Category: Religion

Is anyone old enough to remember the "messy Marvin" commericals?  Funny enough, I don’t remember the exact product being pushed (was it chocolate milk?), but there was this kid named messy Marvin in an otherwise average middle class American family.  In spite of my failing memory, I can visualize this little 5 year old kid sitting at the dinner table with food everywhere and all over his face. 
This morning, I pulled my own version of a messy Marvin.  I was sitting at (you know where)..drinking coffee and reading when I mindlessly knocked the cup of coffee off the table and proceeded to lose all of its contents on the floor.  It wasn’t one of those accidents where you kind of spill your drink and still salvage half of it with a quick reflex that would make the Kung-Fu guy jealous either. 
My first concern was not about my lost drink or my immediate reputation. Rather, I kept thinking about the long journey around the corner to inform the barista of my stupidity.  I sheepishly told him of my accident to which he replied, "is this going to require a mop?".  "Uh…yeah..I told him" as I continued to sink deeper into guilty awkwardness.  I moved over to the other side of the coffee shop as he came around the corner with mop bucket in tow, because I couldn’t bear to stand there helplessly as he cleaned up a mess that was caused by me and only me!  With wallet in hand, I tip-toed my way to the counter where I told another girl that I had an accident.  She nodded knowingly as she turned around to pour me a fresh cup of coffee.  I went through the formality of extracting my debit card as she waved it off and gave me a free cup of the Cafe’ Estima.

Because of the simple fact that Starbucks has tile floors should remind me that spills happen occasionally.  However, if it didn’t, then the attitudes and responses of the two workers surely would have clued me in as well.  Upon receiving the news of my gaffe, the barista didn’t throw his hands up in the air like Napolean Dynamite and let out a hearty "IDIOT".  He didn’t even release a subtle sigh as if to say, "foolish, foolish man you are".  No, he simply surveyed the situation, grabbed the necessary tools, and promptly cleaned up the mess. No complaints, no mumbling under his breath, no rolling of the eyes.  The counter girl with nary a studder in speech or step, provided me with a replacement coffee as she uttered the cliched line "don’t worry, clean slate."

It was at that moment that I began to think about my heavenly Father.  From Adam to Rob, we’ve made a mess of His world.  We’ve not only uglied up the earth, we’ve corrupted His greatest, created accomplishment.  Us.  I’ve come to abhor the phrase "he’s only human" or  "she’s only human".  It’s not to say that our depravity doesn’t exist, however, "humanity" is not God’s apology to the universe.  To be human is a compliment.("I realize he’s a mess, but cut him some slack because he’s human which is to say a bearer of God’s image!) What we have today is a "messy Marvin" humanity.

Sadly, it is our bad choices which have been the very reason for our messy state!  How quickly Adam and Eve made a mess of things upon taking that first bite of forbidden fruit! It’s like a curious toddler who walks into a room of 100,000 dominos that someone spent a week carefully and meticulously setting up only to have the child topple them with one glancing blow to the trigger domino leaving a trail of dissheveled messiness like nakedness, guilt, shame, embarrassment, loneliness….on and on.  But do you know what the silver lining of the fall of man is?  It’s the point where God looks for Adam (as if He didn’t know where he was), surveys the mess, and immediately begins the grand plan of redemption !!  (to the serpent/Satan: "he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.")

Of course, the consequences of their choice remained, but God mopped up the initial spill right off the bat. ("The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them"….removed the shame).  Our choices carry consequences too, but we don’t have to continue to wallow in the mess of past failures!  I couldn’t imagine sitting there trying to read while surrounded by a puddle of coffee,( I can see it now: book in hand, feet up in the air), so I humbly approach the barista in all of my shame. "Oh and by the way, can I have another cup?"

Let’s face the truth, we’re "messy Marvins" and we will ugly up things from time to time.  But that’s no reason to hate ourselves over it.  It wasn’t a prideful heart that said "we were fearfully and wonderfully made".  A time will come when everything is redeemed including our bodies where sin still resides.  He has already redeemed our souls, but He doesn’t stop there!  He wants all of it back!  It’s because of God’s grace that he mops up our self-inflicted spills with forgiveness and mercy, but God’s grace isn’t just about that! It not only cleans up the messes we made yesterday, but empowers us to a "cleaner" life today and tomorrow! God’s grace is the fuel of redemption.   We can and should be a part of the redemption process too!   As Dallas Willard profoundly states "Grace is not opposed to effort, it’s opposed to earning."  The "easy yoke" is just that!  We put on the yoke knowing full well that we’re not stong enough to plow the fields alone, but the yoke connects us to the one who is able and all powerful!  By the way, the yoke is free of charge.  There’s no need to check Ebay.  He provides the yoke, the strength, and the direction.  We just slip the yoke on and participate in the plowing.

I wasn’t really surprised that the counter girl didn’t charge me for that 2nd cup this morning.  I would have gladly paid to ease my conscience.  As I expected, she didn’t scold me or frown at me.  She generously looked past my mistake as if it never happened, gave me a clean new cup of freshly brewed java, and bid me a good day.  I can’t guarantee that I will never knock over a cup of coffee again, but I will not waste my life thinking about the possibility.  This will not prevent me from going back tomorrow.  I will not swear off coffee, and I will not give up on reading a good book because of my past mess. I’m not worried in the least that Starbucks will hire a bouncer just to keep me out.  I’m sure in all of their cheesy scripted dialogue that they will welcome me back with open arms, and if I drop my coffee again, they’ll take care of it.

When you refer to someone as a "theologian", it sometimes depicts the individual as one who seems to have it all figured out.  As a kid, I marveled at the teachings of such people.  In fact, I would wear them out with relentless inquiries of the divine mysteries.  I figured, why waste time trying to decode King James english (the only version permitted in my Pharisaical upbringing) when I could just go to the right theologian, shoot the question, and curl up at their sacred feet as if I were Mary Magdalene.  As I grew older I attended Bible college where one would expect to encounter an army of Biblical intellect.  (though the school I attended was about a rung higher than a sunday school teacher)  Nevertheless, It was in college where I first heard the term "Systematic Theology".  I was quite intrigued by this style of Bible exposition.  I would read the books of  well regarded systematic theologians.  These guys were real smart when it came to scripture.  Anyone who writes volumes of commentaries would have to be considered as such.

I do believe that an intellectual knowledge of scripture is profitable (Paul to Timothy).  The church should not be so quick to discount what we often refer to as "head knowledge".  A "head knowledge" that informs you of a speed trap on the highway, if you act accordingly, is profitable as it will prevent you from paying a huge traffic citation.  A systematic approach to reading scripture is beneficial for understanding the meaning of God’s will much the same way science is helpful in understanding the solar system.  You could say systematic theology is a type of scientific approach. 

In light of this, has the sytematic approach actually inflicted harm to our faith?  Probably not, but the better question is this: "has our obsession with systematic theology inflicted harm to our personal faith in Jesus Christ?"  I think there is no doubt it has! One looks no further than the constant sniping and hateful attitudes on various Christian blogs.  (especially in the Calvinistic themed)  It doesn’t really matter who argues what. The venom spews from both sides.  The danger with the systematic obsession, I think, is that the pride of knowledge puffs up in people, and as a result the love of Christ is nowhere to be seen!  Why do so many understand the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13, yet refuse to live by it?  There are so many chefs in the kitchen preparing their recipes of a gospel meal while leaving out the main ingredient of love!  The dictionary defines "systematic" as  "Purposefully regular; methodical".  I think the key word to focus on is "method".  Our method(s) have taken over God’s creation in the most subtle of ways.  "Method" itself isn’t inherently evil.  God created us as intellectual beings with the ability to be methodical.  (I’m sure Adam had a systematic approach to naming the animals). Our problem begins when we make the methods our own and use them outside the Kingdom of God (or rule of God).  His Kingdom is defined by love, not method.  God can be pretty methodical or systematic himself, but His methods are always effective, because they are ALWAYS "love affected".

It’s good to have a method to our madness in just about everything we do because pointless meandering is never a good option.  I think a great example of this is football.  Yes, football!  Right or wrong, football is a bit of a religious experience (especially in Texas).  I must confess to having a real passion for the sport.  I’ve been in a fantasy football league for 6 years, and in my quest to win a championship, I’ve developed a systematic approach to drafting, choosing lineups, trading, and so on.  (by the way, my methods have failed thus far).  Often times I fall into pointless arguments with other league members about strategies, players and so forth, and I must admit to experiencing a puffed up pride from time to time.  I know whenever my obsession takes over, the joy of playing this game quickly fades.  I often have to take a step back and remind myself that it’s only a game and it’s supposed to be fun. (I know why they call it "fantasy football" now)

I love football not because I study statistics, trends, and players, in other words, my systematic approach. In fact, the passion for the game of football began long ago when I was an 8 year old kid watching a miraculous comeback by the Dallas Cowboys quarterbacked by the heroic persona of Roger Staubach.  My systematic approach to fantasy football is a natural outflowing of my passion for football.

Admittedly, many who read this will find fantasy football and my approach to it as being foolish, pointless or a colossal waste of time, to which I will not necessarily disagree with.  But everyone appreciates passion, even in the case of trivial matters.  "You gotta love his passion" we often say about some misguided soul.  I have to wonder if the systematic approach to scripture from some theologians is a natural outflowing of their passion for Christ or a passion for themselves and their quest for correctness! 

The point is, let it be our passion and our love that motivates us in our systematic or otherwise approach to scripture.  Let’s not forget that it was the unknowledgeable types who Jesus made a point to open the doors of the Kingdom to.  The systematic theologians of Jesus’ day (Pharisees) were ones he told the crowds to basically do as they say, not as they do.  He made this statement because in spite of all of their knowledge, their hearts were loveless.   

In this postmodern world, don’t read my message to be one that minimizes doctrinal correctness.  The point is to not allow our desire to be correct govern our need to love.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

 

Anyone who knows me is aware of my unfortunate dependence on the bean of caffeine;  the juice; the latte; the java.  Unhealthy addictions aside, there’s no doubt in my mind that everything God created is good, check that..GREAT!  Of course, mankind has tried to improve on everything God has made, but that’s another blog topic altogether.  No doubt, God created coffee to be enjoyed.  Now, if I can substitute some of that enjoyment for the other aspects of His creation I’ll be the better for it. 
Sorry, I have to get this post back on track to a more important thought.  Fulfillment. I lament the wasted years of my life even though God can and does redeem wasted years, however, I’d like to be much further along in my Kingdom journey than where I am now.  Of course, if I have to point to someone to blame, it would have to be me.  If I were to give my spiritual tire-spinning a name, I would call it "The Pursuit of Fulfillment".  Keep in mind, this pursuit is worthy of doing.  We all should seek the completeness that at times evades us because until we obtain it, life can be pretty miserable. Misery often times comes in waves of guilt, the feeling of worthlessness, and non-discipline which are like trick candles on a birthday cake.  You exert a lot of personal energy in their extinguishment, but your wishes never get a chance to come true.  Blue faced and breathless, I’ve pursued fulfillment in countless ways through peer acceptance, career, and even through God’s work.  I have found all to be equal in fulfillment, that is to say, extremely lacking.  Oh sure, I would rather lead God’s people in musical worship every week as opposed to street sweeping, but it still doesn’t keep me from days where I wouldn’t mind pushing a broom for a few hours.  For grounding effect, we all need to wrap our minds around the truth of God’s purpose during the endless pursuit of fulfillment by thinking deeper than the cliches about our reason for existence and really soul-searching its meaning.  We were created for Him, although not as trophies on His cosmic shelf. Despite our embellical beginnings, God breathed life into our embryonic souls.  He is still our life-sustaining breath.  He didn’t create us to get by on artificial life support.  We still need His oxygen of grace. Our complex system of soul, spirit, mind, and body needs so much more than our feeble attempts at vitality.  God’s breath from God’s mouth has been the cure from day one. When He breathed into Adam’s nostrils, much more than biology was at stake! God’s breath not only expands the lungs, it fills the spiritual void. No matter what we try, we fall short of fulfillment, because to be fulfilled, you have to be filled!
Oh, the coffee thing.  If you are anything like me, you probably have more coffee cups in your cupboard than you can possibly use.  I find that coffee cups are a dime a dozen, available in droves at any weekend yard sale.  There are too many varieties of styles, colors, and sizes to count.  No one is too concerned with finding a coffee cup when one is needed. It doesn’t make a lot of difference what it looks like.  As long as it has the capacity to hold freshly brewed coffee as the aroma spirals back to me, that’s all the coffee drinker really cares about. 

When the cup was manufactured, it was with the intent that it would be filled with richly brewed coffee.The coffee cup reaches it’s potential as it’s personal void is filled. The cup’s usefulness is a direct result of its capacity to hold the coffee, because ultimately it’s all about the coffee! 
It would be silly to imagine that the coffee cup would be so obsessed with the way it was crafted or which shelf it resides, that it wouldn’t be happy enough to receive the coffee.  Even if the cup succeeded in finding a new shelf  to call home, it would probably be seldom used for coffee. Tragically (for the cup) it might even end up in one of those yard sales, or even worse, some landfill.  If the coffee cup could think or reason, would it find happiness in functioning as the container for the coffee?  Would it find satisfaction in being filled, or would it hold out hope for a different beverage?
Of course, if the coffee itself could think or reason, I’m sure it would be pleased to know that there is a willing cup ready to receive it. If only the coffee and the cup would unify, some fortunate soul can receive the pleasure of a good cup of joe.

Talking coffee cups?  Seriously?  They don’t need to talk.  They don’t need to think.  They are what they are, and when they’re filled to the brim, they’re at their intended best!  Fulfilled!