September 25, 2006
The Vine
"[Most spiritually healthy Christians] are the ones who understand that Jesus was, quite simply, one hell of a powerful teacher, and healer, and mystic, and visionary, a pacifist, a liberal, a feminist, the ultimate outsider, one of the finest examples in all of history of how to radiate pure love and compassion and divine interconnection and Lord knows we could all use more of that."
I somehow managed to miss this almost-two-year-old editorial from sfgate.com. While I don't agree with him entirely (for example, I think Jesus is a lot more than just a feminist and the ultimate outsider; he is also God incarnate and the way God justified us and brought us back to Him. And I hardly think "healthy teen sex" is a Christian principle, but I get his point about the hatred of flesh and desire), I do think he says something worth listening to.
I've gotten a lot of great e-mail over the past few days, both from those who agree with me and those who do not, and I appreciate all the responses. But I want to be clear when I say that any shift in my behavior or ideology isn't because I had some great epiphany or because I'm some smarty-pants who is saying anything new. I have strong opinions and feel passionately about the world, politics and "religion," yes, but none of that comes from me.
It's because I, as Jeff Henderson said in his message yesterday, am connected to the Vine. Any fruit that I happen to bear is through no work or creation of my own; it's because I remain in Him and therefore He resides in me. (John 15:1-9) The branch that is disconnected from the vine withers and dies. When I lived "off the Vine," the fruit of my life evidenced that.
The Bible teaches us that His loves shapes our behavior, not the other way around. God isn't happy with me because I want to do His work. I want to do His work because he's already loving me.
Jeff's message yesterday focused on the myth of "the better I am, the more God loves me." It's often easier to listen to the Darkness when it whispers, "Not you. How could a perfect Being love you?" than it is to believe the unbelievable Truth that He loves you enough to chase you into that Darkness and carry you back. Paul wrote that the angel of darkness is always masquerading in the light. If he was able to connive two people who walked daily with their Creator, how much easier it is for him to deceive me? Or you? It was a powerful service and it served as a reminder that as foreign a concept as it may be to me, there are people out there who have never experienced unconditional love. Whose parents were always attaching To-Do lists to their love or making their kids feel like their love was based on behavior. But God isn't a reflection of your Earthly father, he's the perfection of him and that is an awesome, awesome thing to realize.
Chances are, you learned the the song, "Jesus loves me," when you were a kid, whether on PBS or in Sunday School. But to be an adult - with all the baggage and heartache that adulthood brings - and to know it remains true as ever, is powerful. Yesterday in Waumba Land, the environment for infants to four-year-olds, we learned about praise and during the story all the kids repeated "God loves me," and though they are only 2, I pray that the seed of that truth is planted in their hearts. To grow up knowing that you are loved, unconditionally, is life saving. Where would I be without it? Look at the things I inflicted upon myself even knowing that - the relationships I forced, the behavior I dipped my toes in (or plunged into headfirst).
The world is a terrifying place full of horrors and questions and heartbreak.
I've gotten off-track a bit, I guess. I'm not sure what my point is.
Maybe this: I am not about Religion. I am not about singing my name to the roster of any political party. It's not about being a "moderate Christian," or a liberal theologian or a conservative Democrat or whatever other hybrid label they can come up with. I am about one thing: Love. It's about the love the caves my heart in, the love that is real, life-giving and in the world right this second. That love came to save the world, already knowing the world would never change.
"And these Christians -- let us call them "normal" or perhaps "natural" or even "organic" (i.e.;, devoid of poisons or preservatives or Sanctimonious Growth Hormones) -- they are filling all manner of funky or progressive (or Unitarian) churches across many a large city in America, right now"
Maybe Organic is the right word. It's a word that Jeff referenced yesterday when the topic turned to the Vine, to branches, to fruit. It's about God the farmer, Jesus the vine, and us, blooming, growing and producing fruits of the spirit to feed His world.
Philippians 4:6-9
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Posted by hannah at 05:13 PM
