a midrash on Not Playing God
God did not make others as I would have made them. God did not give them to me so that i could dominate and control them, but so that i might find the creator by means of them.
how many people are on this planet? a few billion. good. each one is a different way to God. you can learn something different from each. take away the notion of "only those who actively come in the name are the only ones worth paying attention to" because that's just short-sighted. God isn't the most obvious, in fact God is very subtle. there are better ways than a sunrise to let people know that you're there, but that's the method i see God reminds us everyday that God's there... discard notions of secular.. there's no such thing. God is everywhere. The trick is to be atuned to seeing God and finding God in unexpected places.
We do not have control of one another. so what are people of faith supposed to do with Atheists and Agnostics? LEARN FROM THEM!
when we are in dialog, truth dialog, both sides benefit. Atheists and Agnostics have a prophetic message to give to believes... a grand reminder that "WE DON"T KNOW!" and we don't. we have hunches. we have a book that in it's current form has been handed down since 300 c.e. Jesus said many things, but how do we keep his words in focus? by talking with one another.. esp. those who we don't agree with.
Jesus said "when two or three are gathered..." he didn't specify WHO these two or three are.. he didnt' say "when two or three Christian, white, middle-class american males are gathered..." all dialog is sacred. we as Christian frequently screw this part up as we are too busy condemning the other party to hell. cut it out and talk. recognize God in your midst. this is something we as BELIEVERS must do. the NonBeliever still has his or her options open and we must respect that.
-peace and coexistence-
Showing posts with label Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Show all posts
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Religionless Christianity
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers:
"The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience-and that means the time of religion in general... Even those who honestly describe themselves as religious do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by religious. How can Christ become the Lord of the religionless as well? Are there religionless Christians? If religion is only a garment of Christianity-and even this garment has looked very different at different times-then what is a religionless christianity?"
this is what i'm after. like john lennon says in Imagine, "imagine there's no heaven, and no religion too." then we're forced to deal with one another right where we're at. religion is only the framework, not the means. we've confused this.
i'm after a type of christianity that doesn't worry about labels. christians originally never worried about labels.. there was a stigma on the sick in the ancient days, the christians went in and helped. there was a stigma on the poor and homeless and starving, like the gods have cursed them.. the christians fed them and took them in... we must return to this!!! we must be the type of christians that help the jewish, atheist, homosexual, black, homeless, sick, martian, dinosaur neighbors... that is our calling.
there will come a point where "being a christian" drops and one actually becomes one (i know i'm not there yet, but i want to be!). at this point one sees the world as though everyone is a Christian and helps without consideration of how they will benefit from this help, how closer they'll get to heaven because of their action. Grace allows us to act without hesitation.
"The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience-and that means the time of religion in general... Even those who honestly describe themselves as religious do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by religious. How can Christ become the Lord of the religionless as well? Are there religionless Christians? If religion is only a garment of Christianity-and even this garment has looked very different at different times-then what is a religionless christianity?"
this is what i'm after. like john lennon says in Imagine, "imagine there's no heaven, and no religion too." then we're forced to deal with one another right where we're at. religion is only the framework, not the means. we've confused this.
i'm after a type of christianity that doesn't worry about labels. christians originally never worried about labels.. there was a stigma on the sick in the ancient days, the christians went in and helped. there was a stigma on the poor and homeless and starving, like the gods have cursed them.. the christians fed them and took them in... we must return to this!!! we must be the type of christians that help the jewish, atheist, homosexual, black, homeless, sick, martian, dinosaur neighbors... that is our calling.
there will come a point where "being a christian" drops and one actually becomes one (i know i'm not there yet, but i want to be!). at this point one sees the world as though everyone is a Christian and helps without consideration of how they will benefit from this help, how closer they'll get to heaven because of their action. Grace allows us to act without hesitation.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Not Playing God
from Dietrich Bonhoeffer Life Together:
"God did not make others as I would have made them. God did not give them to me so that i could dominate and control them, but so that i might find the creator by means of them... God does not want me to mold others into the image that seems good to me, that is, into my own image. Instead, in their freedom from me, God made other people in God's own image. I can never know in advance how God's image should appear in others and two others. That image always takes on a completely new and unique form."
Bonhoeffer points something out here vitally important to us, esp. to ministers. this is something i should have tattooed over my heart and on my forehead. others aren't a roadblock to God, they're the super highway. I've seen recently too many "christians" say things like "I just hope you find the true Christ." or "i hope you're striken to your knees and find christ as we've found him" or "there is only one way"...
how many people are on this planet? a few billion. good. each one is a different way to God. you can learn something different from each. take away the notion of "only those who actively come in the name are the only ones worth paying attention to" because that's just short-sighted. God isn't the most obvious, infact God is very subtle. there are better ways than a sunrise to let people know that you're there, but that's the method i see God reminds us everyday that God's there... discard notions of secular.. there's no such thing. God is everywhere. The trick is to be atuned to seeing God and finding God in unexpected places.
We do not have control of one another.. as a pastor i don't WANT control over others. i want to enter into dialog and see how that reflects back on us both... let's look at the strange feedback loop we've created.
"God did not make others as I would have made them. God did not give them to me so that i could dominate and control them, but so that i might find the creator by means of them... God does not want me to mold others into the image that seems good to me, that is, into my own image. Instead, in their freedom from me, God made other people in God's own image. I can never know in advance how God's image should appear in others and two others. That image always takes on a completely new and unique form."
Bonhoeffer points something out here vitally important to us, esp. to ministers. this is something i should have tattooed over my heart and on my forehead. others aren't a roadblock to God, they're the super highway. I've seen recently too many "christians" say things like "I just hope you find the true Christ." or "i hope you're striken to your knees and find christ as we've found him" or "there is only one way"...
how many people are on this planet? a few billion. good. each one is a different way to God. you can learn something different from each. take away the notion of "only those who actively come in the name are the only ones worth paying attention to" because that's just short-sighted. God isn't the most obvious, infact God is very subtle. there are better ways than a sunrise to let people know that you're there, but that's the method i see God reminds us everyday that God's there... discard notions of secular.. there's no such thing. God is everywhere. The trick is to be atuned to seeing God and finding God in unexpected places.
We do not have control of one another.. as a pastor i don't WANT control over others. i want to enter into dialog and see how that reflects back on us both... let's look at the strange feedback loop we've created.
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