My apologies; there is no new post for Sunday, April 25. In addition, I want to announce that I am moving the daily devotional thoughts to www.theostory.wordpress.com, asking those of you who have been kind enough to follow this blog to move to that site with me. I have had too many little but annoying problems on this site to continue on a regular basis, including such things as posts appearing on the wrong date (like Saturday, which appears under Friday). Please feel free to comment, which I believe is more easily done on the other site. Thanks again for your interest; if you have enjoyed or benefitted from the devotions or thoughts, please pass the word along to a friend or enemy. And drop me a note while you're at it. Thanks again, and best wishes in Christ.
Ken
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Living in the Real World
Text: Colossians 3:1-17
How often have we been encouraged to remember the things that really matter? We hear people who have undergone substantial loss of property to fire or storm damage say such things when they note that every person survived the incident. We might hear it when someone has died, and perhaps even in a sermon. Paul says it, too, by telling us to keep on seeking the things "above," where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
So what are the things that really matter? What are the things above? And could it be that finding and pursuing these things is the same as finding and living in the real world? Is this what truth means?
The reason we are not to focus on either special exercises on one hand or on restraining from meeting certain bodily needs on the other is that either option puts the attention on things which have no intrinsic meaning in and of themselves. Their "telos"--their goal, purpose, end--is entirely for and in this space-time world we live in. Christ did not come to make us more successful or fulfilled in the satisfying of any such needs, much less any wants related to the same bodily desires. Instead, he came to free us from being so caught up in the pursuit of these things that we lose sight of our true telos. So he opens the way to things above the satisfaction of everyday needs, to things that we are intended to seek and express--truth, love, justice, goodness, righteousness, joy, knowledge of God.
It is in this light that things such as anger, malice, slander, abusive speech, sexual immorality, etc., must be removed from our lives. Each one of them is a denial of the things which belong to our true end and purpose. Conversely, those things which contribute to the learning and practice of our telos are to be fostered in our lives together as God's people--compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. It's hard to live that way in a culture obsessed with self-indulgence. So we are to encourage one another in the new, Christlike way, the way that is the truth, and is life, and prepares us for the real world.
How often have we been encouraged to remember the things that really matter? We hear people who have undergone substantial loss of property to fire or storm damage say such things when they note that every person survived the incident. We might hear it when someone has died, and perhaps even in a sermon. Paul says it, too, by telling us to keep on seeking the things "above," where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
So what are the things that really matter? What are the things above? And could it be that finding and pursuing these things is the same as finding and living in the real world? Is this what truth means?
The reason we are not to focus on either special exercises on one hand or on restraining from meeting certain bodily needs on the other is that either option puts the attention on things which have no intrinsic meaning in and of themselves. Their "telos"--their goal, purpose, end--is entirely for and in this space-time world we live in. Christ did not come to make us more successful or fulfilled in the satisfying of any such needs, much less any wants related to the same bodily desires. Instead, he came to free us from being so caught up in the pursuit of these things that we lose sight of our true telos. So he opens the way to things above the satisfaction of everyday needs, to things that we are intended to seek and express--truth, love, justice, goodness, righteousness, joy, knowledge of God.
It is in this light that things such as anger, malice, slander, abusive speech, sexual immorality, etc., must be removed from our lives. Each one of them is a denial of the things which belong to our true end and purpose. Conversely, those things which contribute to the learning and practice of our telos are to be fostered in our lives together as God's people--compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. It's hard to live that way in a culture obsessed with self-indulgence. So we are to encourage one another in the new, Christlike way, the way that is the truth, and is life, and prepares us for the real world.
Philosophy, Christ, and Living Free
Text: Colossians 2:8-23
We begin today with an easily (and often) misunderstood verse of Scripture. We are warned against being taken captive by or through philosophy and empty deception, ideas that arise out of humanity rather than out of Christ. And this is frequently taken as a warning against the study of philosophy due to a fear that it will turn on us and lead us astray. Certainly, it is possible that the study of philosophy could have this effect. But it seems far more likely that the philosophies we are to beware are not the ones we study, but the ones we don't. There are hidden philosophies or worldviews in any culture; they underlie the way things are done on a daily basis and are usually unexamined because they are so familiar yet unspoken and unnamed. And they are often quite in conflict with the truth that is in Christ.
Paul seems to be offering a brief reprise of his earlier statements about who Christ is (vv. 8-10), a more specific accounting of how we come to be "in him" (11-15), and a "therefore" statement concerning the futility of relying on someone's visions, special practices, and deprivations of the body' needs (16-23). Let's flesh out what this might mean in our own culture.
Perhaps we mistakenly believe that our culture is neutral regarding its outlook on the world and on the place of humanity therein. I beg to differ, and offer just one simple example. There are "elementary principles" which inform us of who we are and what our role in the world is. In America we are consumers; our role is to buy things and keep the economy moving. We order our lives accordingly, so that we will be positioned to consume not just homes, cars, clothing, sports equipment, and restaurants, but the best of these we can possibly attain. Christ, on the other hand, has something far better to say about us--we are valuable not because we contribute to economic growth, but because he loves us and gives himself for us. On one hand we are told how good we are by culture, only to find that we're only as valued as far as our spending will take us; on the other, we're told in Christ that God loves us and gave himself for us, to free us from bondage to any other thought system. For all the competitors fall short of giving the worth that God already holds us in.
What do the people in your life, the voices influential in your world say about you and what's expected of you? What have they done to prove themselves worthy of your allegiance? Then compare this to Christ, whose yoke is easy and burden light.
We begin today with an easily (and often) misunderstood verse of Scripture. We are warned against being taken captive by or through philosophy and empty deception, ideas that arise out of humanity rather than out of Christ. And this is frequently taken as a warning against the study of philosophy due to a fear that it will turn on us and lead us astray. Certainly, it is possible that the study of philosophy could have this effect. But it seems far more likely that the philosophies we are to beware are not the ones we study, but the ones we don't. There are hidden philosophies or worldviews in any culture; they underlie the way things are done on a daily basis and are usually unexamined because they are so familiar yet unspoken and unnamed. And they are often quite in conflict with the truth that is in Christ.
Paul seems to be offering a brief reprise of his earlier statements about who Christ is (vv. 8-10), a more specific accounting of how we come to be "in him" (11-15), and a "therefore" statement concerning the futility of relying on someone's visions, special practices, and deprivations of the body' needs (16-23). Let's flesh out what this might mean in our own culture.
Perhaps we mistakenly believe that our culture is neutral regarding its outlook on the world and on the place of humanity therein. I beg to differ, and offer just one simple example. There are "elementary principles" which inform us of who we are and what our role in the world is. In America we are consumers; our role is to buy things and keep the economy moving. We order our lives accordingly, so that we will be positioned to consume not just homes, cars, clothing, sports equipment, and restaurants, but the best of these we can possibly attain. Christ, on the other hand, has something far better to say about us--we are valuable not because we contribute to economic growth, but because he loves us and gives himself for us. On one hand we are told how good we are by culture, only to find that we're only as valued as far as our spending will take us; on the other, we're told in Christ that God loves us and gave himself for us, to free us from bondage to any other thought system. For all the competitors fall short of giving the worth that God already holds us in.
What do the people in your life, the voices influential in your world say about you and what's expected of you? What have they done to prove themselves worthy of your allegiance? Then compare this to Christ, whose yoke is easy and burden light.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Where is Truth?
Text: Colossians 1:24-2:7
Personal truth. That is, truth which is the person of Jesus Christ. What kind of "truth" is this, and where can it be found?
What do we mean when we speak of knowing the truth? Does it mean getting the right description of the way the world really is? But how can we know whether we've got it right unless we already know the way it is? Do our statements match the way things really are, as demonstrated by scientific verification? Is truth determined by how well our entire view holds together with logical consistency? Or is truth a matter of going with what works, whether or not it can be improved upon or even shown to be false? Do we give up and allow multiple views to all count as truth, in spite of direct contradictions of one another? Oh, isn't epistemology fun?
It's in the context of this confused and confusing (postmodern?) backdrop that we should consider anew the claims of Christianity in texts such as Colossians. What if we begin with the premise that, indeed, everything has its origin in Christ? What if we drop for the moment any preconceptions of what truth is and focus on him, and accept his invitation to know him as he is revealed in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension? This is the beginning of wisdom. The rest of our knowledge proceeds from this premise.
Let's take the argument one step farther. To "know" the truth, we must engage ourselves in the reflection and imitation of what we have come to accept as truth. That means believing hearts knit together in love, and thereby attaining understanding (2:2-3). To know the truth we must do the truth; facts and propositions are necessary, but insufficient. Nothing less than this commitment of faith in the truth that is Christ will do. It's far more than a claim of forgiveness of sins and heaven when we die; it's the determination that all things exist by and for him. If Jesus is who the Christianity has always said he is, and did what it claims he did, then to know him is to know truth, no matter how many facts we hold in our minds.
Comments?
Personal truth. That is, truth which is the person of Jesus Christ. What kind of "truth" is this, and where can it be found?
What do we mean when we speak of knowing the truth? Does it mean getting the right description of the way the world really is? But how can we know whether we've got it right unless we already know the way it is? Do our statements match the way things really are, as demonstrated by scientific verification? Is truth determined by how well our entire view holds together with logical consistency? Or is truth a matter of going with what works, whether or not it can be improved upon or even shown to be false? Do we give up and allow multiple views to all count as truth, in spite of direct contradictions of one another? Oh, isn't epistemology fun?
It's in the context of this confused and confusing (postmodern?) backdrop that we should consider anew the claims of Christianity in texts such as Colossians. What if we begin with the premise that, indeed, everything has its origin in Christ? What if we drop for the moment any preconceptions of what truth is and focus on him, and accept his invitation to know him as he is revealed in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension? This is the beginning of wisdom. The rest of our knowledge proceeds from this premise.
Let's take the argument one step farther. To "know" the truth, we must engage ourselves in the reflection and imitation of what we have come to accept as truth. That means believing hearts knit together in love, and thereby attaining understanding (2:2-3). To know the truth we must do the truth; facts and propositions are necessary, but insufficient. Nothing less than this commitment of faith in the truth that is Christ will do. It's far more than a claim of forgiveness of sins and heaven when we die; it's the determination that all things exist by and for him. If Jesus is who the Christianity has always said he is, and did what it claims he did, then to know him is to know truth, no matter how many facts we hold in our minds.
Comments?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Personal Truth
Text: Colossians 1:15-23
As my students will testify, there are a few phrases that draw a reaction from this professor more readily than this one in the title. The idea that we each get to have a truth that is personally drawn undercuts the very concept of truth, which deals with the way things really are, independent of how we might choose to see them. So what's the phrase doing in the title?
Glad you asked. No, the universe hasn't yet tilted to the point where I affirm the notion of relative truth, which remains an oxymoron. But it is also a mistake to think that our perspective on the truth is the truth itself. More importantly, what does any of this have to do with Colossians 1? Everything.
Jesus Christ is spoken of in terms which can only be understood as the sum total of truth--all things created by and for him, before all things, in whom all things hold together. This must mean that he is more fundamental than any criterion of truth we could possibly conceive. And there's more, as we read that all the fullness of deity was alive in and through him, and that he reconciles us to God by his death and resurrection. If there is a better synopsis of God's narrative of the world, I can't imagine where it would be found (other than John 1:1-18). And one point which stands out is that this One is a person; the truth, indeed is personal, albeit in a far different sense from the way such a phrase is commonly used. We are redeemed, made whole, fulfilled, given hope, purpose, and God's own blessing by our relationship to the one who is himself truth. Not our relationship with statements about him, but with him.
How many of the secrets of the physical universe we may uncover and how many of those we will observe and categorize correctly remain to be seen. But we can know truth because the God who made us came to us and continues to do so in this one, Jesus. No other religion or faith makes such a claim about its key figure. There is only one. And because he is truth, he judges all other competing systems of thought, secular or religious. That's quite a claim. He died to make it and to bring us knowledge of truth.
As my students will testify, there are a few phrases that draw a reaction from this professor more readily than this one in the title. The idea that we each get to have a truth that is personally drawn undercuts the very concept of truth, which deals with the way things really are, independent of how we might choose to see them. So what's the phrase doing in the title?
Glad you asked. No, the universe hasn't yet tilted to the point where I affirm the notion of relative truth, which remains an oxymoron. But it is also a mistake to think that our perspective on the truth is the truth itself. More importantly, what does any of this have to do with Colossians 1? Everything.
Jesus Christ is spoken of in terms which can only be understood as the sum total of truth--all things created by and for him, before all things, in whom all things hold together. This must mean that he is more fundamental than any criterion of truth we could possibly conceive. And there's more, as we read that all the fullness of deity was alive in and through him, and that he reconciles us to God by his death and resurrection. If there is a better synopsis of God's narrative of the world, I can't imagine where it would be found (other than John 1:1-18). And one point which stands out is that this One is a person; the truth, indeed is personal, albeit in a far different sense from the way such a phrase is commonly used. We are redeemed, made whole, fulfilled, given hope, purpose, and God's own blessing by our relationship to the one who is himself truth. Not our relationship with statements about him, but with him.
How many of the secrets of the physical universe we may uncover and how many of those we will observe and categorize correctly remain to be seen. But we can know truth because the God who made us came to us and continues to do so in this one, Jesus. No other religion or faith makes such a claim about its key figure. There is only one. And because he is truth, he judges all other competing systems of thought, secular or religious. That's quite a claim. He died to make it and to bring us knowledge of truth.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Driven
Text: Colossians 1:1-14
What drives people? What motivations account for their successes and their failures? Do we know more about people when we know their attainments, or when we know the driving force behind what we see? What drives you and me?
It might be too easy a target, but today let's think about what seems to have driven the people involved in some of the financial collapses on Wall Street. But we'll do so not to single these people out as the most despicable, but as far more like most of us than not. They may have been more successful in manipulating and attaining certain market outcomes, but perhaps no more or less indicative of a world that has lost its story, and therefore its best motivations.
For some reason, we despise greed when it is blatantly displayed; yet the dominant worldview operating in the public square has no resources from which to tell us why. Our secular culture has set matters of truth firmly within the confines of those things which can be enumerated. If something is quantifiable, it is open to true/false categories; if not, it is a matter for personal opinion and nothing more. Financial success is quantifiable; values such as fairness, equity, and justice are not. To say that people want to succeed and are promised continually that it is within their reach is to state the obvious. Many people have despaired of succeeding in such terms; others play the lottery. In reality, when the lights are out and one's own thoughts are the only noise, darkness prevails over mind and spirit.
In the beginning of the epistle before us, Paul sounds a different theme. He writes to those who have hope not of financial success, but of a richness in this world that is funded by confidence in a future beyond it. It is the message of Christ, who holds the real story of our world and our lives, our prospects and our purpose. It's like a turning on of the lights when we've lost everything we need in a dark place, only to find that those things are not unattainable after all. They simply look far different when the light is on.
As we follow Paul through this epistle, let's do so with an awareness that we are usually caught between degrees of darkness and light, too often holding on to the values from which Christ has redeemed us, too seldom walking in the light we know he gives.
What drives people? What motivations account for their successes and their failures? Do we know more about people when we know their attainments, or when we know the driving force behind what we see? What drives you and me?
It might be too easy a target, but today let's think about what seems to have driven the people involved in some of the financial collapses on Wall Street. But we'll do so not to single these people out as the most despicable, but as far more like most of us than not. They may have been more successful in manipulating and attaining certain market outcomes, but perhaps no more or less indicative of a world that has lost its story, and therefore its best motivations.
For some reason, we despise greed when it is blatantly displayed; yet the dominant worldview operating in the public square has no resources from which to tell us why. Our secular culture has set matters of truth firmly within the confines of those things which can be enumerated. If something is quantifiable, it is open to true/false categories; if not, it is a matter for personal opinion and nothing more. Financial success is quantifiable; values such as fairness, equity, and justice are not. To say that people want to succeed and are promised continually that it is within their reach is to state the obvious. Many people have despaired of succeeding in such terms; others play the lottery. In reality, when the lights are out and one's own thoughts are the only noise, darkness prevails over mind and spirit.
In the beginning of the epistle before us, Paul sounds a different theme. He writes to those who have hope not of financial success, but of a richness in this world that is funded by confidence in a future beyond it. It is the message of Christ, who holds the real story of our world and our lives, our prospects and our purpose. It's like a turning on of the lights when we've lost everything we need in a dark place, only to find that those things are not unattainable after all. They simply look far different when the light is on.
As we follow Paul through this epistle, let's do so with an awareness that we are usually caught between degrees of darkness and light, too often holding on to the values from which Christ has redeemed us, too seldom walking in the light we know he gives.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Leading without Weapons
Text: 1 Peter 5:1-14
Holiness in leadership; leading in holiness. What can it possibly mean? In a day of equality and independent judgment of virtually all things, is it possible for one to perform the functions of leading a congregation in an honorable, biblically and spiritually consistent fashion?
In this era of equality of all opinions, what right have any of us to declare what another person should or should not do or think in regard to spiritual matters? Our culture, often with the full agreement of believers, has separated matters of faith from anything that may be left of truth. Truth might be an appropriate category for scientific, mathematical, or financial matters; but it has nothing to do, so the story goes, with matters of faith, where we are left to form our own opinions since these issues lie outside the canons of verification. And since each of of has the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide, what need have we of another authority?
Peter appeals to a different source of authority. Rather than standing on expertise with the Scripture, he stands on his first hand experience with the Lord himself--not just in in living and ministering with him, but in his death and resurrection. And he wears this experience with a great deal of humility, undoubtedly remembering his own inglorious failure during Jesus' trial. Proving to be an example of the kind of holy living in an unholy world provides a credential which does not need to be trumpeted; it has been declared already, and accepted by those truly under the Spirit's guidance.
We have all kinds of seminars and leadership summits available to the church today. Frankly, few of them tell the paying faithful to clothe themselves with humility, not to worry about if, when, and by whom they will be recognized for their work. Anxieties about such things are out of place, quite unnecessary, and potentially detrimental, as they may open the ambitious ones to succumb to another way of doing things. We've seen more than enough of this in ministry. God's way just might make one unpopular for a time; suffering might be involved. But honor from God will come.
Holiness in leadership; leading in holiness. What can it possibly mean? In a day of equality and independent judgment of virtually all things, is it possible for one to perform the functions of leading a congregation in an honorable, biblically and spiritually consistent fashion?
In this era of equality of all opinions, what right have any of us to declare what another person should or should not do or think in regard to spiritual matters? Our culture, often with the full agreement of believers, has separated matters of faith from anything that may be left of truth. Truth might be an appropriate category for scientific, mathematical, or financial matters; but it has nothing to do, so the story goes, with matters of faith, where we are left to form our own opinions since these issues lie outside the canons of verification. And since each of of has the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide, what need have we of another authority?
Peter appeals to a different source of authority. Rather than standing on expertise with the Scripture, he stands on his first hand experience with the Lord himself--not just in in living and ministering with him, but in his death and resurrection. And he wears this experience with a great deal of humility, undoubtedly remembering his own inglorious failure during Jesus' trial. Proving to be an example of the kind of holy living in an unholy world provides a credential which does not need to be trumpeted; it has been declared already, and accepted by those truly under the Spirit's guidance.
We have all kinds of seminars and leadership summits available to the church today. Frankly, few of them tell the paying faithful to clothe themselves with humility, not to worry about if, when, and by whom they will be recognized for their work. Anxieties about such things are out of place, quite unnecessary, and potentially detrimental, as they may open the ambitious ones to succumb to another way of doing things. We've seen more than enough of this in ministry. God's way just might make one unpopular for a time; suffering might be involved. But honor from God will come.
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