In December, so many bad things were happening that it felt impossible for me to share.
Strangely, now that fewer "bad" things are happening, it seems equally hard to come up with much to share. World events and social trends, of course, continue to concern me. But as far as daily life goes, in the stage we're at right now most of life is learning Hindi, visiting people, trying to figure out how to live life to the fullest in a slum one day at a time. When nothing bad is happening, there's not always a ton to talk about.
So instead, I want to try out a draft of what I see as the "Good News".
I'm not trying to repeat "what I think Jesus was saying in 30 A.D." Jesus was the Messiah, speaking to the Jewish people, and said a lot of very specific things to a specific group of people at a specific time in history. But I do believe that when Jesus announced the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom of God, that he made clear it was a Kingdom for everyone. This is what I believe the Good News is to us:
1) God is our creator, who created us for this world and desires both the good of the world and our own good within it. Our lives are best lived when we're living in sync with God.
2) The primary concerns of society - wealth, power, security in things, revenge against enemies - are the opposite of what our hearts need. These desires will not bring us peace with ourselves, our neighbors, or with God. God's ways, not the ways of society, have the ultimate authority.
3) God has shown us His way subversively, not through domination or force but through Jesus, a Son who in bringing God to Earth chose service and humility rather than power and violence. In Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, he transformed the way to the Father and unveiled God's true character. This unveiling gives us the chance to choose what kind of life we're going to accept, the Way of the Christ-followers or the way of the society-followers. We believe that Christ's Way is open to everyone.
4) The center of this new Way is that we replace our self-seeking fears (which cause us to lust after wealth or power, to chase security or revenge, and then call it "normal" because everyone around us is doing it) with other-focused love. We are to "love God" and "love our neighbors as ourselves". There is a special emphasis on loving those who are most in need of love - the weak, the hated, the marginalized.
5) Being a part of the Kingdom of God, choosing his ways over the ways of the world, trying to embody a new community of love, means going counterculture. That is difficult. But Jesus has done it first. If we take up the cross and follow him, through the difficulty we will find a better way to live for us and the people around us. As we discover this new life, we have both a responsibility and a desire to share with others what we've found.
6) The primary manner in which God's ways and God's love are shared are via community. It is true that we are called to give even to those we don't know, to love and serve even those whom we may meet only once. But the most difficult and most rewarding expression of God's ultimate desire for our lives is expressed in the daily acts of reciprocal love and service that are found in a community of Christ-followers. In the place in which we plant ourselves, we are called to continuously grow in true humility and non-judgement, true simplicity, true service, and true unity. We are to holistically express God's love in every aspect of our lives, keeping nothing in the dark but opening up even our weaknesses and faults and shortcomings in vulnerability so that God can overcome them. And these communities, in their love and service and unity, are to be cities on a hill showing God's love to the rest of the world, and leading them to his Kingdom here in this age.
7) We live in hope of a future age to come, of a world of justice where all wrongs are righted, all pain is relieved, all truth is known, and all love is possible. We believe that Christ will bring this world, his Kingdom in full, and that we will live in it in glory. Every step we take to grow closer to Him and to others and to love more fully in this age lets us know that much more what we have to hope for in the age to come.
Obviously, this is the train of thought that is governing my life, but I just thought about putting it into words this morning. Let me know what you think and whether there's anything here that might be out of line with what I really believe, or what I really should believe.
Strangely, now that fewer "bad" things are happening, it seems equally hard to come up with much to share. World events and social trends, of course, continue to concern me. But as far as daily life goes, in the stage we're at right now most of life is learning Hindi, visiting people, trying to figure out how to live life to the fullest in a slum one day at a time. When nothing bad is happening, there's not always a ton to talk about.
So instead, I want to try out a draft of what I see as the "Good News".
I'm not trying to repeat "what I think Jesus was saying in 30 A.D." Jesus was the Messiah, speaking to the Jewish people, and said a lot of very specific things to a specific group of people at a specific time in history. But I do believe that when Jesus announced the Good News of the coming of the Kingdom of God, that he made clear it was a Kingdom for everyone. This is what I believe the Good News is to us:
1) God is our creator, who created us for this world and desires both the good of the world and our own good within it. Our lives are best lived when we're living in sync with God.
2) The primary concerns of society - wealth, power, security in things, revenge against enemies - are the opposite of what our hearts need. These desires will not bring us peace with ourselves, our neighbors, or with God. God's ways, not the ways of society, have the ultimate authority.
3) God has shown us His way subversively, not through domination or force but through Jesus, a Son who in bringing God to Earth chose service and humility rather than power and violence. In Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, he transformed the way to the Father and unveiled God's true character. This unveiling gives us the chance to choose what kind of life we're going to accept, the Way of the Christ-followers or the way of the society-followers. We believe that Christ's Way is open to everyone.
4) The center of this new Way is that we replace our self-seeking fears (which cause us to lust after wealth or power, to chase security or revenge, and then call it "normal" because everyone around us is doing it) with other-focused love. We are to "love God" and "love our neighbors as ourselves". There is a special emphasis on loving those who are most in need of love - the weak, the hated, the marginalized.
5) Being a part of the Kingdom of God, choosing his ways over the ways of the world, trying to embody a new community of love, means going counterculture. That is difficult. But Jesus has done it first. If we take up the cross and follow him, through the difficulty we will find a better way to live for us and the people around us. As we discover this new life, we have both a responsibility and a desire to share with others what we've found.
6) The primary manner in which God's ways and God's love are shared are via community. It is true that we are called to give even to those we don't know, to love and serve even those whom we may meet only once. But the most difficult and most rewarding expression of God's ultimate desire for our lives is expressed in the daily acts of reciprocal love and service that are found in a community of Christ-followers. In the place in which we plant ourselves, we are called to continuously grow in true humility and non-judgement, true simplicity, true service, and true unity. We are to holistically express God's love in every aspect of our lives, keeping nothing in the dark but opening up even our weaknesses and faults and shortcomings in vulnerability so that God can overcome them. And these communities, in their love and service and unity, are to be cities on a hill showing God's love to the rest of the world, and leading them to his Kingdom here in this age.
7) We live in hope of a future age to come, of a world of justice where all wrongs are righted, all pain is relieved, all truth is known, and all love is possible. We believe that Christ will bring this world, his Kingdom in full, and that we will live in it in glory. Every step we take to grow closer to Him and to others and to love more fully in this age lets us know that much more what we have to hope for in the age to come.
Obviously, this is the train of thought that is governing my life, but I just thought about putting it into words this morning. Let me know what you think and whether there's anything here that might be out of line with what I really believe, or what I really should believe.
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