Love and Wrath

Spirituality Column #64
January 29, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Love and Wrath
By Bob Walters

The wrath of God and the love of Jesus are a theological odd couple.

In the Father-Son-Holy Spirit Trinity, where the three persons of the one God meet as love and community, how can one be good, one be angry, and one – the Holy Spirit – be neutral?

Does that make sense?

The Trinity is our divine example of a perfect relationship, yet too often we tell our Christian story as a saga of punishment and payback rather than a celebration of trust and forgiveness.

If the Trinity is truly three persons of the one God, the Passion of Christ must also be the Passion of God and of the Holy Spirit.

My friend George Bebawi, the religious scholar (and Carmel resident) I often mention, made the excellent point in a recent lecture that he was “tired of meeting Christians who are afraid of meeting God.”

His point was that if you are afraid of God, you cannot mature as a Christian. Our Christian maturity is a function of our relationship with God. If our relationship with God is based on fear … it is the relationship of a slave, not of salvation; it cannot grow.

When we struggle as Christians to adequately explain or exemplify the love of God, it is too often easy and seemingly expedient (and human) to insert fear into the argument and say … “If you aren’t saved, God is going to get you. Look what God did to Christ, and He was innocent! What is God going to do to you?”

A crazy and unbiblical syllogism.

The Cross as an expression of God’s love is a difficult concept: it looks so much like a punishment. But in the New Testament the Cross is never described as either a function of God’s wrath or as punishment. It was how God reconciled our sin so His love for us could include our relationship with Him.

Is God’s wrath coming? I’m afraid so. All hell is literally going to cut loose on the last day, although I can’t imagine what that means or looks like.

The New Testament teaches that the love of the Cross – the love of the Trinity – can save us from that fear, and that fate.

Love God not to avoid punishment, but to build a relationship.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) should probably tell you more about Bebawi. Maybe next week.

Obedience: Fear, or Love?

Spirituality Column #63
January 22, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Obedience: Fear, or Love?
By Bob Walters

To obey God, or not to obey God, isn’t really the question.

But … if you are inclined to obey … do you obey God out of love, or out of fear?

Now there’s a question.

Obedience in the religious sphere is the active exercise of ones faith. It’s where the rubber meets the road of our faith journey. Whether the load is heavy or light, I think, is governed by fear on the one hand, and love on the other.

Christian obedience is especially tough. Old covenant, new covenant. The 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 5). The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-6-7).

God seems to be saying in the Old Testament: Obey my Laws or face my wrath. What he is really saying is: I will be faithful, no matter what.

In the New Testament, Jesus says He alone is the way (John 14:3) to God; to have faith, and to obey his commands. Paul says we are saved through God’s grace by faith alone, and that the Law brings wrath (Romans 4). James says faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26).

Then there is freedom, which further muddies the waters of obedience. Christ came to set us free of our sin. God gave us free will so we could love Him (love is an act of free will, not coercion); that is, if we decide – with that same free will – to even recognize Him.

And … if we are free, why do we have to obey anything?

It’s confusing, and open to great interpretation. That’s why there are so many churches. The bride of Christ, it would seem, has many gowns.

When Christians obey God out of fear, that faith usually seems to be accompanied by great doses of guilt, judgment, condemnation and the like. God is wrathful. The Bible is a rulebook. A heavy yoke.

When we obey God out of love, then our faith tends to look more like the peace, patience, kindness (“fruits of the spirit”) list in Galatians 5:22-23. Christ is our companion. Our whole trust is in God. The yoke is light.

We can be tossed about by the stormy seas of life’s turmoil regardless, but the love-or-fear nature of our relationship with God determines the roughness of the ride.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes candidly that it is easier to discuss obedience than to actually be obedient. Mea culpa.

Fair Game

Spirituality Column #62
January 15, 2008
Curren in Carmel (IN) newspaper

Fair Game
By Bob Walters

This random but good question popped up recently when Carmel resident Derek Duncan, senior minister at East 91st Street Christian Church in Castleton, was addressing a Bible study group about building plans and ministry priorities:

“What are the three greatest barriers (that prevent people from) believing in Christ?”

Off the cuff Duncan came up with these:

1. People don’t see the need. Life is good. Kids are good. Career is good. Money is good. Health is good. I’m a good person … who needs a “savior?”

2. They had a bad experience in church, see that the church doesn’t always change people, and think “Why would I want to be one of those hypocrites?”

3. People (who do believe in Christ) are not passionate about talking about Christ.

True, true and true.

We all need to have that kind of clear understanding of what other people see when they look at us as Christians. Add your own items to the list. It helps us to understand our own individual ministries.

In my case, I’d add:

- We may not have the courage to openly identify ourself as a Christian.

- I’m too smart to believe all that Jesus stuff.

- We know it’s not, but we want life to be fair, and God seems so eminently unfair when earthly things go haywire – sickness, disaster, war, horrid relationships, etc. – that we ask “where is God’s goodness?” instead of truly trusting God.

Think about what you would add to the list.

The Christian walk is about having a close, personal and trusting relationship with God. The Bible is a book of relationships, none more important than the one Jesus invites us to have with God, through the Holy Spirit that lives (yes, it really does) in each of us.

Asking God to be fair based on what we want or understand rarely reveals satisfying answers and always creates barriers. How about just asking God to help us trust Him in all things (Psalm 119:86, John 14:1) and to show us how to be bold for Christ?

That’s fair.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) long ago was a decent professional tennis umpire and tried to be fair, but usually got yelled at anyway.

Perseverance is Greek To Me

Spirituality Column #61
January 8, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Perseverance is Greek To Me
By Bob Walters

The word “perseverance” doesn’t appear at all in the Old Testament, and appears only once in most versions of the New Testament (King James, English Standard, Revised Standard, Message, etc), in Ephesians 6:18.

(Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Eph. 6:18 KJV)

The New International Version lists “perseverance” 12 times in the New Testament, but oddly not in Ephesians 6:18.

“Perseverance” in the NIV replaces the words “patience” or “patient” which appear in most other versions.

I’m not writing though about versions of the Bible or specific verses. I’m writing about perseverance. Persevering in faith, in prayer and in Christ are all huge New Testament callings.

Turns out, courtesy of my friend George Bebawi (a world renowned religious scholar and Bible translator who happens to live in Carmel), that the New Testament says “perseverance” because it was written mostly in Greek, and the common Hebrew word from the Old Testament for the same concept was “faithfulness” which was not a common word in Greek literature.

On the modern American scene, in any translation, “perseverance” can be understood as “hang in there.”

Faithfulness is understood in the Old Testament not to be “our” faithfulness (the faithfulness of sinful man); but the faithfulness of God. This idea of God’s faithfulness, George points out, forms the heart of the Old Testament and especially the Psalms.

In plain English what the Bible is saying is: Man cannot truly be faithful … only God can be faithful. And since we often don’t understand God’s faithfulness – although sometimes we do – we must persevere in our faith to trust God no matter what.

I was thinking about New Year’s resolutions, persevering in them (if you’re still abiding in them heading into Week 2 of 2008, congratulations … that’s perseverance), and being faithful.

Jesus Christ gives us a reason to persevere, because in Him we can connect directly to the faithfulness of God, even if we ourselves can’t exactly pull it off.

So what I’m wondering is, are you “hanging in there?”

There is good reason to.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) agrees with his friend George that the most important thing in which to persevere in the New Year is our love for each other. Now that’s huge.

Persevering in Those Resolutions

Spirituality Column #60
January 1, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Persevering in Those Resolutions
By Bob Walters

When I was a kid at church, the Episcopal priest one day was talking about the custom of giving up things for Lent (the 40 days before Easter).

He made fun of a mythical church adult who made a big deal about “giving up sweets for Lent” and was enjoying all the attention for the effort … but also still enjoying the sweets when out of public view.

The priest’s point – which stuck forever in my mind – was that it is very difficult to “give up” something when you advertise it to others.

That isn’t just a Bible or Christian thing; that is a Truth of Life as a Human Being thing: it is hard to do something hard when people are watching you.

Fourteen years ago, Jan. 1, 1994, I quit smoking. I just stopped. A pack or more a day habit for 13 and a half years … and I just stopped. Big New Years Eve party, smoked, got home around 1:30 a.m. Got up the next day and haven’t smoked since.

I had been contemplating quitting for a while. It was the year I turned 40. With sons ages 6 and almost 2, it was my love for them and my desire to see them grow up that inspired my wanting to quit. I marveled at how much strength I somehow found to actually follow through.

It is important to note at that time I was twenty-some years into my 30-years of not going to church and seven years before I came to the Lord. But remembering that childhood sermon about Lent, I didn’t tell anyone I was trying to quit smoking.

Except I told God, who I did not know very well. But I prayed anyway … who else could I tell? Looking back, that is where my strength came from.

Yes, we are to love others, find strength in others, and be strong for others. But nothing is as strong as our bond with God through Christ. Through Christ we can do all things.

This is the time of year we all have some sort of resolution, aspiration or hope for the New Year. Don’t feel you have to tell anyone about yours … except God.

He’ll help you. And He already knows anyway.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) wishes you a New Year rich in a deep, growing and abiding faith in Christ. That is something you should tell someone about.