So this guy is walking on a bridge, and he sees this man about to jump. He runs up to him and asks him why he wants to kill himself.

‘Well, I just don’t think there’s any meaning to life.’ The first man responds,

‘What are your religious beliefs? Do you believe in God?’

‘Why yes, I do.’

‘No way, me too! Are you a Muslim, Christian, Jew…?’

‘I’m a Christian’

‘Are you Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant?’

‘I’m Protestant’

‘No way, me too! What denomination are you part of?’

‘I’m Presbyterian”

‘No way, me too! What confession do you adhere to?’

‘The Westminster Confession’

‘No way, me too! Do you believe in supralapsarianism or infralapsarianism?’

‘I’m an infralapsarianist.’

‘Well go ahead and jump you damn heretic’

Is a heretic really anyone who diverges with a given set of beliefs at any point? Perhaps a better definition of a heretic would be one who diverges in belief in a fundamental or essential area.

Even within Christianity differences of belief exists. There are about 38,000 denominations claiming to be Christian in the world. What amazes me is how we Christians sometimes allow tiny issues to become insurmountable if disagreement arises.

Belief that is consistent with the Bible is important. There must be a basis, an authoritative guide, for Christianity. “Ideas have consequences” to cite the truism. Issues such as the authority of the Bible, the deity and humanity of Jesus, and understanding the reality of sin are defining issues of Christianity. But at what point do we draw the line? When is someone’s belief about an aspect of Christianity considered a non-essential issue of Christianity?

In 1529, a group of theologians gathered to attempt to unite German and Swiss reformers of the church. At this gathering (called the Marburg Colloquy), Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli found common ground. In fact, they devised 14 points and hoped they could agree on all of them. They agreed on 13 ½ of the points, but they could not come to terms on that last little bit.

The issue regarded Communion (also called the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist). Both rejected the notion of Transubstantiation (which said that the bread and wine actually turn to Christ’s body and blood). Zwingli interpreted Jesus’ words “this is my body…this is my blood” as metaphorical. Luther believed Christ’s body was “with, in, and under” the bread and wine. Luther is said to have pounded his fist and written, “This is my body…” in the dust on the table. However, neither party would move. The result was that the two reformation movements remained separated, even adversarial at times.

Unity and unanimity are not the same thing. Unity is found in common ground. For Christians it is found in that we love God and serve Him. The difficulty is that we often want everyone to agree on every issue before we can have fellowship.

Isn’t there supposed to be unity among God’s people? Isn’t the church made up of individuals that God loves and has saved? Should such issues really keep us from worshiping together? At the same time, how do we keep from watering down our theology if we do come together?

While this has escaped my concern for so long, I am actually grateful for some of the advances in technology & art. Example: I can no longer plead ignorance to the fact that right now there are around 300,000 children being coerced, forced or kidnapped to participate in armed conflicts throughout the world as child soldiers, most of them in Africa alone, since I went & saw Blood Diamond. I can’t say that I have no awareness that entire people group’s are having their simple rights as human beings trampled upon, because I spent over $150 to go see U2 in concert. The technology & art of today has made social concern and awareness an inescapable reality.

But what do I do about it?

Well, Jesus answered this question nearly 2,000 years ago. Jesus taught a parable called “The Good Samaritan.” Perhaps you’ve grown up with this story being told to you by well-intentioned parents & teachers as a “why-you-should-be-nice-to-people” story meets lecture. But, that is a sanitized understanding of what Jesus was communicating.

You see, in this Parable, there is a man who has been robbed, beaten & abandoned along a very dangerous road, miles away from any form of help. He was deprived of his material possessions, depleted of his physical strength & means to fend for himself, left alone in a hostile & distant environment.

Now along this road, three different men pass by him. The first two we are told are Jewish - one a priest, the other an assistant to the priests. Both of these men went out of their way to avoid him who had been left for dead. The next person to come along is a Samaritan man, who attended to the fallen man. Jesus tells us that he not only “came to where he was,” but bandaged his wounds, put him on his donkey, took him to a hotel & took care of him by paying for his stay & any other needs he would have.

Jesus looks at the crowd around him and asks, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell?” In Jesus’ day, Jews and Samaritans were as close to each other as oil & water - it didn’t happen. Their attitude toward each other was one of animosity, not neighborliness.

So what Jesus is communicating through this parable is really worldview shattering.

It isn’t enough to be a nice, good person. This is not what Jesus, or Christianity is supposed to be about. All who would take up the name “Christian” are to be about embracing the “other” in their plight, situation, station in life, in order to bring them into the pathway of God’s grace & redemption in the person & work of Jesus Christ.

To you Christians out there reading this & are starting to get fidgety, this is not a reworking of the “social gospel”; its just an articulation of what Jesus does for all who would trust in Him.

He is the one who takes on the plight, situation, & station of those who were His enemies (Colossians 1:21-23). He is the one who pursues & redeems them through his own self-sacrifice & condescension. He is the one who ultimately inconvenienced himself in order to bring his people into a renewed relationship with God.

I’m sure the two priests who left the Samaritan had good reasons to do so, even if it was self-preservation. But according to Jesus, being a true neighbor to those around you means you take on their concerns at your own expense. It isn’t enough to go about your day when you see the plight of your fellow man around you. What’s even more staggering is that Jesus says that this the key to the fulfilling what God wants of his people - both new & old. The summation of God’s “law” is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind & strength and to love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:34-40).

If this is true, and I believe it to be, then how will you & I respond to our “neighbor” in this new Global Village we live in?

It isn’t a matter of should we, but are we, and how?

Well, I dont want to steal to much of the thunder from these sites, but if you havent heard about Ben Stein’s presentation of the movie Expelled, it is creating some waves.  Probably the largest reaction to it I have seen is the site Expelled Exposed, and it offers an opposing point of view regarding the material presented in Expelled.  The whole issue is regarding the inclusion of intelligent design as an equal theory to the theory of evolution.  Exposed claims that science operates on assumptions that can neither prove nor deny theological claims, and as such intelligent design theories have as much place in a science classroom as a geometry theorem in an Old English literature course.  What are your thoughts?

Two posts in one day?!?! Can it be?!?! You bet… this is just too good not to share.

From CNN:

Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word “evangelical” has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

The declaration encourages Christians to uphold traditional marriage, as in this Massachusetts protest.

The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

“That way faith loses its independence, Christians become ‘useful idiots’ for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology,” according to the draft.

The declaration, scheduled to be released Wednesday in Washington, encourages Christians to be politically engaged and uphold teachings such as traditional marriage. But the drafters say evangelicals have often expressed “truth without love,” helping create a backlash against religion during a “generation of culture warring.”

“All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others,” the statement says, “while we have condoned our own sins.” It argues, “we must reform our own behavior.”

I can’t really express how happy this makes me. This is just awesome. Read the rest of this story here.

Thanks to Dan Wallace at Parchment and Pen for initially blogging about it. I particularly liked his closing comments:

I was on the radio in Montreal last week, on the Joe Cannon Show at 940 AM. I was interviewed about the Albania manuscripts that CSNTM photographed this past summer, but the interview quickly turned to politics. Mr. Cannon asked, “If Jesus were alive today, where would his political alignments be?” I responded, “I believe he is alive today, and he is above politics.” If the Evangelical Manifesto calls on evangelicals to follow Jesus in this regard, I’m all for it. Of course, how to execute that is the trick. Evangelicals should align themselves with biblical ethics, which are never fully compatible with either political party.

Can I get an “Amen?”

This “Manifesto” is supposed to be announced in full sometime today, so keep a look out. We’ll see how effective it is.

That was the first of many questions.

“What do you do?”

I’m a student.

“Are you in high school?”

Weeeell… It’s after high school, and after college.

“Do they talk on a stage, for a long time?”

Yes, very often.

“What’s your name?”

Brad. What’s yours?

“Maple. When a baby is born, how do they know if it is a boy or a girl?”

Well Maple… I…. uhhh… the doctors know.

“But how do they know?”

They went to a lot of school and… they just know.

“You go to a lot of school. Do you know?”

Uhhh…. No. Do you like to read, Maple?

At first, I thought, “I got away from campus to not be interrupted… great.” But I was absolutely enchanted by my conversation with Maple. She is 6 and ¾ years old and in the first grade. Her favorite game is called Maple’s Story, which, you may notice is her name too, but she still finds it quite repetitive. And also, the lemonade she makes is her mom and dad’s favorite lemonade in the whole wide world.

As I sat and talked to this very charming young lady, I kept thinking of Jesus’ words about children in Mark 10: 13-15.
“And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’”

Would that I could come to God with the kind of childlike attention and simplicity…. That would be wonderful. But alas, I am too worried about “getting away” and filling my needs that I almost missed the opportunity to have this stimulating conversation with Maple. And because it took me a few minutes to shake out of my self-attention, I missed the opportunity to talk to her about the subject of my reading: God.

I hesitate in approaching God, unlike the ease with which Maple came to me. Only in times of great distress or need (like the car accident) do I truly recognize how desperately I need Jesus on a day-to-day basis.

A professor recently told me that, “… the reason most people struggle with prayer is not because they aren’t disciplined enough or they don’t want to badly enough, but because they either don’t recognize their need of God or their standards are so low that they can accomplish their goals without His help.”

If my goal is to just “get through the day,” then I probably won’t often need God’s help. But if my goal is to love those around me sacrificially, in the way that Christians are called to do, then I most DEFINITELY need God’s help! What keeps me from wanting that? What keeps me from asking God for help in that?

I think it is different for everyone. For me, it comes from not understanding how loving of a Father God is. I am used to being loved conditionally, so I rarely put forth the effort to trust God. It’s just not worth it. Children more easily and freely trust and love, confident that it will be returned because… well, that’s just what you are supposed to do, right? I think that is what it means to come to God with childlike faith: not a simplistic faith, but a trusting faith.

Heavenly Father, teach me what it means to be your “beloved son,” and ingrain that truth onto my heart. Let me know what it means to be loved unconditionally, without expectation, and without reservation. Show me how to live in the light of Your grace and love for me. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice makes this even possible.

Amen.