The Living Jesus

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:19-20)

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When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:1-6)

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"Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Rev 1:17-18)

Love and Fear

Religion needs an angry god, and fear of his retribution, in order to survive. Religion is based on doing good and avoiding bad, however those are defined by said religion, in order to incur the god's blessing and avoid his/her/its wrath. Without fear religion doesn't work.

Jesus never came to establish a religion. He came to make it possible for us to have a real and living relationship with the real and living God. Fear can motivate me to behave... for awhile. Fear controls the mind. Love wins the heart. It changes the motivation--the want-to.

God doesn't use fear to accomplish anything. Fear always motivates people toward self-preservation, never into real relationship. God wants a real relationship with you.

Religion believes that it takes fearing for our own our necks to get us to "act right". It's not out of some high calling to serve our fellow man, but out of a much lower desperation to save our own hides. In terms of my relationship with God, love has done for me what fear never did.

God doesn't use fear, guilt and shame to leverage us into a relationship. Real relationship is based on love, not fear. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."(1 John 4:18)

A writer on another blog recently wrote: "Largely we've been sold a bill of goods in the past 25 years by evangelical leaders who have mistakenly taught us that Christianity is about protecting a way of life—a Christian nation, a civil/social morality. For many years now, Christians have been drawing lines, putting sinners on one side and themselves on the other, and saying, 'Be afraid of those people over there. They are out to get you. They will ruin your country, your lifestyle, your government… you name it.'

"What is tragic about this is how it reduces Christianity to politics, economics, social and lifestyle issues, and everything outside of this is threatening to those who believe this way. Those affected by this thinking end up too afraid to love, they are so threatened by the world around them. They define their Christian lives around the framework they've built to protect them from the pains, sorrows, and realities of real life. They have no idea how real grace can work in their lives."

It really comes down to a choice between love and fear. And I think sometimes we actually prefer fear. Fear means we don't have to be responsible. We are victims and there are people to blame for our predicament. But love means I walk with God into whatever is producing the fear and work it out. Love is taking responsibility instead of blaming. Love is almost always about being vulnerable... love is risky.

God does not use fear to motivate His children. He loves His children and moves them through love to action. Jesus and fear cannot occupy the same throne.

Infidels?

I’ve been thinking about the word “infidel” lately. I’ve heard it frequently on TV this week, remembering 9/11 and hearing newscasters talk about terrorism. There are those who would say that anyone who doesn’t follow their religion is an “infidel”.

Infidel stems from the word “infidelity” which is unfaithfulness, disloyalty, betrayal. The infidel is the one who breaks a contract or who breaks covenant. The married partner who commits adultery is an infidel. The person who makes a promise and doesn't keep it is an infidel. The business partner who secretly embezzles funds is an infidel. A person who doesn’t follow a particular religion, to which he or she never made a commitment, is NOT an infidel.

You can’t hold someone to the terms of a contract that they never entered into. So the problem is when people, especially religious people, impose the terms of their covenant with their god on everyone else. The ones who made the commitment are expected to keep it, not those who never agreed to be in that relationship in the first place. So the infidel is the one who is unfaithful to a contract or relationship that THEY entered into.

I’ve also heard a lot of talk this week about “Islamic fundamentalist”. I don’t have a problem with fundamentalists; Muslim, Evangelical Christian, Atheist or otherwise. I have a problem with terrorists (whether they be Muslim, Evangelical Christian or some other group) who use fear-based tactics to silence anyone who disagrees with them, their "enemies."

A “fundamentalist” means one holds to the fundamentals, or core teachings, of their particular belief system (and yes, Atheism has core beliefs, too). I would like to see us quit using the word "fundamentalist" as a derogatory title, no matter which group we are using it to describe. There is nothing wrong with holding the the fundamentals on one's faith, as long as those who hold to the tenets of that religion do not harm others or force their religious covenant on others against their will.

Fidelity, faithfulness, keeping covenant--all the same thing, and born in the heart of God:

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." (Deuteronomy 7:9, NIV)

The problem is, no matter how sincere our intentions, we are all unfaithful at some point. We mess up. We are inconsistent. We miss the mark. The good news of Jesus is that even though we are all "indidels" on occasion God offers hope:

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." (2 Timothy 2:13, NIV)

God is no infidel. He is never unfaithful. He never goes back on His word. He never breaks a promise. One thing He has promised is to forgive those who are heartbroken over their sins and turn to Him in genuine repentance:

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." (1 John 1:8-10, NIV)

That's the good news about Jesus:
"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." (2 Corinthians 5:19, NIV)

Everyone on the planet is an infidel, because all of us at some point have been less than perfect, have been unfaithful to One who created us. The good news is that there is hope for all we infidels, hope of having the relationship with our Creator restored, hope of being reconciled to the One who loves us.

~ Father, forgive my unfaithfulness to you. Empower me to be faithful to you as you have been faithful to me. Help me to love my neighbor in such a way that they may come to know and love you, too. Amen.

July 14: Religious Liberty

A Hindu leader, Rajan Zed, offered the following prayer to open the U.S. Senate this past Wednesday: “We meditate on the transcendental glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of the heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds. Peace, peace, peace be unto all.” He was shouted down by protesters who called his presence and prayer an abomination.

The First Amendment grants freedom of religious expression to all citizens, not just christians. We should not silence religion in the public square but allow all faith traditions to have a voice. If a Christian can pray in front of the Senate, then a Hindu should be able to. This is not a nation composed solely of Christians; it is a pluralistic nation that grants the freedom of religious expression to all of its citizens. Thanks to the First Amendment to our nation’s Constitution no one is forced to believe a specific way. Citizens not only have freedom of religion, but freedom from religion if they so choose.

The state in which I live (Virginia) used to have an official state religion (Anglican) and all citizens were taxed to pay clergy salaries and support the state-church. People of other faiths and other Christian denominations were beaten and imprisoned for following their own traditions. Thankfully, with men like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Rev. John Leland leading the charge for change the commonwealth abolished the church-state union and established religious freedom.

I am a strong supporter of separation of church and state–government has no business “poking its nose” into the affairs of religious entities or enacting laws restricting the religious practices of its citizens; providing those religious expressions do not infringe on someone else’s rights.

I disagree strongly with the popular notion that "separation of church and state" means taking religious symbols and speech out of the public square altogether. Prayer should continue to begin each day's Senate session, those prayers should, however, represent a variety of faith traditions. While the nation was not founded as a “Christian nation”, it was founded in large part by Christian men, and men of different faiths who acknowledged a Supreme Being and who moved to protect the public expression of religious beliefs–religions don’t have to stay confined to the “church house”.

It is this freedom of religious expression that makes America unique and strong. Many religious people in our nation are ignorant of what Freedom of Religion really is. We don’t need to silence the religious expression in public (even government) places. We need to let people (even religious people) from all walks have a voice.

While religion is personal, if it is worth anything it is not just private–it is lived out in public to make a positive difference in our communities. Government should also not silence the religious expression of its citizens--that goes to all citizens, not just Christians. I believe government should stay out of religion altogether–not promoting or restricting any religious expression that doesn’t harm others.

If we truly respect our religious freedom, we should not remove religion from the public square, but show respect to all faiths without favoritism to any one faith in particular. The whole idea of separation is that the government is supposed to be neutral–not endorsing one faith over and above the others, but not silencing voices just because they are religious.

The problem is that many Christians (and Muslims, and others) want their religion favored above all others. That's not American. Religious liberty not only means enjoying the privilege to worship and express your deeply held beliefs without government intrusion, but allowing that same freedom to people of different faiths.