Moved to action by an excellent post at Light and Salt by David U. – Intolerant of Intolerance – I think I went too far. My frustration and exasperation came out as anger against someone kind enough to converse with me online over some points on which we disagree. (That, on the heels of posting a response one blogger called subversive – I looked it up; he’s right – to a document with which I disagree. It was subversive; I wanted the signers of the document to know what it felt like to encounter one with which I felt they should not disagree – posted on the Internet for the whole world and God to see.)

I started to make the rounds of the usual suspects … the sites that I knew would be roundly condemning to hell anything they saw as contrary to God’s will within the fellowship that I count myself a part of. Finding little or nothing, I wandered to other sites, nerves raw and ready to argue any points on any site. (No URL requests, please.) I began to wonder if I was becoming one of the folks I perceived as People Who Are Always Right About Absolutely Everything.

I guess what convicted me most was something I perceived as a compliment; when one blog linked to my Affirmation and said I was “inspired” to write it.

Just so you’ll know – in the spirit of I Peter 4:11 – I frequently pray that God will speak through me when I blog. It is frightening to me that blogging reaches so many people.

But I had to ask myself: if I was inspired to write the things I’d been writing, was my inspiration coming from the right source?

I decided it was time to back off and see if my spiritual zipper was open.

I started posting a series on the Holy Spirit that I had taught as an adult elective class last summer at my church. It was probably too long for most folks who read my blog to get into; and I apologize for that. Sometimes you post things on your blog mainly to benefit yourself, and this was one of them.

Because – like my pal Fajita – I’ve been feeling compelled to tackle some things that are on my heart, and I didn’t want to get taken to the woodshed by someone whom the Spirit had truly inspired.

Chief among the things I’ve wanted to address: the correctors. The usual suspects I mentioned above. The “anti-everything-but-up’s”, as folks called ’em when I was a kid. I used to read their sites for entertainment; for a good chuckle and a snort and a shrug.

Having dipped way too far in their mindset – and, thankfully, having held most of my silence – I’ve had to realize that these folks probably originally started with a zeal and fervor for the Word, for serving the Lord and helping maintain the purity of His church and its doctrine (as they perceived it). Just like me, they’ve gone too far. Way, way, way too far.

Someone needs to call them back. The brother who was willing to converse with me about the Affirmation showed me how it can be done.

So I just want to ask some of the questions that I think need answering before any of us dip into the venom and start shooting the darts:

A Brother Who Sins Against You: Matthew 18:15-20 – Jesus tells us, if anyone sins against us (or has something against us), “go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.” Does it say start by writing him (or her) up in a bulletin or post it on the Internet? Or even by sending a private letter? Does it not say “go”? Is it legitimate to say this doesn’t apply to us if a brother has sinned against God instead of us? Jesus continues, “If he listens you have won him over.” Does He say, “if he reads”? Or does it guarantee that you’ve won him over just by going to him? Obviously not; the next verse says “if he does not listen, take one or two others along” and he quotes Deuteronomy 9:15 about the need for two or more agreeing witnesses. Then if he refuses to listen (not “repent!” – it just says “listen!”) tell it to the church, and if not then, treat him like he doesn’t belong. (Literally “as a pagan or tax collector.” And wouldn’t we, as Christians, still owe it to a pagan or tax collector to continue praying for their souls?

This seems to be a four-step process when carried to the extreme. Have we been guilty of skipping a step or two or three?

Has anyone ever followed this advice from Jesus? Except for Priscilla and Aquila? In Acts 18:24-31 (while Paul is out of town), Apollos comes to Ephesus and speaks accurately about Jesus. He isn’t an evil man with bad intentions. He’s just not up-to-date doctrinally; he only knows about John’s baptism. Aquila and Priscilla don’t seem to embarrass him in the synagogue where he’s teaching – or reduce his powerful influence; they invite him to their home to explain to him the way of God more adequately. Isn’t that the essence of …

Speaking the Truth in Love: Ephesians 4:11-16 – This passage speaks of building each other up; of preparing God’s people for works of service; of maturing together. Admittedly, it is not talking specifically about correcting others, but it is speaking generally of dialogue and communication in love. Is it loving to condemn or rail against someone we don’t even know because we disagree with them, doctrinally or otherwise? Is that “tough love” – correcting them from a safe distance – because of our concern for their soul? Is it loving to call to witness every infraction that person has ever committed? Is that what’s meant by …

Maintaining the Spirit of Unity in the Bond of Peace: Ephesians 4:3 – Does it cause peace to air the laundry of others in public -dirty laundry or clean? In publications which get passed around? On the Internet, where anyone can read it? Is that, as in the previous verses, being completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love? Is that the spirit of …

The Golden Rule: Luke 6:31 – If others determined that we were in the wrong, would we want them to treat us the way we’ve been treating them? Do we even have the right to judge them?

Judging Each Other: Matthew 7:1-3 – Are actions being judged? Or people? In Luke 12:57, Jesus suggests, “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?” If people are being judged, are we willing to be judged by the same standards? If actions are being judged, is it necessary to involve names called out publicly? Since some might justify the practice by scripture, let’s examine a few of those who are called out by name there:

• Hymenaeus and Alexander – I Timothy 1:20: Guilty of blasphemy
• Hymenaeus and Philetus – II Timothy 2:16-18: Leading believers astray by teaching that Christ had already returned
• Peter’s Bad Table Manners – Galatians 2:11-21: Would not eat with Gentiles – was acting like a racist! (This was one of three times we know of that God had to convince Peter that He would accept Gentiles as believers!)
• Diotrephes – III John 1:9: Loved to be first, would not fellowship the church
• Jezebel – Revelation 2:20: By her teaching she misled God’s servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols; the name might be symbolic rather than accurate, calling to mind Israel’s idolatrous queen
• Nicolai/Nicolaitans – Revelation 2:14-16: Enticed others to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality
• A few others are worth a mention: Ananias and Sapphira, who were slain for lying to the Holy Spirit; Simon and Elymas were sorcerers who misspoke about gifts of the Spirit. One repented; the other was struck blind.

Is anyone in the fellowship of believers today guilty of anything approaching the level of sin these people were committing in the church of century one? The book of Galatians, addressed to all of the churches in that region and very corrective in nature, only “calls out” as a bad example Peter’s hypocrisy; as an example of the racism affecting Galatian churches. No one else is corrected by name. As far as I can tell, there is no evidence that letters in which a local troublemaker might have been named and delivered to a church in that city were ever read in another city. They would not have known those people named!

• Euodia and Syntyche: Philippians 4:2 They disagreed with each other, not the one who called them by name in his letter. Paul urged them to agree with each other. He didn’t dictate terms on what they should agree upon. He praised them as fellow workers and begged others in Philippi to help them whose names are in the book of life

Do we season our corrective missives with such pleas and compliments? Or are we condemnatory toward those with whom we disagree?

• Archippus: Colossians 4:17: “Tell him to complete the work that the Lord gave him.” Possibly not even a rebuke; just an encouragement.

Are we as supportive in our corrections; are we encouraging rather than discouraging?

On the other hand, the New Testament is full of unnamed people who made bad choices. They might be described (a “rich young ruler,” for instance) but are not named. There was no point in embarrassing them. They might have turned to Christ later, but their stories were germinal to the point at hand. In the case of others, their actions and teachings were identified (“false teachers” and “false prophets”), but the reader of century one was left to identify them by their fruits. That was enough.

And that’s probably more than enough for one post. If I feel compelled to ask some more questions about the Old Testament scriptures that we correctors sometimes dredge up in defense of our ways, I might post some of them another time.

God is righteous, but he is also loving. My dad used to speak of God’s dual nature as His “arms” – His arm of justice and His arm of mercy; His arm of law and His arm of grace. If we concentrate on only one aspect of His divine nature, we preach a one-armed God.

Now I incite you. Are there people you know to whom you could go in person and confront them about overly-zealous corrective ways? Can you do so firmly, gently, lovingly, face-to-face, reasonably, tactfully, prayerfully? Can you do it with concern for their souls? Can you do it without judging or condeming?

It’s a tough calling. No wonder there are so many of us who get sucked into going too far with our corrective fervor.

And so few to call us back in line.

Fred Peatross challenged me more than he’ll know last November 14, when he observed on his blog entry titled Jesus:

Something I’ve noticed amiss in the many good emergent church blogs, including this one. They don’t talk much about Jesus. Spend some time looking and let me know if I’m correct.

I took it to heart. I tried to do better. But I get carried away with a tide of current interest and events just like everyone else. And, pretty much like everyone else, I fail to relate those items to a question like “What would Jesus think?”

The sad news is, it’s not just the blogs. I did a quick search (control + F in Windows; command + F on a Mac) of the home pages of some publications to see how often the name Jesus or Christ (when not part of the word “Christian” or the name of a church/denomination) appeared on them:

• Christianity Today – Jesus: 1 time … Christ: 0 times
• Christian Century – Jesus: 0 times … Christ: 0 times
• Christian Chronicle – Jesus: 0 times … Christ: 0 times
• Gospel Advocate Magazine – Jesus: 0 times … Christ: 0 times; last updated June 2002
• New Wineskins – Jesus: 3 times; 2 were in the titles of books for sale … Christ: 3 times
• Zondervan.Com – Jesus: 0 times … Christ: 3 times
• Heartlight – Jesus: 3 times … Christ: 0 times

In spite of how crowded with good stories and articles these pages are, I only found 13 instances of “Jesus” or “Christ” appearing in them.

Go ahead. See for yourself. Check other publications. Check blogs. Check Web sites of ministries. Link to them in the comments below.

See if Fred wasn’t right on an even bigger scale than he might have imagined.

That’s a grabber of a headline, isn’t it?

I’m not done with going to church, being a member of a church, praying for the church or being grateful for the church. Not by a long shot and may God forbid that I ever am.

But I am done with talking about the church on this blog.

It’s not like I’m going to accomplish anything by it. If I somehow persuade others to see the church my way, I’d be failing miserably in my attempt to persuade them to see it Christ’s way.

I’ve come to the conclusion that for me to critique the way the church looks is like a single cell – having suddenly been given the gifts of sight and cognition – seeing the whole body (of which it is only a tiny part) in a mirror and then criticizing the way that body looks. In looking back at some of the things I’ve written here, I feel I’ve been guilty of some of that.

I’m part of the body, the bride of Christ. Everything in this little cell that is me should long for Him, grateful that He sees the bride as beautiful; worthy of dying and living for. My goals should be to grow old looking more and more like Him; to support the other cells in their development.

Maybe there are white blood cells in this body which help others fight off the infection of sin. Maybe there are red blood cells which bring nourishment and vitality to others. Maybe there are stem cells that help in the adaptation to what is needed in the body. I’ll be glad to be whatever kind of cell is needed!

But I don’t want to be cell that turns against others, trying to conform them to what the body isn’t; spreading spiritual malformation and sucking the life and resources away from what should be growing, renewing.

I don’t want to be a cancer.

If I’m not saying what Christ said about His kingdom, I have nothing to say.

I have all due respect for the apostles and missionaries and evangelists and saints and martyrs of the first century and after. They lived in a different world from mine. I don’t have the confidence that I can always rightly translate what they shared about life in the body at that time to this century … and I must confess that I’m not fully confident that they had it all “right” either.

But I am confident that Jesus spoke for the ages. And His concern in speaking seems to be for individuals sustaining each other in the attempt to live a holy life before God.

Please hold me accountable to the commitment I’ve made here. Please forgive where I’ve strayed from it before I realized what I was doing.

I do love this body I’m in.

In 1999 I was asked to lead a “prayer and blessing” for Mother’s Day at Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, and I didn’t exactly know what that meant. I turned it over to the Lord in prayer, consulted a bit with elder John Willis (who was to read a passage and lead another prayer at the service), and put pen to paper in hopes that the Spirit would supply the words I lacked. John intended to read from Isaiah 49. This is what I read that Sunday morning in May:

We call God our Father in our prayers and our private meditations, but we don’t often think of Him in “motherly” terms. Yet, that is exactly how God chooses to express His tender affection and compassion toward His children when Isaiah speaks for Him in chapter 66, verses 12 and 13:

“For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

It’s my privilege this morning to lead us in a petition to God for a blessing on those who give us birth, give us homes, give us love and give us themselves. If your mom is nearby and you’d like to hold her hand while we ask this blessing together, please do.

May the Lord always bless mothers like Eve
… who may have been suprised to find they are with child
… who courageously approach motherhood for the first time ever
… and some who later must cope with the untimely death of a beloved child.

May the Lord always bless mothers like Sarah
… who may have laughed at the thought of having a child later in life, but take the job seriously
… who may not see their child married, or see their grandchildren in this life, but have faith that they can still become the mother of nations.

May the Lord always bless mothers like Hannah
… who want a child so badly that they never cease to ask God’s blessing in this way
… who are willing to give up their children to adoption by another family for a chance at a more blessed life
… who dedicate their children to the Lord’s work and His house.

May the Lord always bless mothers like the prophetess Anna
… who may possibly never have children of their own
… and who, without a thought of bitterness, fast and pray for others at the Lord’s house,
… and give Him praise for the children others have and bring there.

May the Lord always bless mothers like Eunice – and grandmothers like Lois
… who teach their children Bible stories
… who tell them of God’s love and will for them
… and give them the gift of a faith as strong as Timothy’s.

May the Lord always bless mothers like Mary
… who meet the challenge of rearing a child very different from His brothers and sisters
… who may have felt a degree of estrangement from a child who describes his companions as his “mother and brothers and sisters”
… but who never stop believing in – and supporting – their children … even at the foot of a cross.

May the Lord always bless mothers … but especially on this day, which is also the Lord’s day. For “as a mother (who) comforts her child” has God so loved.

For all mothers we thank You and praise Your Name, Father; and all these blessings we pray through the Son who expresses Your love to us in its most eloquent way.

Amen.

Even if you don’t do anything else worthwhile today, please take a few moments on your knees on behalf of Ira, infant son of Joe and Laura Hays.

Yeah. I’ve posted One Christian’s Affirmation as a separate, one-page blog.

Which doesn’t preclude the possibility that I might update, change, revise, amend, improve, clarify, edit and otherwise modify what I’ve said there.

And in case you’re wondering why I’ve strayed from my usual style of liberally citing with links to Bible Gateway, I’ve decided that the accounts of Jesus’ temptation in the desert make it abundantly clear that even the devil can quote scripture to his own purpose, so with one small exception I haven’t quoted any. Exactly.

Feel free to disagree, agree, and better yet WRITE YOUR OWN! If nothing else, it will tell you about yourself now and later when you look back on it. As I commented on another blog a few days ago, I think creeds are great.

Everyone should write one.

… when there was a question about new leadership, we’d consult God by rolling dice in complete faith that He would speak in the outcome of the roll. (Acts 1:23-25)

… we’d preach powerfully in many languages so that people, near panic, would ask what they should do to be saved. (Acts 2:37)

… the church would gather every day instead of just Sunday (or Saturday evening). (Acts 2:46)

… we’d sell our stuff and provide for those among us in need. (Acts 2:45; 4:32)

… we would, therefore, enjoy the favor of the people around us. (Acts 2:47)

… we’d fear lying to the Spirit and the church about our giving on pain of death. (Acts 5:1-11)

… we’d fear trying opposing proclaimers of good news on threat of blindness. (Acts 13:6-12)

… we wouldn’t hesitate to hop a ride with a foreign stranger and explain perplexing scriptures and we’d baptize folks in whatever body of water God provided when they asked. (Acts 8:26-39)

… we’d make sure that foreign widows didn’t go hungry. (Acts 6:1-7)

… we’d witness to both Jews and Gentiles. (Acts 10)

… we’d benefit from the prayers and prophecy of women as well as men. (I Corinthians 11:1-10; Acts 21:8-9)

… if we were of good character, we’d study the scriptures daily to double-check what our ministers told us. (Acts 17:11)

… we’d have visiting ministers who stayed, at most, only about three years; who would have a self-supporting job on the side; who might be highly-educated in religion or fishery management or medicine or not. (Acts 20:31; Galatians 1:18; Acts 18:3; II Corinthians 11:8; I Corinthians 9:11-13)

… those traveling ministers would select our elders. (Titus 1:5)

… we’d pay the really good elders. (I Timothy 5:17-18)

… ministers would resolve to preach nothing but the crucified Christ. (I Corinthians 2:2)

… some would travel the known world to do so. (Matthew 20:18-20)

… some would risk arrest and death to do so. (Acts 7:54-60; Acts 4:1-30)

… we’d pray with unshakeable faith to speak boldly anyway (Acts 4:31)

… when we had questions of doctrine, we’d convene to discuss them – probably at Jerusalem, since we’re such sticklers for detail, then we’d agree on a response, and stick to it consistently. (Acts 15:1-35)

… we’d select missionaries and mission fields by consulting the Holy Spirit, then commission missionaries by praying and laying our hands on them. (Acts 16:6-10; 13:1)

… we’d do the same with others who serve (Acts 6:1-7)

… we’d greet one another with a holy kiss. (Romans 16:16; I Corinthians 16:20; II Corinthians 13:12; I Thessalonians 5:26)

… at our potlucks we would all wait to eat until it was certain that everyone was served. (I Corinthians 11:33-34)

… we’d ask our elders to anoint the sick with oil as well as pray for them. (James 5:14-16)

… we’d give no special honor or regard to the wealthy among us. (James 2:1-7)

… we’d probably be banished as an organization by the government and jailed and executed for disloyalty to it, so some of us would be meeting secretly in catacombs among tombs and on the lam when we had to. (Acts 8:1-3; 9:20-25;

… the rest of us would be meeting in homes and synagogues. Acts 20:20; Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 16:9; Colossians 4:15; Acts 14:1; 17:2; 18:7)

… some would be tried before high government officials, giving them the chance to talk to them about Jesus. (Acts 5:17-32; 21:11, etc.)

… we would do the good that we know ought to be done, to avoid sinning. (James 4:17)

… people who would accuse us would see the good we do and praise God. (I Peter 2:12)

… we would be eager for Christ to come quickly. (Revelation 22:20; II Peter 3:11-12)

… miraculous things might well happen among us. (Galatians 3:5; Romans 15:18-20)

How are we doing so far?

Some time back, at Easter and just after the opening of The Passion of the Christ – when the church I attend was still committed to consistently beginning its worship with a greeting and call to worship and prayer; it no longer is – I was asked to word that greeting. It occurred to me how much of a challenge that really is, especially when there are many guests and visitors expected.

Many are not Christians, and they see Christians at work and elsewhere pretty much as people like themselves. But, if they gather in a building with religious purposes, Christians start doing a lot of really strange things … like aliens from a different world entirely. Our guests and visitors have no way of knowing how right they are to perceive us that way!

I took a cue from a brother whom I very much respect, who once gave a greeting that closed with an encouragement for visitors to ask the ministers or elders later about anything that took place during the service that they weren’t familiar with.

I decided to front-load the explanation as concisely as I could, and this – from the handwritten notes I just rediscovered in my briefcase – is what I said:

“Three years ago on a Sunday morning before Christmas, I was privileged to call this congregation to worship and I spoke of Christ coming to earth as ‘God’s most extravagant gift.’ I think those of us who experienced the movie The Passion of the Christ this week now have a very graphic picture of how much that gift cost. And even though the movie is peppered with moments you won’t find in Scripture or this church’s traditions, I would have to say that it is a powerful witness.

“If you are visiting with us, the family of Christ here welcomes you. If you’re with us for the first time,perhaps because you were invited by friends to the movie showing, you have probably already figured out that they asked because they love you – not just for yourself – but because you (like all of us) are someone for whom Christ died.

“You may notice that we do some things differently than other churches and fellowships. We will celebrate communion this morning, as we do every week, remembering – as Jesus asked – His body broken like bread for us, and His blood which flowed like wine for us.

“We’ll read from the Bible, to hear what God says to us through it.

“We’ll hear a message of encouragement from our preaching minister.

“We’ll sing praises together and share in the blessing of fellowship in song without any musical instruments, seeking to worship simply from the heart. Some of us feel strongly about this, and others do not. What we all agree is that God, His Son and His Holy Spirit deserve our praise.

“We will take a few moments to offer gifts to God that support the work of this church and many other ministries all over the world. If you’re visiting, we don’t want to discourage you from giving from the heart just as we all seek to do, but please don’t feel pressured or compelled to do so.

“If you have any question about anything you experience here this morning – or anything you saw and heard at the movie showing – or anything that’s troubling you, please feel free to ask. We’ll study and pray and struggle with you until your heart is at rest on the matter.

“I honestly don’t know whether it is by chance or God’s design, but our year-and-a-half study of the Gospel of John on Sunday mornings brings us today to the events chronicled in the movie The Passion. Our minister’s message this morning is titled ‘The Most Immoral Act of All.’

“Now let’s begin our worship together speaking to God in prayer through the intercession of His Son Jesus, and the interpretation of His Spirit for the things we have no words to say.”

Then I led a brief prayer. Looking back, there are things I probably would have phrased differently; some I might omit entirely.

But I still think that in our greeting time as gathered Christians we should remember – at least from time to time – to show hospitality to the aliens and strangers among us.

That must surely be how they regard us.

I said something that was a bit controversial right at the end of Sunday School class last week that prompted a murmur from the back of the room. I’m not wise enough to be able to interpret whether that murmur was approval or disapproval. But I ain’t taking it back, no matter which it was.

We were talking about interpretation of scripture in our “God’s Holy Fire” series. I said that I have a rule-of-thumb that I employ when I find myself defending my views and interpretations: Am I defending them because I believe they represent the one and only way to do or view something that is pleasing to God? Because, I pointed out, if that’s true I can get in a lot of trouble very quickly.

My example was prayer, borrowed from the class teacher (an elder of my age) from earlier in the discussion. Is there one and only correct way to pray? If so, is it in a closet? An upper room? With head bowed? With face upraised toward God? With arms upraised as well? Kneeling? Standing? Sitting? Prostrate?

How can we be absolutely certain that any scriptural alternative is the one and only way to view or do – and still please God? Are a lot of our “either-or” logical boxes really “both-and”s? Could some of them be “neither-nor”s?

So much of the “doing” questions have to do with worship. I’ve even heard defenders of a given “one way” call upon the Old Testament admonition to carry and not touch the Ark of the Covenant, and point out the penalties that resulted from disobedience.

I go back farther, to something that I’m convinced was related to worship rather than porting God’s earthly throne with due respect. I go back to Cain and Abel. As nearly as I can tell, neither was commanded to sacrifice. The urge to do so – to thank and worship God – simply welled up in their hearts and each expressed it according to his character. One expression was favored over the other – but God reassured Cain that if he did what was right, he would be accepted. And there was a warning about sin trying to master him.

The point? Worship came from the heart. There was something wrong with Cain’s heart. Nothing has changed. Worship has always taken the form of being a sacrifice of thanksgiving and recognition of God’s glorious providence. It still has to do with blood poured out. Practice became precedent. Precedent became custom. Custom became prophecy. Prophecy was fulfilled. A sacrifice was made that ended all others; yet ideally we still respond with sacrificial praise that can add nothing to God’s glory. But it comes straight from the heart.

In fact, I would venture to say that the condition of the heart is the most important factor we can contribute to worship.

Can we offer worship with a pure and undivided heart of thanksgiving and praise if we can’t perceive the good that God is doing among us in many different ways? Can we do so while appointing ourselves the feng shui experts of worship? (I believe that feng shui is Chinese for “I don’t like the way you’ve done things here.” I could be mistaken. But I’ve been one of those “experts” and I don’t ever want to go back to being one again.)

Maybe the same thing can be said about the “viewing” questions.

Is it grace that saves us? Faith? Baptism? Obedience? Or all of the above, plus a few more? Or is it Christ?

Is the Bible inspired by the Spirit word-for-word? In principle? In purpose? In completeness? In essence? In totality? In part? Or is it simply inspired?

Is God all-knowing and all-good and all-powerful? Some combination of the preceding? Mostly all three? Unquestionably perfect? Or just incomprehensibly God?

I know that inquiring minds want to know. I know I do. So I keep searching, seeking, asking, knocking, trying, stumbling, feeling myself lifted up – over and over and over. I may never know all the answers. But I will grow, and I will learn, and I will do whatever it takes to find God’s heart and draw closer to it.

And there is, without any possible fallacy in believing it, one and only one extraordinary Way to get there: His Son.