Thoughts on Life

I’ve been reading Colossians Remixed recently and I find I’m having to stop every page or two to make my own notes. This book has such profound things to say to our culture. Basically, this book looks at what Paul might say to our western culture if he were writing his letter to the Colossians today. One of the issues this great book discusses is how we are so captive to the consumerist culture we live in. Consider this quote, taken from Walter Brueggemann’s ‘Interpretation and Obedience’: “The key pathology of our time…is the reduction of our imagination so that we are too numbed, satiated, and co-opted to do serious imaginative work.”

The authors of Colossians Remixed call this “disempowering us from dreaming that things might be otherwise”. Do you ever feel like you’re so busy that you don’t know what to do with all the choices you have? It’s sometimes called ‘choice anxiety’. Or as U2 put it some years ago, freedom looks like too many choices.

Our culture keeps us so busy, so wired, that we never stop to question our lives. As my Dad has said numerous times, “we’re living all wrong”, but we’re either too wound up in getting through each day to realise it, or it occasionally flickers like a dim light in the distance but then disappears again like a ship in the night. The fact is that we have fallen hook, line and sinker for the lie that more ’stuff’ and being busier is what life is all about. And then we wake up one morning when we’re 65 and wonder where our life went.

I’ve said it before, but I find Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:26 to be some of the most timeless ever said - “what will it profit you if you gain the whole world but lose your very self in the process?” (my paraphrase). Deep down most of us know there’s something wrong with the way we live, we know we’re not really happy with our lives, but we feel powerless to stop it or we are paralysed by indifference to it. As Brueggemann says, we are numbed, or satiated to the effect that we are sleep walking our way through life.

A life focused on self and being ‘comfortable in captivity’ (another quote from Colossians Remixed) is an anti-life. Unfortunately much of the middle-class church is just as captive to this cultural numbness as the rest of society. Keith Green, referring to the church in this way, said it was asleep in the light.

Some years ago, Tim Costello wondered if God was actively working against the church. I have wondered sometimes if Tim is right. Like a frog in boiling water, we don’t even know we’re dying.

Fortunately there is a better way, the way of the Jesus, the road less traveled, a life less ordinary, to use a few clichés. But a cliché is a cliché because it is true. Jesus offers, and actually comes through, on a peace that passes all understanding, a joy that transcends our circumstances, and a freedom to be the people we really want to be - giving to others without counting the cost and loving extravagantly because we are loved beyond measure.

Just like Paul in Acts 17, one of our tasks as Christians is to engage the culture where it’s at. Why is it that so much Christian media is so hopelessly out of touch with where it’s happening in society? As film maker Bruce Marchfelder says, we’re answering questions nobody is asking. No wonder Christianity is seen as irrelevant.

Rikk Watts tells the story of being at a party when the conversation inevitably turned to ’so what do you do?’. Rikk answered ‘I teach theology’, expecting his answer of course to be the ultimate conversation stopper. But then he went on, saying that he was just talking to some people about how the Gospel of John is alot like the movie Terminator 2. The people he was talking to pricked their ears up and asked how so. And so the conversation continued. Some weeks later Rikk was told that these people had turned to faith because they were so struck that the Christian message was so relevant. Not many of us would think that Arnie blasting his away around the place in Terminator 2 would be a good advertisement for the Prince of Peace, but there it was.

Bruce Marchfelder, in an interview with Canadian Christianity, explains eloquently the importance of engaging the culture with relevance and interest. Here’s some of what he had to say:, explains eloquently the importance of engaging the culture with relevance and interest. Here’s some of what he had to say:

“I think in terms of the industry and so on, we just have to be smart. It’s Paul suggesting to Timothy that you might want to get circumcised because we’re going to be dealing with people of a certain type, and you know what, even though biblically you don’t really have to any more, I think it might be better culturally that we fit. The fact that you show up in a business suit or work out and stay fit so you don’t look like you’re going to keel over on set - it’s natural. You meet the culture where it is. That’s the way we need to engage…we don’t understand that the Lord puts us in these places where we can really make a dent on the universe.”

‘(L)ies will lock you up with truth the only key’ - Missy Higgins, The Special Two

There is something about Missy Higgins’ lyrics that evoke a raw honesty. This song is a story of someone who is agonising with regret over a sexual affair which has torn their relationship apart. It is a beautiful song of remorse and grief for what the betrayer and the betrayed once had, but which then turns to a strong resoluteness to make things right again. It is a song of desperate hope that, out of the ashes of infidelity, trust may be regained now that the eyes of the betrayer have been opened and they realise the loveliness of what they once had.

I once heard it said that to be a liar you need to have a very good memory. It is also true that the more you cover up a lie, the bigger it becomes. Then sooner or later you have to tell another lie to keep the original one alive, and on it goes. Truth is indeed the only way out of this terrible mess. I also once heard some advice which said to tell the truth and tell it faster. The faster we can admit we are wrong, the sooner healing comes, and the sooner the beautiful waters of reconciliation can wash over what was once withered and dying.

The words, ‘I’m sorry’ can be the most difficult words in the world to say, for, once uttered, they make us vulnerable to rejection and unforgiveness. But they can also be the most beautiful, for they have the wonderful ability to release the shame that so mercilessly binds us in a prison of our own making. The next line in this song by Missy Higgins says ‘but I was comfortable and warm inside my shell, and couldn’t see this place could soon become my hell’. Lies indeed blind us to the truth. This is true on a cosmic scale in terms of our relationship with God, and it is equally true in our relationships with others.

Being honest and truthful is the only key that can unlock the door and lead us into the healing and liberating freedom that has been quashed by the darkness of our lies. Jesus said that the angels in heaven are more joyous over one sinner who repents than they are over 99 who don’t need to repent. When we admit our wrong, He is faithful and just to forgive us. When we admit it to a loved one whom we have hurt, the response might not be so forgiving, but, incredible as it may seem, that is not the main point. The point is that you have been honest and you have come to the table. That very act on its own produces freedom.

The journey of faith, the journey of following the Master on the long and winding road up this mountain called life, is a difficult one. But it is one where you realise, once you are on it, that nothing else in life comes close anymore; nothing comes close to the glorious freedom of admitting your wrong and knowing you are at once free. It is wonderful indeed to know that truth can open the door and liberate us from the lies which lock us up and destroy everything we hold dear.

‘Is it me baby, or just a brilliant disguise?’ - Bruce Springsteen, Brilliant Disguise

This one is all about integrity. We can fool many people with the masks we wear, even ourselves if we take the delusion far enough. If we fool others, we may say that no one is going to know. But that is not true. You will know, and you have to live with that. Everywhere we go we have to take ourselves with us. Keith Green sang many years ago that you can run to the end of the highway and not find what you’re looking for. People in 12 Step programs call it a geographical. The Pretenders also sang ‘let me inside you, into your room. I hear it’s lined with the things you don’t show’. Beautiful words of acceptance, love and the invitation to come in and be friends.

Such is the offer of Jesus. To broken people like us He says take off your masks and come and be healed. Jesus’ harshest words were for the hypocrites of His day, those who wore the masks and made out that they were far more holy than they really were. But Jesus saw right through them. He didn’t have time for their games. He sees right through us and wants to cut straight through the rubbish to the deepest parts of our soul, those parts where we often put on a brilliant disguise to hide our true selves, lest people find out what we are really like and reject us.

Who do you project to the world? Is the you that you project the real you? If not, what do we have to hide? What is the fear that underlies our hiding? When Jesus said He came to give us life He meant what He said. Soren Kirkegaard spoke of the leap of faith that everyone must make. If we take that leap of faith we will find that Jesus is waiting with outstretched arms.

This is the second in my ‘Power of a lyric’ series of posts, where I take a line of a song that has influenced me in my life and expand on its meaning and relevance for today. This lyric is from the late Larry Norman’s The Great American Novel.

“Do you really think the only way to bring about the peace is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies?” - Larry Norman, ‘The Great American Novel’

Many people say that those who stand for peace are naïve; that the idea of not retaliating is to have your head in the sand and not in the real world. It is seen as hopelessly idealistic. These people need to get their head out of the clouds. On the contrary though, as Brian McLaren says, “It is not a matter of naïve ignorance about the power of evil or of deluded romanticism about the good heart of the enemy; it is rather a loss of naivete about the power of violence to cure violence. It is a dose of realism about the futility of seeking security through ‘living by the sword’ (Matthew 26: 52)” (Everything Must Change, p. 189).

As Barack Obama this week discusses the reduction of the world’s arsenal of nuclear weapons, we are reminded that the ones who are really naïve are those who believe that war will bring about peace. History is littered with the carnage of what war has brought. Conflicts sometimes rage for hundreds of years. Just take the Middle East or Bosnia as a couple of examples. And in the last 100 years we have seen the Troubles in Northern Ireland. You could probably name other wars and conflicts that seemingly have no end.

Martin Luther King reminded the world that violence only begets violence and hate begets hate. Just last week, on 21st September, the world was reminded again of the United Nations International Day of Peace. As part of the commemoration of the day, my wife and I saw a movie called The Day After Peace. This movie is the story of Jeremy Gilley’s attempts at launching an international day where the guns of the world would be laid down for just a day, a day for which there would be a global ceasefire. It is an inspirational story, one with many setbacks as well as much inspiration. Check out the trailer below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A85s5ZOTSXk

What struck me perhaps the most about Gilley’s attempts to get this movement off the ground was evidence of the enormity of what those who work for the kingdom are up against. You see, the day that the UN Secretary General was going to officially launch the International Day of Peace in New York was 11th September, 2001. As the bell was about to be rung that morning signaling the launch of the Day of Peace, the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. The thought that occurs to me about this is that it seems that there was something else going on, that there is indeed a spiritual battle occurring among the principalities and powers. The day that the International Day of Peace was to be launched turned into the day that unleashed the so-called war on terror.

A revolution is indeed needed in this world, but it is a revolution of love, of a bringing in of a kingdom where its soldiers march on their knees in sacrificial care and service to the most marginalised and needy, following their master Jesus on the road to Calvary. The irony of the Gospel is that the way to life often seems like the way to death. The way of Jesus is indeed the way to death. For many that includes physical death, but for all it involves a death to self as we work out our faith with deeds of compassion, building for a kingdom in which we can imagine what it would be like if God were running the show.

The words of a song can stay with you for years. A simple line can have the most profound effect, not just on our emotions, but on our very psyche. Over the coming weeks and months I would like to share with you some lines of songs that have stayed with me and shaped me into the person I want to become. The first one is below:

“Would you love me if you really knew me?” - Sheila Walsh

The cry of every human heart. Every single one of us has a fear that, if someone were to really get to know us, warts and all, they would reject us. Deep down we have a conviction that we are unlovable as we are. And yet into that fear comes perfect love.

We spend our lives wearing a mask. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were known for that, and Jesus had harsh words for them. His harshness wasn’t solely for the fact that they would put on a mask; it was because their mask was about putting on a show of being all holy and superior, while not lifting a finger to help the poor. That’s why Jesus called them hypocrites. The word ‘hypocrite’ is a Greek word which was used to describe someone in a theatre play who wore a mask and played the part of a certain character. A hypocrite was an actor. Aren’t we all like that to some extent?

Would you love me if you really knew me, if you really knew the thoughts that I have at times, the things I have done, the intents of my sinful heart? My deepest fear is that you would not, and so I play a role, shutting myself off from the rest of the world, and not allowing you to get to know me as I really am. C.S. Lewis expressed it eloquently, as usual:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

When Jesus that we must die if we are to truly live, he meant what he said. Life wasn’t meant to be easy said a former Australian Prime Minister. We put ourselves out on a limb when we take the risk of letting people into our lives. Some will accept us and some will walk away. However, this brokenness is where freedom lies. When I dare to reveal my deepest self, it can feel like death. This though is where God steps in. God steps in and unveils the thoughts and intents of the heart, and when He sees them, His first words are “I do not condemn you”.

I receive daily emails from Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation. Most of the time they’re very good, and occasionally one just hits me with a force that I cannot ignore. This is one of them:

“It is all a matter of learning how to be more and more deeply connected. And of course we don’t do this unless we trust that after all is said and done, it is a benevolent universe. Even Einstein said at the end, ‘The only important question is this: Is the universe friendly or not?’ Can it all be trusted? Is the final chapter of history victory and resurrection or a dying whimper?

“If we can fall down low enough and stop upholding ourselves, so only God could be upholding us, then we know it is a friendly universe, and we are safe (’saved’?). It is then radically okay, despite the temporary interruptions, because then we have experienced that the foundation of all things is Love!”

- From Creating Christian Community

Much of everyday life screams at us with the message that the universe is an indifferent, uncaring place where we have to make the best of life we can and hope things go our way. While it takes faith to believe in anything, it can sometimes take a lot more faith to believe in a loving Creator when we just take a look at the news each night. Doubts can creep in and we can suddenly find ourselves wondering if all this God stuff is true.

I think there is a healthy balance between trust and reason - some call it a reasonable faith. This is not blind faith, it is about working things through when doubts start to nag. We can either give in to the anxiety that doubt can create, or we can work it through and be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Rowland Croucher has said that the best way to deal with doubt is to go on committed to Christ while you are struggling. Don’t suspend your belief. Doubt is different to unbelief. Doubt is wondering, unbelief is a choice to not believe. Just like C.S. Lewis, who said that his faith causes him to see more clearly, as we go on committed to Christ despite our doubt, we realise that the things we choose to believe are true as we gain insights on the journey.

I remember a sermon given by John Smith in the early 1990s in which he talked about the essence of the Christian faith. In decrying the attitude of the strutting, egoistic rock star, he made a comment that has stuck with me. He said that Christianity doesn’t strut - it marches on its knees.

The journey of following Jesus is completely counter to the culture in which we find ourselves today. In a world where we are told to look out for number one, Jesus says ’surrender’. The call of Jesus is to run up the white flag. Many misunderstand that command as a call to weakness and letting yourself be walked all over. But it is far from that. It is a walk of humility, a walk which is nothing less than a facing of reality.

At church a few weeks ago, the song leader invited us to kneel for a song which spoke of surrender. So most of us knelt down as we sang the next song. This simple action changed my whole attitude in the singing of that song. All of a sudden I was in an attitude of genuine worship. For the first time in many many years, I sang with my hands open and my eyes closed. In that place I was no longer just singing, I was praising, lifting God up. And I was offering myself back to God to do with me as He wills. Kneeling during that song helped me to have an attitude of submission to my God. It also made me see how much I demand my own way - how unsurrendered I am most of the time. It was a real eye-opener and something for which I am thankful.

Brian McLaren, in his book Everything Must Change, talks about our framing story - the ultimate story we tell ourselves about how the world works. For example, if our framing story tells us that the purpose of life is to have as much stuff as possible and to have the greatest pleasure possible in our short lives, then we will have little reason to manage our consumption. Our framing story determines how we live. Call it our worldview if you like.

Postmodernism says there is no framing story. What is right for you may not be right for me. Truth is relative. The problem with that ideology is that, as the global village becomes ever smaller and we all realise how much our lives are interlinked, what is right for me also becomes right for you. Take climate change as an example.

Climate change is a challenge to postmodernism because more and more people are realising that, if we are to ultimately survive as a species, we have no choice but to have a framing story that says we have to manage our resources better and look after the planet. A philosophy of ‘what is right for you may not be right for me’ just won’t cut it in the real world of climate change. This is also linked to our addiction to economic growth.

As long as the world remains fixated on the idea that we must grow our economies, we will inevitably fall into the same trap, and probably worse than we are in now.

In the mid-1980s, our planet passed a tipping point. It was then that we started going into debt in terms of the available resources that we have to survive. It was then that we started to consume more than we could reproduce. So while we remain addicted to economic growth, we continue the slide into debt. Our way of living is unsustainable.

Truth can no longer be relative in a world where we have the choice of continuing our current way of life or making serious changes that will save the lives of untold millions. We can no longer hide behind the warm and fuzzy - but ultimately fatal - idea that there are no universal standards to live by.

Everything on this planet is interlinked. That is the beauty of how God made it. It all works together. David Suzuki, the Canadian environmentalist, describes how, if all of humanity disappeared off the face of the earth, then the rest of life would benefit enormously. The forests would gradually grow back, and relative stability would return to the ecosystems that control global temperature and the atmosphere. The fish in the oceans would recover and most endangered species would slowly come back. On the other hand, for example, if all species of ants disappeared, the results would be close to catastrophic. There would be major extinctions of other species and probably partial collapse of some ecosystems. The functions of the creatures living in the air we breathe, and beneath our feet, all work together to keep us alive. We need to, like our indigenous brothers and sisters did for 40,000 years, pay respect to the land we live on.

Our framing story needs to be one in which we all work together to bring in the kingdom of God - a kingdom of love, of justice, and of beautiful butterflies fluttering majestically over summer flowers. A kingdom where love finally reigns and where all of God’s children, in the words of Martin Luther King, will be able to shout ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’.

As I waited at the bus stop one morning last week, watching both school kids and adults waiting to go to their places of education or work to spend the day, I was once again struck by the thought of meaning in life.

The kids were waiting there to go to school to work out what they want to do with their lives, what career path they want to follow. Then there were the adults who had gone through it all years before. It was the expressionless or just plain unhappy looks on the faces of the adults - who used to be just like the school kids next to them - that hit me. They seemed to convey the thoughts of millions of workers across the western world - a wish that they didn’t have to spend another day at this job, that if only they could win the lotto and ‘life could be a dream’ as one recent ad put it.

As I saw this scene played out before me, as it is every day of the working week, I wondered again - is this all there is? Is all those kids have to hope for just about getting their qualifications, landing a job, maybe having a family, living 80 or 90 years and then dying? Is that it? Are they destined to spend the next 50 years just going to work every day and making money? Where is the meaning? Where is the purpose?

I believe there has to be something more. Life is more than the accumulation of possessions and wealth, which we lose when we eventually kick the bucket anyway. I remember a pastor of mine telling me years ago of a funeral she conducted for a friend. A close relative of the friend looked at the body in the open coffin, reflected on the person’s life, and made the strong point that “there has to be something more”. It couldn’t have just ended with the death of her body. Something seemed to be telling her that people are made for more than this. Soon I hope to be able to purchase a new book by Dr. Stephen Ilardi called The Depression Cure. This work looks at the massive increase in depression in the western world in the last 100 years from, not just a cognitive-behavioral point of view, but also from an anthropological angle.

Fortunately this message is slowly getting through in even the business pages of some media. The Age last week ran an article reminding us that the measure of GDP is just one way to measure a society’s wellbeing. Paul Jelfs, the author of the article, explained how the Australian Bureau of Statistics has a number of other indicators, including the Measure of Australia’s Progress (MAP) and the Generic Social Survey. And many readers will probably be aware of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness indicator. Interestingly, according to American Public Media, since “Bhutan glimpsed the rest of the world seven years ago with the arrival of TV and the Internet…happiness [has become] an increasingly rare commodity”. Yet again I am reminded of the relevance of Luke 12:13-21 and the other old words of Jesus – what shall it profit you if you gain the whole world but lose your very self in the process?