Donald Miller's Blog, page 124

The Character Trait That Pleased Jesus

In John 6, Jesus loses some of his followers after He tells them they have to eat his flesh and drink His blood. I imagine they thought he was crazy. And I would have thought he was crazy too. But it was the twelve disciples who remained. And why? It's not because Jesus clarified he was speaking metaphorically (it might have been nice for him to have clarified that, though) it was because they said they had no other choice. They believed he was the son of God, and they really had no other options. They literally said to him "where else are we going to go?"

The striking thing about this passage, for me, was that Jesus lived out the earlier theme from John that he did not get his glory from man. He had no need for man's approval. (contrast this with our own desire for approval from each other) He did not care that they thought he was crazy. And it's not because he was captain confidence, it was because man literally had no glory to offer him at all. His glory would come from the father.

Ever been to a foreign country where the food was not appealing? Ever sat down in front of a bowl of bugs? Or worms? To Jesus, this was the social meal placed before him every day: The glory of man. We are designed, like the Trinity, to have glory shine through us. But Christ, knowing the glory of the father, was not the least bit tempted by the sort of glory we partake in every day, the fleeting, passing, tiny, conditional, false glory and praise we dole out toward each other secretly hoping we'd get something in return. Christ saw the passive aggressive attempts at glory, and the desire for an audience to clap or think we are fashionable or smart or religious or fast or sexy and it looked to him like a bowl of worms. Christ longed for the father, and invited us to be one with him so that the glory of God would some day shine through us even as it had through him.

The second thing that is striking about this passage is that Jesus is very comfortable with us not understanding Him. This seems like an injustice in an age where every sunday we have things explained to us and have our control increased over whatever dynamic we face. But "understanding" is not a character trait that Jesus seems to value. He's not praising the smarties. Instead, he's pleased with the faithful, those who will follow when there seems to be no reason to follow, and when it looks like they are going to have to do a hard thing and there's no way out.

And from the disciples perspective, what is expressed toward Christ is not love or devotion, instead it's incredible belief. They believed he was the son of God, even though they also probably believed he was strange. The facts, then, in their mind, were that the son of God was a strange man who talked about cannibalism and, well, that's unfortunate, but what else are we going to do.

I like that we don't have to be sappy about our faith. And I like that we don't have to always understand. And I like that it's honorable of us to talk to God and say, Hey, man, I'm uncomfortable with this but you know, I've got no other options. You're the Son of God. I'm with you whatever. It's not like this other crap system of seeking glory is any better.

The Character Trait That Pleased Jesus is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Where do we Find Life?

Lately I've been reading from the book of John, every morning. And it's been a different experience than in past years. In the past, I've approached the Bible looking for a principle or bit of wisdom I can apply to my life. But lately I've been more fascinated by Jesus Himself. When I'm done reading for the morning, I find myself thinking not so much about what I read, or parsing phrases, as much as the captivating character of Christ. I ask myself whether He would like me. I wonder what He would want to talk about if I were to have met Him. I wonder what He would confront me about. I feel like I am reading the book the way a kid would read the book. It's been a very fun adventure.

If I place myself in a scene with Christ, I am most comfortable on the outskirts, an anonymous follower hidden in the crowd. I'd stare at Him for sure, until He stared back, after which I'd quickly make conversation with somebody else hoping He wouldn't come over. I'd probably do this for a few weeks until I knew I could trust Him. And this only because I have religious baggage. If I hadn't grown up in religion, I'd probably talk to Him right away and tell Him he's a fool and then realize pretty quickly He's not and then we'd get a beer.

Like I said before, this approach to scripture is new, and it wasn't an approach I planned or strategized. But I welcome the perspective. I don't really want to argue anymore about theology. Or at least I want the conversations to be short…Not unlike Jesus talking to the woman at the well, just a dismissal of her cult, and a focus on what is true.

What strikes me about my perspective regarding the Bible before is how little of it had to do with Jesus. It was mostly about doctrine, and arguing doctrine or proving and disproving doctrine. Jesus says to the Jews "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

In this context, Jesus is speaking to the Jews who were steeped in the law. They were no doubt gaining an identity as learned scholars, and trading on that identity in some sort of power game. And yet Christ was right in front of them, rather obviously prophesied in the pages they studied. Perhaps something like that is true for us as well. Perhaps the warning, though not delivered to us directly, may apply. It did for me.

Where do we Find Life? is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

As a Creator, are You Being Sent?

I've realized, that, in my life, much of my creative energy has been spent trying to be worshipped. I don't mean to say I thought I was a god, or wanted other people to think I was a god, but I certainly wanted other people to be impressed. In part, this is an identity issue we grapple with in our youth. We want to be creators, and we want to be good, and we need somebody outside ourselves to tell us we are good. That's how we work, internally. No creator can stand in front of the mirror and say they are good and believe it. Humans are designed so that somebody outside themselves tells them who they are.

Jesus, who created the world (all things were made in Him) and is going to create a new place for us, was still "named" by the Father. Christ's confidence, or I should say His "knowing" who He was, came from God. In John 5 we see "as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself" and jesus says "I can do nothing on my own" and "I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me."

I found that doing my work in order to be thought of as a great creator was not fulfilling, at least not for long. I'd read a review and within hours doubt myself again. More and more, I am seeing the beauty of being sent, of my work not being about me, but about Him who sent me. Being sent is about stepping off the emotional roller coaster we must ride when life is about us. If our lives are not about us, then it matters much less to us whether we are honored or praised or criticized and rejected.

And what is Christ sent to do? He says "I say these things that you might be saved."

If we are sent, we speak something true and beautiful in the world, something people will cling to, something that will threaten the false religions, even false Christian piety.

Do you feel sent as a creator? Do you want to be sent? What might it feel like to be sent for a greater cause? What is the cause or meaning of your current work? What are you afraid of if you decide to be sent from God? Are you afraid your work will be cheesy? Are you afraid you will be ridiculed? Who are the great creators who have been sent who rose above trite artistic messaging? Rembrandt? Michelangelo? Handel? Perhaps there is a place for you amongst the sent.

As a Creator, are You Being Sent? is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Get a Free Case of Million Miles!

Some of you have been buying hardback copies of Million MIles and giving them to friends. I'm so grateful. The paperback is out now and it's much cheaper, but I wanted to give a free case to the five people who have given out the most hardback books as a thank you . We will have to use the honor system, so here is how it will work:

1. Think about how many books you've purchased and given away. Count them on your fingers and toes.

2. If you bought them for a book group and got paid back, it doesn't count.

3. If you bought them with a company credit card or church credit car, unfortunately it doesn't count, either.

4. If you shoplifted them they don't count.

5. If you bought them so you could burn them they don't count.

6. If you are my mom, they don't count.

Take the number of books you bought and let me know in the comments how many you've given away. The five people who gave away the most books will get a free case delivered to their door. We will contact you through your e-mail address in the comments. The contest closes sometime in the vaguely near future.

In all seriousness, it means a lot that you guys have spread the word about Million Miles. I'm very grateful. It's awesome to be able to put more books in the hands of the people who've been the biggest supporters. Can't thank you enough.

Get a Free Case of Million Miles! is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Get a Free Copy of Million Miles!

The paperback for Million Miles officially releases today. I'm excited.

If you've read the book and would like a free copy of the paperback, simply:

1. Embed the below video on your blog and come back to the comments section here and post a link to said blog.

2. Link to the book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Powells Books within your blog.

The first thirty people to do so will get a free paperback in the mail (somebody will contact you for your mailing address) so you can give it away or read it again and not care if you spill coffee all over it. And check back tomorrow because I am giving away several cases!

You can get the code to embed the video off of the Vimeo site where the video is housed, or by clicking here. Thanks so much!

Get a Free Copy of Million Miles! is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Sunday Morning Music, The Robbie Seay Band

Heard Robbie for the first time back in 2005 or so when I spent a summer in Houston. I went to Chris Seay's church, one of my favorites in all the world, called Ecclesia, and when the worship team came up I was taken aback. To be honest, I don't really get much from worship times, I'm just too much in my head, but Robbie and the band were so good about ten seconds in I had that feeling I'd discovered a new favorite. I drove away from Houston and took the Grand Canyon route back to Oregon, preparing to rewrite a travel book I'd written years before. I didn't listen to much else besides Robbie on that trip. When I hear that guitar pinging I can still smell a certain rain storm coming in over the mountains of New Mexico. Good morning. Enjoy, The Robbie Seay Band:

Sunday Morning Music, The Robbie Seay Band is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

When Truth is the Enemy of Truth

Thomas Kuhn

I've been reading Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and realizing it's applicability to the ongoing conversation regarding Biblical truth. Kuhn was no philosopher or theologian, he was a scientist, but he proposed scientific paradigms should be allowed to change through a term he coined as "paradigm shifts."

A paradigm shift would occur when scientists encountered anomalies which could not be explained by the accepted paradigm. All of this seems rather obvious, of course, and yet just like in the theological realm, scientists are not quick to let go of their paradigms. In fact, Kuhn argued when enough anomalies accrue against an accepted paradigm, the discipline in question is thrown into crisis. The crisis will then give way to a new paradigm which is not to be confused with absolute truth, but a current understanding or interpretation of absolute truth, always threatening to be changed by more anomalies. The process was designed, then, to respect truth over interpretation, or truth over the human biases that might distort truth.

He kind of looks like a heretic to be honest.

In 1900, Lord Kelvin rather presumptuously stated There is nothing new to be discovered in physics, five years after which Albert Einstein published his paper on special relativity.

Paradigm shifts should not be associated with a theory of relativism. The idea is not that truth is changing, but that further study is changing our understanding of truth.

When Kuhn talks about paradigms in crisis, he isn't kidding. Scientists who threatened existing paradigms (including Einstein) were called heretics and banned for years from presenting papers at certain universities. The tension in the sciences was much more ferocious than we are seeing in the evangelical church today.

When theologians throw out anomalies that threaten their paradigms, they respect their interpretation of truth more than truth, or worse, believe their interpretation of truth is actually truth. They use terms like Biblical and heretic to convince themselves and others that their interpretation is the real truth and others are a threat to "the gospel" or to God Himself. This sort of language isn't helpful or respectful of anomalies, not to mention it's behavior indicates a genuine intellectual threat that should be taken seriously, not dismissed as heresy.

What we are encountering in Christian culture today is a paradigm in crisis. Will there be a shift in the way we understand truth or read the Bible? Time will tell. But it would be arrogant of us to dismiss the anomalies. Dismissing anomalies rather than addressing them may be good for existing structures, including financial structures and power structures, but it isn't good for truth. This does not mean anomalies have to be accepted, but rather carefully addressed in a reasonable manner.

The audience that reads this blog has been surveyed and found well educated and a rather large portion of you serve in professional ministry of some sort. So I want to open this up for questions.

What are the anomalies accruing against the widely accepted Biblical paradigm? I realize that question is vague, because I have not defined that paradigm, but perhaps leaving it open will allow a wider variety of anomalies to be discussed.

I have several of my own:

1. Is the Bible supposed to be used like a constitution? And if so, why isn't it structured as such?

2. How do we reconcile propositional truth with the language of Christ who claims to actually be truth?

3. If to know Christ is to know truth, how do we give up the metrics we commonly use to decide whether or not somebody is a Christian? Do we create relational metrics, or simply give control over to God and just introduce people to the person of Christ?

4. Why do certain sects within evangelical Christianity claim their interpretation of truth as absolute, when their interpretation is fit with unanswered anomalies? (I suppose thats the point of this post.)

Thanks for considering these ideas.

 

When Truth is the Enemy of Truth is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

The Biggest Temptation of the Modern Christian is Self Righteousness

I am grateful Jesus didn't intimidate people with his righteousness. When Jesus left his home land (saying a prophet is not honored in his own home) he went to Galilee. And do you know why the Galileans accepted Him? It was because they'd been at a feast with Him, at a wedding party, and at the party Jesus had turned water into wine. Seriously. That's why they liked Him. And it wasn't because He gave them alcohol, it was likely because he was a likable guy. We like the people who make us feel good about ourselves, like we are worth something. Do you know, Jesus is the only person who has ever walked the earth who knew, intuitively and truthfully, how priceless people are? How amazing is it that the one truly righteous man in all of history had a kind of righteousness that didn't make people feel bad about themselves? And it's not because He was such a nice guy, either. The woman at the well was crazy about Him, even after He spoke bluntly about her romantic disasters. In fact, stop reading this for a second and count the characters in scripture that rejected Jesus because they wanted to go on sinning? Now count the characters that rejected Him because of their religious hangups and self-righteousness. I'd say the latter outnumbers the former ten to one, at least.

Most people who read this blog are Christians. Will you consider the idea that the temptations have not changed, that we are still more tempted by self-righteousness than by anything else?

Did Jesus make some people feel bad? Absolutely. He made religious people feel terrible. His reviews were scathing. He consistently stood up to those who lied to people about their intrinsic worth.

I'm reading through the gospels again, and I'm amazed at how much I am still drawn to Jesus.

The Biggest Temptation of the Modern Christian is Self Righteousness is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Sunday Morning Music, The Trashcan Sinatras

Every decade or so, the Scottish band The Trascan Sinatras release another album. Not sure what they do between releases, except take their sweet time creating whatever scraps of genius that get thrown on their occasional release. Everything I've heard from them is pure genius. As they've aged, they've only gotten better, more thoughtful and somehow cooler. Count me as a fan. Enjoy this song, All the Dark Horses, from the Trascan's new record called In The Music:

Sunday Morning Music, The Trashcan Sinatras is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Thoughts on Being Worshipped

I like the account of John the Baptist in the book of John. One of my favorite lines from scripture is when John says of the odd prophet of the same name "He was not the light but came to bear witness to the light." What I like most about that verse is it takes the pressure off. I don't have to be perfect to be used by God. I don't have to be holy (insert a dozen major characters in scripture that weren't.) I don't have to be willing (insert another dozen) or skilled (here we go again.) I don't have to be any of these things because I am not the light, Christ is the light of the world. All I do is stand and point.

Have you ever noticed that in many Christian books the author looks better than Jesus Himself. I mean Jesus looks really good, but the author looks even better, even more Godly than Christ. Christ, after all, didn't look very Godly by contextual standards. He wrecked the church turning over tables. He insulted religious leadership and called them fakes. He ate and befriended prostitutes and tax gatherers. He broke religious laws. he turned water into wine at a large party. I would bet that not a single Christian conservative leader in America would accept Christ as a viable teacher were he here in America today. And their argument would be that He was not holy.

I don't think these guys are hypocrites, because they would sincerely mean their rejection of Christ for the sake of Christ, but I do think they've bought into the idea they must be the light and bear witness to the light. It's true we are the light of the world, but the light is Christ in us, not our own holiness.

And so, when we fake holiness, here are the things that happen:

1. We teach people the false truth that they must be holy and perfect in order to be accepted by God. We teach them this with our obsession.

2. We teach people we do not believe the grace of God is strong enough to cover us.

3. We make God look less holy in reference to our supposed holiness.

4. We make God intimidating.

5. The intuitive smell out we are fakes and want nothing to do with the church.

So is the key to brag about our unholiness? Not at all. We pursue holiness, but we do so in complete honest, not as actors. We bear witness to the light.

Thoughts on Being Worshipped is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog