God Bless America?

Maybe it's just me but I know that an election season is upon us when politicians dust off their Christian heritage as they try to out-Christian each other in the hopes of capturing the prized Christian vote. Ugh! They desperately try to convince us that they are sincere and devout Christians seeking to reconnect us with the principles of our Christian forefathers so that we can continue to, or once again, be a nation blessed by God. Some religious leaders use this often volatile atmosphere to get their 15 minutes of fame by trying to inject some prophetic wisdom into the political process. While there are some religious leaders who do, in fact, offer some great wisdom, there are many who, without fail, lay hold of the Scripture verse found in 2 Chronicles as some kind of miracle fix for all that ails our nation. Here's how the text reads:

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This verse is often used by religious leaders around the country as an admonition to America as though it was written specifically for us. Now I don't doubt their hearts are in the right place and the verse does carry contemporary significance, but let's first try to understand the original meaning of the text. To begin with, let’s establish some ground rules for biblical interpretation. I have included the rules of biblical interpretation in the right hand column as a reminder any time you seek to understand any biblical text.

RULES FOR BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

1) The Bible was written long ago;

2) To people of a different culture;

3) Who lived in a different part of the world; and

4) Spoke a different language.

The general rule of thumb is always: CONTEXT! CONTEXT! CONTEXT!

The sole purpose of biblical interpretation (aka "exegesis") is to bring out the meaning of a given text. Not what we want the text to mean but: 1) What the original author intended the text to mean; and 2) What the original recipients of the text understood it to mean. That's not to say the text is irrelevant for us today. On the contrary, because the Scriptures are God-breathed, they have eternal relevance and significance. Therefore, even though each text has but one meaning in its immediate context, it is relevant for our lives today because of its eternal significance as God's Word. Ultimately, it is our duty to ascertain not only the precise meaning of a given text in its immediate context (to the extent we are able to do so) but to determine its significance (application) to our lives today.

Now let's get back to our subject verse of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and see if we can determine a proper understanding of the text and at the same time answer these questions of relevance for us today:

1) Can this verse be applied to the United States?

2) Can this verse be applied to any country claiming to have a Christian heritage?

3) If the verse is used by the United States, what does that assume theologically and to whom is the "my people" referring?

4) What is the appropriate use of this verse?

            In its immediate context, this verse is being used to describe the events surrounding the coronation of the Temple constructed by Solomon specifically and God’s dealing with Israel more generally. The verse is rooted in the Abrahamic covenant promise of land (See previous posting—Label: “Pastoral Care”—Date: 1/11/12—Title: “By Faith, God Makes the Impossible-Possible”) where Israel’s failure to keep its end of the covenant resulted in God’s judgment. That judgment was typically manifested in drought or plagues on the land thereby rendering the land useless as opposed to a “land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8).” To apply the same principles to the United States is specifically out of context. Primarily because the United States was formed originally and exists currently (along with the rest of the world) during the era of the New Covenant promises of Jesus Christ. Consequently, the verse cannot be applied literally to the United States. Moreover, for the same reasons, it cannot be applied literally to any other country claiming a Christian heritage.

The theological theme of 2 Chronicles 10-36 is generally described as “The theology of immediate retribution.” Raymond Dillard writes, The Chronicler’s adherence to a ‘theology of immediate retribution’ provides his dominant compositional technique…‘retribution theology’ refers to the author’s apparent conviction that reward and punishment are not deferred, but rather follow immediately on the heels of the precipitating events.”[1] Dillard goes on to write, “2 Chronicles 7:14 constitutes a programmatic statement of great importance; it is probably the most widely known passage in Chronicles, though reference to it in popular and homiletical literature commonly apply it in contexts quite foreign to the author’s original use.”[2] We must be very careful when we ask that God treat us today according to his Old Testament promises—particularly since we can’t pick and choose which ones we want and which ones we don’t want! Think about this as it relates to our subject verse in its context (Remember the rules: CONTEXT! CONTEXT! CONTEXT!).

Pursuant to God’s Old Testament covenant with Israel, God intended his chosen people to be a nation of light to the surrounding nations that would point to the God of Israel as the one true God among the pantheon of gods worshipped by the surrounding nations. However, Israel failed to be that light to surrounding nations when they adopted the pagan religious practices of the neighboring nations. Subsequently, the New Testament makes a shift from Israel being a light to the nations to believers in Jesus Christ both individually and collectively as the Church as being the light to surrounding nations; pointing them to the one true God manifest in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. The distinction is key with respect to God’s ability to reach all nations with the Good News of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of the “Great Commission” found in Matthew 28:19-20. In a sense, the shift was God’s way of going international.  With a shift to the Church as being the light to the world as opposed to the immoveable object of the nation of Israel, God, in his omniscience, decentralized himself through the Holy Spirit and made it possible for God to become known throughout all the nations of the earth including the United States by the witness of individual believers and the Church collectively.

When the United States utilizes this verse to apply to the United States as a nation, it is invoking a plea that is no longer applicable in the New Covenant era. It assumes that the “my people” addressed in 2 Chronicles are now Americans. (The ramifications of this assumption are frightening if for no other reason than our current President has publicly proclaimed (or maybe conceded) to an international audience that America is no longer a Christian nation! In the Old Testament, it was the duty of the Israel’s leadership (kings, priests, prophets) to always point the people toward being faithful and obedient to God. It was the failure of Israel’s leadership in this regard while at the same time being neither faithful nor obedient themselves that brought judgment on their entire nation. Therefore, if our President is correct and we are being held to the standards of the Old Testament covenant then all I can say is—LOOK OUT!) Relax! (But only just a little.) Replacing Israel as “my people” with Americans as “my people” is clearly out of context, biblically inaccurate and assumes that all of God’s promises to the nation of Israel are now of no force or effect. I can demonstrate this to be patently untrue using just one example: God made an Old Testament promise to Israel that someone from the line of David would always occupy the throne (cf. 2 Samuel 7:13, Jeremiah 33:17). This promise is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ (not an American by the way)! Furthermore, judgment against land is no longer appropriate given that we are no longer under the Abrahamic covenant as described above. That’s not to say that God cannot bring draught or plagues that affect our land but the United States was never founded on the promise of receiving a land “flowing with milk and honey” in the first place. Instead, this verse should be used as a general principle as it applies to the covenant promise made to believers individually and collectively. Believers have a duty to be a light to individual people and to people collectively as a nation. If we fall away from the truth of Scripture either as individuals or as the Church, God moves to discipline or correct us individually or as a Church. As such, it is true that if we, individually and/or as a Church repent (See previous posting—Label: “Book Review”—Date: 2/22/12—Title: “TrueFaced”), then God will hear our prayers and forgive us. In this way, there is a consistency between the promises of 2 Chronicles for the nation of Israel during the Old Testament era and 2 Chronicles for Christians in the New Testament era.

Now that we have a better understanding of 2 Chronicles 7:14 in its proper context, is it still proper say “God Bless America” and does “God Bless America” as a nation? The answer to both questions is an emphatic, “Yes!” But only insofar as America as a nation plays a part of God’s overall redemptive purposes for humanity. It in no way implies that America or Americans are chosen to the exclusion of or greater favor over other nations or people. It is true that God may use America in more prominent ways from time to time than other nations or people, but that is anecdotal evidence of God’s favor. It is true that God has showered his blessing of freedom, liberty and prosperity on America. However, with such great blessing comes great responsibility—especially for the Church. It is in this environment of great blessings that the Church, individually and collectively, must take the opportunity to be the brightest light possible to the rest of the world by pointing people to the truth about God’s salvation available through the person of Jesus Christ.

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[1] Raymand B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, 2 Chronicles, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), p. 76.

[2] Ibid., p. 77.

TrueFaced

Authors Thrall, McNicol and Lynch eloquently put into words the life that Christians and non-Christians lead on a daily basis. Every person’s life is marked by the lack of genuine authenticity. The authors identify this behavior as constructing and wearing masks in order to avoid communication and relationships at a level that may expose the truth about our lives. The authors demonstrate how unresolved sin, either by us or against us, prohibit us from being truly authentic with one another. They write, “Because of sin, we’ve lost confidence that we will always please our audience, so we feel compelled to hide and put on a mask.” (p. 13) The authors describe how sin produces either an involuntary response of guilt when we sin or an involuntary response of hurt when we are sinned against. Left unresolved, either of these involuntary responses will lead to what they call, “Inevitable Effects” such as shame, blame, fear, denial and anger to name a few. As a result, these Inevitable Effects cause us to don a mask to give a public appearance that nothing serious has happened. This is not only the case in our human relationships but particularly in our relationship with God. It is at this point that the authors form the basis of their thesis—our motives for wearing masks. The authors cleverly narrow everything down to two options: Are we trying to please God or are we trusting God?

            In essence, what the authors are saying is: Is our behavior dictated by who we think we should be in the sight of others and God or who God says we already are? The authors place everyone on two divergent paths, one leading to the “Room of Good Intentions” and one leading to the “Room of Grace.” Those in the “Room of Good Intentions…Strive to be All God Wants Them to Be.” (P. 85) These people are “working” on their sin so that they can be more pleasing to God. Unfortunately, they never succeed in “solving” their sin problem. Consequently, their failure to conquer their sin has the Inevitable Effects of shame, blame, anger or any other mechanism that will explain or deflect their sinful behavior. Conversely, those in the Room of Grace approach their sin from the perspective of a life lived out of who God says they already are—saints who sin. These people realize that it is only by trusting God with themselves and addressing their sin together with Him that they can deal with their sins. Not by solving all their sin problems, that won’t be possible in this life, but by systematically addressing them through confession and repentance and thereby avoiding the Inevitable Effects their sins can produce. This, however, can only be done in an environment that promotes trust in God as opposed to performance to please God. Unfortunately, this concept is the weakest part of the authors’ argument.

The idea of the Room of Grace is a beautiful concept and I have no argument that this is the best environment for dealing with our sins. However, this environment seems to be, in large part, an abstract concept. My personal observation has been that while many churches claim to promote an environment that could be described as the Room of Grace, very few in reality are. This is clearly obvious based on the fact that Christians are just as apt to wear masks as non-Christians. Furthermore, it seems rare to find such an environment even within the intimate confines of a home let alone such a public gathering as the church. The authors assert that if this environment does not exist then we can develop one by implementing the practice of trusting others and God with who we really are. However, this practice is precisely why many Christians (and non-Christians) have donned masks. They have tried to be authentic and transparent within their Christian communities only to find that such authenticity is not truly acceptable. Too many people, including Christians, are quick to judge and slow to forgive. It is far easier to accept a person with a beautiful mask than what can at times be a grotesque figure behind the mask. Years ago I experienced this phenomenon personally as the leader of a small group of men who met weekly to take a biblical approach to the issues facing men at home and at work. We met together for nearly three years and discussed many delicate topics in general but never really addressed any personal struggles. Finally, as the group leader, I decided to share a particular personal struggle with the group. It was a very awkward meeting and the matter was never seriously addressed. After that time, some of the men in the group started missing meetings and eventually stopped coming altogether. Within two months, the rest of the men in the group decided they weren’t really getting anything out of the meetings anymore and thought it would be best if we disband. I can’t help but believe that none of the men were comfortable with the real me but instead wanted the “me” that didn’t have any ugly problems. It would seem that the only way this concept of trusting God and others with who we really are works is if everyone practices it at the same time. Otherwise, there always seems to be a majority who don’t really want to deal with the ugly monster behind the mask and, as a consequence, the Room of Grace remains sadly only an idealistic concept and not a universal reality. So how can we, or at least the Church, begin to make the Room of Grace a reality?

In our performance driven culture that prizes self-sufficiency and “having it all together,” it is difficult to convince people (including the Church) that the cost of wearing a mask is far greater than the cost of being transparent. Furthermore, in the culture-at-large, erecting a façade seems generally innocuous (even if intuitively we know it’s probably unhealthy) so what’s the big deal about transparency and, specifically, how does the concept of transparency impact the Church? “Transparency,” generally speaking, appears to be the opposite of wearing a mask. Wearing a mask hides or disguises the truth behind the mask while transparency is variously defined as something fine or sheer enough to be seen through or being free from pretense or deceit. However, there is another definition that strikes at the heart of something Jesus said and is precisely the danger the Church faces when its members fail to be fully transparent. “Transparency” is also defined as “Having the property of transmitting light without appreciable scattering so that bodies beyond are seen clearly.” The key element to that definition is “Transmitting light without appreciable scattering.” “Appreciable scattering” in this case implies: “Without significant distortion.” This is precisely the case in a spiritual sense as well. Let’s look at something Jesus said:

Matthew 5:14-16

            ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

            In its immediate context, these verses are part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Overall, this sermon is Jesus’ instruction for living according to Kingdom principles. The result of living according to these principles is that followers will be a reflection of Jesus and a projection of the Light of Jesus in their lives. Donald Hagner writes, “’God is Light’ according to 1 John 1:5, and Christ is described in the Fourth Gospel as ‘the Light of the world’ (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; cf. 1:7-8)…God, moreover, has come in Christ to bring light into the darkness (John 1:4-5, 9; 12:46; cf. Ps 27:1)…In Paul, the metaphor also extends to Christians, who are described as ‘children of Light’ (Eph 5:8; 1 Thess 5:5).”[1] In these verses, Jesus instructs that we shouldn’t hide the Light that is within us but allow it to illuminate the way to Him so that others might come to know Him personally. But what is the “Light” to which Jesus is referring? Professor Craig Blomberg writes, “Like lights from a city illuminating the dark countryside or a lamp inside a house providing light for all within it, Christians must let their good works shine before the rest of the world so that others may praise God.”[2] The metaphor of light is clear in that the people of the Church are to be a light to the world. Perhaps you’re beginning to recognize the correlation between the concept of transparency, wearing masks as described by the authors of TrueFaced and Jesus’ instruction to be a light to the world. But if it’s not quite clear, allow me to explain: Transparency, by definition, is required in order for the Light that is within us to be seen. A mask, by definition, obscures what is behind the mask and by extension obscures the Light within us. This contravenes Jesus’ assertion when He says, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.” Some people may argue that we should only illuminate the parts of our lives that bring God glory – “Our good deeds” while our masks hide the parts of our lives that we believe would never bring glory to God. For example, someone may be hiding an addiction or some other sinful behavior believing that transparency would reflect poorly on God. However, transparency rooted in confession and repentance shines a very, very bright light on the Cross that represents God’s greatest gift of grace. “Our good deed” in this case is the act of confession and repentance and the reliance on God’s grace that is available through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.

Conclusion

            Using the illustration above, we can see clearly the distinction between the Room of Good Intentions and the Room of Grace as described by the authors of TrueFaced. In the Room of Good Intentions, Light never shines for fear that some ugly truth might be exposed. Unfortunately, the beauty of God’s grace is also rarely, if ever, seen. However, in the Room of Grace, Light shines brightly and transparency allows Light to flood into every area of a believer’s life—including the parts that might be quite grotesque. Instead of reflecting poorly on God, transparency rooted in confession and repentance allows the Light to clearly illuminate the way to God’s grace available to everyone through Jesus Christ. So what will it take for the Room of Grace to become a universal reality? I believe it will take humility, courage and perseverance—the humility to confess our sins, the courage to repent and the perseverance to continue the cycle of confession and repentance even when it’s embarrassing, uncomfortable and painful. Eventually that kind of transparency will be transformational for us and will allow the Light within us to illuminate the way for others to practice the same cycle of confession and repentance. Then, and only then, will the Room of Grace become a universal reality.

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[1] Donald A. Hagner, Word Biblical Commentary, Matthew 1-13, (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993), pp. 990-100.

[2] Craig L. Blomberg, The New American Commentary, Matthew, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), p. 103.

Finding Punchinello

When my girls were little, Laura and I would read to them every night. One of my favorite stories was about a character by the name of Punchinello. Sometimes I still call the girls my little Punchinello as a term of endearment (that and I really like saying “Punchinello!”). We laugh and have a good time but for me the short story touched me deeply which is why I loved reading it to my girls. I often cried after reading the story when my girls were asleep. I wondered what it would feel like to hear the One who created me say: “I made you and I don’t make mistakes!”

I'm probably like lots of you in that I have been wounded by the words and actions of influential people early in my life. Although I refuse to be a "victim" of those experiences, they have, nevertheless, served to shape my view of myself and by extension have impacted my relationships with people and with God. Much of my life has been marked by self hatred as well as feeling useless and worthless. Now, I offer this self-disclosure not for the purpose of evoking sympathy but to insist that even at 50 and a pastor, I desperately need God's transformational power to heal the wounds of my life and learn just how valuable I am. Brennan Manning's teachings have been instrumental in helping me grasp a Biblical understanding of God—not so much from a theological perspective but from the perspective of the relationship between Father and child. I am far from having accepted the truths about what God thinks about me but the more time I spend with Him, the more I begin to believe His words when He says He loves me and that I am valuable. I know that I’m not alone in this struggle and I desperately wish I could just tell those of you who have been wounded that God loves you and values you and that if you would just accept that then all the awful things you think and feel about yourself would just magically change. But I know from my own life that it’s not that simple. It takes time for God to rewire who we think we are into who God has always known us to be. It’s not easy so I won’t patronize you by offering some three-step or ten-step method for changing the way you think about yourself. Instead, I want to invite you to just spend time with Him, read the precious words of Life revealed in his Word and let His words of love begin to transform your mind and heart. I promise, based on personal experience, that you will begin to see yourself changed from the person you think you are or should be to the person He knows you are—a child loved by the Creator.

Priest, author, lecturer, alcoholic and spiritual formation guide, Brennan Manning, has dramatically blessed my life through his writings. This lesson in spiritual formation and healing is taken from a cross-section of some of Manning's writings. However, before I start my lesson, I have to share the story of Punchinello with you!

You Are Special

The Wemmicks were small wooden people. All of the wooden people were carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill overlooking their village. Each Wemmick was different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the village.

And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people spent their days sticking stars or dots on one another. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks gave dots.

The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing pretty songs. Everyone gave them stars. Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good! It made them want to do something else and get another star. Others, though, could do little. They got dots.

Punchinello was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around and give him dots. Sometimes when he fell, his wood got scratched, so the people would give him more dots. Then when he would try to explain why he fell, he would say something silly, and the Wemmicks would give him more dots. After a while he had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was afraid to do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him another dot. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and give him one for no reason at all.

"He deserves lots of dots," the wooden people would agree with one another.

"He's not a good wooden person."

After a while Punchinello believed them. "I'm not a good Wemmick," he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had lots of dots. He felt better around them.

One day he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia. It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick. Some of the Wemmicks admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Others would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But it wouldn't stay either.

That's the way I want to be, thought Punchinello. I don't want anyone's marks. So he asked the stickerless Wemmick how she did it.

"It's easy," Lucia replied, "Every day I go see Eli."

"Eli?"

"Yes, Eli. The woodcarver. I sit in the workshop with him."

"Why?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He's there." And with that the Wemmick who had no stickers turned and skipped away.

"But will he want to see me?" Punchinello cried out. Lucia didn't hear. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other stars and dots. "It's not right," he muttered to himself. And he decided to go see Eli.

He walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big shop. His wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tiptoes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard. "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name.

"Punchinello?"

The voice was deep and strong. Punchinello stopped.

"Punchinello! How good to see you. Come and let me have a look at you."

Punchinello turned slowly and looked at the large bearded craftsman. "You know my name?" the little Wemmick asked.

"Of course I do. I made you." Eli stooped down and picked him up and set him on the bench. "Hmm," the maker spoke thoughtfully as he looked at the gray dots. "Looks like you've been given some bad marks."

"I didn't mean to, Eli, I really tried hard."

"Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think."

"You don't?"

"No, and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They're Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn't matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you're pretty special."

Punchinello laughed. "Me, special? Why? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?"

Eli looked at Punchinello, put his hands on those small wooden shoulders, and spoke very slowly. "Because you're mine. That's why you matter to me."

Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this—much less his maker. He didn't know what to say.

"Every day I've been hoping you’d come," Eli explained.

"I came because I met someone who had no marks," said Punchinello.

"I know. She told me about you."

"Why don't the stickers stay on her?"

The maker spoke softly. "Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them."

"What?"

"The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers."

"I'm not sure I understand."

Eli smiled. "You will, but it will take time. You've got a lot of marks. For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care." Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the ground. "Remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door, "you are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."

Punchinello didn't stop, but in this heart he thought, I think he really means it. And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.[1]

(You can purchase this wonderful children's book beautifully illustrated by Sergio Martinez from Amazon.com.)

Brennan Manning Biography

            Born in New York City to Emmett and Amy Manning during the era of the Great Depression, Brennan Manning grew up in Brooklyn along with his brother, Robert, and sister, Geraldine. Manning graduated from St. Francis College majoring in philosophy and minoring in Latin. Thereafter he completed four years of advanced studies in theology. In 1963 Manning graduated from St. Francis Seminary and was ordained to the Franciscan priesthood.

In the late sixties, Manning joined the monastic order of the Little Brothers of Jesus. Among his various assignments, Manning became an aguador (water carrier), transporting water to rural villages via donkey and buckboard; a mason's assistant, shoveling mud and straw; a dishwasher in France; a voluntary prisoner in a Swiss jail; and ultimately a solitary contemplative secluded in a remote cave for six months in the Zaragoza desert.

In the mid-seventies, Manning moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where he was engaged in campus ministry at Broward Community College. His successful ministry was abruptly interrupted, however, when he suffered a debilitating collapse into alcoholism. Six months of treatment culminating at the Hazelden treatment center in Minnesota restored his health and placed him on the road to recovery. It was at this point in his life that Manning began writing profusely. One book soon followed upon another. Simultaneously, invitations for him to speak and to lead spiritual retreats multiplied exponentially. “Today, Brennan travels widely as he continues to write and preach, encouraging men and women everywhere to accept and embrace the good news of God's unconditional love in Jesus Christ.”[2]

Introduction

While Manning’s mission to spread the Good News of Christ’s unconditional love to the world seems simplistic in nature, his understanding of how a person matures or is formed as a result of that unconditional love is far from simplistic. Instead, Manning emphasizes a number of different formational principles that are at times complex and interwoven so that two or three principles are at work simultaneously to guide believers along their path to spiritual formation. It would appear that based on Manning’s writings, many of his formational principles were either spiritually inspired during his contemplative seclusion in a cave in the Zaragosa desert or forged in the fire of brokenness during his first and recurring battle with alcoholism. The foundational principles of Manning’s concept of spiritual formation can generally be identified as, ruthless trust, accepted tenderness, elimination of self-hatred, intimate belonging and compassion. During the process of trying to determine if there is a systematic approach to Manning’s formational principles it became increasingly obvious that each element is in some way interdependent on one or more of the other elements. Consequently, no single element can be identified as the central concept upon which the others are dependent. Therefore, instead of understanding Manning’s view of spiritual formation as a systematic approach, it is best to consider his spiritual guidance as holistic as opposed to strictly sequential. Nevertheless, below is an attempt to describe each formational principle on its own merit and thereafter describe how Manning’s principles interact as a holistic approach to spiritual formation.

Ruthless Trust

In describing ruthless trust, Manning writes, “Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic...It requires heroic courage to trust in the love of God no matter what happens to us.”[3] This is clearly a biblical concept as we find Jesus insisting that his disciples “Trust in God and trust in me [Jesus].” (John 14:1). But how is this level of trust transformational in the life of the believer? From a relational aspect, according to Manning, our level of trust with someone will have a tangible impact on the depth of our relationship with that person. Essentially, if I cannot trust you, I cannot love you. This is no different in our relationship with Jesus. If I cannot trust Jesus fully then I cannot love Jesus fully. Ruthless trust by necessity insists that we trust when trust is unreasonable or seemingly impossible. Nowhere does this ruthless trust manifest itself more clearly than when we trust that what Jesus did on the cross was sufficient to atone for our many sins. Since there is absolutely nothing we can do to atone for our own sins, we must trust that Jesus did what we could not. The depth of our trust will manifest itself in our actions in response to Jesus’ atonement on our behalf. If we ruthlessly trust in Jesus then we will surrender our lives to him. As a result, we are transformed through our relationship with Jesus and become more like him in thought, word and deed. If we do not trust Jesus fully, we will constantly try to supplement Jesus’ atonement with our own efforts to atone for our sins. In this way we move away from a relationship with Jesus. Manning writes that “Our trust in Jesus grows as we shift from making self-conscious efforts to be good to allowing ourselves to be loved as we are (not as we should be).”[4] It is important to note that if a person is unable to fully trust the Creator of the universe then it is not unreasonable to insist that such a person will have difficulty fully trusting anyone. As a result, relational depth is stunted with both God and neighbor.

Accepted Tenderness

It is an oft repeated sentiment by many that they find it difficult to believe that God lovingly accepts them as they are. With respect to this acceptance, Manning writes,

“When I accept in the depth of my being that the ultimate accomplishment of my life is me—the person I’ve become and who other persons are because of me—then living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness is not a technique, not a craft, not a Carnegian ploy of how to win friends and influence people, but a way of life, a distinctive and engaged presence to God, other ragamuffins, and myself.”[5]

Manning refers to God’s tenderness toward us as his “Fierce Mercy.” And it is this fierce mercy that transforms our lives. The Bible is replete with examples of God’s tenderness as fierce mercy. Some of the more poignant examples are Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery, Peter’s repeated denial, and ultimately the events of Jesus’ death on the cross. In each case, Jesus never reacts angrily toward the transgressors but instead tenderly offers forgiveness. Jesus offers forgiveness to a woman caught in adultery by calling into question the integrity of her accusers who are prepared to stone her. Jesus offers forgiveness to Peter who repeatedly insists that he would never deny his association with Jesus yet he does so not just once but three times. Finally, after being brutally beaten and then nailed to a cross, Jesus makes one of his most profound statements when he says, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk. 23:34) As a result, the woman caught in adultery became a devout follower of Jesus, Peter became the rock upon which the Church would be built and Jesus’ work on the cross still makes it possible for lost sons and daughters to come home to God. We are transformed when we accept God’s tenderness, according to Manning, because it changes our perspective on life and the world. Manning writes, “The way of tenderness affects our manner of being in the world rather than our manner of doing in the world.”[6]

Eliminating Self-Hatred

Self-hatred is perhaps one of the most crippling phenomena among mankind but particularly when it impacts the Church. About self-hatred, Manning quotes Andrew Greeley when he writes,

“God’s mission in the world and his mission in his relationship with the individual believer is essentially a mission of overcoming self-hatred. For self-hatred is a barrier to love. We hate other people not because we love ourselves too much but because we are not able to love ourselves enough.”[7]

Unfortunately, much of our self-hatred inevitably manifests itself in our relationship with God and others. Manning recounts a fictional yet interesting story about a young back-woods boy who is painfully unpopular particularly among his peers. He ventures out one day and providentially encounters an injured turkey that he quickly kills and slings over his shoulder as he heads to town. Once in town, he is lauded as a kind of hero by the townsfolk as he retells the story of his good fortune. All the way out of town he is praising God for his provision until the town bullies apprehend him at the edge of town and take his turkey from him. Thereafter, all the way home the boy repeatedly chastises himself for displaying obvious pride and joy over his good fortune certain that God must have been angry and thus relieved him of his vaunted trophy. Of this attitude Manning writes,

“Our God is the One who benevolently gives turkeys and then capriciously takes them away. When he gives them, they are a sign of his interest, favor, and good pleasure with us. We feel comfortably close to God and are spurred to the heights of generosity. When he takes them away, it is a sign of his displeasure, rejection, and vengeance. We feel cast off by God. He is fickle, unpredictable, and whimsical. He builds us up only to let us down. He relentlessly remembers our past sins and vindictively retaliates by snatching the turkeys of good health, wealth, inner-peace, empire, success, and joy.”[8]

Why is this our view of God? Primarily, according to Manning, it is due to our self-hatred. In essence, we project onto God how we think he feels about us based on how we feel about ourselves. But this is a crucial error in our understanding of God and how he views us. Manning writes, “[Thus,] if we feel hateful toward ourselves, we assume that God feels hateful toward us. But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely.”[9] Ultimately, we begin to be transformed and set free from our self-hatred when we learn to see ourselves as beloved children of the Father.

Intimate Belonging

Everyone wants to belong—for our degree of belonging will have a direct impact on our sense of identity. For example, being abused, neglected or abandoned, in many cases, forges a sense of uselessness/worthlessness. Conversely, being loved and cared for builds a strong sense of security and the freedom to be all that God intended for us to be. Manning writes, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.”[10] Paul’s letter to the Galatians reminds us that God’s relationship with us through Jesus necessarily defines us when he writes,

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Gal 4:4-7)

Manning insists that there is tremendous transformation in the realization that we are beloved children of the Father—the Creator of the universe. Manning quotes Frederick Buechner when he writes,

“We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us—not because we have deserved his love and not in spite of our undeserving, not because we try and not because we recognize the futility of our trying; but simply because he has chosen to love us. We are children because he is our father, and all our efforts, fruitful and fruitless, to do good, to speak truth, to understand, are the efforts of children who, for all their precocity, are children still in that before we loved him, he loved us, as children, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”[11]

Compassion

How we treat others can have as much or greater transforming affect on our own lives as it does on those with whom we interact. Compassion is one of those acts that can impact and transform us disproportionately compared to the person or persons on which we have compassion. For example, when Jesus wept over Jerusalem, his compassion had little if any impact on the people of Jerusalem but it had a dramatic affect on him. However, most of the time, compassion will have a palpable impact on the recipient of that compassion. Manning observes that,

“A Christian who doesn’t merely see but looks at another [compassionately] communicates to that person that he is being recognized as a human being in an impersonal world of objects, as someone and not something. If this simple psychological reality, difficult and demanding as it is, were actualized in human relationships, perhaps 98 percent of the obstacles to living like Jesus would be eliminated.”[12]

What do you see when you look at another—especially someone who has hurt you? What if we could see that person with the eyes of a triage doctor as opposed to an executioner? Who would be changed—you, the offender or perhaps both? Whether or not Manning’s assumption about the efficacy of compassionate interaction is completely accurate is not really the point. More important is the fact that compassion can and does have dramatically transformative power. Manning makes this clear when he continues,

“In Jesus’ reaction to Peter we see that no man was ever freer of pressures, conventions, or addictions. Jesus was so liberated from the dominating barrage of desires, demands, expectations, needs, and inflexible emotional programming that he could accept the unacceptable. He did not have to resort to screams, vicious attacks, or undue threats. He communicated his deeper feelings to Peter by a look. And that look [of compassion] transformed and re-created Peter.”[13]

Every time we show compassion to someone, we become more and more like Jesus. The closer we get to what Manning calls “Indiscriminate compassion,” the more we are transformed into the image of Christ and the more we begin to love our neighbors as ourselves—especially when those neighbors are particularly unlovable. In this respect, Manning writes, “The insistence on the absolutely indiscriminate nature of compassion within the Kingdom is the dominant perspective of almost all of Jesus’ teachings.”[14]

Summary

            Clearly, no single principle is more important than the others. Additionally, there is not an inherent progression whereby a person can complete one then go to another. Instead, Manning’s principles are interrelated and interdependent as part of his holistic approach to spiritual formation. If you go back and read the story of Punchinello, see if you can pick up on the correlation between Lucado’s beautiful yet simple children’s story and Manning’s principles for spiritual formation. We can trust ruthlessly when we realize that we belong intimately to a loving Father. As a necessary part of that intimate belonging, we begin to accept God’s tenderness that can only be described as fierce mercy in light of the grotesque nature of our sin. Ultimately, what grows out of the relationship of intimate belonging with God that can only be possible through God’s tender acceptance of who we are and not who we want or think we should be, is a sense that we need not hate ourselves because we may, in fact, be quite likeable. Once we begin to let go of our self-hatred, we are better able to stop focusing on our own shortcomings and begin seeing with eyes of compassion a lost and hurting world around us desperately in need of life-giving transformation available through Christ.

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[1] Max Lucado, You Are Special, (New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 1997), pp. 7-31.

[2] “Biography,” Brennan Manning, <http://www.brennanmanning.com/bio/index.html>, (accessed 11/15/07)

[3] Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2000), 3-4

[4] Ibid., 92

[5] Brennan Manning, The Wisdom of Tenderness: What Happens When God’s Fierce Mercy Transforms Our Lives, (New York, NY : HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2002), 3

[6] Ibid., 6

[7] Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2005), 107

[8] Brennan Manning, A Glimpse of Jesus: The Stranger to Self-Hatred, (New York: HarperCollins, Inc., 2003), 4

[9][9] Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging, (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002), 19

[10] Ibid., 60

[11] Ibid., 95

[12] Manning, Being Foolish, 110

[13] Ibid., 111

[14] Manning, Abba’s Child, 75

The Cost of Discipleship

“Let Me Take His Place” – Maximilian Kolbe, Germany, 1941

            “The siren sounded and the prisoners of Maximilian Kolbe’s bunker were led out into the summer morning. From the activities of the German guards it was obvious that something was wrong. Maximilian looked at the guard towers and watched the officers standing stiffly as he and the other prisoners were gathered before them.

            The commandant of the prison camp stepped forward. ‘There has been an escape. As you know, for this ten of you will die. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you—your freedom will cost the lives of ten other men.’

            Ten men were selected from among the ranks and brought to the front. Maximilian watched as Sergeant Francis Gajoniczek was marched forward. ‘No, no, you can’t! I don’t want to die.’

            At this, Maximilian stepped forward. ‘Sir, I am a priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and child.’

            The officer looked at him for an instant, then at the young man. He could certainly use the young man more for the daily labors that were required of the prisoners. ‘All right. You, back in line. Old man, you go with the others.’

            The ten men were taken to a cell, where they were left to starve. All the while, Maximilian comforted the others with prayers, songs, and stories of Christ’s sacrifices for all of them. At the end of two weeks only four of them were still alive and only Maximilian was fully coherent. These four were then executed with an injection of carbolic acid.”[1]

Review

            What does the call to discipleship, following Jesus, mean to us in our modern/postmodern culture? What was Jesus saying to us today? Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship is, in large part, an exposition of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. First, let’s take a look at what Jesus said:

Matthew 5

¹ Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

The Fulfillment of the Law

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Murder

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. ²³ Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Adultery

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Divorce

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.”

Oaths

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

  

An Eye for an Eye

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹ If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Love for Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Bonhoeffer writing leaves no room for doubt where his convictions lie—it is by faith alone that we are saved but that faith is never alone. Discipleship is the same today as it was during Jesus’ earthly ministry: Be obedient in faith to follow Jesus’ example and his commands. Bonhoeffer writes, “Only those who obey can believe, and only those who believe can obey.” (p. 70) Bonhoeffer address these timeless questions in his dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer writes, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again...It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." (pp. 44-45) The title of the book, “The Cost of Discipleship," is in itself a compelling statement of the demands of sacrifice and ethical consistency that may, in fact, cost someone their earthly life as it did Bonhoeffer’s.

Bonhoeffer’s focus on grace contrasts worthless, cheap grace (to just believe) with the costly grace by which we are saved, if we continue in obedience to Christ. Bonhoeffer brings us to the foot of the Cross of Christ and shows us that the Sermon on the Mount is a command not an ideal. He “counted” the cost of discipleship and found Grace a Costly Truth. Cheap Grace, as cited above, is grace bestowed on ourselves, preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, eliminating self denial and the death of self life. Bonhoeffer goes on to write, “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices.” (p. 43) He creatively illustrates how the church, along with the gospel, has been diluted by this distorted teaching about grace as he writes, “We…have gathered like eagles round the carcass of cheap grace, and there we have drunk of the poison which has killed the life of following Christ.” (p. 53) Bonhoeffer chastised German Christians during the Nazi occupation, but he may as well be admonishing the Church in our modern/postmodern culture as well that we have watered down the gospel into a “feel-good” message that makes no costly demands and fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence. Furthermore, if the Church refuses to face the grim and painful reality of sin, it will have no credibility when it talks of forgiveness. The Cost of Discipleship drives home the crucial point that grace is not a license to sin! Paul writes in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 6:1-4

            ¹ “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

 Instead, grace is the power of God to transform sinful humanity into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

The July 20 Plot (aka “Operation Valkyrie”)

It is important to note, without going into substantial historical detail, that Bonhoeffer practiced what he preached. Therefore, a bit of context might be helpful in understanding what “The Cost of Discipleship” looked like for Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer was a minister in Germany during the Nazi occupation of the country. In 1944, an assassination plan was developed by some high-ranking Nazi officers. In short, the plan was to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Third Reich. When asked to participate in the effort, Bonhoeffer was at first horrified at the idea of murder. However, he realized that as a Christian he could not stand by and watch the annihilation of the Jews. The “July 20 Plot,” also known as “Operation Valkyrie,” was the culmination of years of meticulous planning.

However, before the assassination plans were implemented, money used to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced to Bonhoeffer. He was summarily arrested and sent to jail. His life was spared because he had a relative in the German high command. Finally, on July 20^th, the assassination plot was put into action. Everything worked exactly as planned until the very last moment. Shortly before the bomb was set to go off, someone unknowingly moved it away from where Hitler was sitting. Three officers were killed when the bomb went off but Hitler survived the attack. The German high command immediately began to track down members of the resistance who had been involved in the plot. The investigation eventually led to Bonhoeffer as one of several conspirators.

Hitler personally ordered Bonhoeffer’s execution. On the morning of April 8, 1945, Bonhoeffer was led naked into the execution yard while the prison guards mocked him. At the foot of the scaffold, Bonhoeffer paused to kneel and pray. He then got up and climbed the steps to the gallows. Using a meat hook, Bonhoeffer was slowly hoisted using a noose around his neck formed from piano wire. Asphyxiation is thought to have taken around thirty minutes.

It would seem that Bonhoeffer was imminently qualified to speak of “The Cost of Discipleship” as years before he had written about the necessity for Christians to embrace death: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out in to the world. But it is the same death every time – death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.” (pp. 89-90)

Bonhoeffer’s involvement in Operation Valkyrie introduces a difficult dichotomy between Jesus’ call not to resist evil and to pray for those who persecute us on the one hand and standing by as human beings (Jews in this case) are being systematically exterminated. “The Cost of Discipleship” is not always clear or simple. However, part of the “Cost” is the internal battle with trying to clearly discern God’s will in all cases and then acting properly thereon. How would you judge Bonhoeffer’s actions? What would you have done? What was easier (cheap)? What was more difficult (costly)?

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[1] dc Talk and Voice of the Martyrs, Jesus Freaks, Vol. II, (Minneapolis, MN, Bethany House Publishers, 2002), p. 161.