So You think the Bible is Boring and Irrelevant?

So you don't like reading the Bible?

You say it is boring and irrelevant.

You say it is filled with a lot of ancient hocus pocus superstitions that are out of step with the modern scientific world in which we all live. 

You are turned off by all the blood shed and violence in the Bible. 

You say its contents are out of date not to mention that the names in the Bible are way too hard to pronounce; and those god-awful begets!

You say all those wild predictions about the future are just way too much to comprehend.

You say that once you attempted to read Leviticus and actually fell asleep. I concede your point but there is more to the Bible than Leviticus.

These are the things I hear you saying about the world’s number one best seller yet the most unread book ever. Well you're not alone. Some of your criticisms have merit.

But . . . what if I could convince you (as a start) to begin reading the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) with a good modern updated translation (say, The Message). 

As you read them ask yourself: 

What are these stories trying to teach me about my own life? 

What are these ancient stories saying about God and how he sees us?

What are these stories telling me about my relationship with God (assuming you have a relationship with God but even if you didn't they still could teach you something).

How does my inherited view of the world stack up against these Gospel stories and teachings?

Now as a Christian reading the Bible is crucial. The stories and teachings in the Gospels alone can serve as a corrective to what we learn from our culture, even from our parents in some cases.

We all grow up in some specific context. In that context there are powerful influences that have shaped the way we see and understand our world; influences that shape the way we think. Most people never give this one thought. They grow into adulthood never questioning their inherited views of the world.

I grew up in a social context in which racial attitudes were deeply engrained in my way of thinking. By the time I was a young adult my own views on race had crystallized and I never once questioned the validity of those views (or where they came from for that matter).

Now this doesn’t mean that the people who helped shape my views on race were bad people. Most of them were not. But like me they were people of their own times and were the products of their own social and family contexts.

It’s not that we hated people of color, we just viewed them in ways that were not consistent with the values of the Gospel. But I had to read those Gospels to discover this truth.

As I read the Gospels a noticeable shift in my thinking began to take place. The more I read the Gospels the bigger the shift became and what I began to realize is that the Bible offers a serious critique of all societies and all worldviews (including Empires and nations). 

It offers a counter narrative that disputes all the narratives we learn from the world. 

I began to see a different world unfold right before my eyes. Now this didn’t happen overnight; it took many years to unravel all the hurtful and negative things I had been taught about people of color, since my childhood. 

For what it's worth, I still struggle with race issues today. But the Gospel helps keep me centered.

Perhaps the single most influential verse of Scripture that has contributed to the reshaping of my views comes from Paul: 

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Perhaps the Bible really is important for all of us to read today. There are so many destructive and divisive narratives that influence us today. As Christians maybe we should seek a life-giving narrative that is centered on the grandest narrative of all: Jesus Christ. 

Pick up your Bible my friend and begin reading the four Gospels. Read a little each day. Absorb the stories until they become your story. Allow those stories to get deep into your bones and critique your inherited worldview. 

It will be life shaping and life changing for you. 

It was for me.

What Would the Jew Jesus Say?

Well White American Evangelical Christian, we need to talk.

This might be a tough conversation for us to have but we must have it and right now!

Let me begin by proclaiming what every White American Evangelical Christian should know as historical fact:

Jesus was a Jew!

Did you hear me, he was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, and was tragically executed as a Jew. He was Jewish through and through. 

He bled Jewishness. 

His skin was probably darker than yours. All those paintings you’ve seen of Jesus with blonde hair and blue eyes are misrepresentations of Jesus’ ethnic identity by white European artists. They do not line up with the facts on the ground.

So why is this important White American Evangelical Christian?

Why must I point this out to you at this time?

Well for no other reason than to say the time is ripe. 

It seems that you have overlooked the Jewishness of the one you claim to have invited into your heart as Lord and Savior.

Okay, let me back up a bit and restart.

The day the White Supremacists, Neo Nazis, and modern version of the KKK descended upon Charlottesville their rally cry was blood curdling:

“Jews will not replace us! Jews will not replace us! Jews will not replace us!”

Most Americans could not believe what they were hearing, they could not believe what they were witnessing right here in the good ole’ U.S. of A. 

It could have been happening in Berlin, or any other German town of the 1930-40s. But it wasn’t. It was taking place right before a national audience in living color in 2017.

It could not be covered up. It could not be airbrushed away. It has been video recorded to live in American history forever and ever amen.

It was breathtakingly tragic. It was as if someone had uncorked years of pent up white racial anger and rage and spewed it on the streets of one of the nation’s most charming university towns.

“Jews will not replace us! Jews will not replace us!” Jews will not replace us!”

No! These are not good people. Period!

Okay before you start your usual tactic of deflecting by offering some moral equivalency response that there were bad people demonstrating against these Jew haters let me remind you that they were not the ones chanting racial antiJewish chants. 

You can’t pass this open display of racial prejudice to them, many of whom were themselves clergy protesting such an open and public display of racial hatred.

It’s been a week or more since Charlottesville and I have yet to hear one of you White American Evangelical Christians respond publicly to this visible display of racial hatred. If I missed your unequivocal public protest then I apologize.

But maybe I do need to name some names after all. Has Franklin Graham denounced this open display of Jew hating? Has Paula White cried out in utter disgust over this open display of Antisemitism? Not a word that I have heard from Pat Robertson, or Jim Bakker, or Jerry Falwell, Jr., or Robert Jeffress.

Now I’m not talking about some benign watered down generic statement that such behavior is unacceptable. I’m talking about a clear and unequivocal calling out of these hate mongers from their pulpits and decrying any American official who does not clearly denounce them openly and without equivocation.

I’m talking about clearly denouncing such behavior as not coming anywhere close to the teaching of the Jewish Jesus.

I have not heard this kind of open response from any of you to date. 

It is needed. American Christians need to hear their spiritual leaders say unequivocally that this kind of hate mongering stands in opposition to the Jewish Jesus you all claim to follow.

If he’s in your heart, as you claim he is, then by God let him out so he can protest on your behalf.  

Quit hiding him in the dark recesses of your heart.

Of course you’re not the first to fall into the trap of wanting to blend in without notice. Consider the Apostle Peter who refused to acknowledge Jesus at his trial. He tried his best to melt cowardly into the shadows of social compliance. 

This was not Peter’s finest moment and this is not your finest moment White American Evangelical Christian. You know who you are. Even your deafening silence on Facebook speaks volumes. Where are you hiding? 

I am hoping and praying that many of you, like Peter, will regain your moral and theological compass before it’s too late. You must if your brand of white Evangelical Christianity is going to have any takers in the years to come. 

Believe me, there is a high price to pay for anyone who denies Jesus in the public square.

Just ask Peter.

Something Really Stinks!

Let’s have a talk my televangelist/megachurch pastor friend. 

So you believe God placed the current president of the United States into office?

You believe that God raised up this particular man, in spite of his flaws, for this particular time in American history? 

You're sure?

You sincerely believe that if anyone doesn't support this president then he or she fighting against the hand of God?

You actually believe that if someone didn't vote for the current president he or she would go to hell? 

Did I hear you right?

You really believe this?

Well I’m somewhat confused so please help clear up some things for me.

On whose authority do you claim that God raises up any American president? 

Why would God do that? What would be his purpose? Please tell me why this president and why now? Explain why it was so important for God to act now and not in previous presidential elections? Do you really know in what presidential election God was acting and what one he wasn’t? Please tell me, I want to know. How do you know?

Tell me, did God raise up Barack Obama? Well according to your logic I don't see how you could deny he didn't; how could you? If God raised up Donald Trump then why not Barack Obama, or George W. Bush, or Bill Clinton?

Just exactly what kind of insider information do you have that others of us don’t have? What is your calculus for making such self-confident claims on God's behalf?

Explain to me how you can be so cocksure of yourself Ms. Televangelist or Mr. Megachurch pastor? How can you proclaim to so many people, with such certainty, that God has acted in this presidential election while being conspicuously absent in the last? Where did you get that information? is it reliable? 

Did God raise up Adolph Hitler, who was responsible for exterminating well over 6 million Jews and countless others? There indeed were German Christians who actually believed that God put Hitler into power. Did you know this? So how did that work out for them and the rest of Germany? Did God make a mistake? Or did they miscalculate God's intentions?

Fortunately there were those other German Christians who did not believe God had anything to do with German politics. Did history validate their belief that maybe God is not into presidential election business.

What about Joesph Stalin? Did God raise him up? Did God put him in his position of power from which he also exterminated millions of his fellow Russians? Did this make God responsible for all these deaths both in Germany and Russia?  How do you know for sure?

Look, I get it. I know you want a president that embraces your values and your hopes and dreams for America. I understand that having had an African-American president for 8 years was perhaps a bit too much for you. I get it. I really do.

But what I don't get is the arrogance and audacity of claiming to have the inside track on God’s involvement in American politics. Sadly there are too many who really believe in your pontifications of Divine intent and I know you hope they keep filling your coffers so you can remain on television in order to make further inspired pronouncements.

America needs you! We all need your self-assured confidence in knowing the mind of God in such a perceptive way. 

On second thought, I don't believe you anymore than I believe God rewards someone with health and wealth simply because he or she has been faithful and obedient.

Your so-called “Prosperity Gospel” is not the Gospel at all. It’s a sham. It’s a hoax designed to fill your own greedy coffers. And yes I feel sorry for those who swallow your heretical bullshit hook line and sinker. In the end they are the real losers. I find this tragic. 

It is because of folks like you and your other televangelist/megachurch cohorts that embarrass so many of us who believe the Gospel is not about health or wealth or power or American politics, but rather about dying to self in order to be raised in the likeness of Christ and to promote the values of God's kingdom here on earth. 

I’m not buying your message. I don't believe you! Yes, there are still many who listen to you and continue sending in their regular offerings to you; they continue to offer their support for your bat crazy pronouncements and end time predictions. But I’m not one of them and there are many others who are slowly seeing through your hypocritical/heretical ruse.

Tony Campolo, one of my favorite Evangelicals, once said:  

"Mixing religion and politics is like mixing ice cream and manure. It doesn't do much to the manure but it sure does ruin the ice cream.”

Forgive me my friend, but all this talk about what you think God is doing in American politics is beginning to smell a bit like manure.

Something really stinks!

Sometimes It's What You Don't Say That Matters The Most

Sometimes it’s not what you say that matters, but what you don't say that matters the most.

Such was the case when Jesus preached in his hometown synagogue. He was handed the scroll from the prophet Isaiah to read. Jesus intentionally chose these words:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

When he finished reading he rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the attendant saying:

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Well the crowd became incensed and violently attempted to drive Jesus off the edge of a cliff.

What?

Now when I was a young Christian I wondered why these folks got so angry with Jesus by what he said.

Well perhaps it wasn't what he said that angered them but rather what he didn’t say. Did you get that?

What he didn’t say!

So what didn’t Jesus say?

Jesus actually stopped short of reading what was next in the Isaiah passage:

“ . . . and the day of vengeance of our God.”

Now look, when you omit the idea of a vengeful God from one’s view of God this can cause some serious pushback.

When you eliminate the image of an angry vengeful God this will anger a lot of folks. Apparently it did for Jesus’ hometown synagogue worshipers:

“What! Are you telling us that God isn't going to fry all those sinners?”

I remember preaching a sermon several years ago questioning whether God would eternally punish someone for not praying some prescribed sinner’s prayer (a prayer not found in the Scriptures). I questioned whether God would be so cruel and vengeful. I asked: “Why would he do such a thing?”

I told my congregation that I didn’t believe in the traditional version of hell. I no longer believed in a vengeful God who punishes sinners without end. “Does such an eternal punishment match the crime,” I asked.

There were folks in my congregation who became angry with me over that sermon. One lady came to my office the next day and scolded me for suggesting that God was not a vengeful God.

I guess it didn't occur to her that it was Jesus’ own silence that suggested God was not vengeful, not me.

Perhaps what disturbed her the most was that if God was not vengeful then she would have to give up her own impulse for revenge. She would have to take Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies” a bit more seriously. Was this why she was really angry? I wonder.

Could this be why the angry crowd wanted to throw Jesus off of a cliff?

Was vengeance and revenge that important to them? Is it to us?

So it’s not always what you say that matters but rather what you don't say that matters the most.

I guess silence can say more than words.

Maybe we could learn to say a lot less about what we think we know about God and start living quietly in ways that reflect his love for the whole world.

Wouldn't that be awesome?

Speaking Truth to Power . . . A Dangerous Occupation!

Being the Palace Pastor can be hazardous to your health . . . unless!

Unless you always tell the Palace leadership what it wants to hear. 

Unless you use your position to prop up Palace propaganda.

Unless you twist your theology to justify Palace polices.

But the last thing you don't want to do is speak truth to the Palace leadership. That would get you kicked out of the Palace with orders never to return, and you worked so hard all your life to get into that Palace among the powers that be, so be careful what you say.

Right?

Actually there’s an old Bible story (2 Samuel) of a Palace Pastor (actually prophet) whom I think is one of the bravest souls in the Bible, a real hero because he spoke truth to power and in those days one could get separated from one’s head for being so outspoken.

There was a king named David whose own moral compass was pointing in the wrong direction. He was a womanizer and a murderer. He was once a boy wonder, a prodigy with tremendous potential for leadership who rose to the heights of power and wealth. But as often occurs when people become infatuated with power and wealth they see themselves as being above the truth (and the law). 

As it turns out David had an eye for the wife of one of his military officers, a man named Uriah. David had an affair with Uriah’s wife while the officer was deployed (fighting he King’s war).

Well Uriah’s wife gets pregnant. So what does David do? He brings Uriah home on some R & R hoping he would sleep with his wife and the pregnancy could be therefore blamed on him. David then would be off the hook.

Wouldn't you know it, Uriah doesn’t cooperate.

So David has Uriah killed in battle (he has him whacked) to cover his own mess. Now he is guilty of not only adultery but also murder, two really big sins in the list of Ten. 

In steps the Palace Pastor from First Church Jerusalem. 

His name is Nathan and he is going to teach us a classic lesson in the art of subversion. This man is perhaps one of the most courageous characters in the Bible, a man of tremendous character and integrity. He looked the king square in the eye and spoke truth to him in the form of a subversive parable: 

A wealthy man had many flocks and herds he tells the king. There also was a very poor man who had one ewe lamb that he had raised from birth. The ewe lamb was like the family pet who played with the poor man’s children and even slept with the poor man. The ewe lamb was like a daughter to the poor man.

The wealthy man took this poor man’s only ewe lamb in order to feed an unexpected guest. When the king heard this he was outraged. He wanted to kill the rich man. How could he do such a thing the king thundered! Now this is the part of the story in which Nathan took a huge risk. He spoke truth to the king: 

“You are that man!”  

You are that man! David wasn’t use to this kind of talk. People in the Palace were always telling him what a great man he was and how privileged they were just to work for him. Folks constantly heaped praises upon David just to keep their jobs. Everyone knew that to speak truth to the king could lead to dismissal or even death even though they knew he had some serious character flaws.

But Nathan, the Palace Pastor, threw all caution to the wind and with great courage and integrity told David what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear. As it turns out for Nathan’s sake, and for David’s as well, the king’s heart was pricked and he confronted his own sin. 

I am sure Nathan breathed a great sigh of relief. I would have. I would also hope that I would have had the courage to speak truth to power, face to face like Nathan did. It’s not so easy to do. The stakes can be extremely high. The costs can be devastating, even deadly.

But the joy of knowing you were a vessel of truth under the most dangerously extreme circumstances can be forever gratifying. 

What do you think?

Where are all the Prophets?

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God" (Romans 13:1).

Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, recently claimed that God has given the President of the United States the moral authority to use nuclear weapons for the purpose of taking out the dictator of North Korea, meaning specifically North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Citing Romans 13:1-7 as his source of authority, Jeffress maintains that God gives earthly rulers (in this case the American President) the authority to use any means possible to confront evil in the world.

I would like to offer a counter-narrative to Jeffress claims because I believe them to be dangerously unwise, not to mention, they violate the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There are some things that need to be said concerning the passage in Romans 13:1-7 cited by Jeffress.

1) Historically there has been no unanimity among Biblical scholars as to the meaning of this passage and how it may or may not apply to modern-day governments. One thing most all scholars agree upon is that Paul had no concept of the modern nation-state and how they would historically evolve. He certainly had no idea of the eventual nuclear age. 

2) It would be an egregious mistake to read and interpret Romans 13:1-7 ripped from its larger context. It would be much wiser to keep Romans in close proximity to Romans 12:14-21, as well as the paragraph following Romans 13:1-7. 

3) Paul’s main concern is that the civic authorities (not necessarily modern Heads of State) to which he is referring are in their place of authority only because God allows them to be there,  “because the one true God wants the world to be ordered, not chaotic” (N.T. Wright).

4) At the time Romans was written Nero was the emperor of Rome and thought of himself as divine (as did other Romans Emperors). Paul was simply making the claim that all civic and governing authorities were themselves under the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ.

5) Romans 13:1-7 does not give modern governments or dictators wholesale permission to engage in wars, or worse yet, nuclear wars. The American President does not have Divine authority to use Nuclear weapons as a means to extend American foreign policy (if there exists such a policy today). 

6) Finally, Romans 13:1-7 is not the final word on the relationship between Church and State. Paul was not developing a full-scale theology of Church and State in this very brief paragraph.

I don’t know Robert Jeffress. Yet knowing where he teaches (Dallas Theological Seminary) and the theological history of First Baptist Church Dallas, it’s probable that he expects the world to be destroyed by fire in the last days. So it is quite understandable how one who holds such a negative view of the end times could suggest that nuclear war fits well within God’s overall scheme. 

I vehemently disagree with his position on this issue. It is dangerous, and quite frankly, unwise for a member of the clergy to offer what may be perceived as Divine permission for anyone to use nuclear weapons.

For a pastor or a priest to even suggest that God would ordain the obliteration of millions of innocent people is beyond comprehension. To claim Divine authority for the use of nuclear weapons of mass destruction based on one small Biblical text, whose meaning is not at all clear, is unconscionable. 

At the very least, it displays a poor understanding of the trajectory God has his creation heading towards. It certainly is not destruction but rather Divine renewal.

Finally, I think Jeffress misunderstands his role as a Christian minister; one who confesses Jesus only as his sovereign Lord. As followers of Christ, we are called to speak truth to power, not get in bed with it. To give advice to a nation’s leader to obliterate millions of people and to use Sacred Scripture to justify such advice violates one’s calling to be the prophetic voice to the Empire.

I would hope and pray that Rev. Jeffress has a change of mind, although I seriously doubt this will be the case short of some Divine encounter. Being so close to power can be lethally dangerous as well as intoxicating.

It is awfully tempting to be in the position of offering advice to the world’s most powerful leader. It is even more tempting to be included in the policy decisions of one’s nation. Jeffress has an opportunity to be a modern day Amos or a Jeremiah and speaks truth to power. To be a witness to the Prince of Peace, the Giver of Life, rather than being an agent of death and destruction. Jeffress has the platform available to him to offer this nation’s president an alternative solution that is more in keeping with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One can only hope that cooler heads will prevail during this current crisis, otherwise, we may very well be in for a long and dark winter that could very well descend upon our world. 

A Huge Fish and an Angry Prophet!

There’s a fascinating story in the Hebrew (Old Testament) Bible that really intrigues me. It’s always been one of my favorites.

This ancient story contains a compelling message for us personally and for our nation as well.

I am referring to the story of Jonah. 

Now you will notice that I didn't say “Jonah and the whale” which is how my Sunday school teachers referred to it.

Yes there is a great big fish in the story. Not a whale but an enormous fish large enough to swallow whole a full grown man. Even if Jonah was a small man the fish had to have been enormous.

But it wasn’t a whale since the word whale is not the word used in the original Hebrew and I find it a waste of time to try to prove a human can survive three days in the belly of such a great fish (literally).

Okay it’s not a whale but the fish part of the story seems to get all the attention; it’s as if the point of the story involves Jonah being swallowed by this great big fish.

Breaking News!

Jonah getting swallowed by a great big fish and being spewed out on dry land is just good story telling—but it isn’t the main point of the story.

How many times have you heard preachers tell their congregations that if they don’t believe in this part of the story literally then they can’t believe anything else about the story of Jonah.

Hogwash!

The fish is not the point of the story. The fish is not the main feature. The big fish is not the main character of the story. As author Rob Bell points out in this latest book, What is the Bible, we spend so much time on the fish-swallows-Jonah part of this story that we simply miss the main point of the story altogether.

So what is the main point of this story?

God called Jonah to go directly to Nineveh to deliver an unbelievable message. It’s really good news if one understands the context in which Jonah lived. Also tact on the story of Abraham's call and mission (Genesis 12) and the story of Jonah really begins to make sense.

Assyria was a really large and violent nation that had a habit of conquering neighboring nations and inflicting unspeakable horrors on them (raping, pillaging, killing, and occupying).

War is indeed hell!

If you lived in Jonah’s time and place you would have hated the Assyrians and for good reason.

Guess where Nineveh is located? You guessed it: Assyria! So no wonder Jonah flees from God. No wonder he refuses to deliver God’s message to Nineveh. But even this isn’t the main point of the story (as it is often thought to be).

I know, we’ve been taught most of our Sunday school lives that the story of Jonah is all about what happens when one disobeys God: He or she gets swallowed by a whale! Okay, a great big fish.

If you were an ancient Israelite and heard this story you would have probably reacted as Jonah did. He would have been a hero perhaps. You may have even voted for Jonah to be selected for the Prophet’s Hall of Fame.

In fact I would suggest that the story of Jonah would not have been a part of the Jewish Sunday school curriculum had there been such a thing back in the day.

Yet this story made it into the Hebrew Bible. It passed the litmus test for being considered sacred Scripture. There’s a reason for this you know.

Here's the point:

Forgive your enemies. Learn to move beyond the indignity and pain of having been attacked and humiliated. Learn to embrace forgiveness. It will set you free. It will release all that anger and resentment that comes from being treated in such horrible ways by such horrible people such as the Assyrians.

The message infuriated Jonah. It insulted his Israelite sensitivities. He just couldn’t move on. Maybe he just wasn't ready to forgive. It happens.

The book ends with a question from God, intended I believe to give Jonah something really profound to think about:

“And should I not be concerned about Nineveh . . . ?”

We don't know what happened to Jonah after this story, but we do know he had a lot of spiritual work to do.

Just as we do. Just as our nation does. 



What do you think?

God's Big Idea!

There is this Big idea in the Bible.

It's actually God's Big Idea!

It is staring us squarely in the face. 

I mean a really huge idea.

It’s an unbelievable idea. 

But somehow we keep missing it (or ignoring it).

You see we humans really don't like big ideas. We have such difficulty getting our brains around big ideas. Big ideas make us uncomfortable. Big ideas stretch us. Big Ideas challenge us. Big Ideas frighten us.

Sometimes I wonder if we ever grasped God’s Big Idea?

How could we have missed it? This Big Idea permeates the Scriptures. We read about it in Genesis and all the way through Revelation. It’s the glue that holds the Biblical story together. It’s the unifying theme of the entire Biblical story.

How can we be so blind to this magnificently huge idea that tells us all we need to know about the God we claim to know and worship?

When I hear Christians beating war drums I know they’ve missed this Big Idea.

When I witness Christians who need revenge against all Muslims I wonder if this Big Idea has ever occurred to them?

When I hear Christians applauding in favor of building walls of exclusion I wonder if the Big Idea ever took root in their Christian hearts?

When I hear Christians make the claim that only Christians are recognized by God as valuable human beings I wonder if they somehow missed this Big Idea?

When I witness Christians falling prey to homegrown nationalistic ideologies, especially those ideologies that are opposed to the Gospel, I wonder if the Big Idea ever once occurred to them?

When I see Christians abusing the earth it causes me to wonder.

So what’s this Big Idea?

“For God so loved the world!” 

That’s right, God loves all people (including the earth). 

He loves this enormously huge diverse and expansive world we inhabit. God loves each and every person who resides on this speeding space ship we call earth; he loves all ethnic groups, all tribes, all nations, all people (that is, if we take John at his word).

His love transcends tribal boundaries and nationalistic agendas and partisan politics, it overcomes destructive human conflicts and wars, it drives out all fear, it is the rock bottom meaning of the Biblical story—not to mention the Gospel itself. 

From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 this enormously Big Idea saturates the entire Biblical narrative, from start to finish. 

How might this Big Idea affect the way we think and behave in the world?

Throughout the Bible we see this love of God for the world (and humanity) working its way into the lives (and stories) of not just those whom God has called to be bearers of his image, but also working its way into the lives of those living outside our own preferred bubble—even our enemies (that’s a big pill to swallow I know).

Now here’s my point: God has anointed us Christians to live as agents of this love—even to the extent of loving our enemies. So if we are living agents of God’s love for the world then how should we live as reflections of this Big Idea? 

How can God’s Big Idea become our Big Idea? How can we make God's Big Idea work for us?

I sometimes wonder if we, as a human race, have evolved enough to embrace God’s Big Idea? 

Sometimes I wonder even though I remain hopeful.


I would like to believe that we are getting there, but I’m not so sure we have fully arrived just yet. 

Nevertheless God’s Big Idea is still there. It hasn't gone anywhere. 

We can still embrace it.

Why Believing in the Trinity is Important!

A few years ago I was waiting for my car to be washed at the local carwash when a complete stranger pointedly asked me: “Do you believe in the Trinity?”

It was an inappropriate setup question with the intention of drawing me into an argument over my belief in the Trinity. I told him I did and was then bombarded with all the reasons why my belief was false. I offered a couple counter arguments but realized it was fruitless. 

Of course debating religious topics in such public places is always in bad taste, just as it is to debate politics. There were others there listening to us and it was unfair to them to be exposed to such a display of bad taste.

The truth is the Trinity is so much more than just a doctrinal belief. It is actually critical to our understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God. If it were not for the Trinity then being created in God’s image would make absolutely no sense given the fact that God is spirit (John 4:24).

In our foundational story of creation recorded in Genesis God declares: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness” [italics added]. In this creation pronouncement we have the foundational meaning of what it means to be created in God’s image.

You see God exists within a relational context we call Trinity. Author Richard Rohr describes this relational context as a “Divine dance”. You remember the popular book, The Shack, by Canadian author William P, Young in 2007? Regardless of what you think about this work of fiction it certainly highlights the relational character of the Trinity on a human level.

Now granted the Trinity is not so easy to explain and perhaps we should refrain from trying to unpack it in our own imperfect and limited language. We should also avoid imposing human constructs upon God thinking that capture God's full essence.

Perhaps we should follow the wisdom of Thomas Aquinas who so appropriately said: “The pinnacle of the knowledge of God is to know that we don’t know God.” 

Now of course Aquinas wasn’t suggesting that we can’t know God but rather we cannot possibly know all there is to know about God. In other words there is more to know about God than we actually can know.

But here is what I believe we can know, especially when it comes to embracing the idea of God as Trinity: God in his heart is a relational God and he has created all humans with that same inherent capacity for relationships. 

We humans were not created to live alone. We were created to live in the context of good and healthy relationships regardless of how messy we know they can be. 

But this does not minimize the importance of what it means to be created in God’s image. Every single human being is created in God’s image. There are no conditions nor prerequisites. It comes with the territory so to speak.

This is why reconciliation is such an important concept in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. Reconciliation is God’s way of restoring broken relationships, both with us and our relationship with others, and just like no one is exempt from being created in God’s image no one is beyond the possibility of reconciliation.

Writing to the Christians at Corinth the Apostle Paul declared: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

“Not counting their sins against them.” Truth is God can look past all our human frailties and imperfections in order to restore our relationship with him. This is indeed reconciliation at its best.

But more importantly this is why the idea of God as Trinity is so crucial to our understanding of God even though our full comprehension of what Trinity is escapes us. 

I no longer attempt to explain the Trinity other than to say that God is relational in all that he does, from his creation to the consumption of all things. Relationships reign and we Christians are created in the wonderful generative relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Now, if one were to ask me if I believe in the Trinity I would counter by asking that person: 

“Do you believe God is a relational God?”

So yes, I believe in the Trinity. Why wouldn't I?

Why it is Important to Believe in the Trinity!

A few years ago I was waiting for my car to be washed at the local carwash when a complete stranger pointedly asked me: “Do you believe in the Trinity?”

It was an inappropriate setup question with the intention of drawing me into an argument. I told him I did and was then bombarded with all the reasons why my belief was false. I offered a couple counter arguments but realized it was fruitless so I disengaged realizing that I had been suckered into a useless and  unwindable debate. 

Of course debating religious topics in such a public place of business is never in good taste, no more so than debating politics in public. There were others there listening to us and it was unfair to them to be exposed to such a display of bad taste.

The truth is the Trinity is so much more than just a doctrinal belief. It is actually critical to our understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God. If it were not for the Trinity then being created in God’s image would make absolutely no sense, given the fact that God is spirit (John 4:24).

In our foundational story of creation recorded in Genesis God declares: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness” [italics added]. 

In this creation pronouncement we have the foundational meaning of what it means to be created in God’s image.

You see God exists within a relational context we call Trinity. Author Richard Rohr describes this relational context as a “Divine dance”. You remember the popular book, The Shack, by Canadian author William Young in 2007? Regardless of what you think about this work of fiction it certainly highlights the relational character of the Trinity, on a human level.

Now granted the Trinity is not so easy to explain and perhaps we should refrain from trying to unpack it in our own imperfect and limited language. In fact we should be very cautious in the way we talk about God in general with our use of human language and by imposing human constructs upon him.

Perhaps we should follow the wisdom of Thomas Aquinas who so appropriately said: “The pinnacle of the knowledge of God is to know that we don’t know God.” 

Now of course Aquinas wasn’t suggesting that we can’t know God but rather we cannot possibly know all there is to know about God. In other words there is more to know about God than we actually can know.

But here is what I believe we can know, especially when it comes to embracing the idea of God as Trinity: God is by nature a relational God and he has created all humans with that same inherent capacity for relationships. 

We humans were not created to live alone. We were created to live in the context of good and healthy relationships regardless of how messy we know they can be and become. 

But this does not minimize the importance of what it means to be created in God’s image. Every single human being is created in God’s image. There are no conditions nor prerequisites. It comes with the territory so to speak.

This is why reconciliation is such an important concept in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. Reconciliation is God’s way of restoring broken relationships, both with us and our relationship with others, and just like no one is exempt from being created in God’s image no one is beyond the possibility of reconciliation.

Please allow that to sink in.

Writing to the Christians at Corinth the Apostle Paul declared: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

“Not counting their sins against them.” Truth is God can look past all our human frailties and imperfections in order to restore our relationship with him. This is indeed reconciliation at its best.

But more importantly this is why the idea of God as Trinity is so crucial even though our full comprehension of what Trinity means escapes us. 

I no longer attempt to explain the Trinity other than to say that God is relational in all that he does, from his creation to the consumption of all things. We Christians are created in the wonderful generative relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Now, if one were to ask me if I believe in the Trinity I would counter by asking that person: 

“Do you believe in a relational God?”

So yes, I believe in the Trinity. Why wouldn't I?