How does a follower of Jesus handle Rejection?

I have been in deep reflection today and I think of the countless of followers of Jesus who have called it quits and hung up their servant towel.  One might think this happens because of isolating themselves from others or feeling like they are all alone.  More often than not its because someone or a group of people simply rejected their viablility as a member of God's church.  They did not really count or it was easier to reject them than to do the hard work of reconciliation.

As I meditate on God's Word this morning, these words really hit home.  Matthew 11:16-19 says,

"But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to their companions, and saying:

We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
and you did not lament.

For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say, "He has a demon."  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend to tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by her children."

There are several striking features from this text.  One is even Jesus and his followers were harshly criticized and rejected.  All of Matthew chapter eleven is in the context of the rejection of John the Baptist and then Jesus and his followers.  The chapter ends with a beautiful invitation from Jesus for all the hurting, oppressed, and struggling people to come to him for he will give them rest to their weary souls.

"How is it with your soul?"  This is one of the major questions a group of Christian leaders ask each other every week in which I am a part of.  Soul care!  Are we really taking care of our souls and what are we feeding our souls?  And what about criticism and rejection?  I find the things we tend to get offended or mad about is quite petty compared to the kind of rejection that Jesus and his disciples experienced.  When is the last time someone has called you "Satan" or "you have a demon?"  When is the last time someone called your moral integrity into question?

And these last words haunt me and stir my soul.  "Wisdom is justified by her children."  Are we going to follow the wisdom of Christ?  Will we be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves?  How we respond to rejection will show the kind of integrity and strength we have or do we fold under pressure?  Are we acting like children of the most High God or are we acting childish or worse, not like a children of God at all?

Snapshots of Heaven and of Earth

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" -  Neil Armstrong (first man to set foot on the moon)

I have been reading Genesis and I am amzed at the beauty, symmetry, and flow of the biblical story of creation.  The grandeur of God and the beauty of nature is set forth in stunning ways like photographs on display for all to be seen.  As we read and look at these powerful images of creation, let's not confuse science with creation but a picturisque view of the Creator of science.  There is an intended progress and climax as the days of creation move towards man and woman and the seventh day that never ends, rest and peace with God.

People need to pay closer attention to the details and the historical background of the Genesis story.  These days are not written to satisfy scientific curiousity or are they a chronological biogrpahy.  They are a fulfillment of the theological providence of the one true God.  Each day is like an incredible photograph or beautiful picture that is like a collected arrangement on a decorated wall.  The issue of Scripture here is not when the pictures were taken but how they contribute to the overall arrangement and meaning of the display.

Neil Armstrong has recently died and I am reminded of the great event when Buz and Neil took holy comunion as they looked at the world from the dark of space.  What a wonderous holy moment that must of been before Neil Armstrong took those first momentous steps on the moon.  Can we also see the beauty, mystery, and wonder of God in the universe?  When we look, really look, our very breath is taken away by the overwhelming presence of God who created us and everything we see around us.

Imaginations from the Spirit

It does not take a rocket scientist for people to look at the church today and see that it is in trouble.  There are four times as many churches closing as there are new ones starting.  There seems to be a lack of nerve and courage for many western Christians as the church continues to not disciple its own members much less produce the kind of environments that would disciple the community around them.  Where are the saints of God?  Where are the prophets and poets and dreamers of God?  It seems like when modern Christians read their Bible (if they read it at all), they lack imagination to engage the biblical text and the world around them.  I suspect there was more Christian imagination going on in the monestaries of the time people want to call "the dark ages" than the kind of stunted imaginations today that can't see what God is doing around them and fails to dream daring dreams for God.  So let me start with one example on how Christians need to "see" farther and go deeper when it comes to God's Word and how it works out in the world.

There is a incredible encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees over the Mosaic law and its meaning.  The whole issue concerns divorce and can people get divorced for almost any reason?  Jesus answers them in the nineteenth chapter of Matthew and tells them "what God has joined together, let no one separate."  There is so much more to say here but I want to focus on the follow-up question to Jesus about why did Moses give the permission to divorce like he did?  This was not just Moses words but a commandement given from God.  Jesus says in verse eight that "because of the hardness of your hearts, (God) permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."

Jesus answers the question of why does God allow for divorce?  Because of the hardness of our hearts.  It is not God's will that people should get divorced, God hates divorce (check out the last chapter of the book of Malachi).  But doesn't God's Word give permission or says it's okay to do it?  Unless we understand the spiritual meaning of God's Word and read the Bible with spiritual eyes and not just eyes of flesh, we will miss both the intent and meaning of many Scriptures.  Some people get hung up on all the violence in the Bible, the brutal treatment of women at times, slavery, holy wars, and polygamy.  Why are these things in the Bible and why does it seems like the Bible condones or give permission for such things?  Because of the hardness of our hearts!  Until we start reading God's Word with out hearts and not just our heads, our hearts may stay hard and unchanged rather than being transformed by the heart of God.

End Times Series at my church

God directed me a number of years ago, like maybe ten, to not study on end time issues too much.  Well, recently, He has brought to my attention some interesting things and it culminated when our pastor preached a series on the end of the world as we know it based on the Apotles Creed!  You can listen online here!  If you click on the listen it will take you to a new page.  Then if you want, you can obtain the file by right clicking on the download word and saving it to your computer hard drive.

Dreaming of Defending God

You know you are thinking too much when you dream of defending God from intellectual assaults by both skeptics and wounded believers.  I had a dream last night where I was defending God from both staunch atheists and skeptical believers.  They both read the Bible in the worst light and thought of God more as an evil monster rather than a good master.

I remember in my dream thinking and debating with others how God seems to lose no matter which way one turns.  If God intervenes in our prayers or circumstances, then God is arbitrary and morally inconsistent.  If God does not intervene, God is impotent and like a divine child abuser watching his children suffer.  In other words, no matter what God does or doesn't do, God loses in the end.

G. K. Chesterton is one of my favorite writers and he says something similar about the church.  He says, "The church is accused of restraining sexuality too much at the same is is accused of restraining it too little . . . The church is accused of showing contempt for women's intellect.  But at the same time the great sneer at the church in most countries is that "only women" go there . . . The church is criticized for being too political and too worldly, but also for not being involved enough in politics and being too unworldly.  It is blamed for despising Jews, and also despised for being too Jewish!"

If You Can't Take the Heat, Then Get Out of the Kitchen

When people think of the relationship between science and religion, one more thinks of warfare than friendship.  People seemed forced to choose between science guiding their life or religion.  Can't it be both?  And unless we are careful, one can turn religion into a science and science into a religion.  Neither of these two options are good!  If one listens to atheists who mock Christian fundamentalists and fundamentalists who mock atheists, they both read the Bible democratically and literally!  One calls the an theist a fool which is ironic since the Bible was writen to religious folks.  And atheists who also read the Bible with a crude literalism try to make the Bible look foolish which is ironic because the Bible is God's love letter to humanity, not hate-mail to those who don't believe in God!

So now we find ourselves in a culture war with atheists using science as a weapon against religious ideas and people of faith using the Bible as a club against the irrelgious folks!  And God help those crazy folks caught in the middle who believe in science and religion or evolution and creation.  What we have in today's culture wars are scientists who are telling their colleagues who happen to  be Christians, "get out of the kitchen if you can' take the heat" when it comes to science and Christians telling other Christian scientists, "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" when it comes to the Christian faith.

But isn't science really concerned about "how" questions and Christian theology with "Why" guestions?  Can't they both be partners in dealing with every day realities of life?  For example, isn't a kettle boiling because burning gas heats the water?  The kettle may also be boiling because somebody wants a hot cup of tea.  Do we really have to choose between these two answers?  Doesn't one have to do with natural causes and actions and the other with intentionality and purpose.  Can't they both be true at the same time like light is both a wave and a particle?

The New Disney Bible

"REACH FOR THE SKY" - Woody, from 'Toy Story'

There seems to be specialized Bible for every occassion, gender, and ethnic group out there.  It can get as specific as "The African-American Charismatic Women's Bible."  So I have a suggestion for all the ways people tend to appraoch the Bible and grab the good stuff and leave what they don't like.  How about "The New Disney Bible?"  We have been disneyfying Bible stories for years.  Give them all happy endings and teach a few good moral lessons along the way.  And please, don't worry about this Bible being accurate in details or calling for sacrifice or asking tough questions.  This Bible is to comfort the comfortable and leave out the hard sayings of Jesus or the high cost of discipleship.  The Bible is actually a dangerous book.  I think I will put it inbetween my Lord of the Rings trilogy that is filled with wonder and powerful images and my Bram Stocker "Dracula" book which can be scary like the Bible.

Okay Disney girls, say "Cheese!"