Must There Always be an "Us and Them"?

Humanity seems to be poisoned by an “us and them” mentality. It is the source of all human conflict. Is there any way to escape that outlook on human existence?

Let's examine the "us and them" mentality in the context of a recent news event in our community - the vandalism at the Native American Church. (Wisconsin Dells Events Photo)

When most of you heard of this event, your "us and them" might have been
expressed as you being "good" and the vandals being "bad", or you being "loving" and them being "hateful".

Those categories - us-them, good-bad, loving-hateful - came about because of one act of vandalism. It is the kind of act that I will call a "relationship event". It was certainly a relationship event between the vandals and the Church. It was also a relationship event between the vandals and the greater Madison area because it was reported in the Madison media.

Relationship events have the potential to create and proliferate exclusive "us and them" factions that breed illusions of superiority and irresolvable conflicts. The types of relationship events are countless - conversations, e-mails, Face-book postings, letters, phone calls, sexual encounters, songs, financial transactions, rallies, books, articles, etc.

We Christians generally believe, despite all words to the contrary, that God also sets up exclusive "us and them" groups based on what we do - groups named "saved" and "unsaved".

Does God really do that?

Let's look at what Saint Paul says about the "saved" group in the opening verses of the second chapter of his letter to Ephesus.

He tells them, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world …we were …deserving of wrath". We might say the Ephesians' past relationship events looked somewhat like the recent act of vandalism in our community.

Paul then says, "But because of [God's] great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Did you catch that? God put the Ephesians in the "saved" group even when they were dead – in other words, even when they were like those people who vandalized the church.

God does not divide us up into "saved and unsaved" groups based on the quality of our relationship events. God's relationship with all people - vandals or saints - might be described as an inclusive "us and them" relationship - like a loving parent who tries to bring a strong-willed, adopted child into the family.

To all people - whether you think you are a vandal or a saint - I say this: "God has already gotten us saved. Now BE saved by believing in what Jesus has already done for us. Make every relationship event one that helps other people believe in Jesus, too. We can't do that on our own, nor can we even believe on our own. The Holy Spirit will help us. We can tell the Holy Spirit's voice from our own voice by listening for His inclusive ‘us and them’ language. We learn to recognize that kind of language from the Bible, prayer, and worship with other believers. We will still fall short of God's standard of inclusiveness in our relationship events, because we are all like two-year old children trying to be like our adult parents. But there will be some progress in this life. Jesus died for all of us to forgive all our short falls - past, present, and future."

Jesus is the only antidote for the exclusive "us and them" poison.

N.T. Wright on Debate about Homosexuality

From Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpQHGPGejKs

"The Problem at the moment is that we're not having the debate. We are simply having bits and pieces of a shouting match." - N. T. Wright




I have often seen such "shouting matches" in print media authored by both professional clergy and lay persons. That is what is behind the previous post, which is my video of the presentation, The Heart of the Gospel in Matters of the Heart

The Heart of the Gospel in Matters of the Heart

In the last half century our culture has normalized pre-marital sex, abortion, cohabitation, and homosexual unions. The Christian response has ofen been to categorize these practices as sin and proclaim, "Don't do them." Is that the best Jesus can do?

Part 1 - If God is love, then he surely should speak definitively about the most intimate form of human love. Yet Christians do not agree on how to respond to the normalization of premarital sex, cohabitation, and homosexual unions. In the first half hour of this one-hour presentation, John Torgerson discusses why a topical bible study does direct us to a unified response.



Part 2 - John Torgerson explains that Christian living is not about following rules or avoiding "sin". It is about living in the reality of Jesus Christ. Jesus has brought all humanity into union with him and has forgiven the sins of all people - past, present and future. Marriage is a union that is a model for the union of Jesus and all humanity.

Do We Really Need Moralistic Preaching?

While on the road alone recently I stopped my search of radio stations to listen to a preacher decrying the state of American morality. His solution was to get back to living by the bible.

It's hard to argue that there is not a problem. Substance abuse, wonton sex, and domestic violence is common in our own community.

As Christians we ponder how we can change lives. The answer to that is simple - we can't.

But one historical event should be making a difference in people's lives. God came to earth as the human Jesus and worked actively among us for little over three years.

What difference should that make? It is unrealistic to think that Jesus' teachings are going to fix humanity's problems. If that was his plan, he should have written a book - a BIG book.

So it is not surprising that the first century letters from church leaders like Paul, Peter and John did not tell people to live by Jesus' teachings or by the bible. They didn't even quote Jesus' sayings, except for two short sections in all the preserved letters.

So what did these letter writers tell people instead of "get back to living by Bible"?

Most often they reminded people of what Jesus did. I preached portions of the letter to Colossians recently and before Paul talks about moral living, he lists about fifteen things that Jesus did for all people- not just for "good Christians" like you and me - but for even the most despicable people you can name.

In that list is the most common thing that we all should remember first. He allowed humanity to beat him and brutally murder him. The first century letters and theologians over the centuries express what that accomplished in different ways. But what it means for you and me is that we can even abuse and murder God, and he will not take it out on us. You can't beat that sin, no matter how hard you try!

The list in the Colossian letter even says that in God's mind, all humanity is right now in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father along with the living Jesus Christ. A metaphor you say? I say that what's in God's mind is as real as the floor that is supporting you. (And a little venture into quantum physics would show you that floor beneath you is not really that real!)

So when these letter writers tried to steer people toward moral living, they, in effect, said "Repent." That means to change your whole idea about God - he is not out to get you - he loves you immeasurably. It means to change your idea about who you are, and then live according to who you are. Paul says it most clearly in his letter to Titus. "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." (3:10-11)

The Name of Jesus

Last Sunday I preached on a passage in Collosians, chapter three.

One of the songs in the opening set of the service contained these words:
There is strength in the name of the Lord.
There is power in the name of the Lord.
There is hope in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

The closing verse of the passage I preached on was verse 17: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

And with the phrase "name of the Lord" being emphasized, I extemporaneously changed the planned conclusion of my sermon to something that has been on my mind since I attended our pastoral conference in Orlando few weeks ago.

In Orlando, I couldn't help to think that much of the area lives in the name of Walt Disney. The name "Walt Disney" means a lot to me. As a boomer I grew up with The Mickey Mouse club and Sunday nights with "uncle Walt" on TV. We boomers can still hear the words of "Davey Crocket" ringing in our ears. And that Sunday night TV show convinced us that Disneyland must be where Heaven is.

In addition, a couple of years ago I read Neal Gabler's six-hundred page Disney biography, so I got a pretty good insight on what was the man was like publically and personally, and what made him that way.

So in Orlando I could not help but feel that life was in the name of Walt Disney. Our conference and our accomodations were in the Hilton located in the Disney World Resort. Hotels less than a mile away were nice, too. But it was easy to tell that the Hilton and other hotels around us were in the name of Walt Disney, and the other hotels were not. It wasn't that Walt died with a rule book that systematically outlined how life in his name should look like. But his public pesona was is so powerful that we can recognize something that is "Disneyish" when we see it.

That's what the word "name" means in first century language. A person's name is who he is and what he has done for us. Jesus' name is who he is and what he has done for us.

There are simply not enough written rules to define "doing all in the name of Jesus", just like there are not enough rules to define "doing all in the name of Walt Disney". That implies that we have to know Jesus - and know God - since Jesus is the most complete picture we have of God. That also implies that we read the storybook of God, the Bible, as a revelation of who God is, not as a rulebook. And it also implies that our communal worship and fellowship helps us see who God is. Last, but by no means least, Jesus is alive - present with us through the Holy Spirit - to guide us into living in his name.

I'll rewrite some of the opening words in this essay in "Orlando language", and leave it for you to meditate on the parallels:
There is strength in the name of Walt Disney.
There is power in the name of Walt Disney.
There is hope in the name of Walt Disney.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Walt Disney.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of Walt Disney.

Getting Real in Relationships

National Public Radio offers opportunities to write 350 to 500 word essays expressing personal beliefs. It's challenging to express a core belief in so few words, and also tell the story behind it.
This is my effort.

Getting Real in Relationships

I believe Jesus died for you. I believe that you do not need to believe it, or even have heard it, for it to be so.

For as long as I can remember, I have been able to say the words, "Jesus died for me". I was told that it was a precious gift that I should be thankful for. But to me, it only portended a reality that would be achieved after this real life ended.

By the time I had graduated from High School, I was much more interested in my real life rather than some ethereal afterlife. Also by this time I was deeply interested in the real world as described by physics. It was fun to play in this world, and already I had begun to delight in showing its wonders to others. And so I began my undergraduate education that prepared me for a thirty-five year career teaching high school physics and related sciences.

I could never accept that all reality is described by physics, yet God was not real to me. I explored different media ministries and finally joined a denomination that seemed to know what God was really up to in this world. In retrospect, I see this as an experience in knowing what to do and not do now so as to participate in some future life; it was not an experience in knowing God now.

One milestone in my physics teaching career was reading a simple statement of philosophy by Dr. Clifford Schwartz, physics textbook co-author and long time editor of The Physics Teacher magazine. He said that physics seeks not to explain the universe but describe it. From then on, the terms "describing reality" and "living in reality" became part of my physics vocabulary. But my theological vocabulary would be dominated by "do" and "don't do" for many more years.

During the year of my fiftieth birthday, our denomination began to understand that describing God's reality and living in that reality now is the quintessential definition of knowing God. I could finally admit openly that I really did not know God.

In my local congregation, I was a part of the much-contested theological reformation that ensued. Even so, I did not really comprehend that Jesus died for you until after I had retired from teaching, gotten a seminary degree, and been ordained a pastor.

The basis for seeing God's reality and describing it and living in it now is believing that Jesus died for you. If we were to connect in some way - whether face-to-face or through a medium such as this essay - God's reality demands that I see you as an equal - as a fellow human being who God loves equally, and who God has died for. And regardless of the purpose of our connection, my underlying motive for what I do or don't do in our time together will be have a shared experience in the reality of God.

Being the Peace That We Want For the World

(Finished on Monday, May 31, 2010, Memorial Day. The June 7th date is due to my unfamiliarity with the blog editor when making an edit. I'm new to this!)

Andy Rooney did a Memorial Day piece for 60 Minutes last night. He closed this way:

I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives. That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating.

It’s a good thought, but getting everyone in the world to subscribe to that “new way” or “new religion” isn’t likely to happen.

Yet it is interesting that Andy suggests the need for a “new religion” – implying that all the “old” religions aren’t working. As Christians, we can’t proclaim that if everyone in the world were Christian, there would be no war. History would laugh at such a statement. And when we look at the little interpersonal wars within families and marriages, Christians don’t seem to look any more peaceful than the rest of the world.

This is serious for us Christians. We claim to believe in not just any god, but GOD! We claim that God lived among us as the human Jesus. He landed on earth, with the proclamation, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

If all that has any meaning, then shouldn’t Jesus’ followers stand out as being peaceful?

I would like to propose that there is a prayer that Jesus guarantees he will answer, and in that answer we, as his followers, can contribute to peace in our families, in our neighborhoods, and even in our world.

THE PROBLEM

Broken relationships are the source of all the problems of humanity.

THE PROMISE

Jesus gives an astounding promise in John 14:
(13) And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus doesn’t give himself an out. He doesn’t say, “I will answer your prayer, and the answer might be ‘No’”. He doesn’t say, “You can ask, but it might not be my will to give you an affirmative answer.” He says, “I will do it.”

THE PROCESS

The process begins with understanding the word, name. Below are two devices and their possible names.

Which do you think I used to write this column? Obviously the one on the right. The names on the right strongly suggest that this device is the best choice for communicating by electronic mail.

The names are what the device is and what it does.

In Bible language, name means “Who one is and what one does.”

When we pray in Jesus’ name, we pray acknowledging that we are participating in who he is and what he does.

Like the devices above, Jesus has many names, and each suggests something that he does. But to keep this discussion focused, I will choose one name – Savior. What does Jesus do as Savior? "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19: 10)

In one sense, Jesus has already saved you in that he died for you. For everyone. Past, present, future. Whether they know it or not. All sins are forgiven – a blanket pardon. Jesus has done his part. He did his part without our asking. We may pray for forgiveness, but that just acknowledges our need for forgiveness. You can’t possibly pray long enough, correct enough, hard enough, to get God to forgive your sins. You’ve been pardoned – we’ve been given a “get-out-of-jail-free” card. It’s a done deal.

With our “get-out-of-jail-free” card, we can live is if we are still in jail – or we can surrender to the new world that Jesus presents to us.

If we surrender to that new world, what do we see?

We see that everyone else has been pardoned, too. But most are choosing to live as if they are still in jail – they are still living the corrupted relationships that would put them in jail if God were really fair. But remember, God is not fair – he has pardoned everyone by grace, which is undeserved favor.

We who are aware of this new world, also see Jesus, who is God and who asks us to participate with him in what he does. In other words, help people see the reality of God's grace and love for them, and we help them live in that reality.

We also see many who see this new world more out-of-focus than we do. And we see many who see this new world clearer than we do. And so there is much opportunity to help and be helped by one another.

We, who are aware of this new world, need to see every relationship event as an encounter with another person or persons in Jesus’ name. Every relationship event! Every face-to-face meeting, every letter, every phone call, every e-mail, every greeting card sent, every business transaction, every book written, every song sung, every tweet, every face-book entry, every word published on the web, every sexual encounter, every promise uttered…

“A tall order”, you say? Yes. But there is hope in that same 14th chapter of John: "(16) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— …. (18) I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

Jesus asks us to relate with other people in his name – with an awareness of what Jesus has done for them and what he is doing in their life through us in a particular relationship event.


THE PRAYER

In every relationship event, we pray to relate to another person or person in Jesus name. We pray that we will help them believe that they have been pardoned and that they are loved of God with an unworldly love. We pray that we will help them bring the new world into clearer focus.

We pray that we will do God’s best effort. Remember that many still want the jail life. And it may take many relationship events before they will see that they are really out of jail. And, as far as we can tell from scripture, some will never surrender to the new reality.

You want some words for this prayer? A friend of mine has used this prayer before a significant relationship event: “Please don’t let me screw this up.” Yes, it’s sort of a joke – but it’s a prayer in Jesus’ name. And Jesus says, “I will do it.”

Am I really asking that you pray such a prayer before every relationship event? Well, no I don’t verbalize a prayer every time I honk my car horn or hold the door open for someone. But, if we really believe in being a part of who Jesus is and what he does and that all people are blessed by what Jesus did on the cross, then we will have the attitude to always summon up such a prayer in the really critical life-altering relationship events. We never know for sure when a casual interaction will be a life-altering event.

We will not always have peaceful responses - going to the cross was not a peaceful event for Jesus either. But we can have the assurance that we had God’s help in interacting with another child of God in Jesus’ name. “I will do it.”

This was written “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31 emphasis mine)

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