Reflections

KLR Best Practices--Helpful Quotes

"Building a world-class company calls for a world-class commitment to your own personal growth." From the E-Myth Mastery, by Gerber. So true. In fact this is also true...

"Building a world-class [         ] calls for a world-class commitment to your own personal growth." You fill in the blank! [Life, church, business, marriage, family...other ideas?]

Looking Back to Sunday

Bibliology 101. Isaac shared that if we are going to base our lives on the teachings of a Book, it would make sense that we really know what the Book has to say. And with that idea he dove into the fascinating world of Bibliology--the study of God's inspired Word.

Isaac mentioned a classic book on the subject, How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. So I went to the section of my library that has my old seminary books, pulled this one off the shelf, and took a fresh look. This book is well worth the read (or re-read). 

Fee and Stuart mention in their introduction that often times the problem we encounter with the Bible is NOT in understanding it. The problem is in obeying it and putting it into practice. The Bible itself teaches that there is a direct correlation between how well we understand the Bible to our willingness to do what it says. For example in Psalm 111:10 David tells us, "A good understanding have all those who DO Thy commandments." And in Hebrews 5:14 it says, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of PRACTICE have trained their senses to discern good from evil." Some call this the hermeneutic of obedience--recognizing our understanding is tied to our doing.

Fee and Stuart break down the study of God's inspired Word into two major steps. The first is exegesis. In this step, we set out with careful and systematic study of the Scripture to discover the original and intended meaning. Since the Bible is really a collection of 66 different writings, written by 40+ different authors, writing over a 1,500 year period of time; it is important to discover what was the occasion and purpose for this the book of the Bible you may be studying. In this step we look to discover the historical context for the text. Additionally, for proper exegesis it is important to grasp the literary context. What is the genre of the writing? What are the normative ways a reader in that historical time would have understood the text? What language is it in? By asking the right questions of the text, we can move towards a proper understanding of the original intent.

The next step per Fee and Stuart is hermeneutics. While this word in its broadest meaning can cover the whole field of interpretation, including exegesis, its narrow use means to understand the contemporary relevance and application of the text. Proper hermeneutics (application) begins with proper exegesis (interpretation). The authors go on to give very helpful training in how to approach the various genre of the Bible. How should we interpret the letters to the churches, the Gospels, the Law, the Prophets, Psalm, Wisdom literature, and Revelation? 

It was a very helpful message. Bottom line: I walked out of the church service with a renewed appreciation for God's word. And a renewed desire to spend time with it.

Reflections on "Disappointment With God"

This book by Phillip Yancy has been sitting in my library forever. Recently, I was asked to speak at our church, Summit. As I prayed about what to share I sensed God tugging me toward this somewhat "taboo" topic when people experience disappointment in their relationship with God.

After reading the book, I can see why over 300,000 copies have been sold.

Yancy is theologically reflective--yet in a very colloquial and relatable writing style that allowed me to move along easily with his thinking. He was also compassionate and inviting--helping to demystify any stigma associated with possible guilt people may feel if they had real disappointments with God. Better to own it and recognize what's going on, than to allow the pain to cause further and further separation in someone's walk with God.

Yancy tells the story of his friend Richard, who because of his disappointments with God, decided to denounce his faith and become "converted from God". Yancy uses his story to effectively illustrate the seriousness of this very real challenge Christ-followers may face. I liked how he broke down the essence of disappointment in any relationship: it comes from unmet expectations. So, it is with disappointment with God. When He fails to act in ways that we hope or expect--we are open to disappointment. This especially becomes pronounced when the pain of sickness, senseless tragedy, and human suffering enters the picture.

Yancy identifies three questions that are at the heart of someone's disappointment with God--questions he says that most Christians often to do not give themselves the permission to ask aloud: Is God fair? Why is God silent? Is God hidden?

Instead of a nice and neat explanation of the questions, he invites his readers to think relationally about God. He begins by reflecting on God's relationship with His people. Here are some of the things that helped me:

1. Knowing that God is a Person with a will, emotions, and desires; it was helpful to reflect on His heart. Yancy effectively reveals God's heart to know us and to be known. He illustrated how the OT repeatedly teaches us what it feels like to be God. Clearly God has experienced disappointment in His longing to be worshipped and have relationship with his people. Through the prophets he likens his feelings about this rejection to that of a rejected parent or a spurned spouse.

2. In the NT God decides to "learn" what it feels like to be us. God shed the "disadvantages of infinity" and becomes man. As a man, Jesus could be seen, touched, and conversed with. He entered his creation in bodily form. In doing so, he did not use his divinity to escape the cruelty and pain of this world. As I mentioned in my sermon, "Whatever cruel game God may seem to be playing with the universe, at least He played by the same rules." God does not tell us why He allows for pain, suffering, tragedy...But through Jesus he gives us a beacon--the example. He endured--He went through the suffering and pain to receive "the joy set before Him." Also, Jesus set the expectations very clearly for his followers. He told us that in this world we would experience tribulation. It is coming. Expect it. He told us to take courage--because while we will suffer--He has overcome the world.

3. I loved Yancy's distinction between "child-like" faith and "faith that has fidelity". He noted that Psalm 23 illustrates child-like faith--the beauty and simplicity of walking with God as He shepherds us through the peaks and valleys of life. In Psalm 22, however, we see faith that has fidelity. This Psalm is what Jesus quotes on the cross. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The cry of the burdened and perplexed soul to a God who no longer seems to be fair, speaking, or present. Fidelity faith remains faithful--no matter what.

For me, I gained a new appreciation of what our faith means to God. I am convinced we do not see clearly how valuable it is to Him and the eternal significance it brings. In heaven we will not exercise faith--we only have that opportunity during our time on earth.