A Fresh Perspective

As long as faith just remains a belief system as it does for so many Christian people in our society we will just keep creating “in” groups and “out” groups filled with unchanged, unconverted people. Real transformation takes some major surgery, getting the head, heart, and body aligned with the inner working of the Spirit. A terrified Jewish young man was fleeing the Nazi’s who had just overtaken their small village. He fled to the door of the pastor of the village church seeking refuge. The pastor had been warned that any person or family caught hiding a Jew would not only bring the wrath of the Nazi’s upon their house but upon the whole village. So the pastor had the young man step inside, while he went to pray for guidance and read the Scriptures. As the pastor prayed and searched the Scriptures, he came upon the verse that read, “It is better for one man to die, than the whole people perish.” The pastor was certain he had the answer. Though it was hard for him to do, he ...

One of the problems with some self-help plans is that they by-pass the absolutely necessary first step of all spiritual progress and growth, namely, that we are powerless to change ourselves and must surrender to the power of divine grace. Change that comes about through mere willpower and determination is not real spiritual change. The veil around our minds is often disguised as some great moral issue that makes us feel superior and asks nothing of us while asking everything from us. That sounds paradoxical, but it’s true. For those on the theological left, it can mean investing in some great social justice cause at great personal cost and sacrifice, while living one’s actual life in total isolation from any real suffering and without any personal transformation. For those on the theological right, it can mean investing heavily with great effort and sacrifice in some current political correctness or preaching a gospel of evacuation into heaven (it’s amazing how these two...

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul contrasts the letter of the law with the living Spirit. He is writing as a Jew who believes that the Jew, Jesus, has inaugurated a new covenant—not only for Israel , but for all people. Paul sees his mission as one of bringing the Jewish Messiah to the Gentile world. Paul, at times (such as in this text), can be a bit disparaging toward his own people, the Jews, which is understandable in light of the opposition he encountered from them in preaching a crucified Messiah. In passages like 2 Cor. 3 his frustration surfaces. But the veil Paul is talking about is not just a veil over the minds of his Jewish brothers and sisters, it’s a veil over all our minds. It keeps us from seeing the glory of the Lord and being changed by that glory. This is why when unconverted, unchanged people, without genuine God encounter, read the Bible, they often use the Bible in life diminishing and denigrating ways. We all know how the Bible has been (and in many cases co...

There is no greater transformative power in the universe than the kind of love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13. As all the mystics tell us, Divine Love is at the heart and core of all reality. It is what connects everything together. It’s interesting how this ode to love begins: We can do some great things that benefit others, but if we do not do them in love, then our doing and giving does not change us. Even heroic sacrificial deeds may only serve to boost our ego or sense of pride, if love is not the motive or source of our actions. Paul says, “I may give all my possessions away to help the poor and even die a martyr, but if I do not have love, if love is not the source of my actions, then I gain nothing.” My sacrifices may benefit others, but they will not change me, except make me more self-righteous and arrogant. Whenever genuine love is expressed and extended to others an invitation to change is being offered. I am reminded of this rough, brawly mountaineer who live...

The kind of love that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13 offers us a glimpse of what “the new creation” looks like (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). The actions Paul describes must, however, be nurtured and cultivated. Richard Hays, who teaches Ethics at Duke Divinity School says, “One cannot merely decide in a day’s time to start doing these things. They are learned patterns of behavior that must be cultivated over time in the context of a community that models and supports such behavior . . . the church should be a school for the cultivation of these habits and practices.” Yes, the church should be a school for the cultivation of the habits and practices of love. Because the church is called to be the incarnational presence of Christ in the world and an outpost for God’s kingdom on earth. Are we going to fail? Of course. We are human after all. The habits opposed to love run deep and are hard to break. This is one reason why forgiveness is such a central theme in Jesus’ teaching and...

I believe biblical texts reflect degrees or levels of inspiration. Our ability to discern the redemptive value of a biblical text and to apply it as an instrument of transformation largely depends on our state of spiritual consciousness and our capacity for spiritual discernment. Frankly, it depends on whether or not we know God, whether or not we have had authentic God encounter.     Some biblical texts are simply regressive. Those texts, for example, that sanction divine violence are most likely projections of the community’s fears, insecurities, and blood thirst. When we read accounts of God ordering Israel to put an entire civilization under the ban, to kill men, women, children, animals, and destroy everything, we know that cannot possibly be the God of Jesus. Those of us who have encountered the God of Jesus know that the God who Jesus says loves his or her enemies would never order genocide. Some biblical texts are human projections that reflect humankind’s ...