It would seem that i can't get away from this theme.
"I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindess and mercy;
I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the LORD" Hosea 2:19-20
A couple things. First, I can't handle the book of Hosea. I can't handle God telling his people over and over that yes there is punishment for unfaithfulness but He'll still love them. For instance, at the very moment I don't feel very spiritual. It's probably because i didn't listen to Hillsongs today or something like that. Bless the LORD though...my feeling unspiritual doesn't change the fact that I have been betrothed. It's a good thing that God isn't like our family court system. God knows people are getting divorced for things less than the sins that I've committed. I guess that's what a it means to be betrothed in faithfulness. By its very nature, the relationship is one of faithfulness- forever.
By no means am I a Hebrew scholar but i went to what we Dr. Bodner students like to call 'the masoretic text' to discover a couple of things of value (props to Darryl Silvestri as i left my Hebrew Bible at school). First, let me point out that the word Hesed is used. This is a special word used only to describe this thing about God that we don't really know how to describe. It means something like lovingkindess or loyalty, devotion, steadfastness or something like that but we don't really know what it means... kind of like Yahweh, it means something bigger than we can comprehend. And so, we've got this thing that God has betrothed us to him in...hesed...something that transcends 'i do' into something with a value like 'i am and i always will', your feelings might change but my faithfulness will not. I think that (in the west at least) society doesn't know how to be faithful. We aren't loyal to anything, let alone covenantally faithful. If I went downtown, said to the most vile prostitute that I chose you to be my wife and i will remain faithful to you forever, how hard would that be? That is what God is saying. You have been filth but I will marry you.
This brings me to my next interesting find, which may be a stretch but i think it fits. A lot of times in the book of Ezekiel and the OT in general, God says "and you will know that I am the LORD", here the author says, "and you shall know the LORD". The hebrew word used her is yada. It's pretty common in the OT. However, this phrase sticks out for the very reason that the bride does not know about the LORD, but knows the LORD. I'm going to suggest that this phrase, in the context of this entire passage is similar to Gen. 4:1 when Adam knew Eve...same word. Of course I don't fully comprehend the magnitude of this, but i think the point is not sexual but experiential. In a way that Adam experienced all of Eve- physically, emotionally, spiritually- we experience God. The relationship is bound in intimacy and involves two parties- one that has betrothed and one who plays the harlot, yet God says, "How can I give you up...My heart churns within Me...I will not again destroy Ephraim for I am God and not man. The Holy One in your midst...They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt...like a dove from the land of Assyria".-- the unfaithful will look at Him with tears in her eyes, ashamed of where she's been, of what she's done- trembling- like a helpless creature with no where to go and nothing of value...to hear God say something like...
Hey unfaithful I will teach you
To be stronger
To be stronger
Hey unloving
I will love you
I will love you
I will love you
And Jesus, I’m ready to come home
Jesus, I’m ready
I’m ready to come
oh home oh
I'm ready to come home
Hey unfaithful
Hey ungraceful
Hey unloving
I will love you
Hey unloving
I will love you
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
denominational jargon
I was raised in the small town church atmosphere with dress pants, Sunday school and church picnics. Growing up I had this idea that anyone who believed anything different than what my church says is grossly misinformed. That was then.
Lately, I’ve been wondering about the church, its future and how exactly Christ would live in this body of his. I guess I'm starting to think differently about the church and about truth in general. I used to be a pretty big fan of absolutism, as in it’s either: Arminian or Calvinism, infant or immersion, tongues or not, men or men and women--that sort of thing. Now, I don't want to say that I have given up on all of these issues and thrown them out the window in favor some sort of hyper- relativist understanding of doctrine because I haven’t. It's just that we, (the western church in general) have these discrepancies that has broken the body into these little pieces that are disconnected from the rest of the body. Everywhere I look we’ve split over matters of doctrine and different interpretations of Scripture and the question I’m left with is; is it worth it? Is my correct understanding of Revelation 20 grounds for separation from those who also abide in Christ?
This is not to say that I have no opinion or think that two positions can be equally correct. It is only to say that I would rather enjoy the company my potentially charismatic female pastor friend, than say, 'you are wrong and i am right' because when it comes down to it, I don't know. What I do know is that I don't think the church will grow by separating. I’d like to ask the apostle Paul what he thinks about thousands of different sections of the church that generally act independent of one another. He’d probably say something like, ‘why have you turned the church into a corporation?’. I’d like to ask Jesus what he thinks about the parts of his body intentionally divided against itself. He’d probably say something like a house divided against itself can not stand.
Is the church too far gone? If we've seen the establishment of thousands of denominations in the last fifty years, where will we be in another fifty years? If, among other things, interpretation has destroyed the body of Christ, how will this trend be stopped?
I think we are scared. Scared that either we'll be wrong about our doctrine and so we cling to it, or afraid that God is different that we thought he was. Similarly, I think we're too ignorant to acknowledge our fallibility so we cling to the idea of doctrinal absolutes and then surround ourselves with people who are likeminded, all the while thinking that if Christ came back he'd give our church a gold star for Biblical interpretation. This is wrong.
Maybe one day we'll find out that someone was right, or maybe the Lamb won't be interested in handing out gold stars for interpretation As it turns out he may be more concerned with other pressing matters such as the poor, widow, the hurting. Our focus is misplaced. We have exalted doctrine and forgotten Christ.
I don’t suggest that we all start thinking this way and make our own little church that thinks this way; that would be too easy and too much like the west. Instead we value what Christ would value, love what he would love and act like he would. If this were the case the church would actually be the one body of Christ.
Lately, I’ve been wondering about the church, its future and how exactly Christ would live in this body of his. I guess I'm starting to think differently about the church and about truth in general. I used to be a pretty big fan of absolutism, as in it’s either: Arminian or Calvinism, infant or immersion, tongues or not, men or men and women--that sort of thing. Now, I don't want to say that I have given up on all of these issues and thrown them out the window in favor some sort of hyper- relativist understanding of doctrine because I haven’t. It's just that we, (the western church in general) have these discrepancies that has broken the body into these little pieces that are disconnected from the rest of the body. Everywhere I look we’ve split over matters of doctrine and different interpretations of Scripture and the question I’m left with is; is it worth it? Is my correct understanding of Revelation 20 grounds for separation from those who also abide in Christ?
This is not to say that I have no opinion or think that two positions can be equally correct. It is only to say that I would rather enjoy the company my potentially charismatic female pastor friend, than say, 'you are wrong and i am right' because when it comes down to it, I don't know. What I do know is that I don't think the church will grow by separating. I’d like to ask the apostle Paul what he thinks about thousands of different sections of the church that generally act independent of one another. He’d probably say something like, ‘why have you turned the church into a corporation?’. I’d like to ask Jesus what he thinks about the parts of his body intentionally divided against itself. He’d probably say something like a house divided against itself can not stand.
Is the church too far gone? If we've seen the establishment of thousands of denominations in the last fifty years, where will we be in another fifty years? If, among other things, interpretation has destroyed the body of Christ, how will this trend be stopped?
I think we are scared. Scared that either we'll be wrong about our doctrine and so we cling to it, or afraid that God is different that we thought he was. Similarly, I think we're too ignorant to acknowledge our fallibility so we cling to the idea of doctrinal absolutes and then surround ourselves with people who are likeminded, all the while thinking that if Christ came back he'd give our church a gold star for Biblical interpretation. This is wrong.
Maybe one day we'll find out that someone was right, or maybe the Lamb won't be interested in handing out gold stars for interpretation As it turns out he may be more concerned with other pressing matters such as the poor, widow, the hurting. Our focus is misplaced. We have exalted doctrine and forgotten Christ.
I don’t suggest that we all start thinking this way and make our own little church that thinks this way; that would be too easy and too much like the west. Instead we value what Christ would value, love what he would love and act like he would. If this were the case the church would actually be the one body of Christ.
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