God - in black & white or color?

It may be that I am lazy and enjoy watching television, but I have recently began to realize that I really do not know what it is like to watch television in only black and white. My whole life I have watched television in color. Color is a whole different experience than black and white; and now with HD that makes the experience even more enjoyable. Color allows me to see things more clearly, and I can take part in a deeper view of things. If I had viewed the world through a black and white television, I may never see the world as it really is.

The same is true with our view of God through biblical interpretation. The literalistic, scientific reading that has so permeated our churches is somewhat disturbing. Such individuals have said to me, “Evan, why can’t people just read the Bible as is? That’s what it says, so I believe it.” I believe that many fear any interpretive style other than because they believe that it will allow for all types of unorthodox interpretation. The only problem is, Hasn’t that happened anyway? Or hasn’t it gotten worse since the literalistic style has become popular? I mean, if we are honest, we can make the Bible say whatever we want and say, “That’s what it says, so I believe it.”

And doesn’t the literalistic reading draw us to view God in a limited manner in the same way as watching TV in black and white? Doesn’t it limit the meaning the text (or worse, the Holy Spirit) could possibly give? Ultimately, the literalistic view draws on ‘authorial intent.’ But could not God mean something greater than what the author meant? I think so.

If we adopt an interpretive style such as that of Origen, the other church fathers, or the medieval interpreters with multiple-layered meanings of Scripture, it may bring us to view God in color again. We are very quick to place God in our boxes (as stated in my previous post) and limit him because we are scared people can just say what they want and come up with unorthodox views. But…God is not scared of these things, and neither should we be.

I am tired of God being ‘immovable,’ ‘omnipotent,’ or ‘providential.’ I do believe he is all of these things, but wouldn’t it be better to view God in metaphor and in color? God is ‘a safe place,’ ‘a consuming fire,’ or ‘Love.’ I believe that our literalistic view of biblical interpretation and our rejection of the multi-layered view has limited our view of God and has bred more (or, at least, the same amount of) unorthodox views than such were found prior.

I hope to write more about this later, but this is good for now.

The Irrelevancy of Theological Compartmentalizing

I have been more and more convinced that theological compartments have become irrelevant to the current discussion. I believe we prefer compartmentalizing since it allows laziness and removes us from any accountability for our definitions. Part of the problem is the assumption made that we are all “talking about the same thing.” I have been recently been reminded about many individuals’ responses to the “emerging church.” Many have asked me, “Are you emerging?” Or, “Are you emergent?” My response has often been, “I would consider myself a part of that conversation, but what do you mean by those terms?”

We enjoy putting people in our “boxes” because, if you fit in a certain box, I can live more comfortably with who you are. For instance, if I am “emergent,” people place me inside the same box they put Brian McLaren, and, so, Evan is like Brian McLaren.

Compartments may have worked at one point, particularly during modernity. However, especially, terms like “conservative” and “liberal,” such terms have become irrelevant. I know people still believe that these compartments still work, but I ask, “Please, please, don’t put me in one of your boxes. I am me, not anyone else.”

We like our boxes. We hug them and hold them close. But really they are irrelevant when dealing with real life. It’s just that…people are messier than our compartments. For some, I am “conservative,” but, for others, I am “liberal.” So, which one am I then? Does it make you too uncomfortable to not place a term on me, or not put me inside of your box? Please, just let it be.

Good guys wear white hats and carry M4 assault rifles

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-police-assault-rifles,0,2104512.story

I recently read the above article about how the Chicago police will be receiving M4 assault rifles in order to better fight street gangs and the like. The mayor of Chicago feels that this is necessary since their police officers are often “outgunned” on the streets. Thus, they are giving assault rifles to the police, which they believe will better “protect” them.

I find this article to be disturbing, not from the standpoint of protecting the police - I am all for protecting the police. In fact, I have numerous family members who work for the Philadelphia Police Department, and the last thing I want to happen to any of them is for them to be unprotected, as it were - but it’s disturbing in sense of worldview.

Doesn’t anyone else find it odd that this worldview says that in order to reduce gun violence we must put larger guns on the streets but only now in the hands of the “good guys?” So, the battle simply comes down to - who has the bigger/better guns? If the good guys do, yes, we’re the winners! If the bad guys do, get the good guys even bigger guns! I guess the next move by the bad guys will be to say, “We should get some better guns because the cops have M4 assault rifles now. Let’s one-up them.” Where does it end?

Your move, street gangs.

where can I find new life?

It is my understanding when starting a “blog” one usually begins by bringing his or her purpose to the forefront. I don’t really have a purpose for blogging…I am, however, narcissistic at heart, and I suppose that I want others to hear what I have to say because I think it can be of some value. Anyway, here it goes…

My wife and I have recently been privileged to go through a healthy and successful pregnancy. Pregnancy (for me) was a time to experience new life taking place inside of my wife. I could not see what was going on, but I was able to observe her stomach getting larger, feeling the baby kick, and feeling the child hiccup. It was amazing — Creation was happening inside of my wife.

But it was not until Monday, when I saw the child emerge and held her in my arms, that I realized what had been happening all along. I was now able to see the result of creation. New life had come…

And isn’t that what we all need? We all could use some sense of creation coming from a place that we currently cannot see, but, right now, we can only feel its kicks. We wait and yearn for new life to emerge from such places. For many of us, new life is happening somewhere, but we can’t actually see it right now.

I imagine that this is what the followers of Jesus felt. Jesus, a master of signs, wonders, teaching, the one who they believe would redeem Israel, dies a hideous death. As they heard Jesus speak prior to his death, they felt the “kicks” of this new life. They yearned for it. This all must have come to a surprising halt when he died. But, as far as we know, the tomb was empty that Sunday morning. The disciples felt that new life was happening somewhere, but they couldn’t see the result of it until he emerged from the tomb (which conveniently rhymes with “womb”).

Maybe you are reading this and you’re asking - where can I find new life? Creation and new life are happening somewhere. We may not see it now, but we all need new life. At the moment, we may simply feel its “kicks,” but we must not give up but should hold on for some time (possibly 9 months) in order to see its results. Let us watch with great joy and happiness as the new life we desired for so long (in the deepest parts of us) emerges from where we could not once see.