The Gospel of Jesus: it was never a formula June 10, 2010
Posted by highofseventyfive in Media, profound thoughts.Tags: donald miller, gospel, Jesus, love, searching for God knows what, sharing
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An excerpt from the book “Searching for God Knows What” by Donald Miller. Page 153-154 says,
It makes me wonder if, because of this reduced version of the claims of Christ, we believe the gospel is easy to understand, a simple mental exercise, not in the least bit mysterious. And if you think about it, a person has a more difficult time explaining romantic love, for instance, or beauty, or the Trinity, than the gospel of Jesus. John would open his gospel by presenting the idea that God is the Word and Jesus is the Word and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Not exactly bullet points for easy consumption. Perhaps our reduction of these ideas has caused us to miss something.
—
Each year I teach a class on the gospel and culture at a small Bible college back East. This year I asked the students to list the precepts a person would need to understand in order to become a Christian. I stood at the white board and they called out ideas: Man was sinful by nature; sin separates us from God; Jesus died for our sins; we could accept Jesus into our hearts (after some thought, students were not able to explain exactly what they meant by this, only saying it was a kind of interaction in which a person agrees Jesus is the Son of God), and so on. Then, looking at the board, I began to ask some questions about these almost universally accepted ideas. I asked if a person could believe all these ideas were true and yet not be a Christian. I told them my friend Matt, for instance, believed all these ideas and yet would never claim to be a person who knows Jesus or much less follows Him. The students conceded that, in fact, a person could know and even believe all the concepts on the board and yet not be a Christian. “Then there is something missing, isnt’ there?” I said to the class. “It isn’t wateright just yet. there must be some idea we are leaving out, some full-proof thing a person has to agree with in order to have a relatonship with Christ.”
We sat together and looked at the board for several minutes until we conceded we weren’t going to come up with the missing element. I then erased the board and asked the class a different question: “What ideas would a guy need to agree with or what steps would a guy need to take in order to fall in love with a girl?” The class chuckled a bit, but I continued, going so far as to begin a list.
1. A guy would have to get to know her.
I stood back from the board and wondered out loud what the next step might be. “Any suggestions?” I asked the class. We thought about it for a second, and then one of the students spoke up and said, “It isn’t exactly a scientific process.”
this is such a good book. January 3, 2009
Posted by highofseventyfive in just thoughts.Tags: blue like jazz, donald miller
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Not long after I graduated from high school, i found myself leading a college group at a large church outside Houston. I cherished the role, at first, because it was a place of honor. I studied the Bible for hours, putting talks together that students enjoyed. It started as a substitute teaching job. The college minister couldn’t be there one week , so he asked me to fill in When i was ask to speak again, i jumped at the chance like Homer Simpson at a donut. Pretty soon I was teaching all the time. I swam in the attention and the praise, I loved it, I lusted for it, I almost drowned in it.
The more attention I got, the stranger I became. I was on my way to having my own religious television show. Okay, that’s a bit much, but you know what I mean. I was a smiler, a hand-shaker, a baby-kisser, a speech-giver. I said things like “God be with you,” and Lord bless you.” I used cliches like a bad novelist.
I led the college group for a couple of years and enjoyed it at first, but it wasnt long before I felt like a phony. I got tired of myself. I didn’t like to hear my own voice because i sounded like a talk-show host.
One afternoon i made an appointment with my pastor and told him i was leaving, that i was going into the world to get my thinking straight.
“How long will you be gone?” he asked.
“i don’t know.” I shrugged.
“are you okay?”
“i think so. Maybe,” i told him.
………
“can you tell me how you feel?”
“No. I’ve tried t put words to it, you know, but I can’t. I’m just really tired. Mentally drained. I feel like I am jumping through hoops or something. I don’t feel like God is teaching through me. I feel like I am a fake person, you know. I say what i need to say, do what i need to do, but i don’t really mean it.”
“what does the real you want to say and do?” he asked me.
………
“No. I don’t have any doubts about God or anything; its just me. I feel like I am constantly saying things i don’t mean. i tell people they should share their faith, but i don’t feel like sharing my faith. i tell people they should be in the Word, but i am only in the Word because i have to teach the Word. I said to a guy the other day, “God bless you.” What does that mean? i have been saying that stuff all my life, but what does that mean? then i started thinking about all the crap I say. All the cliches, all the parroted slogans. I have become an infomercial for God, and I don’t even use the product. I don’t want to be who i am anymore.”
“So you think you should go away,” he clarified.
………
“Because i can’t be here anymore. I don’t feel whole here. I feel, well, partly whole. Incomplete. Tired. It has nothing to do with this church; its’ all me. Something got crossed in the wires, and i became the person i should be and not the person i am. It feels like i should go back and get he person i am and bring him here to the person i should be. Are you following me at all? Do you know what i am talking about, about the green lumpy places?”
The conversation went on like this for about an hour. I went on and on about how the real me was out in the green lumpy places. I wasn’t making any sense. I can’t believe my pastor didn’t call the guys with the white coats to take me away.
——Blue Like Jazz, chapter 9.
this whole book is just so incredibly, REAL. i am hoping that by the end i still feel like that. because as of right now, i want to buy this book for every non christian i know. its just so, so, straightforward, and you can love the guy and appreciate his earnest search for God, without all the wishywashy terms and making sure he says it just right. and whats cool, is he really is covering EVERYTHING about the gospel.
there are a bunch of different things today, that are really lining things up for me. oh yes.
