  20 “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.(NRSV)

It sounds like a pretty innocuous question.  It seems that the question is answered pretty innocuously.

“Where are you staying [abiding], rabbi?”

“Come and see.”

They saw where he was staying [abiding].

I was surprised, then, when biblical scholar Jaime Clark-Soles drew our attention to these verses in the DVD of the Invitation to John Short Term Disciple Bible Study.  She pointed out what often happens in the attempt to make for “good” or “easy” English when making a translation from Greek: we fail to realize that in this passage is a word that gets used numerous times throughout the rest of the book – abide.  In Greek, the word translated as “staying” above in vss. 1:38-39 is actually the same Greek word that is translated as “abide” elsewhere in John.  We find the word in 6:56 and multiple times in 15:4-11.  I was really excited.

And yet, it seems like the innocuous question of verse 38 is answered in verse 39.  Is it really significant?

Well, then I began to take notice of how sometimes, when asked a question in the gospel according to John, Jesus either changes the subject or answers a very literal question with a highly metaphorical answer.

For instance, Nicodemus asks in John 3, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”  Ever notice that Jesus doesn’t answer his questions of how and can?  He just says you have to.  You have to be born of the Spirit, born from above.  To really get the answer, you have to read the rest of the book.

Likewise, when told about living water in John 4, the Samaritan woman at the well requests, “Where can I get this water?  I’m tired of lugging water back and forth!”  Jesus ignores the request and says, “Go get your husband. . . ”  You have to keep reading.

So, what happens if we consider that maybe the answer the two disciples were looking for, “Where are you staying?” is not really answered by Jesus until later in the gospel?  How does Jesus answer this question, “Where are you abiding?” as they continue on the way, the journey, of faith?

“I abide in God, in God’s love,” says Jesus in 10:38; 14:10-11, 20; 15:10; and 17:21.  We see in 14:10-11 that Jesus says what he says and can do what he does because of this relationship of Jesus being in God and God being in Jesus.

“I abide in you and with you,” says Jesus in 6:56; 14:19, 23; 15:4; and 17:23.

And yet, the Jesus of John does not leave it at that.  “You,” he says, “must abide in me, in my love, as I already abide in you!” (vss. 15:4, 9)

Why?  Why does Christ abide in us and want us to abide in him?  So that we will be Christ’s disciples AND bear fruit (vss. 15:5, 8).

“Whatchu talkin’ ’bout Jesus?  People keep telling me it ain’t what I do but that I believe!”

Jesus’ response in John 14:12 is, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” Believing and doing go hand-in-hand.  What we see here is that we can’t have one without the other – kinda like James 2:26: faith without works is dead.

But, there is an important distinction that we often overlook.  We can only do the same (and greater) works as Jesus if we abide in Christ, for apart from Christ we can do nothing (vs. 15:5). Just as Jesus only says what God says to say and can only do what he does by God being in him and him in God (vss. 14:10-11), when we are in Christ as Christ is in us, we only say what Jesus says and do what Jesus does by Christ who is in God and God who is in Christ.  If God is in Christ and Christ is in us, God is in us.  If we are in Christ who is in God, we are also in God.  In fact, that is Jesus’ prayer in chapter 17 of John, that we be one with God and Christ as they are one with each other – all intermingled. We are the next step, if we are willing, in the incarnation of God to this hurting world.

Notice all the present-tense-ness of this abiding?  Being in Christ and in God (and them in us) is not something that is supposed to happen later.  The purpose is our bearing fruit, our doing works – our being the incarnation of God as Jesus was – NOW!  It’s not something to wait for God to do by God’s self someday.  It is not something that happens when we die.

If all this abiding is happening now, don’t we have relationship with God and Christ NOW?  And that, that relationship – that knowing – is what eternal life is.  If you don’t believe me, read John 17:3:

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Maybe, then, when Jesus talks of going to prepare a place for us in God’s house in John 14:1-4, he’s really talking about here and now, not heaven someday in the future.  It says he’ll bring us to him, but isn’t that the invitation of John 15 – abide in me as I abide in you?  And notice the shift in John 14:23.  It isn’t simply that Jesus will draw us to him.  No.  Now it says that God and Jesus will come to dwell with us.

We are drawn to them.  They come to dwell with us.  We are to abide in them as they already abide in us.  Togetherness.  Relationship.  Give and take.  Becoming one.  Journeying together.  Incarnation.

Where am I abiding?  Where are you abiding?  Where are we abiding?  Hopefully in Christ who is in God who is in Christ who is in us.  For if this is the case, we will bear much fruit for God’s kingdom, doing the same and greater works as Jesus.

Here are other verses I plan to cover in this series (though not necessarily in this order):

  • John 4:34 & 10:9
  • John 5:19-20, 14:12, & 15:12-17
  • John 10:38-39, 1:12, 14:12, & 17:20-23
  • John 14:15, 12:49-50, & 13:34
  • John 17:3 & 12:49-50

A Surprising Place to Find God
– by Carolyn Bell

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This is a guest post by my friend Carolyn Bell.  She is a member of First United Methodist Church in Wichita Falls, Texas where she taught preschool at the School for Little People for 25 years – and still teaches yoga to four year olds!  Currently, she teaches the High School Girls Sunday School Class and participates in several study groups.  A certified yoga teacher, Carolyn teaches at Anytime Fitness, also in Wichita Falls.  You can learn more about a transformation in her life and her personal yoga journey on her blog:  yogafriends.wordpress.com.  She is married to Dewayne, and they have two adult sons.

Growing up, I had a traditional Christian upbringing within several Methodist churches, but I was surprised to discover a deepening of my faith on my yoga mat. I started a yoga practice about 14 years ago at a time when my personal anxiety was at an all-time high level. For many reasons, I have had a struggle with an anxiety disorder over the years. No amount of prayer or positive thinking or medications had helped me to overcome my overstimulated nervous system. My body was in that “flight or fight” syndrome most of the time, and I felt very fragile.  While I struggled to remain present in my body at my first yoga experience, I soon discovered the reward at the end of class… meditation.  It was in this contemplative state that I opened myself to new possibilities and to new life. I prayed for God’s presence and for His guidance. After six years of practice I knew that God was opening a path for me to teach yoga, and I responded. Yoga has given me techniques to calm and integrate my body, mind, and breath.  The continued practice of meditation has given me the ability to open myself as a vessel for the creative flow of God. I know more than ever that, “In God I live and move and have my being.” (Acts 17: 28) God is the creative spirit of life. I see his work all around me. Meditation has allowed me to open myself in ways that I never imagined.  I discovered for myself that yoga integrates the movement of the body and mind with the breath which allows your spirit the freedom to soar.

A few years after beginning my yoga practice, I was faced with more challenges to my personal belief system. As my heart softened, I altered my view of what I thought I believed. I discovered a new vision for the Kingdom of God, one that I was already participating in here on earth. As I let go of the rigidity of my mind, I understood anew ways of understanding the stories in the Bible and the message that Jesus brought forward. By softening the hard edges of my mind, body, spirit connection I leaned more into progressive Christianity with authors like Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, John Shelby Spong, Walter Wink, Brian D. McLaren, and Rob Bell. These authors make me think and re-evaluate my life purpose as a follower of Jesus. At times, I struggled with thoughts like, “Is it okay for me to think like this?” “What will others think about me if I don’t believe the standard message anymore?” and finally, “This is more exciting and amazing information than I ever thought possible!”  In years past I probably would have panicked and run away from anything that went against my traditional theology.  But because I had the tools that I needed to stand firm and open my heart to listen, and to use my mind to comprehend what I was presented, I gained new insight, new knowledge, new understanding.  I believe that my yoga practice has had an influence on how I accepted this new vision of Christ in my life.  There is something about yoga that requires you to step outside of your comfort zone… to be unafraid… to face your fears and let them flow out of your body with your breath.  Thomas Merton said, “When the heart is right, ‘for’ and ‘against’ are forgotten.”  Many yoga postures open your heart, freeing you from fear and encouraging you to stand firm, to find that balance between surrender and strength.  This balance of the body and mind with the breath allows you to flow in synchronicity within yourself, and it has an impact on how open your heart is toward others.  For me, the breath is the God given “pneuma” of life itself in God’s Holy Spirit.  You feel a connection with those near to you and to all of life.  In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus himself tells us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself.” Yoga has introduced me to another culture, to another philosophy, to tools for living, and even to new music. This gained knowledge has helped me to gain new insight for my own culture and religious belief system.  I have fellowshipped with and grown closer to people that I never would have known otherwise.  I have dropped the rigid dividing walls of my mind.  Yoga has given me the tools that I needed to face my fears, to cleanse them with the breath of God’s spirit, to be still before my God, and to serve others in love.

I have heard the Christian naysayers who speak up against yoga saying that the two practices are incompatible. For me, yoga has enhanced my spiritual life especially through the meditation practice.  I have learned how to be still before my God and listen for His voice and direction in my life.  Yoga did originate in India 6000 years ago, and it does have a philosophy that is described in the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali.  It is a scientific system that enables one to build strength along with flexibility which encourages inner growth and discipline.  Yoga has taught me how to breathe correctly, how to balance effort with relaxation, how to be present in difficult circumstances, how to feel grounded with good posture, how to quiet my mind in order to think or not think, how to move my body with the breath, and how important it is to rest in order to be at ease in the world.  Yoga balances the energy in my body. If I did not feel this balance then I would not be able to interact fully with those around me; I would be on the couch with a blanket over my head!  Through my studies, I have discovered that there is a yoga ‘mudra’ or hand position which symbolizes Christ’s presence in your life, and your hands are repeatedly placed in a prayer position throughout the practice.  Yoga has helped me to free my tense body, heart, and mind to God, to others, and to my own inner wisdom.  From my perspective God has blessed me with this physical practice of yoga.

I have continued as a yoga teacher for the past 8 years and even share my passion with children by teaching yoga through story and movement.  There are wonderful yoga stories available for children that teach ways for them to deal with their emotions, to playfully imitate animals, and to learn to quiet their mind and bodies. My yoga practice has been an amazing and opening experience for me. Each class is a time of present moment awareness and of opening myself to God’s presence and to His creative flow. I believe that God is working within me to share this practice with others. Relationships have grown with those who practice with me as we have become more connected through our shared experience. I know that I can’t help but include my Christian faith as part of my yoga practice. It is a part of who I am; however, I have discovered that yoga encourages the same qualities of love, compassion, peace, patience, and humility that Jesus shared with us as the fruits of the Spirit. I encourage you to add a time of meditation to your daily life and experience the ever present Spirit of God for yourself.  Every breath we take connects us to God if we acknowledge Him. That breath flows through every organ and vessel of our bodies, cleansing our systems and filling us with new life.  Experience the connection for yourself, and open your heart to new possibilities.  Find your strength in stillness before God.

Namaste – Carolyn

Hometown Prophet – A Book Review

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Honestly, I’ve always been skeptical of the “supernatural” – predicting the future, speaking in tongues, miracles, and the like. On top of that, I’ve come to believe that the biblical prophets were not predicting the future so much as telling people to shape up for a good future or expect a dismal future if they stay on their current path. Think about it.  That’s the task that Jonah is faced with (that he runs away from), and when he tells his archenemies, the Ninevites, they actually do what he says, to his chagrin. Their future is good.

As I got about one third of the way through Hometown Prophet by Jeff Fulmer, a story about a slightly below average man turned supernatural predictor of the future, I was ready to give up on the book. Three things kept me going:

  1. I’d made a deal with www.TheSpeakEasy.info. They’d given me a free book in return for a review of it. I wasn’t going to go back on my deal.
  2. Some of my friends had told me that if I read the Left Behind series as pure fiction, they could be enjoyable. I’ll take their word for that, but I figured I could look at this as pure fiction and get past differences in theology.
  3. If I was honest, though, I had heard and experienced some supernatural events that called my thoughts into question:
  • My Grandma often told the story of my Dad as a little tyke riding his tricycle in the kitchen. He’d had a wreck, falling back on the wood burning stove neck first. Nothing they could do would stop his crying. I don’t remember whether the doctor was not in town, or he couldn’t do anything either. As a last resort, they took him to a local “healer” who said something, spit in her hand, and touched his neck. Grandma said he quit crying instantly.
  • A seminary professor of mine had told the story of a United Methodist seminarian who’d graduated a few years before my time. He’d grown up in and accepted his call in UM churches that practiced “traditional” worship. Once, as a requirement for a seminary class, he’d attended a Pentecostal church to write a paper about worship styles. Much to his surprise, he was “slain in the Spirit” and spoke in tongues leaving him questioning whether glossolalia was really “repugnant to the word of God” as Methodist doctrine proclaims.
  • I’d taken a college-aged group to a revival service featuring an exuberant preacher. After her sermon, she invited folks to come to the altar to pray if they felt led. She, in turn, went around to each person, laid hands on each, and prayed out loud for each without speaking to person. One young woman in my group went forward to pray. She had confided in me recently about some difficulties she was facing. She was a total stranger to the preacher, but the preacher prayed specifically for the problems the young lady was facing.

Armed with the insights above, I continued on.

Peter Quill is a 31 year old college grad who never really made it, and he finds himself back at home – without a job and living with his divorced mother. He’d given up on church, but when he is awakened by a very vivid, lucid dream about his childhood pastor, he decides to go to church. Inspired by his dream and the sermon he hears, Peter goes forward to tell the now-older pastor that he should get his heart checked out. Turns out he does have a life-threatening blockage. Thus begins a story of one who has dreams that predict the future following a time of interpretation.

Frankly, the first third of the book was rather predictable for me as Peter’s predictions get wider, affecting larger numbers of people of his community in and around Nashville. I also found this portion of the book rather slow moving failing to hold my interest. Yet, shortly following this, twists and turns began to happen and predictability went out the window. A love interest for the prophet entered the story adding more depth to the plot and to Peter. On top of that, Peter’s dreaming went from being simply foretelling the future to being about changing people’s attitudes and actions, too, which was closer to my way of thinking. By the beginning of the last third of the book, I was engrossed in a real page-turner, and I did not want to put it down.

Socially speaking, the book promotes ideas that I appreciate: care for the poor, care for the environment, and respect for other religions. It also highlights the hypocrisy of some forms of Christianity that pick and choose the “sins” they want to highlight in society while overlooking others. It promotes moving the church beyond its own walls out into community, and it encourages individuals to take the personal responsibility of looking out for one’s neighbors. It also encourages persons to grow in their self-esteem as they begin to discover and use their God-given gifts (as Peter does throughout the book).

This book fits into what I call theological fiction. Other books that fit this genre for me include Marcus Borg’s Putting Away Childish Things: A Tale of Modern Faith (which I really enjoyed), Joseph F. Girzone’s Joshua: A Parable for Today, and William P. Young’s The Shack. These seem heavy-handed in theology, though. Some sections could easily be excerpted from these works of fiction and plopped down in a non-fiction theology book; thus, in many ways, they don’t always feel like novels to me.

In contrast, I enjoyed how Fulmer includes theology in his book in a more background way. There are no long speeches or narratives espousing theology. There’s theology there but not overtly. Thus, the book was much more readable as a novel.

And yet, I still struggle with some aspects of the theology. Most I can squint my eyes through, but I’m left with the idea that the author might be espousing a theology in which God causes natural disasters to teach people lessons.  Now, I’m not sure, after looking at his website, that Fulmer feels that way, but the book certainly left me feeling that way.  I just can’t go there. The character of God that I see in Jesus doesn’t do that. For sure, God can teach us things in response to natural disasters – and I believe God does. But, the God I know doesn’t cause natural disasters.

As a work of fiction, I think Hometown Prophet is a real good read, especially once you get past the first third with the last third being the best. There are good elements of theology sprinkled in, but one should think critically about all aspects of the theology found there – and anywhere, for that matter.

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About Jeff Fulmer, the author of  Hometown Prophet:

Jeff grew up in Franklin Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, where he attended a conservative, charismatic church that actively sought the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After graduating from Pepperdine University, he bounced around for a few introspective years before eventually moving back home to Tennessee. Along the way, he began to question some of his longstanding beliefs and attempted to reconcile his political and religious views. Increasingly, he became saddened and angered with how Christianity was so misrepresented for personal and political gain.  Hometown Prophet was born out of that frustration.  Learn more at www.hometownprophetbook.com.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

Heart, Mind, and Kidneys: Can We Find Balance?

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Probe me, O LORD, and try me,
test my kidneys and heart;
for my eyes are on your steadfast love;
I have set my course by it.
Psalm 26:2-3 (TANAKH)

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One of my favorite “styles” of worship is that of the black church.  The energy, emotion, and enthusiasm are palpable, and time flies through what would normally be seen as a “long” worship service.  As someone who often stays in his head too much, I enjoy the opportunity to feel for a change.

I vividly remember my first such experience on Palm Sunday of 1998 as I helped chaperon a group of 6th grade confirmands with Rev. Jill Jackson-Sears to St. Luke “Community” United Methodist in Dallas, Texas.   Dr. Zan Holmes was still the Senior Pastor there at the time.  I still remember a major point of his sermon from that day, it was so good. Except for only 3 years, I never failed to return with a confirmation class each year for them to experience such an important legacy within the church.

A few years ago when I took a group, they had a guest preacher.  I don’t remember his name or why he was preaching that day.  I do remember that he was not United Methodist but from a more conservative denomination.  I remember thinking that was kind of odd, but I didn’t concern myself with it other than I hoped he’d preach as well as one of the church’s “staff preachers.”

As usually happens when attending such a service, I was quickly drawn into the impassioned sermon.  As he got going, so did I.  As he got more excited, so did I.  As he got to moving around, so did I.  The guy had me in the palm of his hand, and I was a willing participant in the call and response style preaching.  About 2/3 of the way through the sermon, I finally engaged my brain for the first time.  “What did he just say?” I asked myself incredulously.  I began questioning much of what he had said up to that point, and it was so NOT Methodist nor anything related to my own personal theology.  Yet, my emotions had brought me along for a ride that my mind would have normally said, “No!” to.

For the first time, I felt like I had experienced being a part of the so-called “mob mentality,” and I didn’t like it.  No matter what my “heart” was saying in my receiving of the wacked message in the beginning, it was still WRONG.

As a person too often stuck in my head, I’m left with an uncomfortable tension of how to properly involve my emotions in my life and in my life of faith.

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Although it was certainly not my favorite of the Short Term Disciple Bible Studies, studying along with the Invitation to Psalmsstudy at First United Methodist in Wichita Falls, Texas was insightful in a number of ways – especially by using The New Interpreter’s Study Bible and the TANAKH translation of the Psalms.

One such insight can be seen in Psalm 26:2-3, which opened this post.  More than likely, you’ve never seen it translated that way.  You are probably more familiar with something like this:

Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.
Psalm 26:2-3 (NRSV)

Yet,the second line is literally “kidneys and heart” – in that order.  Say what?!

For ancient Hebrews, the kidneys were the seat or place of human conscience and emotions.  The heart was not; rather, the heart was the decision making organ, what we would call the mind.  Let’s consider some of the implications for this.

The Shema says,

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NRSV)

What we literally have in that third line is “with all your decision making organ, and with all your very being, and with all your strength / energy.”  Yet, how often do we sentimentalize the word “heart” into our emotions when the functionality of the word is mind.  It’s fascinating to see that Jesus, in quoting the Shema, adds “mind” to the list (or does he add heart?) – see Mark 12:30, Matthew 22:37 (which replaces might with mind), and Luke 10:27.  Either way, he wants both, not just one.

Consider the proclamation of the New Covenant found in Jeremiah 31:

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (NRSV)

What we see here, again, is that God in the New Covenant will write the law on their “decision making organs” – in functionality, their minds – the place of memory.  The law won’t be written on their conscience or emotions as the passage is often interpreted.

Consider, also, Deuteronomy 10:16:

Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. (NRSV)

You guessed it, “Circumcise . . . the foreskin of  your decision making organ,” is what is really meant here.

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So what am I getting at?  What is my point?

I think part of my concern is that I think that often our decisions to do this or that is based more out of emotion than rational thought – or better, a balance of the two.  So much of the rhetoric of this politically charged time of life in the USA, if you really think about it, is emotionally charged.

Recently, I had an interchange with a “friend” on Facebook.  The individual had posted a picture with text discrediting a certain political candidate.  It sounded a bit hokey, so I researched it and discovered the info was false.  So, I posted that.  In the “discussion” that followed, I discovered that the person “felt” that it was okay to spread lies about people that this person thought would make bad decisions about our country.  Really?!  Defaming someone’s character is okay so long as I feel it’s okay?!

That is decision-making based solely in emotion, not rational thought – at least in my estimation (but maybe I’m wrong).

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So what can we do?

One of the best bits of pastoral care advice I ever got was from my mentor, Rev. John Mollet.  He said sometimes, when a person has had a traumatic experience, they may respond with hysterics, which are usually based in emotion.  Obviously, the person needs to deal with what has happened but sometimes this can be debilitating, so John recommended asking the person questions that engage their minds.  What actually happened?  How many people were involved?  What time did it happen?  Notice these are all seeking “factual” answers, but they take the focus off of emotion.

Some will respond on the other extreme and not “feel” anything, which is not healthy either.  John recommended asking questions that get at the person’s emotions.  How did it feel when that happened?  What do you feel was taken away from you in that event?  These are seeking “emotional” answers to help someone experience needed emotion.

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I’m reminded of a story told by Tex Sample of his friend Jimmy Hope Smith and his Daddy who is “unredeemed in some very serious ways.”  The thing that draws the Smith family together each day is the TV; everything they do in the house happens in front of that set.

One day, while watching TV together, Rev. Jesse Jackson came on the screen.  Jimmy Hope’s Daddy said, “Someone oughta shoot him!  They oughta just shoot him!”

He’s stuck in emotion.

Jimmy Hope responded, “Daddy, you think someone really oughta shoot Jesse Jackson?”

“Yeah, I do!  They oughta just shoot him!”

“Well, Daddy, if you think someone oughta shoot Jesse Jackson, I think you oughta go to church on Sunday and pray that someone will shoot Jesse Jackson.”

“Boy!  Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout?  You know Jesus ain’t gonna put up with that shit!”

Jimmy Hope made his Daddy really think about what he was saying, and in the end, emotion was still there along with the working of the mind.

Balance.  Something we all need.

Reason: Well, What Do You Think? – A Sermon

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I was blessed to be able to preach today at Capitol Hill United Methodist in Washington, DC where my wife, Sandra, and I have been attending since moving to the DC area in March. In this sermon, I continued an on-going series on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, particularly reason.

Listen to it here:

Right-mouse-click here to download audio.

The Scripture passage that provided inspiration for the sermon was:

Mark 4:10-12; 33-34
10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12 in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ “

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

A Progressive Christian Education / Nurture
– by Rev. Ben Marshall

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This is a guest post by Rev. Ben Marshall, a colleague from the North Texas Annual Conference.  Ben is a retired Elder in the United Methodist Church residing in Dallas, Texas, who wants to continue to contribute to the faith formation of persons. He has served for over 4 decades as a Christian educator, seeking to understand how persons come to faith and how to communicate to them about the nature of our God who loves them.

Ben graduated from Perkins School of Theology in 1963 and received a Doctor of Ministry degree in Christian Education in 1982. He has completed the studies in Spiritual Guidance at Shalom Institute for Spiritual Formation and continues to practice spiritual direction as well as write and teach.

Ben and his wife, Karan, a young childhood specialist, have two children, two grandchildren and a black dog.

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I received an invitation to write in this Blog, and I appreciate that. Among the suggested topics was “progressive Christian education”. I chose that and want to share about a particular perspective on that issue. I may come back later and add some other stuff.

First, let’s don’t call it “education,” let’s call it nurture, or maybe formation. The problem with the terms is that there are so many definitions depending upon who is talking and what their concerns are. So I am talking–writing rather–and we have a problem with the term “education” in the church having come to mean “schooling” or the passing on of information. Our approach to the faith has for too long been one of asking people simply to “accept the concepts–the theology” at the intellectual level. Therefore, we have been “educating” them with the theology, the biblical knowledge, etc. There is more, much more to Christian nurture than that. Fortunately many people are catching on, at least in some recent writings. I doubt that it has filtered down too far as yet in terms of our actual practice in the local church.

We progressives like to make sure that we help people to not leave their brains at the door to the church. We also need to make sure that they bring their hearts. Christianity is fundamentally about a relationship, a heart thing, that then leads to loving action. I wonder if Jesus had not known God as “abba” (Daddy) if he would have been as compassionate as he was?

That is not to say that there is not a great deal to be done to help people to be able to think about and question the church’s theology and the bible stories, etc., because there is–definitely. We progressive clergy have done a disservice to our laity for being afraid a long time ago to let them know what the latest in biblical scholarship and theology was really saying–even if we had to leave that church. At least a few of the folks who were ready to hear it would have heard it, and maybe we would be a long way down the road now.

But, back to the heart thing. I think the mainline church has lost members, not because it was too progressive, but because it was not progressive enough. More importantly it was not spiritually deep enough. I keep remembering a book written back in the 90’s that reported on interviews with people who left the church, and the main reason they left was that they did not find there an significant encounter with God! Wow!

People are spiritually starving! Just look at the present booming interest in spirituality and not so much religion. My point is that we progressives have to be careful that as we help people be able to raise their questions and find a meaningful “head” theology, we must even more importantly help them to allow God’s Heart to touch their own heart. That means that we have to get to that place where we pray on a daily basis and let God really love us as God is trying to do–to open up to that love and let God give us what we are really seeking along with the good theology we are talking about. Otherwise we won’t be able to help them in the way they need helping.

~ Rev. Ben Marshall