CityFellowship | Union Square NYC

Why God isn’t ego tripping…at all

ljkim — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:21:17 +0000

Big D asked a good question on Sunday, but it was a small crowd this week, so I’ll rehash it here (and even though you’ll miss a little of the context that’s okay): “do you really think God doesn’t do stuff for his own ego?” So…the Bible is filled with ‘God is great’ ‘praise him’ type stuff. And anyone who’s been around theologians will have heard the thesis that ‘God does all things for His Glory.’ So how can you say that God isn’t an egomaniac? (my words, not D’s)

So the whole earth declares his glory, how great he is, how wise he is, how powerful he is… but God is not out to prove it to us to boost his ego. Jesus did not come to impress us with stuff (although he could), instead he came in a way that was often intentionally unimpressive (the son of a carpenter in Nazareth), ‘with no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.’ And in our own lives, considering the enormous amount of power it takes hold the universe together, there is little evidence of God beating us over the head with how big he is.

At the end of Forrest Gump, when Tom Hank’s character is reunited with Jenny there’s a part where he’s playing ping pong with his son, and he misses the ball and chases after it… I think that’s what a lot of dads would do. I know with myself, I may be bigger and stronger and smarter than my two month old daughter – but I feel ZERO desire to prove that to her in any way… In other words, with me – and I CAN be an egomaniac…BUT when I deal with my daughter, I am not ego-tripping at all. On the contrary, I try to do things in a way she can understand and relate to…because I love her. So if God is the creator of the universe, and the multiverse, of life and beauty… if he holds all things together with a “word” with a “thought” (as Jonathan Edwards proposed). And He loves us like a Father…It makes sense that He doesn’t care to show off in front of us – even when provoked by humans.

Okay…but what about all that stuff about “God’s Glory” we mentioned before and in the Bible? At some point I will want my daughter to understand that I know some things…not for the sake of my ego, but so that she’ll know who to listen to. At some point I’ll want my daughter to know that her mother made certain sacrifices for her, not for the sake of her mother’s ego, but so that she can know how much we love her. God wants us to know things about Him because they are things that we need. It’s we who need to see His glory. So instead of beating us over the head with it, God is in the business of making his glory known as a “still small voice.” And that’s part of why we love him so.

Related posts:

the main business of life…

ljkim — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:10:37 +0000

[This is one of those core life things where everyone is different and it takes some soul-searching and self awareness to know where you are... ] The question is “What is the main business of life?” Since this is New York, the real answer for many people is: “the main business of life is…to make money.” As long as I make more money now and have more stuff, bigger house, nicer vacations, better clothes now than I did ten years ago – I’m doing alright. And before you (who are different) jump to judge this core value, keep in mind that even if this is not your main value – you probably have this as a second or third value in your life. If you were poorer now than five years ago, you’d probably feel an emptiness like you’ve failed somehow. But there are some other things we hold as core values – and one that is the best of all…

Some other answers to the question “what is the main business of life”: (in no particular order)

1. To have great experiences… ”I just want to travel the world and see great things.”

2. To go up in status. “My parents might have been country bumpkins, but I’ve made something of myself…”

3. To be happy. ”I don’t care what I do or where I live, as long as I’m happy.” [lots of people say this because it's a wiser answer than some of the others... but only a few really believe this...]

4. To find love. (Very few people who think this will admit it outright… but I think it’s everyone at some point or another).

5. To make a difference in the world. (lots of Christians these days seem to think this is God’s ideal – it’s not, but it’s certainly no slouch!)

6. To raise a family well. (I think this is what happens when you fail at some of these other things, and then have a really cute baby…)

7. To express one’s individual identity. (Most people who think this are artists, and have an individual identity really worth expressing).

8. To help others. Similar to #5 but on a humbler scale.

9. To accomplish —. Sometimes we get a specific goal in childhood (to be a millionaire, to win the X prize, to — , to catch that whale) and it becomes a core value in our adult lives.

10. To be free. Not be controlled by family or work or pressures. These are often the least happiest (on the inside) people, because our hearts long to belong to something and be free at the same time.

————

Most people don’t know how they normally operate… what’s your core value, what do you think the main business of your life is? …normally?

There is one answer that the Bible things is better than all the others… it’s one that you won’t even understand unless you understand what your current life value is, and unless you have some help from above… the Bible says the main business of life is: to find God and get more and more of Him. Just the way money-people want more and more money, to get more and more God. Just the way experience people want more and more experience of new kinds, to learn more and more new things and experiences with God. Just the way status-people want to get higher, to get deeper with God. People for whom this is the core value are constantly plotting and scheming to figure out ways to know more of His love, and show their love for Him… They are greedy for God, and often willing to go to great lengths to prove their devotion. Even being kind and learning to love enemies, serving people whom they would not normally serve, going places they would not normally go – changing around their lives, where they live, their tastes, for the sake of getting just a little more of what life is all about.

Related posts:

authentic vs. half-arsed

ljkim — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:34:10 +0000

So…a “natural” faith should come naturally: The way wild horses run, and birds fly – no one has to tell them to do these things… they do them because that was what they do…naturally. And so people sometimes make the mistake of thinking that a natural faith (one that is unfake and unforced) should come without any prompting or work or effort. The problem with that (the thing we’re misunderstanding) is mother birds PUSH their chicks out of the nest and force them to fly. Then they practice flying at low altitudes for most of their waking hours for all their early lives… And after hundreds of hours of practice, flying comes “naturally” to them. This is what they were made to do. Same with horses and running… Particularly fast horses have trainers and jockeys who help them to run – and they put thousands of hours into walking and running to be able to master covering terrain at speed. Yes baby horses can walk right away, but they’re not so fast… Imagine what would happen if they spent their days doing other things – and when the Kentucky Derby came along said “I’m just going to run authentically…” It wouldn’t be so good.

So if birds learn to fly…and horses learn to run – both things that they do “naturally” and choose to do as a natural part of who they are… Then what about us as worshippers and servants and lovers of God? It’s actually a little more complicated with us because there’s nothing stopping a bird from learning to fly… everything in the bird’s environment encourages a baby bird to get out there and flap like crazy. But we have this thing called Sin, and it keeps us from using our faith and getting closer to God.

We’re made for God. Living with God is natural. And people who draw closer to Him can’t imagine life without Him (it’s so “natural”). But that doesn’t mean it happened by accident. It took a lot of prompting to learn to pray. It took a lot of suffering (from one’s own stupidity-sin) to learn to repent. It’s natural, but it wasn’t easy.

The great mistake of Hipster Christianity is mistaking authentic for half-arsed. It’s an excuse to put the least amount of effort into God things in the name of doing “what comes naturally.” The Gospel is that our “natural” fate is to be separated from God gradually, more and more, into eternity. What Jesus did was the most unnatural thing ever… it was so unnatural, and required so much effort and choice that it shakes our hearts and wakes us up and teaches us to repent. That’s what a natural faith is all about.

Related posts:

people who get, and people who don’t

ljkim — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:10:38 +0000

The people who get stuff are often similar to one another: they say things like, “no matter WHAT it takes, I am going to - – -” They work hard, getting up early to work towards it. They make sacrifices, giving up certain thing, avoiding others, staying home when others are out; they are patient now in hopes of getting what they want later. They are focused, doing their best to keep their eyes focused on the prize. They know how to appreciate the company of those who want the same thing they’re after…they see them as brothers, or rivals, but either way want to get close to them. When someone closes a door in front of them that leads to where they’re going, they find ways to bust through…

The people who don’t get stuff are similar too: they sit around and wait for something to happen. When something good does happen, they expect it to happen again. When good stuff isn’t happening, they do less because they are annoyed at the poor treatment life is serving them. They want the good life now, and seek enjoyment wherever they can find is fastest. They blame others and sometimes feel sorry for themselves (not out of a sense of “I should have done better” but out of a feeling “how could they do that to me?”)

So what are the people like who “GET”…the God of grace? What are the people like who experience His presence and love and power and keep going? I am privileged to know a few first hand, and I’ve studied the lives of others… and they’re not like most people in churches: A lot of people seem to think it’s: “if God wants me to … then He’ll just make it so I do…” until then I’ll sit back… or pursue other idols, while blaming Jesus on the Cross for being spiritually distant…not giving me enough money, or success or whatever.

But Jesus painted a different picture: he said, (talking about Baptist John) that “the violent have been taking [the Kingdom of Heaven] by force.” People (like John, the prophets of old and the saints) have been busting into the Kingdom by the force of their faith… They had no invitation, they had no Gospel of grace delivered to them on a silver platter, they had the Law, and a faith that God must be merciful to those who don’t deserve mercy…and they suffered, faced nakedness, starvation, wild animals, all for their unfounded faith in God’s grace… and they won. Like Jacob before them, they wrestled with God and got His blessing. Like the Samaritan woman that the disciples scolded, insulted and sent away, but who kept following, to whom Jesus was amazed and said, “Woman you have great faith!” She busted past the religious disciples and broke into God’s heart using everything she had… as though God were pure gold, as though God was actually worthy of our effort…

——————

Postscript: “But wait!” Someone asks! “If God WANTS to give us His presence and blessing and faith (and all those good things) then why do we have to fight for it?” Well, you don’t have to fight like they did… You DO have the Gospel on the silver platter – and on powerpoint slides, and millions of eloquent intelligently written books that can make you cry and think along with churches and book groups…

But there still will be opportunities to “fight” for it, to bust in to God’s heart – because part of what God wants for you is for you to be this kind of a person… Something heroic – a man, a woman of faith. Not the easy going faith of half hearted religiosity, but the full bodied faith that stares down emperors and lions and moves mountains.

Related posts:

People don’t always know…

ljkim — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:35:55 +0000

Akira Kurosawa recalled from his childhood, “…they told us not to drink the water from one of our neighborhood wells. The reason was that the wall surrounding the well had some kind of strange notation written on it in white chalk. This was supposedly a Korean code indication that the well water had been poisoned. I was flabbergasted. The truth was that the strange notation was a scribble I myself had written. Seeing adults behaving like this, I couldn’t help shaking my head and wondering what human beings are all about.”

People often speak authoritatively on things they know nothing about… Scientists will determine that all philosophy is meaningless. Philosophers will determine that all love is meaningless. Lovers will decide that all societies rules are meaningless… they all think they know, but they don’t. But people are often swayed when authoritative people speak passionately about something they know nothing about.

I know I know, this applies to people like me too… Christian preachers too often make cases based on science or cultures they know nothing about. That’s why it’s really important to always ask the question: “what do you base this on?” What’s the evidence? What’s the source? What’s the text? What’s the real authority from which we can judge whether or not this is really true? But don’t just question one side: non-Christians tend to scrutinize Christian viewpoints (which is good), but don’t apply the same rigor to their own viewpoints. Truth is an equal opportunity scrutinizer…

Yes, this is more work than just blindly believing what you want to believe, or blindly accepting what the people on your team claim is true, but it’s an essential part of building intelligent, relevant, spiritual community…

Related posts:

Natural vs. Easy…

ljkim — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:18:56 +0000

I’ve talked about this before in person: one of the things that God’s been teaching us lately is that “natural” is not the same thing as “easy.” Usually when we say something comes “naturally” we mean that it came easily. And there’s a mindset these days where people think “if it’s the right thing…it should come easily.” But that’s the biggest load of BS just not true. Mozart was a “natural” composer who killed himself working on his pieces… Natural athletes find it really difficult training for the Olympics. But why?

It’s in the Bible… One of the results of Sin in Genesis 4 is that having children…(the most natural thing in the world) will be difficult. Things like breastfeeding…(the most natural thing, for which babies and mothers)…is really hard! Just ask nursing mothers who breastfeed only (if you can find one). Yes we may have natural instincts for things, but we don’t have the natural ability or experience or the skills…

So when it comes to all the things of life that matter: loving, serving, praying, laughing, celebrating, remembering… Stop just doing the easy stuff. Genesis 4 says everything good and worthwhile will be hard. If you only do the easy stuff, then…oh well you can do the math.

Related posts:

Free from what?

ljkim — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:52:55 +0000

One benefit of being a little older is that you get to see patterns emerge over time. People who go to church and argue with the pastor and leave for another church eventually argue with someone and leave (which is why I don’t court disgruntled members of other churches!) People who throw themselves into difficult romantic situations and then get depressed when it doesn’t work out will tend to do it again… People who fixate on the difficult person in their workplace and leave their jobs for another one will eventually find another difficult person to fixate on. We get stuck in patterns. It’s not our fault. It’s like we’ve been given faulty scripts, buggy programming that puts us into these loops. Sometimes we don’t realize it’s our programming, and we wonder why “everyone has to do that to me all the time!” But Jesus says the truth will set you free – and I think THIS (the recurring patterns we fall into) is one of the things it sets us free from! But how?

The whole quote is, “If you abide in my word” and stick with it… then “you are truly my disciples,” being trained by Jesus, “and you will know the truth,” more and more, “and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31-32.) So here’s how I think this works:

1. You realize through Jesus’ teaching that you are a sinner…deserving God’s just displeasure. Most people don’t believe this. But if you believe this then the first step to getting free from your sin pattern is realizing that the problem is in YOU. I’m not saying other people don’t have a problem also, but your problem is often really about YOU and not them…in the sense that if your side was solved, their sin wouldn’t be a problem for you. That’s the kind of truth that can change your life patterns.

2. You realize that you’re loved and accepted by God through Jesus. So that you don’t have to solve your sin problems on your own – you have God’s help and support and failure is just a step toward succeeding. When faced with a realization like, “I just need to forgive this person” – instead of despairing, “but just I can’t!!!” You can say “maybe I can’t on my own – but God can help me to forgive!”

3. And you realize that now you have a choice. You don’t have to stick with your life programming, doomed to repeat it over and over again… but you have the option to act on #1 and #2 by repenting… Confessing your sin (to God) and asking for his help.

Related posts:

Snob-Free Zone

what’s the matter with ideas?

ljkim — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:41:59 +0000

Part of being a believer, I think, is believing that words and ideas matter. Now I know most people *think* they believe that anyway. I mean, we have a reason for everything we do. But when we scratch beneath the surface of our motives we find that we usually *do* things that come naturally, or are convenient, and then come up with the reasons for them afterward… So with Bible minded Christians, it’s common to see people doing whatever comes natural for them, and then search Scripture to justify it… This is why one can be a “Jesus follower” and not believe in forgiving people, or find themselves living for money and fame and comfort…it’s the reason why Christians in the South believed the Bible defended slavery and believers in the North believed that it supported Abolition. The braver thing, the harder thing, the thing that Jesus calls us to is to agree on the idea first…and then fight to live it. So, question: what do you live for?

I don’t know if Christians have to do this better than anyone else… Sin is what makes us inconsistent. Sin is what pushes us to the wide road that’s easy, instead of the narrow road that requires following a path closely. And we all have it, believers and non-believers. So I think a non-believer can be more principled (more guided by true ideas rather than doing what’s easy) than a believer… But believers have an advantage that should make this easier…

Believers love to repent. And repenting makes staying on track easier. Or at least, it makes getting back on track something we can do more quickly… Also, it makes it easier to admit when we get off track.

Related posts:

Top 5 Reasons NOT to talk about the Holy Spirit (and why they’re dumb)

ljkim — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:14:23 +0000

Here’s a quick top 5:

5. “It scares off non-Christians.” If you believe in God then you believe in God’s Spirit and things like that. Non-Christians know YOU believe it: So it’s no use trying to hide it. We shouldn’t try to “sell” a version of Christianity that (we think) is palatable to our unbelieving friends; instead we should do our best to be honest with explain fully the more difficult and hard-to-believe things.

4. “The Spirit doesn’t work today the way it did in the Bible.” In Acts 19 the first believers in Ephesus had not heard of the Holy Spirit when Paul got there. They managed to have a version of Christianity without the Holy Spirit… so it was possible even then. When Paul got there, he didn’t think it was a good thing: instead taught them more fully about *Jesus*…(which was what they needed) and then they too got the Spirit. Because there’s no such thing in the Bible as understanding and believing in Jesus without also getting the active indwelling presence of God.

3. “The Holy Spirit is not practical to our everyday lives.” That’s like saying having an “inner life” isn’t practical…all you need is outer success. But we know that’s not true. If “practical” means it will help you have more joy and peace and live more fully, then what could be MORE practical than that? God doesn’t promise that you’ll have more money or luck or success or beauty or connections…no, you’ll have what everyone else gets. But, you’ll be more-than-conquerors because you’ll have an inner life with the Spirit that powers everything else you do…and that is very practical.

2. “Talking about the Holy Spirit can lead to a lot of bad theology, and crazy beliefs.” This is absolutely true. Probably the stupidest things people do in the name of Jesus happen in conjunction with belief in the Holy Spirit. But…that doesn’t mean we should stay away from it. Electricity can kill you if used wrongly, but we don’t decide to go through life without it. Falling in love (with the wrong person) can be dangerous, but no one decides to go through life without it. All good and real things are dangerous – the more powerful it is, the more dangerous it is when our sinful side takes over and skews it toward stupidity… But God helps us with these things, and teaches us to do better.

1. “We don’t need the Spirit to be ‘saved’ so why not just focus on stuff we need?” Being “saved” and the Bible’s idea of “Heaven” is to be in a face to face relationship with God as our Father. So having the Spirit is not just a bonus feature of what Jesus did, it IS what being saved is all about. The point of being “saved” is to be able to communicate with God, to have His indwelling Spirit… so, in a sense, you do need the Spirit to be saved: being saved is nothing without the Holy Spirit…

Related posts:

The Inner Life of Jesus [Sunday]

ljkim — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:18:17 +0000

One of my favorite quotes from Milton is, “the mind is its own place and can make a heaven of hell or hell of heaven…” What it taught me was that Heaven and Hell are, in a sense, mind-sets. You can be rich and young and beautiful and yet in your inn-space be in hell. Likewise there have been poor saints who’ve been beaten and wronged and spent their days in prison who could laugh and be care free. Most people think we live where our zip code says, but the the Inner Life is where we REALLY live. One curse of modernity and wealth is that we can spend a lot of time on outside stuff, and have no clue of where we are inside. But Jesus knew exactly who he was on the inside: as a result He saw things differently than the rest of us; He was poor, and yet he was rich, weak and yet he was strong. And he passed on this inner life to anyone who would follow him, by giving them his Spirit. So for the next few weeks we’ll be looking at the inner life of Jesus. Hope you can join us for this!

Related posts: