why is it we think that jesus always spoke in metaphors?? sure, he used parables and stories to communicate frequently, but recently i’ve been telling myself, “maybe he really meant that.”
i’m at a point in my personal faith where i have more questions than answers.? where i know the scriptures are divinely composed, yet i question the way i’ve been taught to interpret them over the last twenty years.? in sunday school, they seldom teach you about historical cultural context or literary patterns of the hebrew language.? scripture is timeless, but for the most part, we have taken the words and filtered them through a 21st century, westernized lens.
lots. of. questions.
atop of my questions are positioned relationships i have with those who don’t believe in god the way most of us do, if they believe at all.? most of these insights have challenged me to think about the words of jesus…his obvious call…and what should be our obvious answer.
my friend kary oberbrunner has a book coming out in the next couple weeks or so called the fine line.? since he is also a zondervan author, i begged and pleaded to get a copy early.? they gave in.? and it rocks.
here’s a nifty video about the book, and a sample chapter from the book.
one of my favorite parts of the book (granted, he uses proper capitalization) says,
“i’m not afraid to admit it: the sermon on the mount contains some startling commands.? like matthew 5:40: ‘if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.’ or matthew 5:42: ‘give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.’ or matthew 5:48: ‘be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.’
no wonder we look for ways to get ourselves off the hook of following these difficult sayings.? we toss out rationalizations.? ‘maybe they’re metaphors.’ ‘maybe they’re about some future time.’ ‘maybe they’re just suggestions.’
i think it’s christians who live like they’re ‘off the hook’ who cause people like mahatma gandhi to become critical of our religion.? he saw a disconnection between the way jesus lived and the way christians live.? because of this gandhi said, ‘if it weren’t for christians, i’d be a christian.’ gandhi didn’t disagree with jesus’ teachings.? he went on record to say, ‘i like your christ, but i don’t like your christians.’ and those of us who know gandhi’s story understand the sobering reality that he embodied the ethics described by jesus on the mount better than most christians.”
it is here where i wrestle.? why do people who understand, yet officially don’t associate with christianity live more transformed lives than we do?? why do those of us who say we believe fail to live like we are transformed by what we believe?
Comments
43 responses to “metaphorically speaking: the fine line”
Isn’t Matthew 5:38-42 essentially…
1 Chronicles 29:14 ?But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
Seriously, is the cloak and tunic even ours to begin with? Is our nice new car, house, clothes or even our lives ours to begin with?
Many non-Christians live more morally upright lives than Christians do, and I think one possibly reason why is the role of earning your salvation (whatever that is for a non-Christian) versus the role of unmerited grace.
Christianity recognizes the problem of sin and the Fall and there is every expectation that even the most devoted follower of Jesus will sin. (See Paul: “I do not do what I want to do, and that which I want to do, I do not.) Thus, we are encouraged (commanded!) to repent and to confess our sins. The expectation is that we are never far from our sinful tendencies and we must, therefore, remain never far from grace.
Apart from grace, however, and the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, we have to earn our way to heaven, to salvation, to absolution, or nirvanha. When the onus is entirely on me to prove my worth and righteousness by my own main effort, my output of morally good acts can be prodigious. And my failures? Why broadcast them? There’s no burden to confess my sins if it’s my responsibility alone to avoid them.
And don’t forget, when a Christian thinks about how pagans can live such morally upright lives without much obvious sin, we may be forgetting that because of our response to Grace and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are much more sensitive to the shame of our own sin and wish it did not burden us. Unbelievers feel a lot less shame for their sins largely because they don’t know or care that they’re sinning.
Finally, we do need better moral instruction in our churches. There’s no doubt about that. We are called to be disciples in thought, word, and deed. Mental assent to doctrine is no substitute for orthopraxy: Faith without works is dead. For too many of us, we’re content to cuddle up to a dead faith without ever realizing how much life is available when we truly take his yoke upon ourselves.
Regards,
Rich
BlogRodent
Anne,
I will look at “Fine Line.”
I have been going though similar questions. Here are two books that have helped me a lot.
For hermeneutics: “Reading the Bible for All Its Worth” by Fee and Stuart
For an excellent discussion on The Sermon on the Mount, and why Christians struggle with it, and how to live like Jesus actually meant what he said: “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard
Be careful – you will be changed forever :)
Oh, I cannot wait to read that book! I haven’t read many books over the last few years, but I am definitely going to read that one!
Thanks for your insights. I completely agree.
The answer is “false conversions”.
In the last 150 years or so we have so watered down the TEACHING of scripture, then to fill in the voids we borrow heavily from psychology. The Gospel in most churches today amounts to little more than “your best life now” motivational speeches. We do not holt up the mirror that is the LAW and deal with the lost souls wretched condition. We simply ask people if they want to have a “better” life, ask them to repeat a simple prayer and they live the rest of their lives having faith in a simple prayer they said instead of Jesus Christ…
The church follows up on their doubts by giving them a “missional” commisioning and they live out the rest of their lives on works based righteousness. Then they wake up in eternity to the words… “DEPART from me, I never knew you…”.
That’s my perspective on the church growth movement. Putting another in the wall, one promotional mailer at a time… not making disciples.
I agree with earlier comment.
To me there is no wrestle. It is an easy answer. Gandhi felt like he had to earn it.
And that is a slap in the face to God. Christians will never be perfect. We are not Christ. Christ is. I am sick of all the Christian bashing books out there. Where are all the books bashing all the followers of every other religion in the world?
They are not transformed. They are a much worse evil than a follower of Christ who sins. Their hope is in themselves.
And being transformed means I have a relationship with the creator of the universe. That’s it for me. Not that I go around doing good works to earn His favor.
Oh and is it just me or does the man’s line spool in the video never get smaller? Maybe it is a like the fish and bread story from the bible or something?
I think we are afraid to be excellent because that might draw attention (positive OR negative) to us and most people don’t want to be accountable for their decisions (even though we say we do).
To make disciples is kinda a tedious, but oh so important portion of our walk with the Lord. Its tedious, because its HARD! People think that making disciples is supposed to be this easy, say a prayer with someone & feel good about YOURSELF experience, when really, we as people do the cultivation and relationship building, the Holy Spirit gets all the credit because HE makes the change.
It’s hard to say….I loved this person and I worked really hard to share God’s love with them and I prepped and set the stage….but give myself no glory because it’s all God!
That’s like working really hard on a project at work and you work and work on it for a long time and its finished and you’re so excited and then your boss presents the project and says, Look what I’ve done…this is amazing and thank you Lisa for helping. Helping??! What? I did this all! (or thats what I would think to myself.) It doesn’t (in our humanness) feel that great, right? But there is the other perspective we all are called to hold….
In the end, God just isn’t our boss, he’s our provider our protector and our comforter. He is all things to all people! He is the One that makes the change in a person’s life, not US…WE are just the conduit, the go between, the bridge to that relationship. If we had therefore not been changed by HIM, we would not be able to be that love to someone else. It’s still hard, but always being the planter is not the most glamorous job!
Ok…that was a tangent, but I think we like to think everything is in metaphors so we don’t really have to do the hard work, make the hard calls….it’s not comfortable being the “unpopular” one at a church. Believe me!
I think it’s what God has called us to though! Why is the CHURCH a country club? Why do we not know how to handle our money, our businesses, our relationships? Because when something is a metaphor (all the time) it leaves just enough room for an excuse not to do the literal hard stuff (the kind that the devil dabbles in). If he can distract us just a little from a bunch of tasks….we aren’t efficient and completely reduces our efforts in the area of “making disciples.” — good plan satan, good plan
Get with it Church!
Anne – you ask some awesome, dangerous questions. I ask a lot of those questions, too. The lucky Christians who never encounter the pointed barbs of a non-believer think that you and I and others like us are doubters. They think we need to get our ducks in a row. I say keep asking. Let’s find answers – even though they are hard. This Christianity thing is hard, people. To bop around playing “Way of the Master” games and expect everybody we bump into on the street to just agree with us is pure insanity. Scaring people into “saying the prayer” by screaming “hell” at them results in a lot of the false conversions that Jud is concerned about.
Jud – I don’t challenge as readily as you do with the “false conversion” thing, simply because not every evil is the fault of Joel Osteen (no offense to Joel, but his teaching has some problems). Faith, I agree, is a lifelong thing, not just a 30 second prayer of decision, and lifelong faith is what Christ is after. I do maintain, though, that just because someone said a prayer of decision at a large church does not condemn them to hell as you imply here. There are people who are truly saved in that situation. That moment of decision is the effect of the regeneration of the Holy Spirit in their life and they follow Christ for all their days. I agree, trusting the “moment” instead of the Saviour is dangerous, but to say that everyone who “got saved” is going to hell is a dangerous thing, too. Salvation is a personal work of God. It’s obvious, I believe, to everyone around us if it is real. If someone hasn’t been truly converted, I believe that becomes very obvious over time. True conversion results in a life of following Christ. In some cases, however, the process is painfully slow. Painfully.
it is here where i wrestle. why do people who understand, yet officially don?t associate with christianity live more transformed lives than we do? why do those of us who say we believe fail to live like we are transformed by what we believe?
Anne,
The great scholar J Gresham Machen experienced a crisis of faith similar to your question. When he encountered theological liberals who denied almost all of the essential Christian beliefs, he was struck by their heartfelt devotion to the spirit of Christianity.
For me, the answer to the question is that many things can encourage transformation in a person’s life. Indeed, even the Bible can make changes in one’s morality and character without the Holy Spirit’s work (as evidenced by many deists who seem to be better at living the morality of the Bible than many Christians).
However, I contend that such a transformation could not be the same as that which is accomplished through the Spirit’s work on a believer who studies their Bible properly (with the historical and grammatical context in mind). One is merely a set of behavior modifications that are external attempts to change the inner-self. My understanding of Christianity is the opposite, in that the change starts internally and moves outward to affect behavior and thus transformation becomes visible.
As to why this is scarcely the case, I think mainly it is the result of insincere belief, and the fact that the Spirit will not force one to be sanctified. However, I think anyone who truly believes will continue to seek that transformation.
Anyways, just some quick thoughts.
We just don’t really believe and so we try to live it out in our own strength.
Hmm, do you think we get so caught up in how “right: we are that we forget to actually follow what we are meant to do? Grace is an amazing thing, but I guess it’s the biggest trap to, we are saved by it, not works. In other religions and for those without religion ,what you do is pretty important. I too am in a questioning stage.
I also struggle with literal bible believing churches who don’t have Pastors that understand historical context at all and then preach off one narrow aspect of Scripture in a modern day context. I even heard one Pastor recently talking about Jesus and his practise of his religion in modern day Christian church terms…. I was sitting there going – he was Jewish!!! There was no such thing as that until after he left earth!
We aren’t transformed because we live in a culture and a context that values comfort and safety more than anything else. Most of Jesus’ tough commands are antithetical to comfort and safety, and require a degree of risk that we’ve been taught to avoid. The vast majority of churches reinforce that cultural norm, so Biblical texts that require major lifestyle changes and commitments become “How to live the faith in your cubicle” or “Making your marriage extra-sexy.” It’s b.s., but once you let yourself go there, you’re no longer comfortable in most of the American church, and it’s hard to find Christian community outside of those structures.
My personal favorite is “sell all you have and give it to the poor.” I’ve heard it rationalized as, “well, Jesus only said that to one guy; he doesn’t mean that all of us have to do the same.” Which is fine until you think about the fact that, as Rich Mullins was fond of pointing out, Jesus also only told one guy that he needed to be born again.
Craig Groeschel is answering that question in his current series “Practical Atheist.”
http://lifechurch.tv
I am not saying that works is what saves you, but if the outward actions of your life aren’t consistent with the character and commands of christ (by whose grace we are transformed), are you really transformed? or are you just lazy and complacent?
thanks for the preview, looks awesome. it was also a great reminder that becoming what Jesus wanted us to become is not always popular among all Christians.
I was just listening to Andy Stanley last night. His sermon series was on worry. He taught me that when our worry is high, our belief is small. We have to take God at His word. We can’t say we believe and then not truly believe. We can’t say that we believe that He is the creator of all things in the universe, but don’t believe that He’ll take care of our needs. We aren’t believing Him to be exactly Who He says He is. So….then, we don’t act it out. Am I making a lick of sense?? Anyway….I think the two go hand in hand. Do we simply believe in God or Do we believe God?
“why do people who understand, yet officially don?t associate with christianity live more transformed lives than we do?”
This is a rough thought, and one that needs more development and just might make a good blog post if I can put more into it… Christian’s are the most judged people in the world, not just today but across culturals, time and history. Honestly, I think Ghandi and in more modern times Bono (I’m sure there are others I just can’t think of any off the top of my head) make some excellent points about “not liking Christians, yet loving Jesus”. Personally, I find that a cop out. They can “live a more transparent life” because they don’t claim Jesus as their Savior. They can mess up and people will say oh well they are really trying to do good, look at how they have brought awareness to Aids, poverty, etc. When a celebrity Christ follower or Pastor messes up they experience the judgement of the world down on them, rather than the grace and compassion of Christ that everyone wants to experience.
Can’t wait to read it. I find myself in the same boat with that very struggle. Why do we see people who walk with more freedom, have more joy or like you said live more transformed than those of us who by all accounts profess to be transformed.
“I am not saying that works is what saves you, but if the outward actions of your life aren?t consistent with the character and commands of christ (by whose grace we are transformed), are you really transformed? or are you just lazy and complacent?”
I think that is a question that we can only ask of ourselves, and not of others. As was mentioned in a previous comment, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and will not force a transformation in any of our lives if we don’t yield, and give our permission. So, I cannot say that someone who has been a Christian for a number of years but still smokes and speaks unsavory language does not have the Spirit of God slowly picking away, renewing their mind and by consequence, their actions.
For myself, I know the “lazy complacent” side is far to often frequented. And God lovingly (read: sternly) points that out to me when needed. But I believe our small actions, our pitiful attempts and failures at offering ourselves to Him as living sacrefices are more significant than the most outwardly “moral” actions by anyone who doesn’t give the credit to Christ.
As to the “fine line” of in the world, not of the world….forget culture and media and all that blah blah blah. God is more relavent and can use a willing believer whether we are up on the latest fashions or tv shows or not. It’s people that God cares about. We can sanctify ourselves without retreating from the people who need the message the most. While the book looks good, and the preview video is compelling, I don’t think I need another book to tell me how to live in the world when Christ’s example is sitting in the scriptures. (If only I would put forth the effort and time in prayer to hewn it out and live it out…)
Love the Gahndi quote.
I think that’s a huge generalization to say that “they” live more transformed lives than we do. I totally disagree. People are a mess no matter where you look. So much so that even Jesus takes awhile to make progress in a human heart. I’m a great example of that slow progress myself…
But the other reason is that “many” so called believers, to quote Jesus in the sermon on the Mount, are not believers at all. They don’t do what Jesus commands. They’re building on sand. “Many” there means “a signficant portion of” in Greek, apparently. What would a significant portion be? One in ten? Four? Eight?
It explains a lot, I tell you. It’s why Finney spent his life preaching for the conversion of church folks.
Hi, Anne — Haven’t been on your blog in awhile. I agree with Erin Leigh and Brad Hubert. If you look at the followers of any religion you are going to see various levels of progress. Hindus are looking through a different filter, because their religion actually doesn’t claim to be “THE ONE.” It’s polytheistic and Jesus can slide right in there next to Kali and Ganesh in their thinking. But because Christianity is monotheistic and exclusive by nature, it sets Christians up to be scrutinized more harshly for their behavior.
I see people every day live incredibly transformed lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I see people every day fall short of their potential by giving into the flesh. And often I am the very person that falls into both of those catagories. Christianity does leave room for the complexity of humanity by virtue of the force of grace. What transforms us at any level or stage of the process is the life of God renewing us on the inside. The challenge at every stage is to stay ENGAGED in the process of growth and connected to God. When we don’t do that one thing, all the commandments become burdensome and we being to justify it away or we live legalistically as if our morality can bring us life. It all just goes back to the simplicity of the cross.
Anne, Great question at the end there. Sad to say that I have too often, painfully fell into the latter category, i’ve questioned that very thing – why are those of the world more Christ like than most Christians why am I not more like them, I’ve wondered.
It scares me to be honest, that I seem nothing more than a fraud attempting faith, MPT has something to say in his new book Churched about this. I, much like many others probably grew up much like Matthew did learning all the wrong things, so we are in part Christ followers yet also we are in part followers of what the world is and has become, that’s the closest I can come to understanding myself an this paradox. It’s like I need to relearn Christ and the truth or the word and find a way to leave all those false teachings behind, the religious, I am better than you and I can do xyz and it’s still ok…. I wonder if the video isn’t right that there is an awakening.
I think we as a Church have wasted a lot of time on two things that are not in our job description:
#1 prove God exists. I think he has done a fine job of that.
#2 judging people. He’s got that covered too
Um, Matthew 25 seems to suggest that what you do has a lot to do with your salvation, one way or the other.
Texas in Africa,
Are you referring specifically to justification when you say salvation, or just the entire process of salvation as it includes justification, sanctification, and glorification?
per usual, thanks for opening your heart with this post. :)
can i make a strong book recommendation? yes? thanks. :)
The Epic of Eden by Sandra Richter (just released)
she teaches Old Testament at Asbury Seminary and is a seriously amazing teacher. each class session i had with her was like a worship experience. students sometimes wait for two years to get into her classes.
so…she rocks. and, her book really does help – as she says – to organize your OT closet. her writing is not simply an academic exercise; it draws you closer to our loving God and his story of redemption.
i’d say that i am transformed…transformed from what I was (and should be considering what i was taught growing up) into what I am today. just because you may know me now and not see the transformation proves nothing..because you may not have known me before. oh i’m a mess now to be sure…but an entirely different mess.
gandhi may have had his ethics together and been an overall nice guy, but he didn’t know jesus…so he wasn’t transformed. if he had been he would have followed jesus despite his followers. i know i do..and consdering what a mess i am..i hope others do too.
Wow… an awesome topic and some outstanding comments here.
Last week, I ran across a person from the church I used to attend. She asked why she hadn’t seen me on Wednesday nights anymore. I gave some lame excuse like I had been busy or whatever. Later, when I got home, I remembered the conversation and thought about it. As I was going to sleep that night, this answer strolled across my frontal lobe: “I don’t go to your church… because you go there.”
Ouch!
Very Ghandi-esque, and perhaps judgemental, but definitely something I do not ever want to hear said to me.
Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I think the same applies to faith. I get a little nervous for people when they say they never have any questions about Christianity. And Jesus’ teaching was (and is) incredibly counter-cultural…how can you not read it and think “Wait…WHAT?”
I also think Gandhi’s answer was kind of a cop-out. I mean, I understand where he’s coming from. It just seems too easy.
these are the exact questions we have been wrestling with in my life of Christ course at oklahoma baptist university. we recently read and analyzed an amazing book called ‘living the sermon on the mount’ by glen stassen. in this, stassen examines closely each portion of His sermon as it is meant to be understood: as a transforming action plan for every situation in life. if you haven’t read this yet, i highly recommend it!
this is so where i get hung up in church. arent we called to reach everyone. everyone. not who we feel our church might be called to…ex the rich, the affluent, the lawyers….etc. Jesus made no distinction between the prostitute and the rich young ruler. His time with them and love for them was the same. His stories were not metaphors.
I think in James it is very clear that to show your faith without acts isnt possible. they have to work hand in hand. if my life and hasnt lived up to what i have told you i will do…when i will be there….etc doesnt line up with what i really do no one will listen. people see through fake.
i think that we start to see the things Jesus say as metaphors as we get more comfortable where we are. following Jesus is intense….it isnt always comfortable….it is not meant to be.
ps – you beat me in comments in the end. :)
Great question! Maybe it’s because they think they’ve made it! We’re in the ballpark! Kind of like a guy doesn’t care anymore after he gets married and let’s the belly grow, and becomes a master of the remote. He got the bride, the prize if you will. What else do I need to do? Great question. I’m going to look for your book and get it. p.s. i used to work for Multnomah when they were still here in Sisters, OR.
In Christ,
Steve
? if the outward actions of your life aren?t consistent with the character and commands of christ (by whose grace we are transformed), are you really transformed? or are you just lazy and complacent? ?
I had written a beautiful and compelling reply (if I might say so, myself!) when an errant fingertip delivered it to the bit bucket. Man drafts, God laughs.
So, I’ll shorten it to these two points:
1) Transformation is at once a finished work (salvation, being made righteous in Christ) and an unfinished process (growing in Christ, being conformed to Christ). It is, in a word, sanctification. If you’ve grown in transformation at all, and were you to meet your younger self on the street you might mistake her for a pagan. However, were you to meet yourself as you will be when ultimately transformed in eternity you would behold a creature of such grace, beauty, majesty, and power that you might fall down in abject awe and worship. (To borrow liberally from C.S. Lewis, sorry.)
2) I agree that we must ask ourselves this question, but there’s a danger. Our own righteousness is so far short of the purity of Jesus’ that even the most holy among us would still reek with the stench of sinful sewage. What matters is not how we compare with “holy” or “evil” pagans, not how we compare with lists of legalistic standards, not how successfully we “present” our public faces — but rather whether we are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
Even those of us who are transformed are lazy and complacent. We’re just not all lazy and complacent about the same things.
Regards,
Rich
BlogRodent
I didn’t read all the comments, but to you and what you wrote in your post…I think it does come back around to what the scriptures meant to the original hearers and then how that applies to us. When I read the Bible I try to read it in context and then cross reference it against other passages. I use other commentaries but most of the time I use the Bible to bounce whatever passage I am reading or studying off of whatever I am reading or studying. God is God…I hope He can help me figure it out…because men and woman way smarter then me have been wrestling with the Holy Scriptures for way longer then you and I and they have these same questions Anne Jackson. So give yourself a break.
Good stuff. I wonder if Jesus spoke in parables, because humans tend to see things in lines and boxes, rules and regulations, and God has bigger plans in store. Maybe parables transcend context and are personally, as well as corporately, applicable on multiple levels. Maybe that’s why Scripture still speaks to us today.
These days, I’m less concerned with trying to be “better” than the world and constantly asking myself the question: Does this bring life?
Frankly, I’m tired of Christians quoting Gandhi. Can we move onto someone else’s secular example to beat ourselves up over?
I haven’t read what others have said. Some of the comments are long and I don’t have time, but wanted to add this. I have been struggling with some of this recently. I want to be what God wants me to be. But there are all of these people telling me this means this or that means that or whatever. I want to hear from God — no filters — no input. That’s very hard. And I want things like front loading side-by-side super washer and dryer combo. But is spending $3000 on that a wise way to use money esp when my current (outdated) washer and dryer work just fine? Ugh! I want, but then I find a verse in the Bible that makes me think I’m a selfish pig. I’m so confused by my flesh vs my spirit. Just give me God and the rest can jump off a very high cliff. It’s draining.
i want to read all your comments…but i don’t have time right now. i just wanted to say thanks for sharing all this very freeing information :)
i appreciate it.
oh sorry – i meant to leave that comment on your post about dispelling depression myths…
I agree with some earlier comments given. The church needs to get back to the basic teachings of the scripture. The gospel has been so watered down that teachings on being holy, because I am holy, and walking in the spirit, and living Godly lives and so on are not showing up on Sundays anymore. People are not being taught how to study the word on their own. This is the result of the fad driven contemporary church.
These people who live better and more moral lives than Christians will one day hear the words, “depart from me, I never knew you.”
Tom
i like Heidi’s comment. bottom line is that until we have an encounter with God – whatever that looks like – moralism isn’t enough to satisfy us. conversely, neither is cheap grace that excuses our self-centered, “forgiven” living. i guess it is, indeed, a fine line.