Surprised by Hope

It's been a while, but I just finished reading another great book.  "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church," by N.T. Wright is a book that firstly looks at the question of heaven.  The inside flap of the cover says, "For years Christians have been asking, 'If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?' It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer.  It is not heaven."

It's a provocative book from the start.  Right away I thought the title should be changed to "Rediscovering Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church."  While many of the ideas presented may seem new to Western Evangelicals, they are, as Wright argues, the beliefs of Jesus, the New Testament and the early church.  Wright is not breaking new ground completely as much as helping the church understand what was intended by the resurrection language of the New Testament writers.

Wright argues that when we die we our souls receive rest and refreshment in the presence of God.  Perhaps you can call it heaven, but it is only the first part of a two stage process.  He discusses the current view of disembodied souls going to an other-worldly heaven as a current form of Gnosticism which believes that matter is essentially evil.  Wright suggests that the true hope of Christians is not in our souls leaving this place and the earth being destroyed by God in favor of a matter-less heaven.  What the New Testament, Jesus and the early church were far more interested in was the Resurrection and restoration of the created order.  God created a good creation in the beginning and his goal is to redeem and restore not to destroy that creation.  Ultimately the hope of Christians is that of a bodily resurrection and restoration of creation when Christ returns to fulfill and complete his kingdom on earth which has already begun.

Wright combats the gnosticism of current views of heaven as well as the escapist rapture theology made popular in American Evangelical circles by Hal Lindsay (Late, Great Planet Earth) and the Left Behind books and movie series.  In these views God will destroy the created order and whisk his chosen to a heaven somewhere else.  Wright suggests that heaven is not really somewhere else, but that the realms of heaven and earth can be thought of as concentric circles with the goal of one day heaven and earth becoming fully visible to one another.

Wright briefly discusses purgatory and hell.  He tears down the traditional idea of purgatory and says little about hell.  He leaves room for a final judgement, but casts judgement in a positive light as the wrongs of the world are made right.  Judgement is not primarily a vindictive act.  Rather the longing for judgement throughout the Bible is for God to correct the wrongs of the world.

In the end, Wright talks about how our hope for the resurrection and restoration as God's "kingdom comes on earth as in heaven" affects our thinking of salvation (no more eyes closed, hand raised magical "sinner's prayer"), building of the kingdom and mission of the church.

There's a lot in this book and too dense for such a short summary.  Go read the book.  It's great stuff.  The conclusion is that this life matter so much more than most Western Evangelicals want to admit.  Christians have a responsibility to seek Justice, Beauty and Evangelize (bear witness to the true hope of the Gospels and live as colonists of the kingdom now).  Wright believes that the things we do to reveal and expand the kingdom not only in human lives, but in the whole created order as well, will somehow be carried over in a redeemed state into God's marriage of heavens and earth.  Christians have a responsibility to care for the justice of the outcast and poor.  We have a responsibility to care for creation and help to see it restored.

Wright voices many of the concerns I've had in the last few years of pop-Christianity and its love affair with escapism and reducing the human being to a disembodied soul.  How can God look down at Creation and declare everything "good" only to have us believe that Revelation is about God destroying that good creation.  Wright points out that the final picture of the Revelation of John the Seer is of heaven coming down to earth and God making his dwelling among man.  It's described as a great wedding between heaven and earth that were made for one another.   Go Read this Book!

The Naked Anabaptist

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything.  Recently I finished reading The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of the Radical Faith.  If you're thinking "Amish gone wild" or "I knew there was something screwy about those Brethren," sorry to disappoint.

Stuart Murray is an Anabaptist writing from England.  His book is a look at the basic principles of the Anabaptist tradition.  He wanted to look at the Anabaptist faith when it's not clothed in Amish or Mennonite clothing and traditions (hence, "Naked Anabaptist").  At the start he deals with some common misconceptions or ideas of Anabaptism.  They are questions Murray hears often being a part of the Anabaptist Network in England where Anabaptism has not traditionally been a part of the religious make-up.

The rest of the book is mostly spent looking at seven core convictions of Anabaptists.

1. Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer, and Lord.  He is the source of our life, the central reference point for our faith and lifestyle, for our understanding of church, and our engagement with society.  We are committed to following Jesus as well as worshipping him.  
2. Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation.  We are committed to a Jesus-centered approach to the Bible, and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the Bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.
3. Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era, when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost all were assumed to be Christian.  Whatever its positive contributions on values and institutions, Christendom seriously distorted the gospel, marginalized Jesus, and has left the churches ill equipped for mission in a post-Christendom culture.  As we reflect on this, we are committed to learning from the experience and perspectives of movements such as Anabaptism that rejected standard Christendom assumptions and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.
4. The frequent association of the church with status, wealth, and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness.  We are committed to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless, and persecuted, aware that such discipleship may attract opposition, resulting in suffering and sometimes ultimately martyrdom.  
5. Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability, and multivoiced worship.  As we eat together, sharing bread and wine, we sustain hope as we seek God’s kingdom together.  We are committed to nurturing and developing such churches, in which young and old are valued, leadership is consultative, roles are related to gifts rather than gender, and baptism is for believers.  
6. Spirituality and economics are interconnected.  In an individualist and consumerist culture and in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation, and working for justice.  
7. Peace is at the heart of the gospel.  As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding nonviolent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.

The book concludes by looking at where the Anabaptists have come from and looks at Anabaptism today.  Murray's conclusion is that there is a lot to be taken from the Anabaptist tradition in, what he labels, post-Christendom.

This is not an overly scholarly book.  Murray and his network are trying to provide resources for the emerging Anabaptists in England and Ireland.  I appreciated his critique of Christendom (the time from the 4th Century conversion of Constantine through the late 20th Century) when the church and state together controlled society.  He admits that there was good that came out of that period, but that in general it was not an idea that was faithful to Christ's sacrificial love.  Part of the reason for his admiration of Anabaptism is its noncompliance with Christendom ideology.  He sees Anabaptism as a movement focused on Jesus-centered discipleship whose moment in church history has finally come.  Murray confesses weaknesses of Anabaptism but evaluates it positively.  

For anyone who wants to be introduced to Anabaptism, for Anabaptists who don't know where they come from, for those longing to be part of a community which worships and follows Jesus, I would highly recommend giving it a read.  It's challenging whether you are an Anabaptist or not. 

Theology of the Hug

What would Jesus have been like as an older man?  Have you ever stopped to think what it would have been like if Jesus would have waited to ascend to the Father?  

I imagine he would be a lot like my friend Bob.  Brother Bob seemed a lot like Jesus.  There have been few Sundays that those that have come to Mt. Zion Road Church of the Brethren haven't been greeted upon entering the Sanctuary by Brother Bob.  Handshakes weren't enough for Bob.  Handshakes are for those you just meet or barely know.  When I came into the sanctuary I was greeted with a big hug.  As Brother Bob hugged you he would whisper, "Oh, I needed that."

Now I enjoy good discussion/debate on theology and the finer points of the Bible.  Bob and I never had one of those conversations.  Instead what I learned from Bob was the power of the hug.  When I went away to college I received few hugs (just not cool for guys in a guys dorm to hug each other, I get it).  But when I would come home I always looked forward to one of Brother Bob's hugs.  Now that I am at Mechanic Grove those hugs from Brother Bob became a precious experience that became too rare.  Too often we debate with each other.  Theological discussions are good, and they have their place.  But the embrace from a brother has power in it that sometimes theology lacks.  

I can see Jesus being like Brother Bob.  Your soteriology, ecclesiology, escatology, (google them) are all fine and well but without love they are just a lot of noise and hot air (1 Cor. 13:1).  Brother Bob's hugs spoke of love in ways theology can't.  We called each other Brother because we are family.  He may have been the one to say, "Oh, I needed that," but every time my heart said the same.  I imagine Jesus often thinks we're silly for trying to figure it all out.  I imagine he gets frustrated when our theology gets in the way of showing love to each other.  I imagine Jesus would be the kind of person to greet everyone with a giant hug.

Brother Bob passed away this past Wednesday.  I will miss his hugs.  I look forward to the day I will be able to squeeze him again and whisper "Oh, I needed that Brother."  Perhaps we all need to learn the theology of the hug.