Thinking about Thinking About God

In the past few weeks the Evangelical world has been abuzz about Pastor Rob Bell's book LoveWins: A Book about Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. It began when his new publisher posted the most controversial quote from the book that it could find, challenging the "traditional" views of heaven and hell that most Christians teach. 

A firestorm of tweets and blogs hit the internet denouncing Bell as a Universalist (someone who believes that everyone will go to heaven) and a heretic (someone who turns away from the "right" teaching of the church). Last week, as his book was released, Rob made the rounds on the morning news shows to be interviewed and he even did an hour-long streaming internet interview. Each TV interview began with a tease that claimed he was now saying there was no such place as hell. 

Full disclosure: I like Rob Bell. I've been to his church. I attended his preaching conference two years ago. I use some of his Nooma videos in classes that I teach. This week I purchased Love Wins and have read just over half of it so far. I wasn't planning on buying it right away but so many people in my congregation have asked me about it that I thought I had better read it so I could speak from my own perspective.

My comment today isn't about Pastor Bell or his book. It's about the way the larger Christian Church has responded to it; especially the Evangelicals.

It occurred to me this morning that the Evangelical church has caught up with us Lutherans. Correct theology and the tenacious debate around it is becoming the primary concern of church leadership.Theology is the strength of the Lutheran church. It's what we're known for. Here is what I can tell you about theology.

1. Theology is simply thinking about God. So most people are theologians in that sense. But those who have spent years studying theology have built up jargon, catch phrases and other forms of shorthand that separate the academics from those who casually reflect on the nature of the Divine. Two tiers are created. An amateur and a professional rank are created. The professional ranks are populated by clergy, professional academics and some others in church leadership. The amateur ranks are made up of everyone else who thinks about God and God's participation in the world.

In this case what I am observing is an uproar within the professional ranks. It's mostly clergy and professional academics who are upset by the whole thing. What I am seeing among the amateur ranks is an interest in the conversation. Yes it can be upsetting to people to have long-held thoughts and beliefs challenged. But I am also seeing and hearing from people that these are the very kinds of questions that they have. The traditional ways of describing life and faith are no longer connecting with our experience and we need to figure out how to change the way we talk and think about God and Life without compromising the central message of the faith.

2. Within the professional ranks a game appears that I call competitive theology. I was first introduced to it in seminary. It is the subtle and not so subtle oneupmanship between classmates that are vying for attention from professors. What begins, I believe, as a true exchange of ideas becomes a competition whose goal is to win a debate, not to inform or to be informed by the conversation. When winning a debate is the goal, then labeling your opponent becomes the way you paint them into a corner. Defending yourself from accusations of heresy is a very different thing than debating the merits of your thoughts. Labeling and accusing are attempts to shut down the conversation, not move it forward.

Competitive theology is addictive in the same way that winning anything is addictive. It's one of the primary reasons I stopped going to theological conferences put on by my denomination. I too easily get sucked into the drama of the competition and I lose my perspective of love for the other. What begins as a journey together ends as a race, and if the other person (or group of thinkers) doesn't have what it takes to get to the end, well, it's their own fault. That is not the kind of person I want to be. 

3. No one goes to heaven because of good theology. We all say this. We all believe this. We act as if the opposite were true. 

If we really believe that eternal life is a gift of God's grace (wherever and whenever it is found to be) then why do we get so upset about bad theology? If we claim (and we do) that I cannot come to Christ by my own will or understanding, then why is it so important that I get my theology right? Is bad theology an unforgivable sin? My experience is that it is not. Any theology, even bad theology, can be redeemed by God. In fact if it weren't for some of the bad theology in my past I wouldn't be where I am today. God uses all of that to lead me to new life and new understanding.

Theology is a conversation to be joined, not an answer to be found. We need to get back to the conversation.

Paint a Picture of God for Me

Tonight two people painted a picture of God for me. To the casual observer they are the same God. I believe that in the  minds of the people who were speaking, they both referred to the God of Abraham, Joseph, King David and the Father of Jesus (the one from Nazareth). Both of the pictures were painted with words and I saw them, heard them, on the internet. Both were painted with sincerity and passion.

Both images of God were painted with the words like, Love and Goodness. Both described a God with whom we can have a living and loving relationship. Both artists/story tellers believe that such a relationship is a path to a richer, better lived life. 

But this is where the similarities end.

The first picture that was painted for me was done so by Rob Bell in a streaming event sponsored (I assume) by the publisher (Harper Collins) of his new book Love Wins which will be released tomorrow. In the hour long video Rob answers questions from Newsweek reporter Lisa Miller and people in the audience. In his answers he stresses the "here and now" aspect of both heaven and hell and emphasizes the way that Jesus and much of scripture talks about the ways that God comes to earth - not how we escape it to be with God. God is Love, he says, and Love demands freedom, even if it means freedom to stay away from God.

The second picture that was painted for me was done by a young woman on You Tube who posted a video titled, "God is So Good.!!!" In her three minute video she tells how she and some friends have been praying fervently since the beginning of Lent (6 days ago) that God reveal himself to the atheists of the world. She then went on to say that God answered her prayers when he literally shook the country of Japan with the earthquake last Friday. She then breathlessly looked forward to more of God's "goodness" to be poured out on Europe and America before Easter because of all the atheists in residence.

Can these both be pictures of the same God? 

No. No they can't. One paints a picture of a God who is loving and forgiving. The other paints a picture of a God who masquerades as loving and forgiving but has these unpredictable bouts of anger and wrath. One is painted by a person who wants to see the end of suffering and the other is painted by someone who is secretly delighted by someone else's suffering.

Unfortunately, these pictures are often mashed up and co-mingled. They both fly under the banner of Christianity. They both exist within our churches and the minds of the people in the churches. 

Maybe it is time to sort them out.

Observing Lent

How do you observe the season of Lent? There are several traditional ways of observing the 40 day season that leads up to our celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Sacrifice: Many Christians observe Lent by giving up something that is special to them. Some give up chocolate or desserts. The youth group is encouraging people to give up texting. Others go without soda or restrict their TV viewing. Whatever it is you give up, the idea is to somehow experience sacrifice. And while most of the things we give up don’t cause us to truly suffer, they do offer a reminder of what it meant for Jesus to sacrifice his life for us.

Intensified Spiritual Practice: The season of Lent was originally a time for those who wanted to be baptized to increase their devotion to God. Sacrifice was a part of this practice. People fasted (went without food for a specified time) and they also sacrificed so they could give more to the poor. In addition to sacrifice they also added time for prayer, devotion and serving those in need. The idea with intensified spiritual practice is to become more Christ-like in our everyday lives. It was hoped that at the end of the 40 days of preparation, those spiritual practices would continue. Easter was not a release from these sacrifices and practices. Easter is about the new life that is formed through them.

Led by the Spirit: The 40 days of Lent are based on Jesus’ experience in the wilderness after his baptism. We are told that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit (actually “expelled” to the wilderness in the Greek). The wilderness is a place of chaos and testing. It is a place where we are not in control.

I think it is interesting that our current Lenten practices encourage us to take more control in our lives when, for Jesus, it was about letting go of control. At the end of the 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by Satan to take control of his life and his destiny. Instead, Jesus let God remain in control. He would take no shortcuts. He would not force God’s hand.

What would it look like for us if we were led by the Spirit through the 40 days of Lent? What would it be like if we were not in control?  What would it be like to experience the hunger of a fast and suffer alongside the millions of people who are hungry every day? What would it be like for Christians to stop trying to build the Kingdom of God through a political process and, instead, became servants of the least deserving people? What if we gave up the notion that if we just pray more, give more or worship more then God will have to ease our suffering or bless us in some other way?

Being led by the Spirit means being led into suffering. Not in some sadistic, self-effacing way or in some attempt at delayed glory. The Spirit leads us into suffering for some other reason. 

Perhaps this is what I'm being led to explore during Lent. We'll see.