Five Things that Are Usually on theTable

One of the blessings of my work is the luxury of having stimulating dialogue. Sometimes the stimulation is because I am in the midst of some fascinating problem, but often it is just a matter of sorting out the intricate issues of being a Jesus-follower in an ever-changing, ever-falling world.

In the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of some deep conversations that have me thinking about the main issues we face when we are trying to form cells. Every Cell Leader, if they are engaged with their fellow cell members, is going to run up against the opposition people feel to being a Jesus-follower and forming  a community centered around Him. They aren't just being "bad," they are entering the cell already deeply influenced by large societal forces. So they bring forceful assumptions that usually pressure the cell to conform to them. They are not likely to automatically change their minds and habits to conform to our vision of what following Jesus is all about!  Besides, the tug of war about whether the church or the society is more conformed to Jesus is often not a "cut-and-dried" matter. Stimulating dialogue should ensue. 

I've got some "proverbs" forming in my mind that deal with the regular issues I am discussing with people. Some of my friends have theories about life from the society that I don't share. The other day, I jotted down five things I had been repeatedly talking about with people. They didn't come up as "topics," they came up as assumptions. I decided to briefly flesh them out as topics today to see if I could state them positively and get some feedback. Here goes:

Knowing things and knowing ourselves is more about being known than processing data.

Wisdom is revealed and received more than extracted from precedent or "the research." When I say that, I mean that wisdom resides with God and is primarily revealed in Jesus. But I think a lot of people expect to discover God by endless data processing, since that's what we do. Processing means progressing.

As a result, many people will assume that more knowledge means more progress, and progress is what we are all about. If the cell does not provide data, they may not think they are getting anywhere. If you bring up the Bible, they may be nervous, because the Bible is old data. They think that the present state of science, democracy and probably capitalism, really is that much smarter than everyone who ever lived before; humankind has progressed. They are also likely to think that the future will be even better; they might feel like they'll be left behind if they attach to Jesus .

Christians certainly believe we are coming to a good end. And we believe individuals and societies can and should get better. But we know God has always known better, knowing God in every era is knowing better, and being known by God as God promotes our discovery of our eternity is best of all.

Blindly applying whatever is the latest "best practices" may flip vulnerable people "out of the frying pan and into the fire. "

People often tell me I will be on the wrong side of history if I don't adapt to what's coming around. I am trying to be adaptable. Last night I actually suspected I might be TOO adaptable when students from Ohio came to the meeting and thought they had arrived at a different spiritual planet. One of them said, "I think one of my friends went to a church like this, once." I like to be on the edge of what is next, not "out of this world." We need to reach into what is coming and reach back into what was.

I think we should not blindly go with whatever the scientists and pseudo-scientists invented in the last 100-500 years, certainly not the last 50 years, certainly not with the latest political movement that popularizes their findings.  As my mom said, "Just because someone is popular does not make them good." (That's either Mom or Jesus). When the bandwagon crashes, the most vulnerable get most hurt.

I don't think we can underestimate just how unwilling most of us are to suffer.

There is a lot of pressure to make being ourselves feel good and to never suffer being disliked, disrespected or disabled. Dis is becoming a forbidden syllable. (And don't dis me because I said so!) We are not supposed to experience dis-ease, dis-comfort, dis-appointment. If you are the cell leader that perpetrates any dis there may be instant dis-tance. Don't be afraid, just keep talking about it.

Some things about us are not going to change this side of the age to come. We can be comforted, happy and stable, but we might not be perfect or perfectly related. Being saved is better than being perfect. Being who one is and letting God accept us and change us is better than demanding that society (or the church) supply a perfect environment for our perfect life.

Expressions of faith change over time to match the era and the needs, but that's not improving the faith, that is just being clear.

We Jesus-followers have always adapted to whatever society we are in, most of the time for good, sometimes with spectacularly wrong results.  In the US we tend to have rich people arguments, assuming the whole world is like us (or would like to be!).  In the Congo, our brothers and sisters are debating something else.

My basic thought about everything is "What provides for redemption?" Not, "How can I make my religion adaptable to what's happening now?" I'm not ashamed of Jesus. God does not need updating, as if he were a style. But, at the same time, love speaks the language of the loved one.

Being chosen is the beginning of freedom.

Most people seem to think that choice is the end of freedom. For instance: if Libyans get democracy, everything will be fine (just like it is here!). Not many people think that but they do act like endless choices, like consumer choices, make them human. Human rights is often a discussion of choice.

I agree that having rights is sure better than being dominated! But I hasten to add that the philosophy of choice is also a domination system and being free of conforming to it is my right in Christ. Having many or few choices does not make me more human and certainly not more spiritually free.

This is a tricky argument to have while munching on a cookie during a cell meeting. But it will undoubtedly come up, because a lot of people think morality is about rights. Since Christians are all for morality, then we must be about rights. It is surprising to people when we go deeper than that and talk about how losing our right to be "free" of God has given us freedom to be our true selves back in relationship with God.

In looking this over, I probably have too many giant issues squashed on to this little page. So thanks for getting this far. That's kind of how my life has been lately — full of stimulating conversations that can't get finished in a short amount of time.  It is also like a cell — full of facinating people with more issues to consider than there is time in a meeting.

Any help you can give in how to state redemptive truths positively and not just join the flame-throwers on the net, in the Congress and on TV will be appreciated.