Obsessive-compulsive

I mentioned in my last post that when Alec visits us we enjoy watching episodes of Monk. Monk has been the all the rage for a while in the community. It is a clever show. If you haven't seen the series, the story centers around a disabled San Francisco detective who works as a subcontractor for the police department, solving interesting murder cases. He has obsessive-compulsive disorder which was exacerbated by the trauma of his wife's murder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder “most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions.” It is often used in an “offhand manner to describe someone who is meticulous or absorbed in a cause.”

Perhaps, we enjoy Monk because we can identify, if not with the actual disorder, the tendencies and excesses of it. When I see Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life, I think that I should write a book entitled, simply, The Driven Life. Looking back at my life, I see that at times I've gone overboard, obsessing about often minor issues. Perhaps, it was from a desire for excellence or, more probably, a manifestation of some brokenness or sinfulness. Whatever the case, I am thankful that age and constant interaction with God's people has mellowed me out.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful that my friends have been there for me, helping me to become the man God wants me to be. It is through their love and long-suffering that maturity has seen the light of day in my life. Now its time for me to head out back and clean the dining room in preparation for our special meal. I wonder why I get assigned these cleaning tasks?

Community, Cross, and New Creation

This weekend we have visiting with us, Alec Brooks, our friend and mentor. Alec was president of Bethany Fellowship for a number of years and currently leads Charis International, a relief and development support ministry. We really enjoy when Alec comes, not just for his teachings, but the fellowship and evenings of ice cream and Monk.

At our Friday celebration Alec talked about necessity of community in a Christian's life. We looked at material from Richard Hayes' book, The Moral Vision of the New Testament. Hayes says there are three images that act as themes in the New Testament: Community, Cross, and New Creation.

Community - A concrete social manifestation of the people of God.

The ethical mandate of the New Testament can only be understood in the context of community. The New Testament is written to a community not to individuals.

Cross - Christian community has to be marked by cruciformity.

Cruciformity is self-giving, self-sacrificing, status renouncing love (Phil. 2).

New Creation - We are to live in light of hope of a new creation.

The whole redemption project is to restore what God intended in creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is better translated, “If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation.” We've tended to see things in individualistic terms. Our primary identity as Christians is to the family of God.

The message of the New Testament is that God is creating a new people who live under the Lordship of Jesus, loving one another in relationships that are vital and significant.

Witness or Reputation?

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:17) As Christians we are concerned about our witness. We want our deeds to demonstrate to those around us the reality of God and His kingdom values. Recent news about the moral failing of a major evangelical leader has made me think that perhaps we sometimes confuse witness with reputation. Love of reputation is a snare. The desire to be a witness of God, however, is good. Even though our own mission statement talks about being a witness, I realize now that being a witness isn't as important as actually living out the Gospel.

Being a witness doesn't legitimize the Gospel, or ourselves for that matter. This is where a fine line between wanting to be a good witness and craving reputation exists. Early Christians were accused of many things, including being cannibals because they celebrated the Lord's Supper. In the eyes of some, they weren't being good witnesses (“Honey, don't let the kids play with those Christians, they eat people.”). There are, of course, many positive accounts of Christian witness in history. The point is that how we look to others is often tainted by their own views and prejudices. Additionally, the mandates of the Gospel are often at odds with the values of the culture around us, and consequently, can be unattractive to unbelievers; giving up wealth to serve others, for example.

Saint Francis and his little band of followers, in choosing poverty, were seen by the upper class, from where many of them came, as ungrateful and dishonoring their families. To some of the poor, they were seen as drawing attention away from the plight of the real poor. Supposedly, John Wesley, while riding his horse one day, became alarmed as he realized that he hadn't been persecuted for the Gospel for a while, which indicated to him that he was perhaps losing his zeal for God. He pulled over the side of the road and knelt down in a ditch to pray and repent for his spiritual condition. Apparently, his prayers were so fervent that a bystander on the other side of the ditch heard it, and becoming irritated by this holy roller, threw a stone at him. Wesley raised his voice in thanksgiving that all was well with his soul, as evidenced by this persecution.

Loving reputation, even in the name of wanting to be a good witness, will keep us from honestly confessing our sins and weaknesses. We'll be worried that it will hurt our witness. I think it's better to just commit ourselves to living out the Gospel, regardless of the consequences, and let the Holy Spirit take care of the witness.