like walking by the sea: create | breathe | repeat

October 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Ever get the feeling that you were created for a reason?

If you do, then you must also have had those moments where you are aware that there’s something about what you’re doing, where you find yourself, how you are relating to the world around you that is contrary to your created purpose. One of the most intriguing and challenging concept of the Christian faith is this: you are created in the image of God. Now, granted, you don’t look like God…the mere sight of his glory cleft Moses in a rock. But your mechanics, your inward make-up, the output of the heart…humanity is a divine composite of the image.

וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמֹו 1בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתֹו זָכָר 2וְּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם
“So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them [Gen 1:27].”

The Psalmist notes that we are “fearfully and wonderfully created by your laboring hands [Ps 135:14].”
Basically, what this means is “you are a marvelous masterpiece that inspires awe in the hearts of those who see you.”

This is a video by an artist in Norway named Theo Jansen, who creates these living things made of PVC and assorted material. He takes them down to the beach where they are wind operated…”then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [Gen 2:7].” Sound familiar?

Isn’t that amazing?

In some abstract and profoundly beautiful way, the creations image their creator. They, in themselves — as much as you could call them a ‘self’– image his love for them, his fascination with them and his marvel at them. A friend pointed out that reproduction is a hallmark of the idea of a living being, however, while that’s certainly a purpose, men and women who for many reasons can’t reproduce aren’t any less living being. I’m certainly not proscribing humanity to these walking kites, but merely wanting to illustrate with sound and image, another way to experience those Gen 1 and 2 texts.

While these creations receive the ‘breath’ and walk on the seashore, those who image God — according to Paul — image God with a certain movement as well: namely, doing good. In contrast to those rebellions, idle talking, deceivers (who bear the image but refuse to live into it — glad, that doesn’t happen today!), about whom Paul writes, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. [Ti 1:16].” Good work (καλῶν ἔργων – ergon is where we get the work term ‘ergonomic’). Paul brings it up 5 times in the letter of Titus, not as a means of salvation, but as evidence of it [Ti 3:8].

In chapter one, as Paul defines the character needed for an elder…it’s inspired by the evidence of salvation. In chapter two, he does the same for the members of the church: good works as the evidence of salvation (not the cause of it).

If you get the feeling that you were created for a reason, it’s because you were. You were created to image God, the same God witnessed in the person of Christ who did the ‘work’ of God’s hand. It was great work. He took broken hearts and smashed pieces and created mosaics a new humanity.

Paul is reminding us that our ‘work’ is no less poetic, no less marvelous.
When we participate in acts of reconciliation, we create fellowship where none existed.
When we dedicate ourselves to causes of justice, we create freedom where non existed.
When we allow our love of neighbor to proceed without prejudice, we create acceptance where none existed.
How are you ‘making’ God’s image ‘work’ in you?

Create. Breathe. Repeat.

Good work!

For more on Theo Jansen from TED 2007
[Read more...]

Filed Under: character | virtue, ecclesia, exegeticalness, Titus Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Faithful like the One Woman Man

October 17, 2011 By 2 Comments

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit [2 Cor 3:18].”

You and I, and every person on the planet — even the snarky ones — have been created to reflect the image of God. I know that this flies in the face of our pluralist, syncretist, relativist culture, but the Christian faith isn’t pluralist, syncretist and relativist. No other religion on the planet shares the trajectory of the Christian endgame: reconciled to eternal life with God in his Kingdom. Christianity is a faith with a focus. It’s not, “Who’s going to hell?” or “Who’s going to heaven?” Instead, the focus is…how are we, the church, the people of God, being transformed to reflect the image of Christ on an increasing basis ‘on earth as it is in heaven’?

Part of this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Much more difficult is this little nugget of truth: there’s another piece that is our job, our choices, our actions.

Not only do we have a part to play, a role of partnership in life with the Creator, but there is a commitment that we are called to make as we journey together. This is a commitment to:

Faithfulness.

To say that this word is recurrent in the Bible is like saying that H2O is recurrent in the ocean. God’s character is wholly faithful. As you and I mirror God’s character (image), faithfulness in our relationship to him and to one another is crucial. Faithfulness is an anchor for our being. It is one of those things that makes humanity shine. Faithfulness broadcasts the state of the human heart like a plasma screen in Time Square. One of the reasons that Paul sends Titus back to Crete, is to toss the anchor of faithfulness into the sea of chaos (history and tradition) through which the young churches are trying to navigate. We find this almost immediately:

“I left you in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, etc…[Ti 1:5-6; NRSV; and yes, I just etc'd Scripture].

The first thing that comes to my mind is the question: So, if you are re-married, can you be an elder? The answer at face value would appear to be: No. But what if Paul isn’t counting marriages? What if Paul is talking about something altogether…else? What if Paul is talking about the thing that keeps a marriage together?

Faithfulness – described poetically by Eddie Vedder, “I’ve felt the light, I’m satisfied that the highest star is you.”

The Greek text that is translated here as “married only once” is “μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ” which literally translates one woman man (or one wife husband). Rather than a Scripture that’s aimed to make you feel guilty and unqualified if you’re remarried, what we find here is a testimony of faithfulness. In a culture where marriage was uncommon and polygamy was normal, the one woman man was a rarity and what God encouraged. This is a challenging and unparalleled statement. Committing yourself to one person in covenant relationship demands many things, but faithfulness of thought, word and action definitely fits right at the top somewhere.

Now for those who prefer the literal interpretation of the English Bible, it then depends on the translation you read, doesn’t it? The TNiV reads, “faithful to his wife.” The NLT reads, “a husband must be faithful to his wife.” The CEB puts it more egalitarianly, “They should be faithful to their spouse.” Even the ESV translates it as “husband of one wife.” There is a premium on faithfulness. While I don’t think this references re-marriage, at some point, someone thought that it should. In the thirteenth century, a scribe added to this text (which appears here on Mn 460 and nowhere else): “Do not appoint [those who have been] married twice, nor make them deacons, nor [those who] have wives from a second marriage; neither let them approach the alter for divine service.”

What this appears to make clear is that the original text does not weigh in its intention that remarriage was the issue. Granted, a scribe in the 13th century felt the need to add what was probably a church wide scruple, it’s not consistent with the trajectory of the text. For some, remarriage is the result of un-faithfulness on one or both parties. However, that’s not at all the standard. There is un-faithfulness in a first marriage as well, and not simple infidelity; complex infidelity, too. Facebook has made unfaithfulness easier than what got started with email. The internet as a whole has blurred the ethical line between which actions are faithful and which are not. In a culture that celebrates, if not demands, pluralism, syncretism and relativism, how much easier is it to be unfaithful to God than a spouse?

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity
Just and upright is he [Dt 32:4]

“Just and upright is he.”

That is what we are becoming.
Just: forgiving, loving, compassionate, concerned with the hearts of others.
Upright: learners, makers of all new mistakes, climbers, strivers, increasingly faithful.

Remarriage is not the issue here. Can you be an elder and re-married? Of course you can. Can you be an elder, a leader, a follower of Jesus and ignore the call to faithfulness? Now, there, I think that’s the problem. And of course, the answer is no.

Titus had a job on Crete: to make the churches as faithful to one another as they were to God.

This should raise some better questions for us…shouldn’t it?

Filed Under: character | virtue, ecclesia, exegeticalness, Titus Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

truth, lies, and a paradox

October 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As Paul writes to Titus, it quickly becomes clear that what is at stake is Truth. Titus is a magnificent epistle for our use in defending truth. Paul begins, ” for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began…[Titus 1:1b-2]” From the first line, we know that truth is going to be an issue. Considering the source of truth, namely God (“I am the truth, the way and the life), it’s a fine thing to remember.

Last night, Rebecca and I watched the first episode of “Lie To Me” on Netflix. The show involves a scientist who reads micro-gestures that enable him to tell when a person is lying or not. It’s a rather cynical show. We the viewer are reminded that we are all liars time and time again…which, in some form or another, is true. There are a number of “tells” the body makes that indicate falseness and untruth. When you watch someone, according to the show, you can tell when they are lying.

Everyone lies, except God. Just as micro-gestures in our bodies can reveal deceit, the body of Jesus displayed eternal truth all of the time. Everything about him was truth: his movements, his words, his life, death and resurrection.

In defense of truth, Paul quotes a Cretan philosopher, Epimenedes to Titus. This is a brilliant rhetorical move, because as John Chrysostem and Jerome point out, Epimenedes was legendary for his wisdom (tongue in cheek much?). He writes, “It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons [NRSV].” That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith [Titus 1:12-13].”This has become known as the Epimenedes paradox. There are two paradoxes created here, one is obvious (and probably more of a syllogism), the other implied.

First, if Cretans are always liars and this statement originated from a Cretan, then wouldn’t the reverse be true? Cretans always tell the truth? In an oratory culture, this would have caused Titus a good belly laugh. His experience would have taught him that Cretans were not truthful and that was what was causing so much hardship in the church. The way the syllogism works is like this:

Cretans are liars.
Epimenedes is a Cretan.
Epimenedes is a liar.

Fun, huh?

In addition, Paul writes that they are “lazy gluttons.” Look at the number of times he references sobriety and abstention from alcohol as well as commending the church in Crete to actions, good deeds and productivity [Titus 3:14]. There was a saying in Crete that the fact that there were no beasts on the island, was made up for by its people. This is what Paul is likely referring to when he calls them “viscous brutes.” In other translations, you read, “wild beasts.” The Greek, κακὰ θηρία, translates to ‘evil beasts.’ This is the environment lies create. The cosmic opposite to the way God created the world. Rather than walking in fellowship with God, there is deceit. Rather than harmony within the created order, there is wildness, rebellion. And rather than stewarding the resources of the earth, there is gluttony, over indulgence and no self control.

The second half of the paradox is this: The Cretan leaders would have to either agree or dispute Paul’s claim here and either way they would incriminate themselves. If they agree with Paul, that all Cretans are liars, they stand self-condemned. If they disagree, then if what Epimenedes said is true, they are lying. Either way, the statement is a brilliant rhetorical offensive.

The point here is not that Cretans are liars, however. That much is self evident. The thing that has to be established by other means, “in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior,” as he put it is this: God tells the truth.

God’s promises are true.
The Gospel is the promise of God.
The Gospel is true.

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