Once again, it’s time to talk about two chapels in one post. It’s just me (Tim) today. Peter seems to have actual responsibilities that this week amount to like six papers. So it is up to me. I realize we’re getting very slow in posting these days. Also, I’m writing this in the afternoon, so my brain is well past its peak activity period, so I apologize for whatever may come next.
Friday 10/23/09 – Doubt
Last Wednesday, I didn’t go to chapel because I was locked in a little room taking the GRE. I did, however, turn on my phone afterwards to find messages telling me that I missed a great chapel. It was Dale Durie and he was doing one of his storytelling chapels. That seems to be his thing and I always enjoy it. Friday was a continuation of his storytelling. I don’t know what he talked about on Wednesday, or who his character was, but on Friday he was Thomas talking about doubt. I really liked it a lot.
First of all, I love storytelling. I think it’s an amazing way to communicate and in contemporary society, we just write instead of telling. So when someone does tell a story in some way, shape, or form, I really like it. I don’t have much to say I guess about the story itself, other than it was a little bit different of a perspective than we’re used to hearing. He talked about the Last Supper and resurrection, mostly.
He said some things about doubt that I appreciated. I have to say I’ve never really had objections to doubts, nor have I understood anyone who feels that doubts are terrible. Dale pointed out that doubts don’t necessarily destroy faith, but if it’s done well, it can deepen faith. This is been my experience in life. He also said what he thought “doubting well” means.
Thomas doubted in community and he dared to ask the tough questions. I think these are both really important things. When we doubt and have tough questions, it’s easier to keep them to ourselves. But when we ask them in community, it can deepen the faith of all of us. Dale had us take out our phones and text someone a doubt that we had. Of course, I was unable to think of anything at the time because thinking takes me several hours, but I still felt like it was a really cool exercise. What if we did share our doubts and uncertainties? How far would that go to not only help us answer them, but to help us to know and have authentic relationships with those around us? Let’s doubt well.
Monday 10/26/09 – Salvation, I think
Matt talked today about Zacchaeus. I’m not entirely sure what the official topic was. I didn’t quite follow the stated flow of the message, but I did enjoy it and thought it was good. He said he was going to solve a couple of issues: the “once saved always saved” question and the “is salvation by grace or by works” question. I must have missed the part where he talked about the first, or else it was woven throughout and I wasn’t paying close enough attention. Both likely possibilities, given the fact that today is Monday. This chapel was filled with fun videos and such. Very engaging, I thought, even if I didn’t make all the connections from one thing to the next.
He essentially talked about what salvation is, which sort of encompasses both those questions, I suppose. He pointed out that Jesus said that through Zacchaeus’ actions, he had shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. He was saved. But he didn’t pray a prayer or anything to do so. So what was salvation? He said that Zacchaeus was saved because of his obedience, which resulted from repentance in his heart. I really liked this way of putting it. He then listed several things that salvation is: repentance, repair and restoration, action, and rescue. Again, I liked this. I’m tired of the “believe in Jesus” monkeybusiness that we learn in Sunday school. Let’s do something different so that we don’t all feel like cognitive belief is all there is to it, and then spend years wondering why it doesn’t seem to be enough.
Not too long ago, I was talking to a friend about the “sinner’s prayer,” or what some of us refer to as "the magic prayer." Most of us who grew up in Evangelical families can often point back to the moment we prayed that prayer as the moment we got saved. And maybe it was, I don’t know. And I’m not saying that it’s a horrible thing, I’m just saying I don’t think salvation is that simple. It’s ongoing. It’s not a cognitive recognition of who Jesus is, like we like to say it is.
Salvation is a choice for obedience. We don’t often obey. One of the professors I’ve had is fond of pointing out that in a number of cases where Paul’s words are translated “faith in Christ,” that phrase would perhaps better be translated “faithfulness of Christ.” Jesus was obedient/faithful to the Father and that is how salvation entered the world. And we are “in Christ” as Paul likes to say. We have to obey, not just acknowledge. I don’t think anyone would argue with me about that, but it doesn’t seem to happen all that often.
The same friend recently reminded me that at times, I live in something of an alternate universe. And it’s true. I spend the majority of my time shirking the very few responsibilities I do have and instead spending my time playing sports, watching sports, having nerf wars with my roommates, having all my needs met by others for a nominal fee, and generally just goofing around. I mostly play, and it’s so fun! And I don’t those things are bad, but they can’t be the only thing I do with my life. I think that a lot of Christians live in an alternate universe, too. We do our daily thing and we don’t see what goes on around us. Most of us don’t have to because it’s hidden behind the scenes, or even behind the masks we all wear.
I submit that if we even acted out our salvation a little bit, we’d see so much more than we do. I’m not even talking chiefly about the impoverished and homeless and abused, which we are clearly called to help (though most of us still don’t). What about the person on your left and your right every day? What about the people like Zacchaeus who make their salaries by cheating the system and taking advantage of others? They need to God’s love, too. We need to act out our salvation for them and to see them as God does. Our mission isn’t primarily to “get saved” so we can avoid worrying about where we’ll go when we die. That would be an insult to the Gospel. We are the Kingdom, so who will act it out if not us?
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”
As a side note, Matt mentioned that the Freeset guy is going to be here on Thursday night at 7 in the Underground. He was really good last year when he came and the ministry is amazing. Check it out at http://www.freesetglobal.com/. Anyone want to go with me? Also, there’s an interreligious dialogue thing coming up on the 3rd, I think? People should go to that, too!
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