The Real Meaning Behind the Cross!

One of the most powerful stories in the Gospels is recorded in John’s Gospel (4:7-15). Readers of John have interpreted this story in many different ways. I have preached on this text numerous times. It is a remarkably compelling story of the human condition and the medicinal response of Jesus.

Unfortunately the story has been read through the typical lens of sin and separation thus leading to moralistic interpretations. The focus of the story then becomes the woman’s many marriages (five) and her existing relationship with a man who is not her husband.

This is such a bad reading of this story however. In fact, I would suggest that reading the Bible as a whole through the lens of sin and separation (from God) has inspired inferior ways to understand the meaning of Jesus’s death on the cross (another topic for another day).

There is of course a more helpful way to read this story. Rather than seen through the traditional lens of sin and separation what if we were to read this story through a much different lens: Shame and Alienation? Think about this for a moment.

A Facebook friend of mine recently shared a post that actually suggests this kind of reading of the whole Bible, particularly the story of Adam and Eve’s fall reported in Genesis 3. Actually I have heard him preach on this topic and his point is well taken. Here is what he posted:

In assessing the frailties of the human condition, the traditional diagnosis made by the Church describes humanity's ailment as "sin and separation" with the traditional cure described as "confession and salvation." Actually, the opening drama of our sacred text, the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, tells a different story - a story of "shame and alienation" with a remedy of "healing and reconciliation" (Stan Mitchell).

This approach changes the dynamic of how we might understand the human condition and the prescription God put in place to deal with our condition (which is a much different solution that is based on the sin and separation model). It also changes the way we look at ourselves and each other. The implications of seeing the human story through such a lens are enormously encouraging for postmodern people.

A few years ago there was a startup church in the community I served that created quite a stir by placing on their church sign: “Scumbags Welcome.” Of course this was an attempt to reach those in the community who might otherwise feel unwelcome in a more traditional church setting.

Sadly from all indications the project did not work very well, which is not surprising.

Perhaps a better approach would have been more effective. Let me suggest a better way by telling you a personal story .

Several years ago I was having breakfast with my friend and author the late Robert Webber. Bob was in the process of writing a book entitled Ancient-Future Evangelism. Suddenly Bob asked me: “Steve, how would you engage these young postmodern folks today with the message of the Gospel?”  I was honored that such an esteemed author and professor would ask me such a question.

The answer I gave Bob was not premeditated. It was spontaneous. I didn’t have the time to think it through but what I did say even surprised me. I said something like this: “Well I would begin with the story of God’s good creation since that’s the first story in the Bible. I would tell them that when God crated them he created something good. I would not begin by telling them they are sinners in need of salvation since the Bible doesn’t even begin there.” 

Having had the time to reflect on Bob’s question I may have given him a more sophisticated answer. But after all these years I would now add: “The human problem isn’t so much sin that separates us from God as it is an illness that erodes our relationship with the Creator and with other humans causing destructive shame; thus God sent Jesus to heal us of that disease. A disease that puts us at “dis-ease” with God and others” (think Cain and Able).

So our starting point in defining the human condition is that all that God created is good yet in need of divine healing. The implications of this are enormous.

My Facebook friend told me that he is writing a book on this topic and that the quote mentioned above is his basic premise for his forthcoming book. I can’t wait to read it because we certainly need some thoughtful articulation on the issue of the human condition and the remedy God has created for it. We certainly need help in moving us beyond the old sin and separation model.

Why I am no longer an Evangelical

Jesus’s first words in Mark’s Gospel were as follows: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” So what is an Evangelical? Briefly an Evangelical is one who has embraced the Gospel as a way of life.

Evangelicals have become important to politicians seeking office these days. They represent a well sought after voting block among conservative politicians since many believe that winning the Evangelical vote goes a long way towards getting one elected to office. I am not so certain about this since this so-called voter block does not represent all of Evangelism in the United States. It really is a subset of a larger Evangelical tradition but it is one that gets all the press and can influence elections.

I once considered myself an Evangelical because I believed in the Gospel. The Gospel being “good news!” But I am not so certain that I can be a card-carrying member of that exclusive club anymore. 

So what does the Gospel mean? 

Jesus said one must do two things in order to be counted in the kingdom he had inaugurated: 1) Repent, and 2) Believe in the Gospel. The word “repent” means to experience a complete change of mind. It has far less to do with a turning from one’s sinful behaviors as it does with changing the way one thinks, particularly in the way one thinks about the implications of a genuine faith (see Romans 12:1-2).

Then Jesus said one must believe in the Gospel (good news). So what does Jesus mean by the word “Gospel?” Well we get help from Luke 4. Jesus is visiting his hometown of Nazareth and preached in the synagogue. He reads from the scroll of Isaiah these words:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Jesus came to bring good news. This good news is that God favors the poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed and other marginalized people of the world. 

Author Rachel Held Evans’s comments are apropos:

"This passage . . . is a declaration of the nature and aim of the gospel—the good news—and as the next verse reveals, it nearly got Jesus thrown off a cliff. As it turns out, the kind of people Donald Trump and the Religious Right deem acceptable collateral damage in their quest for power—the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the hated minorities—are the very people Jesus prioritized. His life and ministry started with them and his kingdom will ultimately be realized through them. The gospel isn't about protecting power and privilege, but rather about surrendering them until God's vision of justice is fulfilled."

Evangelicals and politicians both need to realize that the Gospel is not some political toy or strategy to be used to win votes or to get one’s favorite politician into office. Such thinking dishonors the core message of Jesus and gives all Evangelicals a bad rap.

As one observer points out to us:

"Jesus has come to proclaim freedom and healing to those who are the most unloved, who are the most discriminated against, the most forgotten in our community and in our world. Jesus has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor on the teenagers who are homeless, on the Syrian refugees, on the Mexican migrants, and the people who find themselves prisoners of addiction and their families, on the poorest of the poor in Haiti — Jesus has come for them" (Rev. Dr. Pam Saturnia).

Yes the message of safety, security and prosperity based on fear may be popular and win votes but it does not represent the Gospel. The favor of God towards those some consider expendable is not representative of a larger Evangelism I once embraced. It certainly does not represent the Gospel Jesus modeled.

So if being an Evangelical means that I must favor a politics that instills fear, perpetuates war, utilizes violence as a peacemaking tool, espouses exclusion, and promises me safety and security by enlarging the military, building walls on our borders, and by expelling those not like me then I am no longer an Evangelical. If being an Evangelical means I must put my own well being and safety above those Jesus to whom Jesus brought good news then count me out as an Evangelical. 

I cannot embrace an Evangelicalism powered by a run away nationalism energized by irrational fear. I choose a faith energized by hope, peacemaking, justice, fairness, selfless love, and a equitable shake for people of all stripes and colors. If any given politician can exhibit these Gospel traits then yes that politician is deserving of my vote. Otherwise . . .

Where is God?

I cannot remember where I read this but it makes so much sense to me: “God does not change but our perceptions of him do.” Our images or ideas of God do indeed change given enough time and changing circumstances. God cannot be permanently contained within the containers we have previously built for him.

Paul Tillich once wrote: “We must abandon the external height images in which the theistic God has historically been perceived and replace them with internal depth images of a deity who is not apart from us, but who is the very core and ground of all that is.” Tillich preferred to image God as the “Ground of all being.” It’s my favorite image of God as well—yet even that may change.

So, where is God?

Many seem to be rethinking their ideas of where God is located. Most significantly, the old ideas of God being located in some far away heaven are being disputed. The conventional theism of former days is giving way to a God who is closer to us than we are to ourselves.

You ask: “What is conventional theism?” Well conventional theism perceives God as being distant, out there, up there, far away, living in some celestial realm. According to this more traditional view God is in heaven, heaven being a location that exists somewhere above our three-tiered universe (heaven, earth, hell—in that descending order).

This is God who rules from above, overlooking his creation from an exalted position. Many today still accept the idea of God sitting on his heavenly throne ruling the creation from far away. How many times have we heard folks say that their prayers have been offered up to God (meaning heaven)? This is the God to whom I prayed as a young boy. This is conventional theism.

This was also the same God I feared because he judged harshly, from his heavenly throne, those who broke his rules or misbehaved in ways that offended him (like me not capitalizing all the personal pronounces I’m using when I refer to God in this article). This was the God I hid from under the covers as a little boy fearful that he was going to reach down and grab me for being a bad boy that day.

Now this image of God still works for lots of people; it worked for me for most of my adult life. But something is happening in our world today in which people are rediscovering a God who is much closer, much more connected to us than we previously thought, and much more intimate than we once believed.

God is the God of all creation. He is in the air we breathe although he is not the air; he is in the soil we work but he is not the soil. He is in the splendor of an early morning sunrise or an evening sunset but he is neither of those things. He is in the beauty of freshly bloomed flower but he is not that flower. He is present in a two thousand year old Sequoia but he is not that tree. He is in the gaze of a loving pet but he is not that pet. God is present in all that is but all that is does not fully contain nor define him.

Have I given you a splitting headache yet? Stay with me now.

God is indeed the Holy Other but not in terms of location. God does not come down to us from heaven but rather reveals himself from within his creation. I realize this is difficult for many to get their minds around, but once you see it you can’t unsee it.

He is Emmanuel, meaning: “God with us.” My old theology professor used to say that God is both “transcendent and immanent.” Transcendent meaning that he is distinctively different from his creation (Holy Other) and imminent meaning that he is also relationally involved in the creation. This image of God does not locate him “out there” or “up there” but “right here” in our midst.

Here’s my point: Our images of God cannot be freeze dried to last for all of time. God cannot be contained in our own constructions of him no matter how orthodox we think they are. Our images of God may work for us for an entire lifetime, but then again they may not.

I close with the words attributed to the Apostle Paul when he preached to the philosophers in Athens:

“For ‘in him we live and move and have our being’”

Indeed he is!

Stephen Hulsey: The Cross and American Politics

Stephen Hulsey: The Cross and American Politics: In the 1980s Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority and helped align the evangelical arm of Protestant Christianity in America with the...

The Cross and American Politics

In the 1980s Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority and helped align the evangelical arm of Protestant Christianity in America with the Republican Party. What was significant about this was that for the first time in our history Evangelicals actually became a voting block in America, and still are. Falwell’s mantra to “take American back for God” sounds strikingly similar to the current version of “making American great again.”

The Democrats did make a feeble attempt to align themselves with mainstream Christianity leading up to the 2008 elections by publically talking about their personal faith on live television. The progressive Evangelical Jim Wallis inspired this event because he wanted the Democrats to be seen talking about God and their faith like their Republican counterparts.

The question I want to raise in this post is this: Would Jesus have identified with either one of these attempts to make American politics more Christian? Or to state the issue a bit differently: Do American politics and the Politics of Jesus have anything in common?

First to state the obvious: Jesus was neither a Democrat or a Republican. No matter how right you think your political affiliation is, or how great your candidate would be as President, aligning it with the politics of Jesus is a huge mistake. American politics and the politics of Jesus don’t mix:

It would be like trying to mix oil and water.

Second, the politics of Jesus differ considerably from American politics today and this is the point I wish to make in this article. Today’s politics is based on half-truths, lies, and blatant deception. It is laced with fear, suspicion, racism, and negativism. The 2016 Presidential campaign thus far resembles a tank of starving sharks all trying to eat the same piece of bloody meat. There’s nothing Christian in either the rhetoric or behavior of these aspiring presidential candidates.

Yes Jesus was political. He confronted the powers that be but not from a position of power. Jesus’s politics were not power-based politics that sought an advantage. His politics were not coercive or threatening. He understood that God’s Kingdom (politics) could not be legislated or made into law. His politics were not energized by self-gain, deception, suspicion, fear, and the need for power that we witness in today’s political arena. His politics were not the property of major financial donors.

What energized Jesus’s politics? Love! Not a romantic, mushy sentimental brand of love, but a real courageous self-giving love that animated his life and ministry. Jesus’s political platform was not based on the abolition of abortion, or on a stronger and mightier military, or on reducing taxes, or on the promise of a better more robust economy, or on the fear of Muslims, or on harsher immigration laws.

No, Jesus’s political platform was Golgotha! If you want to see what animated Jesus’s politics you need look no further than the cross.

Jim Wallis is right in believing that Christians ought to have an influence on American politics. I agree with him on this point. But I do not believe we influence our political system as Christians by being co-opted into its political web of disparate parties and questionable agendas. I do not believe we can influence politicians by becoming their pawns within their own political system. We will end up playing their game on their turf and we will loose. This is where I believe Jerry Falwell got it all wrong. This is where I believe Evangelicals and Progressives still get it wrong today.

You see Falwell’s tragic mistake was that he believed the American political system could be Christianized. What he did not foresee was that he and his well-meaning Evangelicals, were used as political pawns in a ruthless system that ground them up like hamburger meat.

Now this isn’t to say that all politicians are heartless or bad people. This isn’t to say that there are no Christian politicians. I believe there are. Yet when Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews what was Jesus’s response? "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

To paraphrase Jesus’s reply: “My politics and my political realm is much different from the politics and political systems of this world.”

The biggest mistake that has been made in recent memory is the attempt to Christianize American politics. It can’t be done. Allowing one’s faith to be co-opted into any political system or party is a disaster waiting to happen. When a presidential candidate publically testifies to his Christian faith in one breath and then announces he will carpet bomb ISIS and make the sand glow in another we should see little red flags warning us of just how dangerous it becomes when religion and politics become bedfellows.

What is the best way that we Christians can influence the political process in America?

It is by faithfully living as followers of Jesus rather than as pawns of either political party. 

Stephen Hulsey: Shock & Awe

Stephen Hulsey: Shock & Awe: The term “Shock & Awe” was popularized during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Shock & Awe is a military doctrine that was first ...

Shock & Awe

The term “Shock & Awe” was popularized during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Shock & Awe is a military doctrine that was first written in 1996 and became a product of the National Defense University of the United States.

In brief, Shock & Awe is designed to bring devastating and overwhelming military force upon an enemy, creating devastating effects and thus paralyzing the enemy’s perception of the battlefield and will to fight (Wikipedia). In a word, Shock & Awe was designed to create utter surprise in the hearts of the enemy!

In this article I would like to use the term “Shock & Awe” with its surprise effect as a metaphor for a brand of Christianity that just might save an otherwise sinking ship. My goal is to create that same element of surprise similar to what those first Jews experienced when confronted with Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Much of the New Testament, especially the Gospel of Matthew, unapologetically accepts Jesus as the promised Messiah. The term “Christ” is the Greek version of the Hebrew word that is translated as “Messiah” or “anointed one.”

But what is important to remember is that Jesus was not the Messiah everyone expected. The Messiah was not supposed to be killed let alone executed by an occupational Roman government. Secondly and most importantly, the crucified Messiah was not supposed to have been raised from the dead. In other words, the death and resurrection of Jesus surprised everyone who was looking for the Messiah to come. He simply did not fulfill their expectations of what a Messiah was supposed to be and do.

Everything about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was totally unexpected. This Messiah simply did not play by the rules. Says Biblical scholar Peter Enns concerning the Messiah: “No one saw it coming!”

Yet ironically his resurrection created such Shock & Awe among those who witnessed it that the surprise effect energized a movement that spread like wildfire. The Book of Acts records the spread of this new Jewish movement that later came to be identified as Christianity which later came to be known as “Christendom” under the Roman Emperor Constantine.  That’s a story for another time.

Now here’s my premise: Nothing much about American Christianity surprises anyone these days. Christianity, as many of us experience it, is no more compelling or dangerous or risky than it is to attend a weekly Kiwanis or Rotary Club meeting. Much of American Christianity today is so immersed in nationalism and joined so closely to the hip of patriotism (Jingoism) that it has lost its dangerously subversive identity as a countercultural movement bound to a crucified and risen Jewish Messiah.

Even its oldest baptismal confession, “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:10) no longer carries the politically subversive clout it once did. For the most part many Christians today would be surprised to learn that this confession often led to the deaths of those who publically confessed it at their baptism, which is a far cry from the sanitized versions of baptism practiced in our church sanctuaries today.

Much of American Christianity today is so preoccupied with a future afterlife that it fails to see that this crucified and resurrected Rabbi has already ushered in a new reality that exists in real time, right here, right now. Jesus referred to this new reality as the “Kingdom of heaven.” The Bible also refers to this new reality as the “Age to come!”

It would surprise many American Christians today to realize that to be a Christian is to offer full allegiance to the risen Messiah. Jesus the Christ is the ground of our Christian identity. He is the only One to whom we offer our pledge of allegiance. Our baptism is a confessional expression of the Lordship of the risen Messiah over every aspect of our lives.

Folks today should be surprised by this Shock & Awe version of Christianity. Such a version implies a radical repentance towards: love of enemies, seeking reconciliation, turning the other cheek, caring for the widows and orphans, looking after the least of these, becoming peacemakers, seeking justice for the marginalized, responding to violence with love, working for equality, and the list goes on.

This Shock & Awe version of Christianity is a far cry from the comfortable, consumerist, and risk free version of an institutional Churchanity that surprises no one. In fact this version of Churchanity avoids dangerous risks for the sake of placating a comfortable, complacent, and consumer-driven membership.

Shock & Awe Christianity just might be the injection of spiritual energy needed to wake up a Christianity that is struggling to keep its head above water. Shock & Awe Christianity is minimally the radical response to the example and teachings of this Jewish Messiah who asks for nothing less than all we can give.

Does this surprise you?

Stephen Hulsey: Finding God in the Ordinary

Stephen Hulsey: Finding God in the Ordinary: Have you ever said to yourself: “If only I had it to do over again.” Well I’m going to say it again: “If only I had it to do over again....

Finding God in the Ordinary

Have you ever said to yourself: “If only I had it to do over again.” Well I’m going to say it again: “If only I had it to do over again.” You’re probably asking yourself: “Do what over again?”

It would be shifting my focus, as a pastor, of encouraging people to learn to experience God in multiple ways in addition to Sunday morning worship.

Having served as the lead pastor of four congregations I emphasized to my congregation the importance of church attendance. The underlying message was clear: God could best be experienced in Sunday morning worship.

Let’s be honest: A pastor is often graded by how he or she performs during that one hour of Sunday worship. So having people in the pews offered some job security as well as personal edification.

Yet I was not helping my folks experience God as fully as they might have by placing so much emphasis on Sunday morning worship. Now don’t get me wrong, I still believe Sunday worship is important, for it is in worship that we may encounter God in meaningful ways; yet I no longer believe it is the only or best way to experience God.

Interestingly God chose the common and mundane to reveal Himself. The Apostle Paul writes: “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God . . . ” (Colossians 1:15). The Bible is very clear that God is Spirit. He is invisible to the naked eye. He cannot be placed in a test tube and observed. He cannot be captured on a video camera. One cannot take a picture of God with a smart phone.

Yet God avails Himself for human experience and encounter in the most common and mundane of ways: In all forms of the creation. God disguises Himself in you and me and in our broken and messy lives. This is perhaps the hardest thing for folks to get their brains around: God is not distant and out there, he is right here. It has been said that God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.

God reveals Himself in the poor and marginalized. He may be experienced and encountered in the eyes of the homeless and the illegal immigrant. He’s right there in full view enticing us to experience Him in ways that far exceed the pomp and circumstance (and I might add sterile and safe) of a well-orchestrated worship service.

He reveals Himself in our enemies, encouraging us to love them as we would our best friend. He is present on a Sunday morning walk along the surf’s edge in the peaceful glow of an early sunrise. He may be encountered and experienced in the ordinary tasks of our work, making work something much more than just a way to earn money. He even reveals Himself in our own personal experiences of conflict.

God reveals Himself in the tragedy of cancer or Alzheimer’s. He may be experienced in the pain of the lone sufferer. God is present even in the most difficult moments and harshest tragedies of life.

Author Eli Wiesel tells the heartbreaking story of a young Jewish boy who was hanged with two other adult prisoners in a Nazi prison camp during World War II. The entire camp was forced to watch as the little boy struggled at the end of the rope, not weighing enough to effectively kill him instantly. Wiesel describes what happens next:

Behind me, I heard the same man asking: "Where is God now?" And I heard a voice   within me answer him: "Where is He? Here he is. He is hanging here on this gallows"

What a powerful image of the ever-present reality of God even in the midst of the ordinariness and messiness of life. These are the places God most often shows up.

Worship can and should be a meaningful and heartfelt experience. Our experience of the Divine in worship can be genuinely heartfelt and life changing. But we rob ourselves of truly meaningful encounters with God when we fail to experience Him in the messy and often painful experiences of ordinary life.

Look for God in the ordinary and often messy circumstance in life, even in your most painful moments. Be on the lookout, for God shows up in the most ordinary ways in life, among the most ordinary people, in the most ordinary places.

Hope or Fear

There’s a familiar story I learned as boy in Sunday school. It’s recorded in the book of Numbers in the thirteenth chapter. Here’s a brief summary of that story: Moses and the children of Israel are on the threshold of entering the Promised Land. So Moses sends twelve spies to reconnoiter the land (Canaan) they believed God was giving to them.

So after forty days the spies return and report to Moses what they saw. All twelve were impressed with the abundance of the land but the native inhabitants frightened ten of them. Here’s their report in short: “To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (Number 13:33).

Only Caleb and Joshua advised Moses and Aaron to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to seize the land being offered to them—to move forward rather than backwards as it were.

Now here is what I want us to see in this story. Who did the people believe? Whose counsel did the people accept? Joshua and Caleb’s hopeful report or the fearful report of the other ten spies?

You guessed it: The people chose fear over hope! They chose to embrace the message of doom and gloom rather than the message of a hopeful new future!

So the people began screaming at Moses saying they would prefer to go back either into slavery or back to the wilderness rather than face the difficult challenges and opportunities that lie before them. They chose to embrace fear rather than hope.

As a nation we are in a very similar place in our history with a very similar decision to make: Do we retreat back into an idealized past or move courageously forward into a hopeful future? As voting citizens we can choose whose message we are going to embrace as we look towards the future.

As I listen to the presidential debates I hear a lot of fear mongering from the candidates. Ironically they are insisting that the pathway into America’s future is through the past. Their popular mantra confirms their defeatist and fearful ideology: “Make America Great Again!” The operative word here is “Again” suggesting that we go back to Egypt or back into the wilderness.

Like no other nation on earth the United States has the potential to lead the world in ways that are life giving rather than in the fearfully death-dealing ways (militarism) we seem so eager to embrace these days. Peddling fear may win votes but it is a good recipe for national decline (to which all former great nations will attest).

America has the incredible resources and the genius to boot to really become a difference maker in today’s world, to fearlessly meet the difficult challenges of the 21st century with ingenuity, intelligence, courage, and steadfast resolve. We need only the will to really make a difference: To embrace the message of fearless hope and vision.

Just think of the challenges that lie before us: Cancer, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, poverty, and sexual trafficking alone could more than occupy our nation’s energies, time, and resources for a whole generation. These are not just Liberal or Conservative issues but rather moral and ethical issues. We have the abilities and resources to face these difficult challenges; we just need the focus of will.

As American citizens we have an opportunity to begin changing the culture of fear that seems to have gripped the heart of America: A fear that too often leads to suspicion, scapegoating, racism, and isolation by becoming a true global leader of hope for the rest of the world.

It really is all about priorities, isn’t it? As you finish this article please consider the following question: Which one of the following two has personally affected you or a loved one the most in the past ten years: Terrorism or Cancer? I suspect I already know the answer to that question.

So which will it be for us: Fear or Hope? Which will we choose to help move our nation into the foreseeable future? I choose hope over fear because I know the rest of the story—and so should you.

Stephen Hulsey: The Real Me!

Stephen Hulsey: The Real Me!: I have a wooden plague sitting on my bookshelf as a daily reminder to myself. It reads: “My goal in life is to be the kind of person my d...

The Real Me!

I have a wooden plague sitting on my bookshelf as a daily reminder to myself. It reads: “My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.” Well, in my case it’s “dogs” since I own two wonderful Shih Tzu companions named Beau and CJ. Anyone who knows anything at all about this particular breed of dog knows that they have this unique way of looking adoringly at their master. Mine do all the time. Those looks of adoration melt my heart.

Yes I suppose they think I am a pretty nice person. In their canine imagination I can do no wrong, even when I get upset with them for having an indoor accident. Even when I’m not in a good mood and would prefer to be alone my two little buddies overlook my moodiness and just want to sit in my lap or asleep at my feet. They are indeed loyal friends, none better.

If they only knew however! If they only knew that I just might not be that person they think I am. No one knows this better than I do. But I try nonetheless to live up to their expectations of me. It’s hard; it really is difficult to be authentic; to step outside of one’s persona and allow the world to see the real me; to take off that mask we all wear that conceals who we really are or reveals the person we want hidden.

It’s really hard to be the person in private that we pretend to be in public. This is why I keep reminding myself to look at that small wooden plague on my bookshelf: Be the person in private that you are in public. If I can manage to be somewhat successful in this endeavor I am sure Beau and CJ would be proud of me. I know I would feel a whole lot better about myself were I able to harmonize my public and private lives into own authentic person.

Authenticity is recognizable. Generally most people know when someone is faking it in public. More importantly, I know when I’m faking it. This is why I try really hard to be the person my dogs think that I am. It’s the best litmus test for authenticity that I have found. Try it!

Stephen Hulsey: The Heavenly Boardroom Meeting

Stephen Hulsey: The Heavenly Boardroom Meeting: Psalm 82 begins with this astounding statement: “God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings.” Is th...

The Heavenly Boardroom Meeting

Psalm 82 begins with this astounding statement: “God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings.” Is this a description of a heavenly boardroom meeting? Are we to understand this to mean that there are indeed other heavenly beings (lesser gods) in heaven right now in addition to the God we Christians worship?

In the story of Job Satan accuses God of protecting his servant Job. Once again a heavenly being is portrayed as challenging God’s method of managing his creation. Who is this Satan anyway: Is he the Devil? 

Well the Hebrew word translated as Satan simply means “Accuser” or “Adversary.” Is this a reference to a heavenly being other than God? Does this story prove that there are lesser gods in heaven other than Yahweh, the one true God of all creation?

Well if we read these ancient texts in a strict literal (flat) sense then I suppose we might conclude that other lesser gods do in fact exist because the Bible says they exist. But maybe there’s a better explanation, one that is a bit easier for modern readers of the Bible to swallow—let alone believe.

Do I believe such lesser gods exist and are located in some heavenly boardroom? No! Then why does the Bible imply that they do exist? Well, ancient people actually believed that their tribal (regional) gods really did exist in heaven. They also believed that their gods were in competition with rival gods and that their gods could beat their neighbor’s gods in a mano a mano competition (thus the story of Elijah’s Yahweh besting the Canaanite god Baal). This is just how ancient folks thought you see.

Now why is this important for Christians to know today? Well understanding the thought world that lies behind the Scriptures helps lead us to a better understanding of texts like Psalm 82 and the Book of Job. More importantly, it helps prevent us from making false assumptions about what the Biblical writers were actually trying to say (original intent you see).

For example, knowing that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around helps us better appreciate the story conveyed in Joshua 10:13 in which the sun and moon stopped in the middle of the day for a whole day. How could this happen since the earth revolves around the sun and moon? It didn’t, at least not literally did it happen.

Does this make the Bible untrue or unreliable? No, but it does make the Bible more human than is often believed, which ironically makes the Bible more believable—and this is my point!

Stephen Hulsey: Snobbery, Buffoonery, and the Third Way

Stephen Hulsey: Snobbery, Buffoonery, and the Third Way: I have never warmed to elitism, whether it is religious, political, or social. There is just something about the elitist spirit that is a bi...

Stephen Hulsey: If I Had a Hammer!

Stephen Hulsey: If I Had a Hammer!: Jingoism is an “ extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy. ” It may also be defined as a “blind ...

Stephen Hulsey: A Misbehaving Bible

Stephen Hulsey: A Misbehaving Bible: The Bible is a fascinating book. It is one of America’s best sellers and most quoted books on the market. Yet it is sadly one of the most m...

A Misbehaving Bible

The Bible is a fascinating book. It is one of America’s best sellers and most quoted books on the market. Yet it is sadly one of the most misunderstood and misused books today. One cannot accurately calculate the extent of the damages inflicted upon human beings by the misuse of this holy book (think slavery and the appeal to the Bible for support of this evil former institution).

Scholar Peter Enns, author of The Bible Tells Me So . . . Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable To Read It (2014) identifies the crux of the problem: “Many Christians have been taught that the Bible is Truth downloaded from heaven, God’s rulebook, a heavenly instructional manual—follow the directions and out pops a true believe; deviate from the script and God will come crashing down on you with full force.” The Bible as rulebook! The Bible as instructional manual!  Herein lies the problem.

Christians are often compelled to read the Bible in a flat line trajectory, meaning: “The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.” This particular view of the Bible is often expressed the following way: “The Bible contains all the answers to life’s problems.” Of course literalism is the preferred method of reading and interpreting the Biblical texts, unless of course your literalism becomes too dangerous or inconvenient (see Mark 9:47).

The Bible, says Peter Enns, often misbehaves in unexpected ways and its misbehavior is often swept under the rug or ignored. Like the misbehavior of a wayward child, parents will often ignore the misbehavior rather than do the hard work of dealing with it appropriately and in healthy ways. But make no mistake about it: The Bible is not the “Good Book” everyone thinks it is; there is quite a lot of badness and ugliness printed on its pages (probably a big reason guys like Richard Dawkins profess Atheism).

For example, how can Evangelical Bible believing Christians condemn Islam (and so many today do just that) for promoting a violent warrior god when their God is portrayed as such in their own Bible (stories of the Canaanite conquest/ancient infanticide no less)? Truth is the God of the Old Testament (Christians worship this God too) is portrayed as a kick butt warrior God who hesitates not in giving orders to kill men, women, children, and animals in the conquest of Canaan (okay the animas don’t count, but . . .).

Or how in the world do Bible believing Evangelicals ignore the two very different birth stories of Jesus reported in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke? No amount of pretzel twisting will harmonize these two narratives (see Borg & Crossan: The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Birth, 2007). Yet most church Christmas pageants are based on a false conflation of these two diverse stories, which I’m bad to report is a false reading of the texts.

Then there are the two very different histories of Israel’s monarchy in 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. The histories are told from two very different perspectives purporting two very different political agendas. Here we go again, a misbehaving Bible that just can’t seem to get its stories straight. No amount of human effort can harmonize these two very different histories into one coherent history (but some will indeed try).

Then let’s not forget that the Bible barely gets underway when it offers two creation stories, each very different from one another (Story #1 in Genesis 1 and Story #2 in Genesis 2-3).

Yes the Bible can be a challenging book when read just as it is without any attempt to edit out the parts that are troubling. In the words of one blogger: “I have come to regard with some suspicion those who claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume this means they haven’t actually read it” (Rachel Held Evans). I would add that they may have read it but did so in a vacuum.

I think a misbehaving Bible is intriguing, exciting and challenging, and keeps me coming back time and time again to glean wisdom from its stories, its poetry, and its compelling narratives (in spite of their discrepancies in reporting the facts). A Christian should not be fearful of a misbehaving Bible, but rather rejoice that it just may reflect a God who has a great sense of humor in order to tease us in such ways.

So here are my 2016 tips for how to best read the Bible and get the most from it:

1)   Take the Bible for what it is and not what you want it to be; remembering, the Bible does not need you to fix it.

2)   Let the Bible speak from within its own historical context and not your own 21^st century Western context (this is difficult to do but so rewarding in the end).

3)   Don’t attempt to harmonize all the discrepancies you find in the Bible, or sweep them under the rug, or pretend they don’t exist because they do exist.

4)   Look for the deeper meanings behind and beneath the texts rather than looking for easy solutions to life’s problems.

5)   Remember that the Bible is neither a history book nor a science book. It was not designed to explain the “what is” of life; rather it was written in order to give meaning to life.

6)   Quit using the Bible as a rulebook, it will only frustrate you.

7)   Keep reminding yourself that the Bible is not God. We don’t worship the Bible but rather we worship the God of the Bible (this is important).

8)   Finally, there are some really great books out there on the subject of the Bible. Read a few of them. Books like the one mentioned above by Peter Enns is excellent, or try this one by Marcus Borg: Reading the Bible for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally, 2015).

The Bible is a great book but read incorrectly may cause you a great deal of heartburn. Lighten up and take the Bible for what it is: The story of God and humans and all that this relationship entails.

If I Had a Hammer!

Jingoism is an “extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy.” It may also be defined as a “blind love of one’s own country.” Jingoism is often expressed by an unwillingness to take a painfully critical look at one’s own nation. Jingoism crosses international lines, meaning that this form of extreme patriotism is not restricted to the United States of America.

So let’s take a look at the nation we all love and call home:

The United States is but one of 196 nations in the world today and we possess the largest and most powerful military the world has ever known. We are no doubt the world’s only true super power and the influence (both good or bad) that we have on the rest of the world is mind-boggling.

For example, 95% of military bases throughout the world are owned and operated by the United States of America; totaling about 662 American owned and operated military bases that exist outside CONUS (the lower 48).

For a clearer perspective on this startling statistic consider that Russia owns and operates only eight military bases outside of Russia, Great Britain seven and France five. Now for a nation whose population makes up a mere 4% of the entire global population this is a rather large and disproportionate military footprint wouldn’t you say? There is no doubt that the United States of America has plunged headlong into the Empire business.

Look, there is nothing wrong with any country desiring protection from external threats. We live in a dangerous world and there are indeed nations with much smaller militaries that are based solely within their own boarders for safety and security purposes. Citizens should at least expect this from their governments. Yet the United States of America has opted to create a massive military industrial complex (in spite of Dwight David Eisenhower’s sage advice not to do just that) whose global footprint is incredibly large. This goes beyond having a military for safety and security purposes and becomes the Empire’s primary tool for implementing our nation’s foreign policies.

Since the end of the draft in July of 1973 it has become glaringly apparent that our nation’s well skilled military has become the private professional army of Washington’s political establishment. Currently there are about 1.4 million people now serving in the Armed Forces of the United States; that’s only about 0.4% of the total population (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/what-percentage-of-americans-have-served-in-the-military/). These men and women are indeed brave and committed Americans who want to protect their country from foreign threats, as well as preserve the American way of life. Thank God for them. But this is not the point . . .

While we can honor all these brave Marines, soldiers, airmen and Coasties, even admire them, we should at least ask ourselves why we need such a huge global military footprint? When any nation’s military becomes the political system’s private instrument for implementing its foreign policy we should become concerned. Why?

Well, in the words of military historian Andrew Bacevich (Col, USA retired): "Today as never before in their history Americans are enthralled with military power" and "America will surely share the fate of all those who in ages past have looked to war and military power to fulfill their destiny. We will rob future generations of their rightful inheritance. We will wreak havoc abroad. We will endanger our security at home. We will risk the forfeiture of all that we prize." Herein I propose is the most pressing problem we Americans face today: Our love affair with military power.

Bacevich also quotes James Madison: "Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded.... No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare" (The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, Apr 22, 2013).

I love my country. I willingly served in the military for twenty years. I still believe in the American dream of freedom for all and I would be willing still to defend the core value of freedom to the best of my ability.

Yes the United States has a huge problem and it isn’t the men and women in uniform; rather it is the culture of militarism that has evolved since the end of World War II. More importantly the notion that such an enormous, expansive, and expensive military is necessary to keep Americans safe and secure is a myth. Such an enormous military provides us with such a false sense of security. Remember America was quite military strong when 9/11 occurred.

We may be confident in expecting a lot of saber rattling and war talk during this upcoming 2016 presidential election. We will hear over and over again that the only sure way to protect American citizens is to ensure that a well-oiled and well-trained military remain intact, if not become even larger. “Peace through strength” will be the popular mantra. Not only is this untrue but it violates the basic premise of the Christian Faith (but that’s a topic for another post).

You see when one looks at the world and sees nothing but nails the hammer becomes the only tool of choice. Sadly, the military solution is becoming that hammer. It is becoming America’s default problem solver—and this is a huge problem!

Follow Me!

Many today grow up believing that the main purpose of Christianity is to offer people the opportunity to “receive Jesus as one’s personal Savior.” Now this often used  phrase among American Evangelicals is both popular and misleading.

Most Evangelicals accept this kind of language as standard Biblical fare. This is what “getting saved” means you see. It’s all about what happens after a person dies. This is why Jesus came in the first place, to ensure that we have an afterlife once we leave this physical life. Getting saved is the single most important dimension of the Christian experience. Nothing else is as important as having a personal Savior, so to speak.

Now many Evangelicals today accept this line of thinking without much thought simply because this is what they have been taught in church all their lives. It is the core narrative behind much of Evangelical theology today. But there is a huge problem with this line of thinking: It’s not Biblical.

That’s right! Nowhere in the Bible is the phrase “personal Lord and Savior” found. Nada. Not one place. You see we use so many words to express our Christian beliefs, many of which are not found in the Bible. For example one will not find the words “inerrant” or “rapture” or “Second Coming” in the Bible but Evangelicals use such words with great frequency.

Now certainly one could argue that these words reflect certain core beliefs that are implied in the Scriptures. That may very well be true. “Trinity” is an excellent example of this. But I believe there is a danger in assuming that all the language we use to talk about our faith is straight out of the Bible and the phrase “Jesus as my personal Savior “ is a good example.

Please take note that Jesus never referred to himself as a “personal Lord and Savior” of anyone. No New Testament writer used this phrase. It is a foreign phrase to the Biblical authors. The idea of a “personal Savior” is not found anywhere in the New Testament. In fact, the Apostle Paul would have cringed at the idea that salvation could be reduced to a personal experience of gaining heaven and escaping hell.

Why is this so important? Well simply because Jesus never said to anyone that taking him as a personal Savior was a major part of the Christian experience. What he did demand however was that we “follow him.” He didn’t say to Peter or Andrew or James or John: “Take me as your personal Savior guys!” No, he simply said: “Follow me!” There is a huge difference between following Jesus and simply receiving him as one’s personal Lord and Savior. So what is that difference?

I’m happy you asked because this is the crucial point of this post: To follow Jesus is much more challenging, difficult, dangerous and subversive than merely receiving him as a personal Savior with heaven as a reward. So many Evangelicals today are comforted in knowing that they have life after death all locked up because they have received Jesus as their personal Savior.

Yet following him into this present world is rarely considered simply because the shift in focus from the afterlife to the present life is too costly, too demanding, and lot more dangerous. This was the major premise of Dietrich Bonheoffer’s classic book, The Cost of Discipleship, which remains relevant in today’s world.

Evangelicalism has become a version of Christianity that is too easy, too safe, and a lot less risky than what either Jesus or Paul or even the early Christians would have recognized. May we all embrace the words of Jesus that actually do come straight out of the New Testament: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). This is the Biblical language we need to rediscover.