We know nothing at all

We are not judges. We are servants.

The more you learn, the more you realize you know nothing at all. I remember hearing that somewhere, and I’ve come to believe this to be true. In my 6 weeks of Seminary, I realize that all the things I thought I had mastery over are in fact only rudimentary and basic. Over the course of my theological studies I’ve learned that all the rock solid positions we hold so dear, in fact have much more subtlety and much more nuance. I’ve realized that the bumper sticker faith so many of us cling to is in mostly passing noise. The more you learn, the more you realize you know nothing at all.

To tell you the truth, somehow this is a comfort to me. I find it liberating not to talk in certainties. Certainty seems to me an idol we cling on to. Our empirical Enlightenment sensibilities tell us we must know and affirm truth completely, for only then can we find faith. When those sensibilities fail us, we fall into denial and despair. It seems sometimes our faith is only as strong as our eyes can see.

We say we want to know God more. But do we really mean it? Are we willing to step deeper into the great unknown? To delve into the bombardment of information, to find arguments and counter-arguments, to have conceptions challenged and broken down, to grapple with that which disturbs us? I don’t know.

Do we know anything at all? Foes become friends and become foes again. We turn from untruth, and then find that maybe we judged untruth too fast. We claim we fight and live to see the kingdom come, and when it does we cringe and wonder if it’s worth it. We fight for the equality of all, and then realize they are not like us.

We claim our Bible speaks truth. But what truth can we claim when scholars cannot agree on its meaning? What objective voice of truth can we bring to the Bible, when all of us carry with us our past? How can we say that the Bible says this or that, when simple things like words can mean different things to different people?

Apparently faith is simple, but life is not. How is that possible? There is no such thing as an easy answer, just easy lies. Why do we in church so often settle for the easy answer? Do we have that little faith?

We see through a glass darkly. We know in part, and not in full. So we cling to this truth, the more we learn, the more we don’t. The best thing we can do is to try and find truth. To immerse ourselves in the mess that is human existence. And pray we don’t become heretics. Because all heretics were asking the right questions, they just ended up with the wrong answers. Or did they? It is easy to laugh at the foolishness of our ancestors. Hindsight is convenient that way. But I always wonder, will what we hold true and earnestly believe today become the heresy of tomorrow? Who knows.

We are not judges. We are servants. Certainty is not our master. God is. Perhaps that is where our search for truth should start. But then again, easier said than done.

p.s. Does anyone know what the hell I’m talking about here? Because I’m not sure I do. Give it up for late night musings. We graduate students can be summed up in one word: Weird.

Breaking Silence

There were several reasons for doing this and let me detail them below:

1.      I got too emotionally invested in the outcome of the U.S. elections, to the point where I alienated friends and family. In some sense the partisan spirit that had captured the nation got a firm grip on me and I considered my views and all those who held them as thoroughly right and righteous and all who could not come to the same conclusions as others blithering idiots and uneducated Philistines. I realized soon after the election results that this was not a well reasoned way to go about life, and thus distanced myself from the public forum I love in order to better myself in being a gracious defender of the positions I hold.

2.      I also realized that in general, I take things way too personally and failed to distinguish the difference between attacks on my beliefs and attacks on me. Too often I assumed the latter and it took a toll on me. Again I realized emotional distance from the issues I argue might be a good skill for me to acquire if academic pursuits are something I hope to be a part of. So I took a sabbatical as a first step in learning how not to take comments personally.

3.      I learned that I was quite frankly addicted to the election cycle, to the point where I found myself scouring every news source I could find every instant that I could. This, quite frankly, was not a healthy place for me to be. I realized that my priorities in life were to my wife (of almost one year) and my puppy, and not to The Huffington Post. Again, I felt that distance from my political/religious activism would help correct that problem.

4.      I also realized I tended to be quite nasty and polarizing at times when I wrote. This again was probably due to my over-investment in the issues at hand. My apologies.

So on to some final thoughts before I close out this blog post:

1. I am still an adamant liberal, both politically and theologically. I believe that my life experiences and upbringing, as well as my own theological development have brought me to a place where I cannot be anything but liberal. I will admit perhaps I am not AS liberal as I once was (to the point where sometimes I find myself rolling my eyes at liberal platitudes) but I still remain thoroughly committed to that. But I will say that in these intervening months, I have come to the conclusion that conservatives aren’t complete idiots either. In fact I have heard good conservative arguments on positions where I swing left and have had good reason to ponder. Sadly, none of these good conservative arguments have come from FOX News but still, the fact is that there are good conservative arguments out there.

2. Furthering that point, I have also come to the conclusion that it is also a good thing that not everyone is a liberal. For I will be the first to admit that we liberals have pretty huge blindspots we should be wary about, just as conservatives have theirs. And for us to better our society, we need to engage in civil discourse with one another. It is only through hearing the other side of an argument that we can truly decide if our arguments are rational, and it is only when we hear disagreements to our solutions that we come to refine them and make them better (or dispose of them if that is what is called for). Without opposition all we become are ideological fools and I sincerely believe that ideology in political and religious things is a folly we should all avoid.

So in conclusion, I hope this post comes across as firstly an apology to all who may have been offended during the last year or so by my writings, for the most part I was not gracious to you. Second, I hope this post also comes across as a reaffirmation of the positions I have taken which I sincerely believe will make the world and the church better. But finally, I hope this post comes across as a confession that I see things only through a glass darkly, and therefore may be mistaken on a great many things, and that I sincerely hope there will be people who will offer me insight to my follies along the way.

So that’s it. I’m back.

Jeremy

p.s. On a final note, I also realize that a blog post is not necessarily the best forum for discussing deep, complicated, and controversial theological issues with no easy answers, and so I shall try my very best to steer away from them. Look forward to slightly more trivial, and hopefully entertaining, insights on quirky thing that is life. Ciao.

A Brave New World

Being Christian

To Those Who Have Ears, Let Them Hear

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

    Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

    The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

    Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

    They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

    He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

    Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

August, 2008

TO THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

As the Church of the Lord in what is known as the "Southern" part of the world, moved by the Holy Spirit to fight for the abundant life that Jesus Christ offers, we address our Christian family in the United States, a Church of the same covenant, faith and love. Grace and Peace to all of our brothers and sisters.

We know your works of love; these works have allowed millions of human beings for many generations in our countries in the South to receive the gospel, the Grace of Jesus Christ and the power of His Salvation. The U.S. church's untiring missionary effort planted in our lands Hope in Him who came to reconcile EVERYTHING.

Nevertheless, the political, social and economic situation in the places where this hope has been announced is increasingly distressing. Millions of people in the global South are dying of hunger, violence and injustice. These situations of poverty and pain are not simply the product of the internal functions of our countries; rather they are the results of the international policies of the governments that wield global power.

Therefore, we have this against you, brothers and sisters, that along with this powerful announcing of the Gospel, the Church from the United States has not also raised its voice in protest against the injustices that powerful governments and institutions are inflicting on the global South - injustices that afflict the lives and ecosystems of millions of people who, centuries after the proclamation of the Gospel, still have not seen the sweat of their brow turned into bread.

The worsening inequality and poverty in the South is alarming. Seven years since the United States and 191 other nations publicly promised to cut extreme global poverty in half by the year 2015 through the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), your country has made only a little progress towards fulfilling its commitments.

The MDGs should stir us to action because they echo the calls of the biblical prophets for justice and equity. Further, they are achievable and measurable markers on the roadmap to end extreme global poverty.

And so we ask you as sisters and brothers, citizens of the wealthiest most powerful nation on earth, to publicly challenge your candidates and political leaders - now and after the elections are over - to lead the world in the struggle to cut global poverty in half by 2015. If you who know the Truth will not speak for us who will?

The Church in the United States has the opportunity today to be faithful to the Hope that it preaches. We urge you to remember that the Hope to which you were called as a messenger demands that you seek first the Kingdom of God and God's justice.

Out of love for us, the global Church, in holiness, use your citizenship responsibly for the benefit of the entire world; it is for this very reason that the Lord poured out His life on the Cross.

All who have ears, let them hear what the Lord says to His Church.

Ndaba Mazabane

President

Association of Evangelicals in Southern Africa

Bishop Gerry Seale

General Secretary/CEO

Evangelical Association of the Caribbean

Dr. Richard Howell

General Secretary

Evangelical Fellowship of India

Rev Moss Ntlha

General Secretary

Evangelical Alliance of South Africa

C. Rene Padilla

President

Kairos (Peru)

Pastor Owen Isaacs

General Secretary

Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana

Bishop Efraim Tendero

President

Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches

Rev Heng Cheng

General Secretary/CEO

Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia

Bishop Paul Mususu

Executive Director/CEO

Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia

Rev Bambang Semedi

General Secretary

Southern Part Sumatera Christian Church

Dr. Reynaldo R. Avante

National Coordinator

Micah Challenge Philippines

Bishop Mano Rumalshah

Bishop

Diocese of Peshawar (Pakistan)

Alfonso Weiland

Co-founder

Paz y Esperanza (Peru)

Erika Izquierdo

Paz y Esperanza (Peru)

Lawrence Tempfwe

National Facilitator

Micah Challenge Zambia

Rev Joe Simfukwe

Principal

Bible College of Central Africa

João Pedro Martins

National Coordinator

Micah Challenge Portugal

Rev Soleman Batti

Chairman

The Toraja Church (Indonesia)

Rev Untung S.K. Wijayaputra

President

The Toraja Mamasa Church (Indonesia)

d'Karlo Pyrba

Director

YABIMA Foundation (Indonesia)

Semuel Takajanji

Director

Kuda Putih Sejahtera Foundation (Indonesia)

Rev Iskandar Saher

Executive Director

Center for the Development of Holistic Ministry (Indonesia)

Gahungu Bunini*

General Secretary

Evangelical Alliance of Rwanda

            *Signed on with the names of 16 pastors in the Evangelical Alliance of Rwanda

Bishop Mano Rumalshah

Bishop

Diocese of Peshawar (Pakistan)

Rev Michael Dasey

Rector

Gungahlin Anglican Church (Australia)

Rev Geoffrey Taylor

Director

SoulSupply (Australia)

Rev. Paul Craig

Senior Pastor

Diamond Valley Baptist Church (Australia)

Rev Greg Templeton

Pastor
Sydenham Baptist Church (Australia)

Morris Alex

Pastor

Souls Outreach Church

Captain Robert Casburn,   

Commanding Officer

The salvation Army Northern Waves Fellowship (Australia)