rooting for the uniform

I don't think that baseball fans have the memory they once used to have. Now, this isn't simply about statistics and player-tracking, although the massive scoreboards which give every bit of information you would ever need have certainly contributed to this. Rather, my thought is about the memory which defines the essence of the game - what makes the team what it is supposed to be.

With the exceptions of Boston, Detroit, possibly Cincinnati, and definitely the Cubs, baseball fans have typically lost their sense of history of their club. What were the trades that stole the heart of the team? Which pitcher was throwing dirty at your guys? Who made the call that blew a moment of perfection?

Boston will always have Babe Ruth's departure over them. The Cubs will not forget that Maddux became a Cy Young Award winning Brave. Detroit will always remember Jim Joyce.

Yes, there may be times of forgiveness, but ultimately the memories will shape our current experience. When Johnny Damon left Boston for New York, it was a dagger into the heart of that city. (And when he cut his hair and shaved his beard, it was a sell-out which went beyond terrible.) Now that Derrek Lee has gone south, Chicago fans have once again had their hearts broken because one of the class-acts has been moved out. We are in a time when players don't stick it out with a team for their whole career. Not even close. It is an age of transition and the all-important goal of winning.

I reference this reality because baseball has always been, and will continue to be, a metaphor for our culture. This isn't some 'baseball is life' as an adrenaline-pumped bumper sticker intended to get you excited about this afternoon's game. No, it has been long recognized that the story of baseball has mirrored the story of ourselves. We have protected this national pastime with great tenacity simply because we realize that our heritage is on the line. This is us - warts and all - and what we are about.

Simply stated, Americans are losing their memories. Although we will miss a player who was traded amidst great outcry and heartbreak, once the new guy gets a couple of hits we will (sadly) forget all about what's-his-name. And, even though we swear off a team because of the managerial ineptitude . . . we know we'll be back, and so do they. But this has led to our supporting a uniform more than an actual team. And this is the mirror of who we are.

Winning has become our primary goal; we are as much about victory as the Romans idealized nike in their world. Perhaps we are playing it out a bit differently, but the same drive remains. And now baseball highlights this in its own way: the game has always had tainted players - some morally, some physically - which is always going to be a part of our past, but now we see that perhaps the fans are too becoming tainted. We have allowed a culture to rise up where loyalty and dedication is not rewarded, all for the sake of the big show. And while this may be acceptable in other, lesser sports, it cannot do here.

For baseball will always tell us who we are.

really open theology

The passing of Clark Pinnock has me thinking about our current lack of theological button-pushing, although we still have an abundance of theological ignorance being displayed. So, it is with great inspiration that I begin a new movement destined for the dustbins of heresy - Really Open Theism.

We'll call it ROPEN, and be sure that we'll be wrangling in some good thoughts about God.

[This will also be good for those Christians who just don't get the buzz from emergent theology anymore, but are still looking for a faith that's happening. After all, when the theology never shows up and all you're left with is a few McLaren stories, it must be time to move on.]

ROPEN will drive after the harder questions about God than anyone ever thought possible. This endeavor will make Openness look like child's play, and will further drive so-called Reformed theology into the irrelevant obscurity.

EXAMPLE:

Calvinist = God determines the future. No question.

Classic Arminian = God does not determine the future, but he knows the future. Little question.

Openness = Does God know the future? Good question.

ROPEN = Does God know the future, or does God only think he knows the future? Great question.

An inquiry which begins at this level can only yield massively powerful results. We shall know our theologies more, and they shall set us free from boredom. Novelty is the path toward God, and we are well on the way with the rise of the ROPENness doctrine.

*N.B., Before I get hate email, please ROPEN your mind and see this is a joke. Sort of.

clark pinnock

Our brother and fellow theologian, Clark Pinnock, has gone to be with our Lord on August 15, 2010. A constant source of stimulating and challenging theology, there was much to learn from the insights given through his perspective. I spoke with him a few times, though I cannot say that our friendship was anything beyond that. This is not to say that I was not profoundly impacted by his work.

One of my first introductions to his theology (that was not concerned with the Openness debate), was when I read the profound Flame of Love, which is one of the finest books on the Holy Spirit that one can find. Along with much of the world, I consider it to be his magnum opus.

Our prayers and our warmest regards go out to his family, and those who knew him well.

Click here for the obituary found in CT.

pure scum

In the late fall of 2001 I began working as the manager of Denver Seminary Bookstore while I continued work on my MA. It was then that I began to get acquainted with Mike Sares, who was in the early stages of something different happening in downtown Denver. He referred to it as Scum. It is now better (and more widely known) as Scum of the Earth, and it is a story that every church leader in our culture needs to hear.

There are many fun and touching stories that emerge from this motley gathering, but I confess that there was so much of the story of Scum that I did not know, until I recently read through Mike's own account of the work happening in this part of the Body. Yes, those who read this will find occasion to chuckle and laugh, they will encounter situations which cause them to question, and they will be emotionally touched by the happenings around this particular church. But there is also great opportunity to be challenged with the full-fledged work of the gospel as it is played out on the streets of our culture.

Frankly, most churches simply have no clue what to do with the very people Jesus has commissioned us to bless with the work of his kingdom. And this book highlights such a sad and stark reality.

Scum reminds us that the work of holiness very quickly becomes messy, and that it compromises everything that we presently hold near and dear - until all that we hold to is Jesus. God is not interested in our reputations or our cleanliness or our positions. He is interested in our willingness to follow his direction and reach those who are in need the most. The mission statement for Scum of the Earth is simply: "We strive to be a church that recognizes its need for a savior." How different our gatherings would be if we took this line seriously, instead of relegating it to the parrot talk of our doctrinal statements before pursuing worship in our own terms and slapping a Christianized slogan over top of it as though it were God's own approval.

This book contains part of God's story. It is told from the vantage point of Mike Sares, who has stood in the midst of God doing some great things for the kingdom as it is sparked in a not-so-great part of Denver. I don't spend time critiquing stories, but I do recommend them when I find it appropriate. The stories in this book will challenge our congregations to rethink their work for the kingdom. I remember some of the things that Mike would share on his visits to the bookstore, as Scum was first struggling with just how to deal with the type of crowd they were attracting. A couple of my favorites were not included in this book. I could tell them here, but they would certainly do damage to my blog's content rating.

Holiness is messy. But it is a holy mess that is driven by the Spirit of God.

awaken to reality

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

-Dr Seuss

belief, disbelief and the power of god

Mark 6:5 tells us, "[Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them . . ."

R. T. France writes in his commentary of this verse, ". . . for most people the healing of a few invalids by laying hands on them would hardly constitute οὐδεμία δύναμις" (244).

It is an interesting matter in the Gospel of Mark that he would retain this phrasing of the passage, especially when the Matthean parallel only tells us that he did not do any miracles there, as though it were more of a choice on Jesus' behalf (Matthew 13:58). The end result is ultimately the same - there are miraculous acts which could have happened in this scene that are now absent as an end result of lacking faith. Still, our question should rest upon the Why of the passage just as much (if not moreso) than the What. If we take Matthew's version at face value then we would have a simple give-and-take with Jesus and those who fail to believe: Jesus comes, they don't believe, he doesn't do any miracles there. But Mark's version forces us to deal with the raw and somewhat unsettling notion that Jesus' miraculous activity was prevented by the presence of such stark unbelief.

Modern Christianity seldom accommodates for this sort of thinking, instead wishing for more Platonic understandings of God which see him as perfect and immutable - he cannot be changed, he cannot be moved, and his will is never thwarted. That's the very essence of God in the minds of many. We think these things because we believe that divine perfection necessarily brings a changeless existence, as any change would then be for the worse. The Ancient Near East did not conceive of divinity in such terms, and the biblical ideal is more Semitic than Platonic in its approach, so it is Western philosophy that must adapt. Suffice it to say, this passage becomes a problem unless we learn to read it in its proper context.

Disbelief is an something which modern minds most often fail to understand. But it is part of a larger spiritual war that is being waged. And if we are to understand that belief is a powerful entity that can impact the world, then why do we think that disbelief is an impotent option? It is part of the battle. Mark knows this (and so does Matthew), and places it in the center of the kingdom activity surrounding Jesus. The greatest obstacle in his way was not the synagogue leaders, it was not the Sanhedrin's questions, it certainly was not the Romans, and it is not the cross and his gruesome death. The single greatest barrier between the kingdom of God and an unrestored world is disbelief in the power of that kingdom.

This is why the single greatest problem facing churches today is apathy from within congregations, who fail to see the life-giving potential of the Spirit within them. It ultimately amounts to disbelief as a distinct act of spiritual warfare, stopping the very power of God.

Now, back to France's comment regarding the ironic juxtaposition of "no miracles" and the exception of "healing a few who were sick." By standards both ancient and modern such miracles are awe-inspiring - they are not commonplace. (That is why they are miracles.) France points out (as do some other exegetes) that this is an indication of the 'minimizing' of Jesus' miraculous activity due to the lack of faith. But notice how the power of God seems to be running on a dual perspective in this passage. There is a point of view which seems to indicate that the miracles are indeed significant (and they undoubtedly are). But there is another which is telling us that this messianic figure is constrained in what he can do. One could easily ask the question, If this is what Jesus' activity looks like when he cannot perform miraculous deeds then what would his work look like if he were set loose?

I'm not sure if this is what Mark intended for this story to become, but it appears to have turned into a metaphor for the church. We have such widespread disbelief (often due to the factors we mentioned above) that the one or two or however many miracles we see in our own lives appear so few and far between than what we read in Scripture. The spiritual warfare is raging more now than ever before because of the rise of apathy in our culture and disbelief holding back the power of God. Yes, this is precisely what France refers to as "christologically striking" in that the work of God is stopped (in this one place) by the power of disbelief.

The work of Jesus moved on to another town, another group, another region . . . as it always did. Just like it is doing in evangelical Christianity, who is doing more today to demonstrate faith in political solutions and environmental initiatives than it is in the power to believe in the kingdom of God and the power of his Spirit.