Radical Transparency and the Colapse of Piety

Greetings Readers, it’s been a minute since The Dialect of Praxis had a post. It’s been an exciting time in my life and new adventures have kept me engaged in conversation elsewhere. I hope you all are well!

Radical Transparency is a term I’ve borrowed from David Kinnaman’s well-selling title UnChristian. The phrase is an ideal set by the Buster and Mosaic generations (specifically those ages 16-29) who have grown skeptical and/or cynical about the portrayal of Christianity and the mass-marketed consumerist society surrounding young people today. Radical Transparency is a mindset aimed at deconstructing image-centered hyper-individualism and being “real” with people.

Kinnaman’s book, boasting copious amounts of research and data analysis on Western culture’s negative perception of Christianity and its people, declares, only 1 in 22 Christians (in the 16-29 age bracket) have a deep connection to the Christian faith (UnChristian). This phenomenon is what authors such as Kenda Dean and others have come to call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

In the spirit of Radical Transparency, I have to say I’m not alarmed by any of the statistics, negative views, erosion, or declining numbers of the Christian faith. I’m at the tail end of the Buster demographic and have personally experienced the skepticism, cynicism, and need for authenticity in the Christian world. But, the skepticism and cynicism (which I have no doubt worn as a coat of armor) is as concerning as the façade of moralistic perfectionist Christianity.

Pious behavior (personal devotional reading of scripture, doing everything right, praying enough, and the like) doesn’t save us and this is a fair criticism from non-Christians and skeptical believers, towards the typically Conservative portion of the Christian community. However, I’m not looking to tear down Evangelicals today. Instead, I ask, could a delicate balance of piety be a bad thing?

Honestly, I’m not hugely pious (or remotely pious compared to my days as an Evangelical Christian) but I like to study the scriptures. As is evident by the statistics in UnChristian, most people identify the importance of Christianity in lifestyle before anything to do with the Gospel message. And, experience has shown me that many young people in the Church today don’t have a basic understanding of the Gospel (or scripture in general). Maybe non-Christians don’t want to know who Jesus is because most Christians don’t know who Jesus is anymore. Christianity is not a set of lifestyle principals; it is faith in the living God and redemptive work of the cross.   

A conversation on Salvation

Is sanctification part of salvation?

Following the rabbit trail that began here.

From my viewpoint, as a Lutheran, salvation (rescue) and justification (pardon) are one-in-the-same. Whereas, sanctification is the prompting of God's grace as a result of justification (our salvation). As I understand it, sanctification is not salvific (saving) but it is a God-prompted response to salvation. Continuing the conversation started elsewhere, is sanctification part of salvation?

Lenten Devotional 15: Exiles Restored; the Covenantal Promise

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Scripture reading: Ezra 8:21-36

The people of Jerusalem have been freed from their Babylonian captivity and their exile has come to an end (ch. 1) in accordance with the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 30:3). Unlike the somewhat downtrodden conclusion to the books of the Kings, the book of Ezra brings us into the hope of the history of God’s people.

The Babylonians have fallen (6^th cent. BCE/BC) and the Jews are given a second chance in Jerusalem. Over a number of years and obstacles the temple of the Lord is rebuilt (ch. 3-ff.). The priest Ezra is called to lead the people of God back to Jerusalem (ch. 7). This is a new season for the Jewish people. Exile is behind them and the promise of the Lord is before them.

Much like we are doing for Lent, the people fasted and prayed to the Lord (8:21:23). In this, the people of God remember their reverence for the Lord and forsake their idolatrous past. The people (even the king) give “freewill” offerings to the Lord (vv. 24-30). This is not free will (as in the doctrine that says we are able to choose salvation because that is impossible). This is a freewill giving, which occurs through the prompting of reconciliation. The Gospel calls this grace, but contextually, this may have been done out of fear or reverence of God.

According to God’s covenantal promise, the people of Jerusalem return to their land from their Babylonian exile (vv. 31-36). As usual, the people of God forget to do something right, afterwards (ch. 9-10). But, where the humans fail, God keeps the covenant, and grace is sufficient.

This is our story, too. Though we are sinners (with our will bound to the condition) the work of God alone, nullifies our sin nature and its predisposition. We are met with the covenant of God, known to Christians as the Gospel, and known to all as grace. The law has been fulfilled and the exiled are restored by God’s mercy and grace, according to the covenant of the Lord.

O Gracious God, how you deliver your people – whether Jew, Gentile, slave, free, Christian, or those who cannot see – by the universal grace you have given to all that will save as many as you please. Though it is a mystery how your grace justifies, you have given us the faith to believe that you are the one true God and that we receive your grace through the work of the cross of Christ (in death and resurrection). In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

  

Lenten Devotional 14: Waiting to Exile

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Scripture reading 2 Kings 24:8-25:30

The fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE/BC was the final season of the Deuteronomistic History (Joshua-Kings). One can only imagine the despair. Israel’s kings bowed to other gods and eventually fell into the hands of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Now, Judah (the southern kingdom) followed with the same fate. Unlike 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings does not conclude on a happy note. Here, evil gets the better of God’s people.

This installment of our series was not meant to contradict the talk of repentance and reconcile, in yesterday’s post. Rather, it is that exile is a season of life. The Jewish people were scattered into exile by the Babylonians. Two thousand five hundred ninety eight years later, the people of Israel continue to fight for land. The exile happened because God’s people continuously sinned against the Lord. The law did not save the people.

But, the Jewish people weren’t special sinners; they were fallen human beings. The Primary History (Genesis-Kings) illustrates the fallen nature of humanity, with the people of God at the forefront of this fallen story. Only, this isn’t a bedtime story, it’s the history of the people of God. Upon reading this passage, one might ask, did the people of God pay attention to history? We are the people of God and this is our history.

Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do. We are sinners; helpless to help ourselves. Have mercy on us O Lord. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  

Lenten Devotional 13: God's Great Sinners; Human Nature and Grace

Monday, March 05, 2012

Scripture reading: 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Our story today, takes place during the Deuteronomistic History (DtH) that constructs the second half of the Primary History (Genesis-Kings). The books of Samuel are technically one book that was split into two over time. I’m not here to debate Martin Noth’s view of single authorship for the DtH (Joshua-Kings) but as with the JEDP theory for the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) the DtH has exilic implications.

King David (the second king of Israel) reigned for forty years (1 Chr. 29:27) 1010-970 BCE/BC. But the written account of his reign was composed in the 6^th century (Noth). I tell you these technical details because David was a great king and a great sinner. Similarly, Ancient Israel was a great kingdom and a nation of sinners. Sure, it’d be easier to say human, but it’s important to know how the Lord uses sinners.

The chosen king sent his soldiers off to battle, but stayed home, which was not customary (v. 1). In his folly, David steals another man’s wife, and produces an ancient episode of Jerry Springer (vv. 2-5). Being the godly king he is, David attempts to conceal his deceptive affairs and let the woman’s husband deal with the aftermath (vv. 6-13). But, our biblical Springer show gets worse. When the first plan to deceive Uriah fails, all the king’s men set him up to die by order of the king (vv. 14-24). And everyone lived happily ever after… (vv. 25-27) or did they?

After our story, the child of David and Bathsheba’s affair dies, the Lord is not pleased with the sinful king, promising trouble for Israel, David realizes his sin against the Lord, and the Lord spares David and Israel (12:1-24). In juxtaposition, the people of Israel and Judah were sinful, they recognized their sin, and the Lord put an end to exile.

We are human and humans are sinners, but the Lord is gracious to sinners; whether we are kings, Israelites in exile, or the people of today who perpetually make mistakes. God chose humans to fulfill the covenant. Humans and sinners we may be, but God reconciles us in the work of grace. This is the Gospel of the Lord: redemption for sinners, those called human. I am a great sinner, we all are great sinners (it’s our nature) and Christ died for us all.

Lord, God, with David, you made a sinner the king of your people, and by your mercy the king and the people we reconciled. With Jesus, you became our king (the king of your people) and in your mercy you atoned for our sin, by taking it all upon your cross. On this day, we remember that we are humans and sinners, and that you were the one who died for us. Praise to you O Christ. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lenten Devotional 12: Spirit and Flesh; Fully God and Fully Human

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Scripture reading: Mark 14:32-42

As we have been in this time of Lent (a season of lament and repentance) the experience differs for us all. There may be moments of sorrow, joy, hunger, peace, unrest, reconcile, angst, comfort, loneliness, community, religious fervor, and/or divine turmoil. Lament and Repentance change our mindset (this may or may not be an uncomfortable experience).

For people, like me, faith is not grounded in experience, but it is an element of the journey. In our passage today, Jesus knows what is coming and, like many of us, the coming trial has him apprehensive (vv. 35-36). The humanity of Jesus is part of what brings our understanding of God into divine relationship. God isn’t this distant being that cannot relate to what it’s like to be human. Jesus, God incarnate, knows what it is to lament and experience great sorrow.

Jesus understood that, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (v. 38b). This is what it meant to be God incarnate: of spirit (pneuma) and flesh (sarx); divine and human. I believe he said these words about himself (not about the godliness or sinfulness of human beings). After he says those words he prays again that the Father God “remove this cup from [him]...” (vv. 36, 39).

If our savior felt the human emotions of fear and trembling over his calling to die for us and only the Spirit of God could do the will of the Father through him; how are we surprised by our own human weakness? Jesus is Lord, fully God and fully man; yet, he knew the lamenting sorrow of human suffering. It is only by the work of God that the Holy Spirit graciously works in our lives. For, the Holy Spirit is willing to do what we cannot do for ourselves, but the flesh (substance of being human) is weak. This is the work of God alone.

Father God, many of us may ask you to remove the cup of plight from our lives because it is more than we are willing or able to bear. However, the work of your Holy Spirit does what our immutable will cannot do and carries us through times of trial. The fact that Christ understood our emotions is a gift to us. Thanks be to God for the work of grace and the cross. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.