I'm for Love: Reflections on Rob Bell, Marriage Equality, and Evangelicalism

I’m for marriage. I’m for fidelity. I’m for love: whether it’s a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and a man, and I think the ship has sailed, and I think the Church needs to just...this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are (Rob Bell).

In a recent interview, the popular Evangelical figure, Rob Bell made his views on marriage equality pretty clear. It’s no secret that I’ve been outspoken in opposition to just about all things Evangelical and it’s also no secret that my stance on marriage equality from a theological perspective is one of love and grace, for the affirmed and the opposed. In other words, it’s the cross, not the left or the right.

I write today, not out of contention or affirmation of a position, but out of respect for bold, daring, and sound theological practice. Bell’s interview, not the least of which is his pro-marriage statement, makes me less apprehensive of my Evangelical roots and inspired to reclaim the term.

The Dialect of Praxis and my approach to faith have always had the intention of being conversational. I’m at the same beggar’s gate with the Baptists and the billionaires, I kneel before the cross of Jesus Christ along with Evangelicals, and I am redeemed by grace along with every sinner (read human being) on this planet. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is everything!

In turn, if I’m a lot Lutheran and a little bit Evangelical because I actually believe in the “communion of saints” and the “holy catholic (universal) Church,” so be it. I’m not here to fight anymore about which Christians have good theology and which ones don’t because God’s grace is sufficient for that too. Here’s to questions, here’s to conversation, here’s to humility, here’s to grace, and here’s to the openness of change within oneself. Hold to your convictions, wherever they may land, but be prepared for the mysteries of God to change the path you think you’re walking. “Love beats the demon” and “love wins.”

   

Second Chance Buffet: Why I do What I do

I’ve been on the ride of my life lately speaking to different groups about what it means to be a Lutheran. It’s been a little different every time I’ve stood before a group talking about Law and Gospel, being sinners and saints, good theology, bad theology, and the liberation of the cross.

The fact is, I talk a lot! This trait comes in handy when you’re going to give hour long talks on anything. But, there are a lot of things I’d never talk about like I discuss being a Lutheran Christian in the 21^st Century. I’ve got passion, hope, and excitement; which counteracts my infamous cynicism and raw and gritty expectations.

No one has to convince me to tell people God’s grace is sufficient; you’d actually be hard pressed to stop me. It’s not because I’m a good person because I’ll never be that apart from the grace of God. I talk about this like I just went to Wrestlemania for the first time (April 7^th here I come!) because the grace of God has drawn me to the cross through broad experience of all kinds. I talk about grace, and Jesus, and the cross, not because it makes me a better person, not because I think other people will suddenly become saints, but because it is liberation.

There isn’t a human being on this earth that lacks the need for liberation or the desire for something real. I’m a Lutheran, this is me – whether at the bar or the altar – my life has been changed in such a way by the grace of God that I can’t get any more real than second chances that go beyond second chances. This is why I do what I do, this is why I love what I do, and this is why I will never stop proclaiming the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for YOU, no matter who you are, no matter whether you care, whether you want it or you don’t, it’s been done.

I’m telling you as a friend or a stranger, your sins are forgiven on account of the cross of Jesus Christ. Go in peace and serve the Lord.

Crucifying Bad Theology

 “You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later God’s ‘ill cut you down.” Christ died even for us. Why does good theology matter? Is it because we have books like unChristian giving us statistics of a failing Church? Is it because we have authors like Kenda Dean exploring a moralistic therapeutic deistic culture? Absolutely. We need good theology if young people are abandoning the Church because the very thought of Christians equals bigoted hypocrites. We need good theology if all that matters about God is whether or not we are good people. More than that, we need good theology because it changes lives.

How does good theology change lives? Lutherans have had good theology since Martin Luther decided to deconstruct the core of the Church. If it doesn’t point us to the cross and the work of Christ, it doesn’t matter. Perhaps it is easy to take this for granted or to appeal to experience to “find God,” but good theology is life-changing precisely because it cannot be found and it does not rely on human experience. That’s not to say it doesn’t cause experience. Good theology is life-changing because it finds the lost and leads the blind. Good theology reconstructed in the redemption of the cross of Jesus Christ.

“You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later God’s ‘ill cut you down.” Christ died even for us. What does it mean to have good theology? Our academic and practical theologies have no separation. Good theology is put into praxis. Beyond that Good theology has the crucified God at its crux. Theology is nothing apart from the work of the cross. Our redemption lies within the crucifixion and our reconciliation is rooted in resurrection. The law tells us that God will cut sinners down; conjunctively, the Gospel tells us Christ died even for us.

Good theology matters because the gracious work of Christ is at its core. It is life-altering for people who’ve never known the grace of God or for people who have been blinded by bad theology (which does not point to the work of Christ through the cross). Guilt may be a more powerful motivator than grace, but it doesn’t make it good. Where, then, do we go from here? We go where God is found, where we are led, to the foot of the cross. If you’ve never known the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ or you’ve been trapped by the guilt and shame of piety that puts the role of justification in your hands; by the work of God alone, through the cross of Christ alone, grace is sufficient for you.   

  

21st Century Theologians of the Cross: Workshop Proposal (alpha stage)

Hello my dear readers,

Within the next few months I will be teaching a workshop at a Youth Ministry convention and I want to share my course proposal with you all. Below, you will find my initial proposal of the questions and topic of focus, I invite you to provide your feedback and thoughts on the questions. Over the course of the next weeks and months, I will beta test my workshop content with you in order to craft the best final product for the audience. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

If you’ve read recent books and articles about churchgoer statistics, or Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, you may be feeling a little discouraged. Whether the Church is the loudest voice within culture or it’s losing steam, we have theology with a powerful point! Christ died for us and God is found at the cross. Today, we have more than a few options, we can ignore MTD and the decline of church attendance, we can fight the changes, we can join the trends, we can accept fate, or we can teach the next generations something real and relevant.

In this workshop, we’ll explore questions such as:

What does it mean to be Lutheran?

Why does Lutheranism matter for youth today?

How does good theology change lives?

Who needs the Theology of the Cross, anyway?

When am I ever going to use this boring theology stuff?

Where do we go from here?

In a culture of challenging church trends, youth and Youth Workers are faced with some tough questions about the relevance and effectiveness of theology. The Lutheran Theology of the Cross has powerful answers to these 21^st century questions, and even more powerful questions for us.

Simon Says Christians Don't Actually Read Leviticus: A Survey of the Book of Leviticus

The book of Leviticus is an explanation of the priestly laws for the people of Israel. Today, there are people who think the Leviticus text has little to no relevance for the Christian faith life (after all, it’s a Hebrew text written for a specific people, and a specific occasion). However, taking such logic to its natural conclusion would lead most if not all scripture to be irrelevant (which ought to be a concern for people of faith).

The contexts of the Levitical Laws are not as irrelevant as some might think (myself included, at one point in time). The Levite priests held authority over the people of Israel religiously, medically, and judicially. They were the governing tribe of Israel before the time of the Judges. What makes this relevant to a modern culture? If your priest was your doctor, your lawyer, your judge, your educator, and your religious authority, wouldn’t you pay attention to what they were communicating to you?

The point is there’s more to the book of Leviticus than most people know about and it’s all right there in the text. Perhaps, my background in biblical scholarship allows me to catch things most readers don’t (but I think there’s more to it than that). Context is everything. The book of Leviticus is known for prohibiting same sex relations (18:22; 20:13) but contextually it’s not talking about “homosexuality.” Those famously prooftexted (pulled out of context, misused, eisegetical) verses are talking about things done in the practice of idol worship to other gods. The law of the Lord was for the people of Israel to be set apart from other nations and devoted to their God.

Idolatry was the crux of Original Sin – it’s what makes us sinners – it’s the most alienating and relevant aspect of human nature. No matter what we keep or trim out (all Christians do this with one biblical text or another) the book of Leviticus is super relevant. In it we are told to love our neighbor (19:18), to respect the authority of the Lord (18:30), not to oppress immigrants (19:33-34), to engage in religious celebrations and services (23:4-8), to share our provisions with the poor (23:22), and to remember what the Lord has done for the people of God (20:23-24).

Remembering the work of God is central to the Pentateuch (Torah) and to the Leviticus text, as the text indicates how exile in Babylon 586 BC/BCE affected the people’s appreciation for the work of God (26:34). It’s also a great reminder that whether it’s Jesus in the New Testament or the priests in the Old Testament someone is reconciling the people to God because we are unable to redeem ourselves (Lv. 15:30).