mel-web

I have no words that I use outside of church that I won’t use inside. I can say fuck in church without offending God. After all it was us who decided that fuck is a “bad word” not God. I don’t say it because I have no reason to (unless, of course, I stub my toe). On the other hand I have words I use at church but not in casual conversation.  Shouldn’t my vocab always be bidirectional?

In writing just a few entries I’ve had to correct myself from using ‘church words’. I want to keep these entries casual. They’re all synonyms really, almost, mostly. When I’m in the faith talk mode I think of things in strong, powerful ways. The church words seem to reflect that more. However, they do detract from the down to earth tone here. But there is one word that I in certain instances I can’t help but want to use.

Making Oaths, Commitments, Promises and… Covenants

Many times we make promises, and most of us follow through on them. My S.O. promised to dance with me at a friend’s wedding earlier this month and low and behold he swept me out on to the floor and made my heart melt.

On the flip side promises are often broken too. They’re made lightly and treated so by all parties involved. No harm, no foul.  It’s a natural part of humanity and the culture I’m a part of.

We do also make promises in this life that are so important that we might have signed with blood, or for that matter with our soul. Marriage is one. Commitment to follow Christ is another. There are lots more. These aren’t mere promises though.  These sorts of oaths, these pledges, have special a special name in church vocab.  We call such commitments covenants.

But I’ve never use the word covenant in casual conversation. It’s one of those words that doesn’t cross over from church to day-to-day life.  A covenant can be thought of like and unwritten contract.  But really, isn’t that what a promise is?  But we often treat a promise with far less respect.  Are promise and covenant really synonyms in casual conversation? Is that to say when I make a promise that I haven’t made such and oath or pledge of such magnitude? What if I were more committed in every promise I made?  What would happen if we all took a promise with as much importance as we treated covenants?  What if we treated a promise to a person the same as we treated a promise to God?  How do I treat promises made to me?  How does God treat promises I make to him?

Originally I attributed the following quote to my favorite band dc Talk as they quote it before the song “What if I Stumble”. However, it turns out it’s a quote from the Christian speaker and author Brennan Manning.

The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. This, is what an unbelieving world, simply finds, unbelievable.

He speaks not of all Christians but of a very specific group of us. Those of us who say we’re Christians but do not live like we are. We live as hypocrites, picking and choosing when to behave like Christians.  We choose which neighbors and family we accept.  We claim that church is about us and that we personally don’t need to be there on Sunday.  Why would anyone want to join a faith where the followers don’t follow? Have we set ourselves up to make sharing our faith harder than is possible so that we don’t have to do it? Are we embarrassed about our faith? Are we weak? Do we lack the knowledge about our own faith to give us the courage to live it? Do we simply lack the how-to of living in love and peace? What is it that holds us back from living a Christian life?

Just wanted to point out that I’ve added a few new stories in that department. Of particular interest are 2 that have touched my life forever:

Train Bridge

Silversmith

Religious nuts ask “Have you found God?” or “Have you found Jesus?” which always make me think of ridiculous movie quotes, particularly of Robin Williams. What about the reverse “Has God found you?” Slightly less stereotype-Jesus-Freak but still pretty corny. The point is, it’s not heavenly-hide-n-seek. You don’t “find” God. And for that matter God doesn’t find you. Like it or not, no matter what, you were, are, and forever will be in his presence. It is His planet after all.

When you live with someone who loves you they do things for you that you don’t notice all the time. My mom did so much for me that I was totally unaware of (until I moved out of course). Those little subtle loving gestures are so easy to miss if you’re not looking for them. I don’t know if I made my bed everyday, but it was made when I got home. Honestly, I probably thought I made it more often than I actually did. That’s how is with God too. If you’re not looking for His work you probably won’t notice it. But you’re on his planet and He sees you, and if you look, you’ll see Him.

So if God’s not hiding from us, and we’re not hidden from Him what’s the problem? Those religious nuts are obviously trying to talk to us about something. Some landmark experience? Maybe for some. But I’m doubting that’s how it is for most of us. I think it’s more about acknowledging that we like Him being there. Not just when we really want Him, but all the time, every day, every hour. Here’s the hard part: if you want Him there, in what capacity do you want Him there? It’s a lot easier to keep God behind you, watching your back. But is that really where your teacher told you to be? Leading? Telling God where you’re going? If God’s your co-pilot I think you’re in the wrong seat.

God, who created the mankind, isn’t likely to take orders from tiny little you. So quit playing games. God’s not hiding from you, and you can’t hide from God. But you can work with Him. Think about it. What if you set your goals not on things you can see here, but on what God sees for you? To be focused on God, on love, on the unknown places He’ll take me which are beyond what I can want for myself. Wow. That’s an awe inspiring idea. I’m aiming for that! And that my friends is something worth waking up for in the morning!

Do I believe God is the only God? Yes.

Do I believe God gave me His son to be my Savior? Yes. “Wouldn’t have a savior if I didn’t need him.”

Do I Worship God? You bet!

Do I Worship Jesus? Nope.

WHAT?!

That’s right. I don’t worship Jesus. I praise God. That’s what Jesus taught me. Jesus is my teacher. He came to teach the world of love. Taught us of God’s love, of love between people, even people you don’t like. I call myself a Christian because I am attempting (with great difficulty) to follow Christ. That is what being a Christian is all about. Being a true disciple is to be a student of the greatest teacher of love and peace that ever walked this planet.

But to take the title of Christian I take a lot of baggage. The Crusades? Yep, that was shitty and no true follower would kill in the name of love. Neither was any dirty hand in history that claimed association with the church. Christian Nazi? Um, no! Some crap-tastic highlights: Indulgence, Inquisition, and Rapture (because God has favorites). I’m not good with the Pope. I don’t think Jesus’ Mom is really who I should pray to (after all Jesus didn’t). And I would have drank the wine Jesus made, and I’ll drink with him on good occasion now. Dancing is good too! You want to know a huge secret? God invented sex too, in fact, He hand crafted the parts! (But do save it for your spouse please).

I don’t display a cross on my car, or wear it around my neck. I don’t have crazy bumper stickers to share my perspectives on salvation. I pray to God that my actions shows where my faith is. I pray that my face displays Him in all that I do. And if that is the case then I guess the label is unnecessary.

But when people ask, I still say Christian.  What am I supposed to say?  Is there a better title?  If there was a better title would I have the guts to use it?  Would I make it into a bumper sticker?  Would a new title start a movement?  Would it even make the news?  If I had a title that was clean and pure, untainted by history, would it have as much meaning?  Christians have been so persecuted globally for thousands of years, shouldn’t I own up to that side of it?  Take the name of martyrs and claim the good with the bad just like God claims all mankind?

I’ve always wanted to be a mom. Sometimes I get accused (and rightfully so) of playing mom to my friends. The older I get the more I realize how important parents, and all caregivers are. If ask an older person, your grandpa perhaps, him about getting into trouble as a kid he’ll have some tales for ya. But the neighbor turned him in, or mom caught him and he had some spectacular (and probably exaggerated) consequences. What happened to that? I see kids in my neighborhood misbehaving. I don’t even know what house they live in, let alone what their parent’s names are. Heck, I couldn’t tell you a single one of my neighbors’ names.

At this point in my life I blame a lack of good parenting and community for just about everything. And I’m a part of that! Nope, I don’t have kids. But I’m not doing what I pledged to do. Every time a child is baptized the congregation says the following.

[Child's Name], we welcome you into the Lord’s family. We receive you as a fellow member of the body of Christ and child of the same heavenly Father. We will care for you, pray for you and support your parents as they go about the holy task of raising you up in Christ.

Can you (because it’s difficult for me) imagine what it would be like if the whole community took such a pledge to heart? At first it would be more like what it was for our elders, but what about after a few generations? What support did you not get as a kid that a neighbor could have given you? What would be different if someone had filled in the holes when you were young? Why aren’t you filling in those needs for those around you now?

It’s these trains of thought that run through my head each day that inspire this blog. These strings of questions challenge my way of life and my beliefs. It’s what I chew on all day. Each day, or even each hour, sometimes as often as each minute a new inspiration gives me something tasty to chew on. They all stem from a Christian world view, but even a non-Christian could see worth in them. I hope that you find the rest of what’s to come in my blog to be inspirational and thought provoking.