R-E-S-P-E-C-T
by, Charles W. Christian
Far Too Rare
This past weekend I saw a site that is becoming all too rare today. It was an act of respect that on the surface would have been easy to overlook. It was at the funeral of an 88 year old man who had spent more than half of his life as one of the town barbers in Kent, Ohio. He was a fixture in this town, and his quiet disposition and constant smile earned him admiration from people of all ages and backgrounds. It also garnered love and respect from his children and grandchildren, as well as his wife of 61 years and his fellow-churchgoers at the Church of the Nazarene near Kent State University where I have been pastor for just over one year.
At his memorial, which I was privileged to conduct, this man’s grandchildren, most of whom are in their twenties, offered kind words and were truly saddened to see their “PaPa” go. Two of the grandsons put together the music and a video tribute to their grandfather and wanted to make sure that I as the minister was comfortable with what they hoped to share during the service. At funerals, as well as weddings, we as pastors generally have to be cautious when well-meaning family members wish to program the music. Sometimes good intentions can lead to music or other displays that detract from the sacredness and respect of the ceremony. What I found from these two young men was quite the opposite. They had worked for many hours to find relatively obscure bluegrass recordings of hymns that their grandfather held dear. He was born in 1923 in a small town in West Virginia, known for its traditional bluegrass melodies and simple way of life. These two young men were far removed, both educationally and in location, from the obscure little town of their grandfather’s childhood. However, their love and respect for this man who had once let them set up an entrepreneurial “shoe shine stand” in the corner of his downtown barber shop when they were children (a venture which lasted only a day!) led them to ensure that he would be honored with the music he held dear throughout his life.
I was moved not only by the sounds of the music that I, too, enjoy, but even more by the respect and love these young men displayed in putting aside their personal musical preferences and paying tribute to their grandfather in this way. It may seem like a small gesture, but it was the accumulation of a lifetime of both loving and honoring a man who had gained their admiration through his consistent and quiet faith and love.
Little Things Mean A Lot
So often it is the little gestures of respect and kindness that make the most impact. Bishop Desmond Tutu, the great South African bishop, once shared that a key reason for his own desire to become part of the Anglican Church and to eventually become an ordained minister stemmed from a simple gesture he experienced in his childhood. One day while walking with his mother on a crowded sidewalk in segregated South Africa, a white man approached from the opposite direction. In South Africa at that time, when Tutu was around 8 years old, it was customary for black South Africans, men or women, to step aside into the muddy streets when a white person was passing on the sidewalk. As young Desmond was about to step aside, he looked up in shock to see that it was the white man who stepped aside as Desmond and his mother passed on the concrete. Not only that, but the white man also tipped his hat to young Desmond’s mother as an act of respect. She smiled and nodded as she and Desmond continued to walk on the paved sidewalk, but young Desmond’s curiosity could not be quelled. “Why did that white man do that?” Desmond inquired. “He’s a clergyman, an Anglican priest, a man of God. That is why he did it,” she replied. “Then I want to be one, too!” he said. The rest is history. One small act of respect proved both life-changing and world changing.
Finding Out What it Means
Like many, I mourn the loss of basic respect in our culture. For many, it seems that there is a fear that showing respect for others and for authority is the same as an unconditional acceptance of all authority. This need not be the case. The Bible reminds us to “consider others above yourself,” and to “submit yourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Philippians 2:3 and Ephesians 5:21, respectively). This is not a blind compliance with the wishes of another. Rather, respect for one another involves a concerted effort to, in the words of the classic song by the same name, “find out” what respect “means” to the person(s) with whom we are interacting (thank you, Aretha Franklin!). These meaningful acts could come from demonstrating respect for the music and culture of another, a simple tip of the hat, or other gestures that seek to bless others and place their interests above our own. Taking the time to find out what respect means to others and then sharing those gestures bears witness to the unconditional love of Jesus Christ in the world.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Lenses We Use
The Lenses We Use
by, Charles W. Christian
I didn’t wear glasses until I was 37 years old (I will be 42 this year). Ten years before that, when I was almost 28 and just beginning doctoral studies, I had an eye exam and my vision was 20/15 (better than 20/20) in my right eye, and about 20/20 in my left eye. My doctor in Texas knew that I was a pastor, an avid reader, and beginning doctoral work. He also saw some things in my left eye that hinted toward the future. So, he said, in about ten years I will probably need glasses. I forgot about his diagnosis. Then, ten years later, when I was getting a routine physical exam and was asked by my doctor in Seattle to read the eye chart. I did this quickly with my right eye, but when I looked at it with my left, things were blurry. I could not read the line she asked me to read. Then, she asked me to read one line above. Still nothing! At first, she seemed to think I was kidding and laughed. I was not laughing. Almost all the lines she asked me to read were blurry. “Go wash your eyes out and come try again.” I complied, but with the same results. My Texas doctor proved prophetic, and for the first time I needed glasses. The lens for the left eye was different from the lens in the right eye, but together they allowed me to see more clearly than I had in a long time. This delighted my wife who had recently expressed concern that I was not making out certain important signs along the roads and highways as we were riding together (like “STOP” or “YIELD” or even street signs while following driving directions to a particular location). My vision was clear, and we were all safer and better off for it!
Theological Glasses
When students begin the study of theology, we begin with a section called Prolegomena, a Greek term that means “first words” or “first things”. Famous theologians have sometimes called the Prolegomena the “throat clearing” portion of theology, referring to the clearing of the throat one may do when beginning to speak. It is the introductory section that helps us study the major doctrines in theology by reminding students of things like the nature and scope of theology itself, the tools we use, the structure of theology, and key concepts that help us “frame” our understand of the major doctrines about to be presented. Basically, the prolegomena helps us recognize the lenses through which we are about to view the key doctrines of the Church. It reminds us that we bring to the study of theology things in our own experience that both limit and enhance our encounter with Christian doctrine. It also reminds us that for Christians, the proper lenses to study, articulate, and share the key concepts of theology are provided by the person and work of Jesus Christ. In other words, for Christians, without Jesus our comprehension of the key doctrines of theology will be blurry at best. This is the difference that Jesus Christ, called the Word of God in the Bible, makes.
Using Our Lenses
So, for example, when I consider theological or ethical issues, the primary “filter” I am to use to comprehend these matters is to be Jesus Christ: how He lived, what He taught, etc. When I look at biblical events or teachings as a Christian, I am not allowed to lift these texts unfiltered from the page and make them into doctrinal truths without first considering them through the example of Jesus Christ. If a passage of Scripture speaks of war, I must first put on the lens of Jesus Christ and see what that passage would mean in light of what Jesus said and did about war. If I am addressing the ethics of capital punishment (death penalty), I may find Scripture texts that seem to affirm this practice. However, as a Christian I am also called to recognize that I follow Jesus Christ, who as a minority person (a first-century Jew) was put to death unjustly by the government (Rome). That means that regardless of my final position on issues like war, the death penalty, and a host of other issues, the experience and teachings of Jesus should at least raise key questions for me on my way to a final decision. In this way, the person and work of Jesus provide the lenses that can help bring clarity from the otherwise blurry vision I may have about key issues in our world. Only by seeing the Bible and the issues through the lenses of Christ can I come close to what would be called a “Christian” response to these and other kinds of issues.
The Inspiration of the Bible
John Wesley reminded ministers and others that we cannot simply say “the Bible is inspired” and leave it at that. Instead, Wesley always reminded that only “the Bible as properly interpreted” is inspired. In the case of Christians, that proper interpretation and the applications that come from the interpretations are blurry at best until seen through the clarifying lenses of love as expressed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is THE Word of God.
by, Charles W. Christian
I didn’t wear glasses until I was 37 years old (I will be 42 this year). Ten years before that, when I was almost 28 and just beginning doctoral studies, I had an eye exam and my vision was 20/15 (better than 20/20) in my right eye, and about 20/20 in my left eye. My doctor in Texas knew that I was a pastor, an avid reader, and beginning doctoral work. He also saw some things in my left eye that hinted toward the future. So, he said, in about ten years I will probably need glasses. I forgot about his diagnosis. Then, ten years later, when I was getting a routine physical exam and was asked by my doctor in Seattle to read the eye chart. I did this quickly with my right eye, but when I looked at it with my left, things were blurry. I could not read the line she asked me to read. Then, she asked me to read one line above. Still nothing! At first, she seemed to think I was kidding and laughed. I was not laughing. Almost all the lines she asked me to read were blurry. “Go wash your eyes out and come try again.” I complied, but with the same results. My Texas doctor proved prophetic, and for the first time I needed glasses. The lens for the left eye was different from the lens in the right eye, but together they allowed me to see more clearly than I had in a long time. This delighted my wife who had recently expressed concern that I was not making out certain important signs along the roads and highways as we were riding together (like “STOP” or “YIELD” or even street signs while following driving directions to a particular location). My vision was clear, and we were all safer and better off for it!
Theological Glasses
When students begin the study of theology, we begin with a section called Prolegomena, a Greek term that means “first words” or “first things”. Famous theologians have sometimes called the Prolegomena the “throat clearing” portion of theology, referring to the clearing of the throat one may do when beginning to speak. It is the introductory section that helps us study the major doctrines in theology by reminding students of things like the nature and scope of theology itself, the tools we use, the structure of theology, and key concepts that help us “frame” our understand of the major doctrines about to be presented. Basically, the prolegomena helps us recognize the lenses through which we are about to view the key doctrines of the Church. It reminds us that we bring to the study of theology things in our own experience that both limit and enhance our encounter with Christian doctrine. It also reminds us that for Christians, the proper lenses to study, articulate, and share the key concepts of theology are provided by the person and work of Jesus Christ. In other words, for Christians, without Jesus our comprehension of the key doctrines of theology will be blurry at best. This is the difference that Jesus Christ, called the Word of God in the Bible, makes.
Using Our Lenses
So, for example, when I consider theological or ethical issues, the primary “filter” I am to use to comprehend these matters is to be Jesus Christ: how He lived, what He taught, etc. When I look at biblical events or teachings as a Christian, I am not allowed to lift these texts unfiltered from the page and make them into doctrinal truths without first considering them through the example of Jesus Christ. If a passage of Scripture speaks of war, I must first put on the lens of Jesus Christ and see what that passage would mean in light of what Jesus said and did about war. If I am addressing the ethics of capital punishment (death penalty), I may find Scripture texts that seem to affirm this practice. However, as a Christian I am also called to recognize that I follow Jesus Christ, who as a minority person (a first-century Jew) was put to death unjustly by the government (Rome). That means that regardless of my final position on issues like war, the death penalty, and a host of other issues, the experience and teachings of Jesus should at least raise key questions for me on my way to a final decision. In this way, the person and work of Jesus provide the lenses that can help bring clarity from the otherwise blurry vision I may have about key issues in our world. Only by seeing the Bible and the issues through the lenses of Christ can I come close to what would be called a “Christian” response to these and other kinds of issues.
The Inspiration of the Bible
John Wesley reminded ministers and others that we cannot simply say “the Bible is inspired” and leave it at that. Instead, Wesley always reminded that only “the Bible as properly interpreted” is inspired. In the case of Christians, that proper interpretation and the applications that come from the interpretations are blurry at best until seen through the clarifying lenses of love as expressed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is THE Word of God.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Responding to a Calling, or Just Doing a Job?
Responding to a Calling, or Just Doing a Job?
by, Charles W. Christian
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
I didn’t really “hit my stride” as a student until graduate school. That’s pretty rare, I guess, since generally people go to graduate school precisely because they did well in other areas of academics. Oh, I was a good high school student – honor society and all of that. However, I did not really excel in any particular area, and that carried over into college. I didn’t fail anything, but there were only a few courses that saw me do much better than a B or C I was there to get a degree, and so I did what it took to do the task of completing courses and getting a diploma.
Then, graduate school came. Instead of going to law school, a course of study that did interest me a great deal, I ended up responding to a call to Christian ministry and enrolling in seminary. I had started pastoral ministry as a part-time youth/education pastor in my home church at the end of college, and God used this to drive home a calling that I had been running from since high school. Maybe my running is part of the reason that I never really felt a passion for academics. I “got by” and even did better than many in high school and parts of college. However, I only felt like a passionate student when I was able to connect with a course of study that connected me with my life’s calling.
Even after a long course of study in seminary (a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree takes about as long as a law degree), I wanted more. So, I applied and was accepted to a Ph.D. program that allowed me to study with some people whose books I had read in seminary! This course of study was not easy by any means, and I must confess that I was tempted to quit several times. After all, I did not need a Ph.D. to do the work I was assigned to do in ministry. I had already been ordained, even before I finished my master’s degree. But, I had already learned an important lesson about running from a sense of God’s calling, and I was not going to put myself through that kind of misery again. Besides, the subject areas were now a passion of mine. I was no longer going through the motions. I was connecting with what I was reading, formulating arguments, defending positions, and exploring these areas with the wonder of a kid in a candy store.
So, as difficult as the process of writing seminar papers, getting a topic approved, and moving along the journey of writing a 200-plus page dissertation was, it felt “right,” because it really felt like what God was calling me to do. Along the way I heard the story of a colleague who was ahead of me in completing his Ph.D. program at another school. He was an ordained minister but, unlike me, had chosen to become a full-time professor (I taught as an adjunct, but was a full-time pastor). He said that every day he went to the library, had his devotional time, spent two to three hours in research five days per week, and then wrote at least an hour per day. He was asked once what he would do if he knew that the world would end tomorrow. His response: “I would get up, do my devotions, go to the library and do research, and then try and get in an hour of writing.” I was floored. I thought he had lost his mind (there were always rumors among doctoral students that we were more susceptible to this sort of thing!). He added: “Unless, of course, I sensed God calling me to do something else. I just don’t want to do anything to interfere with the calling He has placed upon my life.”
Wow. That got my attention. This was more than an academic exercise. It was a calling that required all kinds of work and discipline in order to fulfill it. It was, like all callings, something that requires sacrifice, focus, and a sense of passion about both the subject matter and about the One who calls. There are many days when my friend’s testimony got me through sleepless nights, financial and time sacrifices, and general malaise about reading one more book or writing one more line while trying to also be faithful in my calling as a husband, father, and a pastor. But that’s how callings work. And that’s why God calls all of us, not just pastor and scholar types. We, like our predecessors in the Kingdom of God, have many days when it is the simple fact that God calls us that keeps us going. Ask Moses, ask Elijah, ask Paul…ask Jesus!
In 2003, after five years of plowing through, I was awarded a Ph.D. in theology. I did not feel that I had “arrived,” though. I still had other callings to fulfill. I was still a husband, dad, part-time professor, and a full-time pastor. To this day, I blush at being referred to as “Dr. Christian,” and I never ask for people to refer to me in this way. My doctoral study was just one part of an even bigger calling, just as the other jobs and responsibilities I have are also parts of a bigger calling. That bigger calling: to be a servant of Jesus Christ and a representative of His Kingdom, wherever I may be. If He were to return tomorrow, I hope that all of the comparatively smaller callings I have had the invitation to follow would amount to Him saying to me “Well done” in regard the big one. His initial calling of grace, His invitation to follow Him, is still what keeps me going. I’m thankful that in this kingdom, we don’t just do tasks or jobs. We fulfill a calling: a calling from God Himself!
by, Charles W. Christian
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
I didn’t really “hit my stride” as a student until graduate school. That’s pretty rare, I guess, since generally people go to graduate school precisely because they did well in other areas of academics. Oh, I was a good high school student – honor society and all of that. However, I did not really excel in any particular area, and that carried over into college. I didn’t fail anything, but there were only a few courses that saw me do much better than a B or C I was there to get a degree, and so I did what it took to do the task of completing courses and getting a diploma.
Then, graduate school came. Instead of going to law school, a course of study that did interest me a great deal, I ended up responding to a call to Christian ministry and enrolling in seminary. I had started pastoral ministry as a part-time youth/education pastor in my home church at the end of college, and God used this to drive home a calling that I had been running from since high school. Maybe my running is part of the reason that I never really felt a passion for academics. I “got by” and even did better than many in high school and parts of college. However, I only felt like a passionate student when I was able to connect with a course of study that connected me with my life’s calling.
Even after a long course of study in seminary (a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree takes about as long as a law degree), I wanted more. So, I applied and was accepted to a Ph.D. program that allowed me to study with some people whose books I had read in seminary! This course of study was not easy by any means, and I must confess that I was tempted to quit several times. After all, I did not need a Ph.D. to do the work I was assigned to do in ministry. I had already been ordained, even before I finished my master’s degree. But, I had already learned an important lesson about running from a sense of God’s calling, and I was not going to put myself through that kind of misery again. Besides, the subject areas were now a passion of mine. I was no longer going through the motions. I was connecting with what I was reading, formulating arguments, defending positions, and exploring these areas with the wonder of a kid in a candy store.
So, as difficult as the process of writing seminar papers, getting a topic approved, and moving along the journey of writing a 200-plus page dissertation was, it felt “right,” because it really felt like what God was calling me to do. Along the way I heard the story of a colleague who was ahead of me in completing his Ph.D. program at another school. He was an ordained minister but, unlike me, had chosen to become a full-time professor (I taught as an adjunct, but was a full-time pastor). He said that every day he went to the library, had his devotional time, spent two to three hours in research five days per week, and then wrote at least an hour per day. He was asked once what he would do if he knew that the world would end tomorrow. His response: “I would get up, do my devotions, go to the library and do research, and then try and get in an hour of writing.” I was floored. I thought he had lost his mind (there were always rumors among doctoral students that we were more susceptible to this sort of thing!). He added: “Unless, of course, I sensed God calling me to do something else. I just don’t want to do anything to interfere with the calling He has placed upon my life.”
Wow. That got my attention. This was more than an academic exercise. It was a calling that required all kinds of work and discipline in order to fulfill it. It was, like all callings, something that requires sacrifice, focus, and a sense of passion about both the subject matter and about the One who calls. There are many days when my friend’s testimony got me through sleepless nights, financial and time sacrifices, and general malaise about reading one more book or writing one more line while trying to also be faithful in my calling as a husband, father, and a pastor. But that’s how callings work. And that’s why God calls all of us, not just pastor and scholar types. We, like our predecessors in the Kingdom of God, have many days when it is the simple fact that God calls us that keeps us going. Ask Moses, ask Elijah, ask Paul…ask Jesus!
In 2003, after five years of plowing through, I was awarded a Ph.D. in theology. I did not feel that I had “arrived,” though. I still had other callings to fulfill. I was still a husband, dad, part-time professor, and a full-time pastor. To this day, I blush at being referred to as “Dr. Christian,” and I never ask for people to refer to me in this way. My doctoral study was just one part of an even bigger calling, just as the other jobs and responsibilities I have are also parts of a bigger calling. That bigger calling: to be a servant of Jesus Christ and a representative of His Kingdom, wherever I may be. If He were to return tomorrow, I hope that all of the comparatively smaller callings I have had the invitation to follow would amount to Him saying to me “Well done” in regard the big one. His initial calling of grace, His invitation to follow Him, is still what keeps me going. I’m thankful that in this kingdom, we don’t just do tasks or jobs. We fulfill a calling: a calling from God Himself!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)