“You can't navigate me. I may do mean things, and I may hurt you, and I may run away without your permission, and you may hate me forever, and I know that scares the living shit outta you 'cause you know I'm the only real thing you got.” (Reality Bites)
I just don’t understand what “real” means when referring to authentic ministry. I mean I know what being real means. Being real is when I admit that if I am unsure that anyone likes the pretend me that I work so hard at presenting to people all the time, there is no way that people could like the authentic me that is so broken. Being real is when I feel frustrated between pursuing the destiny that I feel God wants for me and waiting impatiently for Him to make those things come to pass. Being real is engaging people with every part of who I am even though I don’t feel that I have anything to offer or idea how to offer what I might have. But when I hear an institutionalized church talk about getting real I can’t help but think that it is just a well crafted slogan. “Real” for the 21st century Christian is comparable to reality television and social networking. “Real” for the 21st century Christian is comprised of the various random elements that make us who we are. On Facebook someone can easily share their faith with others by “Liking” Jesus while updating their status with social causes and political support. Or someone can visit a church’s blog site for daily devotionals and then tweet about the newest Christian bestseller they are reading. These things, as well as less techno savvy things, are all well and good, but they are not real. The human psychology forces us to define who we are by the things we do and take on. But by discussing these things while occasionally addressing our struggle with them is not “being real”.
One example of a very real experience with God is found in Genesis 22. Below is the text for the story of Abraham taking Isaac to the top of the mountain to sacrifice to God. I saw a cartoon once where it was a picture of Abraham and Isaac walking down from the mountain after Abraham prepared Isaac for the sacrifice and then being released from the call by God to do so. Isaac is looking back at Abraham and says, “What the hell was that all about!” We often discuss the relief of Abraham after learning he didn’t have to sacrifice Isaac. But imagine how terrifying that was for Abraham as he prepared Isaac and how horrifying it would have been for Isaac when he thought his dad was about to kill him. A relationship with God is unpredictable, often terrifying, and never safe. When a church claims that it is real is it claiming the type of real we see in the story below? The real the institutionalized church often presents is just the opposite. It is predictable, exciting, and always safe.
Genesis 22:1-19
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
In Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard discusses the ethics of Abraham in this story and concludes that true ethics are obedience and require paradox. In Ethics, Dietrich Bonheoffer concluded something similar in that ethics can only go so far. Reality is when we struggle with the complexities of life and realize that there are rarely answers. Reality is when we must walk in obedience when it goes against everything we hold dear. Reality is knowing that the world will, at times, reject us for being the type of Christian that scripture promotes. In fact, if churches really want to grow, they should avoid any mention of reality.
I just don’t understand what “real” means when referring to authentic ministry. I mean I know what being real means. Being real is when I admit that if I am unsure that anyone likes the pretend me that I work so hard at presenting to people all the time, there is no way that people could like the authentic me that is so broken. Being real is when I feel frustrated between pursuing the destiny that I feel God wants for me and waiting impatiently for Him to make those things come to pass. Being real is engaging people with every part of who I am even though I don’t feel that I have anything to offer or idea how to offer what I might have. But when I hear an institutionalized church talk about getting real I can’t help but think that it is just a well crafted slogan. “Real” for the 21st century Christian is comparable to reality television and social networking. “Real” for the 21st century Christian is comprised of the various random elements that make us who we are. On Facebook someone can easily share their faith with others by “Liking” Jesus while updating their status with social causes and political support. Or someone can visit a church’s blog site for daily devotionals and then tweet about the newest Christian bestseller they are reading. These things, as well as less techno savvy things, are all well and good, but they are not real. The human psychology forces us to define who we are by the things we do and take on. But by discussing these things while occasionally addressing our struggle with them is not “being real”.
One example of a very real experience with God is found in Genesis 22. Below is the text for the story of Abraham taking Isaac to the top of the mountain to sacrifice to God. I saw a cartoon once where it was a picture of Abraham and Isaac walking down from the mountain after Abraham prepared Isaac for the sacrifice and then being released from the call by God to do so. Isaac is looking back at Abraham and says, “What the hell was that all about!” We often discuss the relief of Abraham after learning he didn’t have to sacrifice Isaac. But imagine how terrifying that was for Abraham as he prepared Isaac and how horrifying it would have been for Isaac when he thought his dad was about to kill him. A relationship with God is unpredictable, often terrifying, and never safe. When a church claims that it is real is it claiming the type of real we see in the story below? The real the institutionalized church often presents is just the opposite. It is predictable, exciting, and always safe.
Genesis 22:1-19
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
In Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard discusses the ethics of Abraham in this story and concludes that true ethics are obedience and require paradox. In Ethics, Dietrich Bonheoffer concluded something similar in that ethics can only go so far. Reality is when we struggle with the complexities of life and realize that there are rarely answers. Reality is when we must walk in obedience when it goes against everything we hold dear. Reality is knowing that the world will, at times, reject us for being the type of Christian that scripture promotes. In fact, if churches really want to grow, they should avoid any mention of reality.
That's funny. As I was reading your words, arriving at Abraham's test in Gen 22, I thought, "Wow that sounds like Kierkegaard's Fear & Trembling." And what do you know, there you mention it. Fear and Trembling and Bonheoffer's Ethics (though imcomplete) were both fantastic, good reads. You offer some fascinating insights, but I would ask: Isn't our struggle real? I mean, aren't we Christians all journeying toward something greater than we are? And doesn't the nature of that journey presupposed some 'dissonance' of integrity (i.e. between what we are and what we hope to be) thereby producing struggle? We might also ask: Isn't the whole emphasis on journey, process, becoming, etc. ad nauseum, a culturally bound schema? For instance, when I first started in ministry, I put a sign on my door when I was in study: "Please do not disturb. Pastor in the making." My Sr Pastor and his wife laughed at that, b/c in their minds, you either were or were not a pastor. It made me think that even the terms we use to get to the heart of our faith 'journey' may not fully represent the grandeur of God's grace at work in us. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteNo, I agree completely Jon. That is, in fact, my point. The struggle is what is real. It may be the only real thing in creation. Reality, as it is often portrayed, is some cheap (to pull from Bonheoffer again) imitation.
ReplyDeleteMany feel that their real is self is what is left after they have unburdened their insecurities, sin, and fears. But I contend that the true "real" is what is exposed in the process of unburdening our insecurities, sin, and fear.