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Tag: #bible

Spirit is Spirit

Published by mhelbert on July 9, 2019

Listening to the news and current events can be disheartening.

Conflict rages all around the globe.

Corporations fight other corporations and governments in order to guarantee themselves a bigger slice of the economic pie.

Religious groups wage holy war against other religions and even factions within their own religious communities.

Conservatives and liberals line up in battle lines much like our ancestors did. Firing rounds indiscriminately hoping to hit someone on the opposite side.

It’s an understatement to say that we, as fellow inhabitants on this planet, have become polarized.

What is even more disheartening for me is the way in which those of us who chose to follow Christ are divided.

We kick and claw at one another.

“No, you’re wrong!” says one faction.

“How can you say that? The Bible is clear that YOU are in error!” screams another.

“I belong to Apollos!”

“I follow Paul!”

“No, you’re both wrong! Peter has the true way!”

It seems that this thing called the Church is not only vulnerable to all of the forces of human nature, it is also quite fragile.

It breaks and fractures easily.

The broken pieces crash to the floor and scatter every which way.

It’s almost impossible to not become discouraged and lose hope.

So, I did the only thing that I could think of in order to wrap my head around these things.

I prayed.

I asked God to put those of us who follow Christ in the shadow of God’s wings. Not to protect us. But, to empower us.

For what?

I’m glad you asked!

To empower us to be the Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation that the Scriptures claim that we should be. To be harbingers of the Reign of God in this world. Here. Now. Just as Jesus of Nazareth was 2 millennia ago.

Not, however, as so many people who lay claim to christianity do.

Recently, I’ve been studying Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia. In it, Paul had some interesting things to say about the state of affairs in that church. After Paul and his friends had established the young community and moved on to other places, it appears that some other folks came in to stir things up a bit. These others were, according to the text, teachers of the Jewish Law who also followed the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. They claimed that in order to be Real True Christians, the people in Galatia had to conform to Jewish rules that set them apart from other people. These so called works of the Law were male circumcision, dietary restrictions, and observation of the Sabbath and other Jewish Holy days.

The Galatians were confused. But, they listened to their elder brothers in Christ and began to embrace these requirements.

When Paul got wind of what was happening he just about burst a blood vessel. He wrote a rather pointed letter in which he called these later teachers, “Accursed!”

No, he wasn’t happy at all.

He then spent the rest of the letter explaining what the problem with these practices were and why they were so dangerous.

The underlying point to all that he wrote was, “What makes you think that what was started in the Spirit could possibly be completed in the flesh?”

To clarify, Paul’s usage of the term “flesh” in this entire letter refers to conforming to the Jewish rules of purity that those other teachers had insisted be followed.

And, to be equally clear, one of the most egregious results of following those rules is that they erect barriers that separate people from one another. And, in Paul’s argument, they can also separate people from God.

Ok, so what does any of this Paul stuff have to do with why I feel disheartened and in need of God’s empowering?

Because, many in today’s church follow the example of those Jewish teachers way back when. They say that they follow God and God’s Spirit. But, in reality they lay obstacles in the path of people who need God in their lives.

“You can’t follow God if you’re gay!”

“If you don’t stand for the national anthem, you can’t possibly be Christian!”

“Abortionist! Murderer! Not Christian!”

I could go on and on with the works of law that many people require of any Real True Christian.

That’s not what I see Paul saying to the people who were trying there best to follow the Way of Christ.

“What was begun in the Spirit must be completed in the Spirit.”

While that seems a simple statement, it requires the empowerment I wrote about earlier.

It requires people who take the idea of Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation seriously enough to realize that the rules and laws that so many people try to enforce simply have no place in the Kingdom of God.

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A Living, Vibrant World

Published by mhelbert on July 3, 2019

In May my parish Priest asked if I’d be willing to lead an adult Bible study. He had led one in the weeks before Lent. Some people seemed to enjoy that and asked if it could be revived. So, he came to me. (Scary, I know!)

I agreed to take on the project. Not so much as a ‘leader’ or ‘teacher.’ But, rather as a facilitator. I would be someone who could add context and color to the study. There was no way that I would presume to tell people what the ‘Bible says,’ or ‘this is what God said.’ That’s not study. That’s at best preaching. And, at worst, bullshit.

Anyway, as I prepared myself for this role, I spent a lot of time quietly in God’s presence. That’s a good place to be, by the way. I was considering where this study would take those of us who joined together for it.

And, I was not disappointed. God did reveal a snippet of Grace that illuminated a path that could be traveled.

For years, (and years), I had been told by those who supposed that they knew what they were talking about, that there were “nuggets” of truth hidden in the pages of Scripture. We needed to dig deeply into the text in order to find and unearth these precious bits of God’s will for our lives. It was hard work being a miner. And, the payoff, while precious, was always just a ‘nugget.’

But, in the quietness of God’s presence I saw something different.

Far from being a dark, dirty mine from which we needed to crawl into in order to find a bit of blessing, I saw the Scripture as a vast, living, and vibrant world. It was a world where the sun shone brightly on fields of ripe grain. There were trees laden with fruit just waiting to be picked and eaten. Birds were flying in the sky. There were mountains and oceans. It was a world where we could pick the grain for food, or distill it for our happiness and enjoyment.

This IS the world of Scripture. This IS where the Spirit of God dwells. This is the world that I wanted to open to those who came to listen.

So far, the study has gone well. I think. At least the same people keep coming back every week. ;o)

I hope that together we can develop a passion to wander in this Living World of the Bible. A passion that will make us better readers of it, for sure. But, also will allow us to pick some fruit and sit under a tree in God’s World.

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There is Hope

Published by mhelbert on December 14, 2018

Ok, I’ve been a bit hard on Evangelicalism recently. And, with good reason. The theology that this particular brand of Christianity preaches is toxic. Like I wrote yesterday, Evangelical theology is rotten. The whole root is rotten. It needs to be yanked out of the ground and burned on the garbage heap.

That being said, I really need my readers who are Evangelical to know that I don’t begrudge them their faith. I wrote yesterday that these folks really desire to follow Jesus faithfully. But, I don’t believe that they are being given that chance. They are locked into a system that cannot accept any kind of question or dissent. For Evangelicalism to survive it must enforce a “my way or the highway” mentality.

It’s very clear that many religions deal in binaries. That is, everything is either right or wrong; black or white; good or bad. That’s the primary way in which they determine who is in and who is out. (Another binary.) Perhaps more importantly, these binaries assure ME that I am right. Evangelicalism provides this kind of hope to its adherents. By making a “decision” to “commit my life to Jesus” and be “born again,” I place myself on the “right” side rather than the “wrong” one.

And, this produces a real feeling of security for a person. It allows them to see themselves as part of a large family.

It also places them within a theocratic bubble.

A line is drawn that separates my new family from everyone who is NOT a member of that family.

This is problematic. Mostly because, unlike Paul Simon’s wish to be a Rock or an Island, humans are not isolated like that. We are all members of humanity first and foremost. That, my friends, isn’t wishful thinking. It’s an empirical fact. So, even if Evangelicalism provides a mechanism to divide Us from Them, this is at best a false dichotomy. People become lulled into thinking that all the stuff that those people “out there” are part of or produce is somehow tainted. “We can’t be a part of that!”they say. Or, “Those products are part of that world. We can’t use them! Let’s make our own!”

Walls go up. Divisions become set in stone. Dislike and disdain grow steadily until their natural fruit, “Hatred,” is ripe.

I hope that you can see where I’m going with this. Evangelicals are all good, well-meaning people. But, they have been duped into believing a false narrative that positions them in opposition to EVERYTHING ELSE!

This is not the Way of Christ. Never has been; Never will be.

The Way of Christ is one where the playing field is level. There is not male or female; slave or free; black or white; gay or straight; us or them. There isn’t. There just isn’t.

It’s wrong whenever people build walls to keep the ‘Other’ out.

It’s especially egregious when they use God as the mortar to build those walls.

That is exactly what Evangelicalism does. It is Evangelicalism’s only raison d’être.  It’s sole purpose to exist. From the beginning this theology was designed to separate people. It is past time to put a stake in it and move on to a better Way.

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Is There Truly Only “One Way”?

Published by mhelbert on December 10, 2018

If you have known me long enough, then you know that I question pretty much everything. Yesterday at church the Priest stated that he was a “good little rule follower.” As I sat in the pew I thought, “Oh, you poor, poor man.” You see, I’ve never met a rule that didn’t really, really want someone to come along and push against it. I know, it’s a tough job. But, someone’s gotta do it.

So, it’s know surprise when I push back against theologies that claim to be “the only, true way.” To be honest, most religious sects do make those claims. But, I’m only really familiar with neo-Calvinism. I was well-steeped in a theology that made/makes truth claims that, well, simply cannot be sustained. There are other ways to look at “Truth.” I have provided  a link to a podcast with Pete Enns. Pete is a kindred spirit and someone whom I respect as a scholar. Pete’s guest in this episode is someone who came out o neo-Calvinism and landed in Eastern Orthodoxy. I’d encourage you to take 42 minutes to give this a listen. 

Here is the link to “The Bible and Orthodox Faith” 

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