The safe life

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away form Jesus. The danger in our lives will always increase in proportion to the depth of our relationship with Christ.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 167

<idle musing>
Yes! Amen! Good preaching! I get sick of hearing people go on and on about wanting to keep their children "safe" or hearing a radio station say "Safe." Jesus didn't call us to live "safe lives; he called us to live selfless lives.
</idle musing>

Thought for today

“That Jesus did not command all his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people whom he would issue that command.”—Robert Gundry, quoted in — Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 120

Material prosperity and the gospel

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“In the dawn of this new phase in redemptive history, no teachers (including Jesus) in the New Testament ever promise material wealth as a reward for obedience. As it this were not startling enough to first-century Jews (and twenty-first century American Christians), we also see no verse in the New Testament where God's people are ever again commanded to build a majestic place of worship. Instead, God's people are told to be the temple—the place of worship.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 117

<idle musing>
Take that you "name it—claim it—stomp on it and frame it" or, as my cousin says, "Gab it and grab it" preachers!

Pretty amazing, isn't it? We are the temple of God! That is so amazing...
</idle musing>

Thoughts on the poor

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“So what is the difference between someone who willfully indulges in sexual pleasures while ignoring the Bible on moral purity and someone who willfully indulges in the selfish pursuit of more and more material possessions while ignoring the Bible on caring for the poor? The difference is that one involves a social taboo in the church and the other involves the social norm in the church.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 111

and

“Regardless of what we say or sing or study on Sunday morning, rich people who neglect the poor are not the people of God.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 115

<idle musing>
Harsh words, but very true. I sometimes think that people took Luther too literally and have knocked the book of James out of their Bibles:

Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”a you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.—James 2:6-9 TNIV

But, that still doesn't explain why they ignore Paul's warnings. Maybe it is just selfishness and an unwillingness to die to it? Nah, can't be that! That sounds too, well, biblical!
</idle musing>

Empty stomachs

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“Anyone wanting to proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth must consider not only how to declare the gospel verbally but also how to demonstrate the gospel visibly in a world where so many are urgently hungry. If I am going to address urgent spiritual need by sharing the gospel of Christ or building up the body of Christ around the world, then I cannot overlook dire physical need in the process.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 109

<idle musing>
I think you could easily find more than a few Bible verses that agree with him—James comes to mind, as does Habakkuk, and Amos, and...just about all the prophets. The unthinking alignment in the United States between capitalism and christianity is definitely unbiblical. But, as I was once told, does a fish know it is wet?
</idle musing>

Safe!

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“In our Christian version of the American dream, our plan ends up disinfecting Christians from the world more than discipling Christians in the world. Let me explain the difference.

“Disinfecting Christians from the world involves isolating followers of Christ in a spiritual safe-deposit box called the church building and teaching them to be good. In this strategy, success in the church is defined by how big a building you have to house all the Christians, and the goal is to gather as many people as possible for a couple of hours each week in that place where we are isolated and insulated from the realities of the world around us.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, pages 104-105

<idle musing>
One of my pet peeves about American christianity has always been the emphasis on "safe." I don't see that anywhere in the Bible or Christian history; serving Jesus is anything but safe!
</idle musing>

People, please

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“One of the unintended consequences of contemporary church strategies that revolve around performances, places, programs, and professionals is that somewhere along the way people get left out of the picture. But according to Jesus, people are God's method for winning the world to himself. People who have been radically transformed by Jesus.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 90.

Let's state the obvious

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“We are not the end of the gospel; God is.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 71

Only God can do it

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“It is the way of Christ. Instead of asserting ourselves, we crucify ourselves. Instead of imagining all the things we can accomplish, we ask God to do what only he can accomplish. Yes, we work, we plan, we organize, and we create, but we do it all while we fast, while we pray, and while we constantly confess our need for the provision of God. Instead of dependence on ourselves, we express radical desperation for the power of his Spirit, and we trust that Jesus stands ready to give us everything we ask for so that he might make much of our Father in the world.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 60

What Holy Spirit?

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“I am a part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God. And it's not just pastors who are involved in this charade. I am concerned that all of us—pastors and church members in our culture—have blindly embraced an American dream mentality that emphasizes our abilities and exalts our names in the ways we do church.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, Pages 48-49

<idle musing>
Yep. Generally speaking, if the Holy Spirit failed to show up in our life today, we wouldn't even notice—practicing atheists.
</idle musing>

The american dream and the gospel

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“The dangerous assumption we unknowingly accept in the American dream is that our greatest asset is our own ability. The American dream prizes what people can accomplish when they believe in themselves and trust in themselves, and we are drawn toward such thinking. But the gospel has different priorities. The gospel beckons us to die to ourselves and to believe in God and to trust in his power. In the gospel, God confronts us with our utter inability to accomplish anything of value apart from him. This is what Jesus meant when he said, 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 46

<idle musing>
Amen! I think he's at his best when he is critiquing how culture has infiltrated the church.
</idle musing>

A new creation

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“We are saved from our sins by a free gift of grace, something that only God can do in us and that we cannot manufacture ourselves.

“But that gift of grace involves the gift of a new heart. New desires. New longings. For the first time, we want God. We see our need for him, and we love him. We seek after him, and we find him, and we discover that he is indeed the great reward of our salvation. We realize that we are saved not just to be forgiven of our sins or to be assured of our eternity in heaven but we are saved to know God. So we yearn for him. We want him so much that we abandon everything else to experience him. This is the only proper response to the revelation of God in the gospel.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 39

<idle musing>
Amen! That we are new in Christ is the good news. Everything else he mentions is the fruit of being new and being in Christ.
</idle musing>

Sinking sand

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“We have been told all that is required is a one-time decision, maybe even mere intellectual assent to Jesus, but after that we need not worry about his commands, his standards, or his glory. We have a ticket to heaven, and we can live however we want on earth. Our sin will be tolerated along the way. Much of modern evangelism today is built on leading people down this road, and crowds flock to it, but in the end it is a road built on sinking sand...”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 38

<idle musing>
And we all know what happens to roads (or buildings) built on sinking sand...
</idle musing>

I'm a good person

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“My life is not going right, but God loves me and has a plan to fix my life. I simply need to follow certain steps, think certain things, and check off certain boxes, and then I am good.

“Both our diagnosis of the situation and our conclusion regarding the solution fit nicely in a culture that exalts self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and self-confidence. We already have a fairly high view of our morality, so when we add a superstitious prayer, a subsequent dose of church attendance, and obedience to some of the Bible, we feel pretty sure that we will be all right in the end.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 32

<idle musing>
Self-this and self-that...Jesus says death to self, so we just ignore him or redefine what he meant. The latest Barna poll (sorry, can't remember the link) showed that while religious belief was decreasing over the last 15 years, certainty of heaven was increasing. Explain that!? Obviously it ain't coming from the biblical text...
</idle musing>

Stop and look

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“The gospel reveals eternal realities about God that we would sometimes rather not face. We prefer to sit back, enjoy our clichés, and picture God as a Father who might help us, all the while ignoring God as Judge who might damn us. Maybe this is why we fill our lives with the constant drivel of entertainment in our culture—and in the church. We are afraid that if we stop and really took at God in his Word, we might discover that he evokes greater awe and demand deeper worship than we are ready to give him.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 29

<idle musing>
"the constant drivel of entertainment..." I quoted that to Debbie last night. I think it describes our culture too perfectly. As a society, we're afraid of silence, of being face-to-face with ourselves.
</idle musing>

The American Gospel

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“Fundamentally, the gospel is the revelation of who God is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to him. Yet in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires. As a result, we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 28

<idle musing>
Amen! Good preaching!
</idle musing>

Which Jesus do you want?

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“...we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.

“A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 13

<idle musing>
That's a version of christianity I've seen far too often...
</idle musing>

Telling it like it is

For my disclaimer on this series, see here.

“I am convinced that we as Christ followers in American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical but that actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe. And I am convinced we have a choice.”— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 3

<idle musing>
Well, he certainly doesn't waste any time beating around the bush, does he? I think he is right, and he will defend that claim for a good part of the rest of the book. Stay tuned :)
</idle musing>

Popularity

For my disclaimer on this series, see here

“Jesus apparently wasn't interested in marketing himself to the masses. His invitations to potential followers were clearly more costly than the crowds were ready to accept, and he seemed to be okay with that. He focused instead on the few who believed him when he said radical things. And through their radical obedience to him, he turned the course of history in a new direction.— Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, page 2

<idle musing>
He sounds like Bonhoeffer here—not for the last time, either.
</idle musing>

A different book

Late spring or early summer—I can't remember which—while we were returning the grandkids, someone or two suggested a book to me that looked interesting. So, I read the first 60 pages. It was fascinating and deadly accurate, so I asked if I could borrow it. They let me, and I set it on my desk at home.

Six weeks passed before I got back to it. By that time, I had forgotten the first 60 pages, so I started over again. I still found it fascinating and deadly accurate. The author hit the nail on the head, time after time. He was diagnosing what was wrong with the church in America—and he isn't a far-out on the limb house church or Emergent author either! In fact, he is a mega-church pastor.

I found myself devouring the book, hoping he would offer the cure to all the ills he was highlighting. When he got to the prescription, I found that his cure was as bad as the disease. Where was the power of the Holy Spirit? Where was the presence of God in your moment-by-moment life? Where was the vibrant life of the book of Acts? He recommended reading the Bible through in a year, making a financial sacrifice, going on a mission trip, and getting involved in a meaningful church relationship. Same old same old, just a different package :( Not that there is anything wrong with any of them, in and of themselves. But, when you remove the emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the motivating, living factor in your life, you end up with another program.

What was/is the book? Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. Not that the book is all bad; as I said, his diagnosis is spot-on. So, I have decided I will extract the stuff that I found good from the book over the next so many days, but always link back to this caveat.

Feel free to show me where I misread him or where I am wrong; that's what the comments are for.