Offending and Being Offended

This last week, I took a phone call from a friend and leader at my church who wanted to explain why my church's elders had chosen not to promote a fundraising banquet that my workplace is offering in a couple weeks. The primary reason was an ad that appeared in the NY Times which has fallen under the attack of Dr. John Piper, so it is now getting considerable attention. The ad, which looks like a letter to Muslims, signed by many Christian leaders (including some from my org)--asks Muslims for forgiveness about the Crusades and encourages further dialogue to take place on the basis of Christians' and Muslims' shared tenet--that the One God expects us to love Him and love our neighbors.

The problem is that many Christians don't think Muslims have any real connection with the God whom Christians claim to follow. Because they don't trust in Jesus (yet) we have nothing in common. I happen to believe that Muslims have a lot in common with Jews who also do not accept Jesus as their Messiah. Jews would deny that Jesus is the "Christ" of God. My heart was gladdened that, when I read the NY Times response to "A Common Word," the Christian leaders correctly identified Jesus as the "Christ." I believe that, in doing so, they rightly proclaimed Jesus as the Anointed Son of God. If they had called Jesus a Prophet, equating Him with Mohammed, there'd be a big problem. They didn't go with a simple "Jesus" or "Jesus of Nazareth". His role is made evident, whether Muslim reders accept it or not. I think this was a bold choice that should not be overlooked.

Learning from Peers

This is the one weekend of the year when people from around the country serving as "encouragers of sent ones" come together to stir one another up for love and good deeds. It's a lot of material to devour, and it can be difficult to discern what key points to take away from all that's being taught...and what to ignore. Perhaps the best part of the weekend is being able to pray with others who actually know the challenges I face. I get to see that I'm not alone, that there's people ahead of me whom I can learn from, and remember that God is really in control.

I read John Mark's account of Jesus' death this morning, and I was struck again by Jesus' words, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" For years, this one verse has been used by Bible teachers I've heard to explain that Jesus was actually divorced from the Father at this time because the full weight of God's wrath was being placed upon Him, and, the argument goes, God's holiness does not dwell in the presence of sin. So here's my question: Was Jesus surprised and actually asking the question "Why" I don't think so. People who heard Him thought He was calling on Elijah. His words echo a psalmist prophesying about Jesus. If that psalm was originally breathed to the psalmist from Jesus, the Word of God, and I believe it was, Jesus was quoting Himself. Soon after He said this, He spoke to His Father, "Into Thy hands I commit My Spirit." That's in another book other than Mark, but it's trustworthy. In Matthew, the Father raises a bunch of people from the dead and causes an earthquake. So how is it that Jesus is claimed to have been abandoned by His Father temporarily? Can you use just one verse to prove it? If it is true that Jesus was "forsaken" for a while, as God was pouring the full weight of sin on Him at the same time, what theological point is upheld? Really, I want to know. Someone tell me. Is it just that God takes sin so seriously that He would not listen to His Son anymore? I want to know more about why it's so important to our faith that the Trinity would be temporarily ceased. And how long was it necessary for this forsaking to happen?

what drink describes you?

Today, I reconnected with a young man I knew and hung out a lot with between 1996 and 2000. I felt the need to apologize for being overbearing and exercising a strong personality over him, expressing many opinions that he probably could have lived without. He was gracious. But then I think, at the very same meeting, it seemed to me that I was falling back into the very same pattern--giving him lots of unsolicited advice. It was like i couldn't help myself. When I asked him afterwards if he had felt uncomfortable during our meeting, he said that I had mellowed a bit--that I was now like "Listerine...but the mint flavor". He later modified that flavor to orange, which sounded like an improvement. I appreciated his honesty and the chance to laugh at myself a bit. At least I wasn't Nyquil.

and another thing...

You might think--from reading my previous post--that I have my mind made up on this issue of whether Muslims worship the one true God of Abraham. I had a coversation yesterday with a pastor, and I asked him, "So do you also think Mormons worship this same God as we do?" He replied, "Certainly not," and he listed all the qualities about the god Mormons believe in--that he was created by a bigger God and there are many other--which negated any claim that they worship the God we claim as one and only. Then I asked him, "But Muslims don't believe in the Trinity or that Jesus was His only begotten Son...how is this so different from Mormons who say they believe in the God of Abraham but add lots of other doctrines?" The pastor said, for himself, that he was prejudiced against Mormons the way many Americans are prejudiced against Muslims. The pastor then talked about how most Americans have no real concept of the Trinity, that they cannot explain it, so, he argued, would we say they don't worship the one true God? I thought he had a point there. For the most part, I am willing to give American churchgoers the benefit of the doubt that they are worshipping the one true God--even when their view of His sovereignty doesn't align with mine or when they hold the Bible in lesser esteem. I usually talk and act like we're talking about the same Heavenly Father. Should I cease believing this? Should I test everyone's faith who doesn't attend my church or Piper's and not just assume their one true God is my one true God? How does Romans 1 and 2 play into all this, wherein Paul says that His invisible qualities are evident to all mankind, so no man has an excuse. If this is the case, should we assume that peoples from all tribes who attribute creation to one divine entity are referring to this God who made the heavens and earth--even if they think wrongly about them because they haven't yet heard about Jesus?