Jesus Saved. Now what will we do with ThAt?!?

A recent Facebook post by Rev. Dr. Allan R. Bevere began a conversation about the necessity of participation in ecumenical dialogue. Several weighed in espousing a belief in relativism, some arguing in favor and others against. Unbeknownst to them, most fell into the categories of either inclusivist or pluralist. Allan weighed in as a member of "both categories". I weighed in as an "outside the three".

The three traditional categories of interfaith position, exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist don't do it for me. While I admire the exclusivist's passion in their faith, I dislike the consequence of it when in discourse with others as it leaves little to no room for any other opinion to be valid, of value, or sometimes, even to be heard. The inclusivists I find closer to something that makes sense to me but quickly comes to a halt as their view of salvation in my opinion may be short sited. I admire too the pluralist's respect for the value of diversity, for their desire for unity, and many other aspects of their position. However, I hold to the belief that there is ultimate truth, that God has revealed it to and for humanity, and that Jesus Christ did do something very important here, as both human and God. How humanity interprets that "ultimate truth" and "revelation" is a different matter, one for much discussion.


Which brings me to this: the older I get, the more I come to believe that Jesus really did come for everyone. Yes, everyone. In other words, we are all saved. However, I currently believe that with salvation comes responsibility (think limited free-will). You must choose to participate in that which you are already enrolled, or choose to reject that association -- just like Adam and Eve. Reject it and suffer the consequences. Accept it and accept the responsibilities of it. Accepting also comes with bonus packages should you choose such as gifts of the Holy Spirit given in baptism to fulfill those responsibilities and the Church to walk with you in community and offer a place of belonging as you work together. I do not yet see a middle ground.

However, I do see a lot of people in the world trying to make sense of what they observe. I see seekers and searchers trying to determine what they are doing with this higher being that they witness in creation. Their life experiences, exploration of the world, and discoveries can and do inform humanity as to the bigger picture that God has created/allowed in the world. Like me, they seek and search for meaning, understanding, belonging, and purpose. This should be no surprise as God created humanity and did so in God's image. God did not create a series of classes of humanoid beings of various values to be weighed, ranked and used.

While I have a long way to go to test this theory, it is where I stand on such matters for the moment. (Admittedly, I spent a month trying to figure out what to do with baptism if we are all saved. That was thanks to an off hand comment overheard at worship on Sunday from a stranger.) That said, I truly welcome your insights. Your thoughts will help me come to understand God better too. And for that, I thank you in advance.

Virtual Blushing

This semester seems to be the semester of the techno geek. My Theology of Evangelism class considered evangelism and mission in a virtual world setting like Second Life. I have jumped on board as a tech assistant for a DL class on the Hebrew Bible. And for an ethics class, I composed a little paper on the merits of church in virtual space. The paper is entitled, "Wherever Two or Three are Gathered in My Name, I am Virtually There" (Ekklesia in the Metaverse Church). Research required 17 straight hours of worship in virtual space, bible studies, interviews, and fellowship experiences, some good, and some really really (did I mention really?) bad.

After toiling with this paper I popped out for a grade, a former professor asked to post it on his blog. It's enough to make a girl virtually blush. Post he did. Here. Hope you enjoy something I think to be a thought provoking and somewhat mind bending topic that challenges our way of thinking about what makes church, a church. Special thanks to Allan Bevere for his interest, encouragement, ability to turn a bad paper into something hopefully interesting, and patience with putting up with a smart mouthed kid in two of his classrooms.

Dangerous Reflections

Today is Reformation Sunday. Somehow, this snuck up on me. I found myself sitting in worship listening to the words of hope and glory from Paul's letter to the Romans 8:18-30 and thinking of nothing but the prophets. Paul writes, "24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Despite being a wonderful reading for a friend seeking his place in the world, Paul's words of hope echoed to me the assurance delivered by Hosea in chapter 14 to the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom. "7 They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon." Despite their nation's sin of breaking the covenant with God, Yahweh chooses to love and restore them. They too, one day, will be whole."

Many people struggle with Hosea. The metaphor he embraces can be painful to hear by those who have suffered certain pains in this world and who have not yet healed from them. Getting past the imagery is a daunting task for some as it may reopen wounds, perhaps even rubbing salt into them. Yet the message of redemption that sits beneath the surface is one so powerful that it could bring healing if understood. I am reminded of the old adage, "What does the devil use for evil? Everything. What does God use for good? Everything." Hosea's words could, when not carefully delivered, be quite damaging to others. Yet, when delivered in the right spirit, could set people free.

We often wonder why we must go through so much work to study the Scriptures. I was recently told by someone that understanding more of the context made "the whole thing" more meaningful, not to mention "make sense". Our clergy should not shy away from passages simply because of the seemingly "dangerous" nature of their message. However, we must absolutely consider the ethics and pastoral care responsibilities to our congregants and the wider society when preaching on all matters, difficult and seemingly simple.

All too often we dismiss these things simply because we know it will take work. We are so busy as it is - congregants in the hospital, youth retreat, fall church dinner, missions, even visiting the "Greens". Yet, sometimes sitting down with a cup of warm goodness and pounding out a difficult text takes you on a much needed spiritual journey that can refine you as a minister regardless of whether or not you chose to use a passage publicly. You never know what windows the Lord may open to you.

Let us all remember that it is His, not ours, (as any good Calvinist would say) on this Reformation Sunday.

Image from City of God's Weekend Fun.