Living Well 2: What are we living for?

I actually just had a conversation with a friend yesterday that brought us to this topic a little bit. It was interesting because I had already began this post with no intention of finishing, but, now seeing the pertinence of the topic, here it is:

Referencing the last post, taking control of our own lives is a beautiful, difficult, and necessary first step toward living well, and something that must be done with a degree of regularity, because I guarantee that if you're human, sometimes you'll lose control over your own lives and find yourself thinking things you don't want to think and doing things you don't want to do. You will lose control sometimes. It's okay. You have to have the drive and desire to take your life back no matter how many times you lose control or how impossible it might seem. The motivation for controlling and maintaining control of our lives comes from our ultimate goals, our ultimate pursuit.

What are you living for? What is the purpose behind what you do? Where do you find meaning for the humdrum of the everyday? Humans inevitably search for some sort of ultimate meaning and purpose in their lives. I think this is why we find religion as a centerpiece and inextricable component of every human culture known to man. An essential intellectual pursuit of the philosophers across history, that has led to many different conclusions, is the quest for discovering what the ultimate goal of life is - or if there even is one.

The question of what the meaning of life is an important question to ask because the answer determines whether what we do is actually of any importance. If there is no answer to the question, if there is no ultimate purpose in life, then that means a few things for us. One, we can do absolutely anything we want without hesitation or fear of doing something wrong. Since it really doesn't matter what we do, then we feel free to do any whimsical thing we please because we don't have to feel guilty about the important things that we are not doing. The second thing it would mean for us if there were no ultimate goal, is that nothing we do is of any significance. We are insignificant, our actions are insignificant, and when all is said and done, it really doesn't matter if we initiate a genocide or end human trafficking. If there is an answer to the question, and we don't know it or have the right answer, then we aren't living the way we should be. If we have the right answer to the question and choose not to live by it, then we're living lives devoid of meaning. We might as well not believe in any meaning at all.

There is a pretty common philosophy in modern American culture about finding meaning in life. Summed briefly, the philosophy is that every individual needs to create their own meaning in life. There is no absolutely ultimate meaning, there is no overarching, supernatural purpose that includes all. The "ultimate" purpose for the life of the individual is for that individual to do what they think is meaningful and purposeful. In this way, one can believe that there is no grand meaning to our existence but still have a sense of purpose in their lives, and in that way find fulfillment. That ideas seems pretty nice, but then, even if we a sense of purpose and meaning, in actuality our lives don't have any real purpose or meaning - we're living in a false, self-created reality. If indeed there is no higher reality than our meager lives, then this way of personal meaning is sensible, but one must deliberately forget the fact that they are merely pretending to have meaning in a life that is truly meaningless.

Living well means living for something, but not just anything. It's about living for something that is true, for something that satisfies personal meaning because it is full of ultimate meaning. My views are probably pretty clear by now. I believe in ultimate purpose because I believe in an Ultimate Creator that loving endowed us with the responsibility of carrying out tasks that contribute to the formation of something that is ultimately good. To participate in this, what we need to live for is not a thing, goal, or idea, but a Being. A life of obedience to the One that loved, designed, created, saves, and sustains us is the way to real meaning. This obedience is why we have to take control of our own lives. We are not to take control of our lives so that we have control, because this will lead us nowhere worthwhile. We take control of our lives so that we can give them up, and live obediently to the God who knows how we are to live, to the God who loves us so much that He wants to fill our lives with a purpose beautiful beyond imagination.

Living Well 1: Passive Movement or Assertive Engagement?

Life is wonderful. Life is full of joy. Life is precious. Life is powerful. Life is a gift. Life is peaceful. Life is enjoyable. Life is fun. Life is productive. Life is fantastic. Life is purposeful. Life is hard. Life is long. Life is tedious. Life is boring. Life is painful. Life is a pain. Life is laborious. Life is dull. Life is pointless.

There's a lot that can be said about what we're doing right now, living. It's a thing of such opposites. Many people hate their lives. Many people love their lives. It's such an individual thing. Some of it is perspective. Some of it is goals. Much of it is the way that we choose to live. Loving life and being full of it necessitates living life well. This is one of those difficult tasks that is so worthwhile. One thing that we must do to live well is to assertively engage with the world around us.

Often our modus operandi in this world is to get caught up in the current of life and gently swim with it. There is so much movement, so much going on, and so many alternative behavior choices. Many forces in our various individual environments affect us and are drawing, pushing, pulling, compelling, or some other word that means the world around us is an influential force. These forces can be categorized as external social forces and internal individual forces.

The culture has its way of doing things and the vast majority of people in this nation are living their lives as a part of the mass movement of culture. There is a particular way of doing things, of living and functioning socially that is deemed correct and acceptable to the culture. It's very easy to get caught up in whatever this way of doing things is (which changes depending on age, location, and time) and simply live this way. Doing so means that we are socially accepted members of the majority. There are many socially mediated consequences of moving against the cultural norm and social acceptance is often only granted by living by some sort of cultural norm. Often the way that the large culture as a whole actually has an impact on the individual person is through the smaller social group(s) of the individual.

The force exerted by a small group of friends is stronger on the individual than the large scale culture. Every different grouping of people has different sets of implicit rules and regulations of proper beliefs, attitudes, and conduct that persons within the group should adhere to. The broad culture impacts these cultural subsets and it is mainly these cultural subsets (often can be read "groups of friends") that exert a force over the individual, for it is the individuals within the group that socially enforce the implicit rules of the culture. Terms like "peer pressure" explain this cultural enforcement. The internal understanding of the rules of a particular group of friends or others is necessary in order to feel the social pressure exerted to behave in a particular way. This pressure can be felt by groups ranging from 2 to infinity, not necessarily of a stronger pull with more people. The pressure is real and often so are the consequences of acting out of line with the principles that guide the behavior of particular groups. Thus, there is good reason to live life according to the culture that one is within, moving along with its flow, avoiding the pain and difficulty of moving against the current.

Then, there's us and our own internal reasons for living our lives a particular way. We've got our own issues. One of the reasons that we tend to move along with the flow of everything is because we have always moved along with the flow of everything. We choose not to change our lives because we have always done things this way. Sometimes, there is no better reason than that. Our habitual thoughts, beliefs, actions, and reactions can become like a rut in the road. Turning out of the rut is difficult and it's much easier to stay within the rut than to break out of it and move the vehicle in a new direction. Our habits of all sorts become so deeply ingrained in our lives that they become the way that we naturally do things and it's really hard to change habits. There are many other internal factors (like laziness or fear of change) that make it difficult to change and easy to keep living life with the flow of the world around us and in the rut of how we've always done things.

So, all that was a little long, underdeveloped, and not written with much clarity or depth, but the point is simple: it's easier and simpler to passively move through life than it is to live differently. That's why we tend to go with the flow. I think that the reason we do this is that we just don't quite get it. We don't have an answer to the question of why we should live differently. Living passively isn't actually going to get us anywhere but right where everyone else is going, and most people have no idea where that is. If we do not assertively engage life, then we are doomed to float along the river on our way to nowhere. The ease of floating through life is a benefit far less significant than the cost of missing out on life. The things that are most desirable and satisfying in life are those things that take work to get and require living differently than everyone else and differently than we're living now.

Living well means taking an active role in our daily lives. To live well we must master our own thoughts, beliefs, words, actions, and reactions. We have to engage the world instead of being compelled by it. So many of us want a good life. It is a natural human longing to want a life full of meaning, where we, happy and whole, act according to the purpose that brings meaning to our lives. Only when we take control of our own lives can we actually live well.

How do we do this? It's already been given to us. Humans are created such that they have power to decide what they do. We have the capacity to choose to do whatever we would like to with our own lives. It's not easy to grab hold of ourselves and start breaking habits and moving in a direction opposite of the flow of the culture, but it's necessary. It's worthwhile. As we become the acting rulers over ourselves and take responsibility for our own actions, we become capable of moving our lives in whatever direction we want. To be who we want to be and do what we want to do we must first have the freedom that comes from being able to move in any direction, regardless of how much opposition is in our way. We already have the ability to do this, we just have to do it.

An Anomalous Death

Religion across time and cultures is full of people working, sacrificing, and acting in a manner in some way designed to get to the divine. Some have sacrificed anything from the smallest of animals, to human children to please the gods and obtain their favor. Some religions focus on meditation, on performing an impossible clearing of all desire so that the divine may enter the mind and be experienced. Other religions have an intense list of rules that need to be followed without deviation so that god will not be displeased and allow the follower to live in a blessed post-death life. Religions across time and locale have a million variations on what man has to do to attain the favor and presence of the divine.

The common theme throughout is this idea of separation. There is some sort of divide, some sort of barrier in the world or in us that is keeping us from the presence and favor of whatever supernatural force is out there. The vast majority of religions prescribe actions that must be taken by humans to get to the divine. The teachings of Christianity are that the divide that exists was caused by us, is inevitably in us, and cannot be changed by us. It calls this barrier sin. Everyone has sinned. No one is righteous. It requires a righteousness beyond what anyone has ever had to acquire the divine. It is not within the power of humans to overcome the barrier that is keeping them from the divine. Our actions are fated to fail to bring us to God.

So God did something about it. The story of Christianity, and indeed, I believe, the real story of humanity, is that God, knowing our inability to fix the errors we made that bar us from Him, stepped into our realm to defeat the sin in us that keeps us from the favor and presence of God. The real story of the world is not that people are desperate for the divine, but that the Divine has shown himself wonderfully desperate for us.

Desperate enough to die. It's a pretty familiar thing here in the U.S. with the pervasiveness of Christianity, but if one stops to think about it, it sure sounds frickin' weird. Yeahp, I'm gonna save the world by dying for it. We think that it takes a lot more dramatic action. In our minds, at least in my own, it seems that the defeat of sin necessitates a lot of punitive measures and constant monitoring of the behavior of everyone. It requires the dealing with all circumstances that cause sin. I don't know all that the defeat of sin would entail, but dying a shameful death??? Really? Sounds foolish.

What is actually required, however, was not a stronger action, but an infinite love for God and people. This is what Jesus had. He had love for God such that Jesus would not do anything to sacrifice his intimacy with Him - Jesus would not sin because he longed so much for deep intimacy. Yet, he took on all sin and gave up that intimacy, not as an act of rebellion, but as an act of obedience to God and love for the people he came to save from their sins. The love of Christ is unparalleled. No one could take on sin who was already full of it. No one could give up intimacy when they didn't have it. Only a perfect man, like the unflawed lamb, could give himself up for other with efficacy.

This is not the story of divine wrath. It is not about God being so unable to contain his anger that he had to destroy something beautiful (movie reference, anyone?). There is a cost to sin… actually, it is less a cost and more an earning. What we earn by sinning is death. That is our wage. It separates us from the source of life (God, YHWH, Jesus - in case you're not catching on) because by living in it, by being taken by it, we are living apart from God, moving away from God, becoming more and more unlike the image of God in us. The sin doesn't go away. The effects of sin are eternal. The buildup of the barrier between us and God is unbreakable. We are fated to obtain our wage, to get what we deserve. This is our story. Our reality. There is no hope with an intervention of infinite power.

The cross of Jesus changed everything. God came to us because we could not come to Him. He took our sin from us, he took the guilt, he took the dark ugliness, he took from us what was keeping us from reaching Him… he placed it on Himself, and in a mysterious way only possible within the divine relationship, separated himself from the source of life because of the sin he took on. Then, in dying with the sin of the world on Him - taking for himself what we earned - sin died. What was required for propitiation of sin was the death of the sinner, instead, the one without sin placed it on himself and experienced its consequences of death of the body and spirit.

But we have the option of keeping our sin. We can hang onto it and experience separation from God in physical life, and experience the complete absence of God (again, the source of all life) in death. Or we can, like the Jews did with their animal sacrifices, place our sins and sinful heart on Jesus and allow Him to take our sin to the grave. This requires sacrifice because in giving up our sin we sometimes give up things that seem to give us life, but this way that seems right leads to death. Our sacrifice is completely insignificant compared to the sacrifice of Jesus, and just like Jesus and his sacrifice, we sacrifice our sin for the joy set before us, because giving up our sinful selves means the acquisition of intimacy with the God of life and the experience of freedom from things we may never have known were chaining us. God leaves the result of the story of Jesus up to me and you. Choose life with me.

Help me with my writing and thinking… where are my thoughts unclear? Where does my writing get in the way of my thoughts?

A bunch of thoughts on a general political theology

These are utterly incomplete, it just might be a while before I get around to thinking about this again... any responses would be helpful.

Complexity. Ambiguity. Difficulty. Those concepts run through my head when I think about how I am to act in the political realm as a follower of Jesus. I am theologically challenged by it. For the first time in a while, I'm taking the challenge and seeking the answer in Scripture.

I begin with the new testament because I'm living under the new covenant. I also begin with the words of Christ, as He is my Rabbi and His interpretations of Scripture are those that I choose to live by. Sorry for the lack of Scripture references. It becomes a little tedious to cite every single reference to Scripture. Those familiar with the NIV version will likely notice a lot of similar language.

Jesus had no issue eating with tax collectors. He never told them that they should leave their profession because it was inherently sinful to work for the government as a Jew. He praised the faith of the Centurion who fought for the ruling authorities. He doesn't even work directly against the authorities when they are being unjust (as with John the Baptist). His confrontation seems to exclusively be with the religious leaders instead of the political system, despite the reality that the political rulers and system was pretty screwed up.

Generally, as demonstrated by his discussion of paying taxes to Caesar (Mthw 22:15-22), Jesus avoids conflict with the government and doesn't hold them responsible for the social wrongs, even though He does warn His followers to watch out for the yeast of Herod - warning them in some way of how his sinful way of life can spread through the culture and negatively affect their actions (Mk 8:14-15). This is more about general personal morality and Herod happens to be someone who can negatively affect that because of his position. The warning stands today I think: do not fall into the trap of being sinfully impacted by the religious or political authorities. He blames Satan and He blames the Jewish people who have not been the light of the world. It is the responsibility of those people that know God to bring all YHWH is to the world. The Gentile government cannot be expected to right what is wrong, especially since the government of the world is under the influence of the king of this world. Certainly it can be said of my Lord and Savior that He did not talk or live as if the best way to build the Kingdom is to be heavily concerned by the actions of the government. The best way to bring YHWH is to pray, to talk of Him, to battle the Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, and to actively love people by rectifying what is wrong in the lives of individuals.

Even at the end of his life, being killed by the Roman government, He minimizes the responsibility of Pilate. Pilate appears confused about Jesus' lack of verbal self defense, asking Jesus, "Don't you realize that I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus responds in a way that is surprising in that it is neither haughty, nor self-defensive, nor intimidated. Jesus simply, gently, tells the plain truth. Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

Jesus minimizes the responsibility of the government for the wrong being done and emphasizes the responsibility of those who are following YHWH. It is a very interesting move because Pilate does have full control over whether or not Jesus is executed. But those living under YHWH have a greater responsibility than the government. If rectifying the government were the answer, then Jesus would have talked more about the rectification of the government. But He doesn't.

The Messiah talks about how to live at peace with the ruling powers and as for their injustices, Jesus gives some peaceful ways to gently resist the ruling authorities and elucidate the unfairness of their laws (Matthew 5:39-41). These things are political actions, but they make up a small portion of Jesus' teachings. He doesn't fight against them, condemn them, or work toward righting the evils of the Roman Empire. Jesus is about those chosen by and who chose YHWH being the light of the world, and so it is to the Jews that Jesus directs His injunctions to be the light of the world by living justly, mercifully, lovingly, walking humbly with YHWH. As followers of this man we must take responsibility rather than placing it on someone else. Living righteously - both in how we act and how we relate - is vital to being a disciple, vital to making real change. Political work is ancillary.

Satan as ruler of this world

Kingdom of God, lead into OT

Exemplifies avoiding govt. controversy and focusing on people of YHWH

The government certainly seems to be a thing of the world, made necessary by the fall, but not the ideal (these ideas will be discussed in more detail when I touch on the Old Testament). Jesus is pretty clear: "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." There is so much in this statement for us to receive as political acters. The way things are done in worldly kingdoms is not the way things are done in God's heavenly kingdom. Although physically we all reside is an earthly kingdom, our citizenship is in heaven first and we should not be surprised to find ourselves thinking and acting like aliens in a foreign land. The use of political power as such is a pretty earthly idea and is not the way that things are done in the kingdom of God. Jesus showed that pretty plainly.

When the followers of the Messiah tried to make him a political king, he wouldn't allow them and he got out of the situation. He wouldn't accept the political position. That was not his form of power and that was not the way that he was going to redeem humanity and make everything right. He wouldn't allow his disciples to fight for him. Jesus even called Peter Satan because Peter had a problem with the way that Jesus said that his kingdom was going to come about. Pilate's questioning of Jesus reveals his confusion over this unorthodox king.

It is confusing. The wisdom of the kingdom, of God, appears foolish to us, but it is the great wisdom, insight, brilliance, and foresight of God. It is the best way. The way to life. It is not the way that we think about kingdoms. It is not the way we think about making things right. The crux of it is in ways and thoughts that are higher than ours.

As far as it depends on us, we are to live at peace with everyone, doing what is right in the eyes of everyone, that we may be in the best position possible to preach the message of Jesus Christ to everyone. It usually doesn't work to preach to a person one has a discordant relationship with. This living at peace with everyone is the same way that we are to act politically. The disciples in Acts demonstrated this interaction with political power perfectly.

As Stephen is being put on trial by the Jewish government (functioning within the Roman government) he does not criticize the faultiness of their trials or discuss their politics, but he speaks into their hearts and lives as individuals and as a religious community. He comes to them as a brother and speaking of their history leads up to Jesus Christ and who He is for them as YHWH's chosen. The focus, even when in court, a centerpiece of politics, is bringing the spiritual message of Jesus.

Paul is an even better example of a man who works within a political system to spread the gospel. Jesus tells his disciples to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. That's a solid manner of describing how Paul maneuvered politically. After his conversion, he preached about the good news of Jesus like none other. Some people didn't like this. It certainly didn't jive with Roman ideas of authority. Paul pissed off the Jews preaching the gospel. He then had a trial, where he preached the gospel, and was thrown into prison by the Romans, but used his Roman citizenship (having been born in Rome) to obtain a fair trial rather than the injustice he was receiving. Guess what he did at the trial? He spent more time preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is how he interacted with the political community… as if they were all just people in desperate need of the grace of God found in His love through Christ Jesus.

Other New Testament stuff:

Ephesians slaves and masters

Romans 13

1 Cor courtrooms

1 Thess 4:11-12

Titus 3:1-2

1 Tim 2:1-4 - "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may love peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior..."

Old Testament:

Nehemiah

Kinglessness - God as king

Eden ideal

Prophetic ideal

Kingdoms of the world?????