Conservative preachers oppose going beyond what the Bible says. But everybody does. Even someone who simply reads the Bible aloud is interpreting the Bible, with his inflection, his volume, his speed, his tone. (People who read the Bible silently are also interpreting the Bible – we just can’t tell how they’re interpreting it). Reading the Bible in ponderous tones means you think that God is ponderous. Reading in casual tones means you think God is casual. Your inner theology determines your reading style, unless you have trouble reading out loud or trouble being honest about your theology. Pick a difficult passage of Scripture, such as one about the wrath of God. Try reading it aloud while incorporating all that you believe about it. I think it will bring you to your knees as you realize the limits of your faith.

Now that I think I understand a little about post-modernism, it’s transforming my thinking — but maybe not in the way you’d expect.
I realized that deconstructionism applies to deconstructionists too. That is, the writings of post-modern thinkers aren’t idealized, objective truth anymore than the writings they criticize. But it occurs to me that this concept can be applied much more broadly – though not as broadly as they would want. We can’t trust human wisdom, but there is another kind of wisdom. Continue reading “I am a deconstructionist.”

How far are we willing to go to see God’s will be done? Are we willing to give up musical styles that only we appreciate? Are we willing to give up religious terminology that only we understand? Are we willing to give up Bible dialects that even we can’t fully comprehend? If our traditions cause innocent seekers to stumble and fall before they can enter the narrow gate, our traditions might as well be millstones around our necks. We might as well drown ourselves now.

The Christian leaders I’ve associated with have always said they want to be a New Testament church. But usually, they mean they want to be a New Testament congregation. Paul, however, clearly wrote about authority and involvement in multiple congregations. (Of course, maybe you believe that God put things in the Bible that don’t apply to us today). Continue reading “Beyond congregationalism”

The deconstructionist philosophy says you can’t know what’s true because everybody who talks to you about truth is biased. Well, that’s equally true of deconstructionists. They are also biased. Hence we can’t trust them either. Thank you for your time.

However, I know someone whom you can trust. Who? That’s for me to know and you to find out. Except that he says, “The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). Hmm, he must be a deconstructionist, you think?

Practical universalism isn’t very practical. It doesn’t help people become godly, anymore than hiring blind umpires makes baseball more exciting. The umpire can’t grade on a curve. He has to decide if the runner arrived before the ball, or the ball before the runner. But if the runner never arrives, he doesn’t have to decide anything. The answer is obvious. It doesn’t matter how fast a baseball player ran from second to third, it doesn’t matter how sincerely. If he doesn’t make it to home plate, he doesn’t score. It doesn’t count. If you never become the kind of person who wants to spend eternity praising God, it doesn’t matter how close you got to it. You won’t be forced to spend eternity praising God.

First of all, hypocrisy is indefensible. Jesus criticized hypocrites, he didn’t criticize sinners. But we’re all hypocrites in one sense. We don’t live up to our ideals.

However, some ways of dealing with our hypocrisy are better than others. One way is to stop claiming to believe what we don’t practice. As in, I ain’t no hypocrite, I know I’m a sinner.

But something’s lacking there. The other way of dealing with our hypocrisy, much harder, is to stop practicing what we claim we don’t believe. Until I can do that, I’d rather be a hypocrite.

The truth is hot and hard to touch. Unless it has lost its power, it will sometimes hurt you. The truth is salt and you have wounds. Unless it has lost its savor, it will sometimes hurt you. You can avoid this pain at the cost of your soul, but not forever.

It only takes a minute to form a tradition. Otherwise, we would have to face ourselves or our Master more directly. A tradition is like a callous, in that sense. As a callous makes it harder to feel, a tradition makes it harder to hear. You don’t need to hear or obey God if he no longer needs to speak. Then you can replace his word with your own ideas. The drive constantly pulls on us to control our own consciences and lives instead of letting God do it. Like the Pharisees, we have already acquired our own reward, and there is nothing left for Jesus to give us. For we believe we are some variety of saint, and he only came for sinners.

Some people talk about God from personal experience. Others speak theoretically about God, as if they never expect to know for sure. The silliness of that approach becomes more obvious when you substitute your own name, or the name of your best friend, in place of God’s in these discussions. Do you “have faith” that your best friend is a Korean-American lawyer, or is your best friend really a Chinese-American lawyer? Philosophical beliefs about “your reality” won’t change the country his ancestors came from. Continue reading “Let me introduce you to my deity.”