The Scoop

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Goodness Gracious

Good. how many times a day do I say that word or a derivative of it? "Good" is a staple word in our vocabulary diet and just as ambiguous as it is ubiquitous. As an adjective it can denote anything from high quality to correct behavior or moral "rightness". As a noun it can mean profit, advantage, merit, kindness...even possessions. So what do we mean when we say that God, as an all-powerful, loving creator, is "good"?

First, it is helpful to define what the goodness of God is not. It is not God's holiness (His perfection..."wholly otherness"). It is also not his righteousness (his purity). What it IS, is His nature displayed towards us. All of God's holiness, righteousness, love, grace, mercy and kindness outwardly manifested into our lives. But, although God's goodness is his nature displayed towards us...it is not ultimately for us. The purpose of God's goodness is not so that i am happy, and not ultimately just so that i am blessed, but so that i am blessed and therefore glorify God. God is good for His own glory, not your satisfaction. Our problem most of the time is that we automatically equate something God does that results in my benefit as being for me. In time this translates into a mindset that then expects and then demands these benefits as being my due. This is especially true when I spend my life working for Christ expecting a reward—or more accurately: working for Christ to then hold Him in my debt to bless me for my abundant good works. That is legalism at its core...and correct understanding of God's goodness can bring it into balance. (That, and reading Tim Keller's book "Prodigal God" the most excellent treatise on the subject I have come across.)

In the Psalms we always see God's goodness mentioned in conjunction with His love and our thanksgiving. Psalm 136 is a great picture of this. "¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.²Give thanks to the God of gods,for his steadfast love endures forever.³Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever..."

The enduring quality of God's love is intrinsically tied to His goodness (and our subsequent response of thankfulness). 1 John tells us that God is love. it is the core of his nature. but without His goodness we would never see it. It is His goodness that displays His nature of love towards us. It is through this that we can see that everything God does is good. All out workings of God in this world are good. (remember: beneficial for me...ultimately for His glory) Psalm 136 continues in verse 4-9 recounting the wonders of creation. this is no wonder, Genesis 1&2 repeatedly tell us as God creates that is is good. "⁴to him who alone does great wonders,for his steadfast love endures forever;⁵to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;⁶to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;⁷to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;⁸the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;⁹the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever..."

If we keep reading in Psalm 136 we see more evidences and effects of God's goodness. The writer walks through God's faithfulness to Israel in history and ends with these words: "²³It is he who remembered us in our low estate,for his steadfast love endures forever;²⁴and rescued us from our foes,for his steadfast love endures forever; 25 he who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever."

These are all evidences of God's grace. truly, all of God's goodness shown through blessings is indeed His grace. The psalmist says that God "remembered us" in our lowest times. This is not to say that God turned around one day and was like: "Roop! dude, I totally forgot you were in that slimy pit...here, take my hand..." What is being said is that God never forgot, even in the hardest of times, the darkest of hours, we were are in his thoughts. We are rescued and forgiven.

That all sounds well and good...but the inevitable question is this: if God's goodness is his essence of love outwardly displayed towards me...then why does my life suck? Or, why does the world feel like its spiraling down the crapper with wars, famine, natural disasters, disease, corruption, and general evil? Where is this grand goodness?

Ages ago there was a man with a very unfortunate first name who had those same questions. Habakkuk cried out to God in his day: ²O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save?³ Why do you make me see iniquity,and why do you idly look at wrong?Destruction and violence are before me;strife and contention arise.⁴ So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth.For the wicked surround the righteous;so justice goes forth perverted.

God's response to Habakkuk is beautiful. he doesn't defend himself, or His goodness, (he doesn't have to) he doesn't argue or seek to put Habakkuk in his place...he simply gives him perspective. he says "wait and see, i am doing something you would not believe even if i told you". what an amazing promise. God is reminding Habakkuk that his goodness may not always look like goodness to us because it is not for us. God sees a completed picture that we see a tiny pixel of, he is weaving a tapestry of grand design, of which our experience is a mere thread. God is always good, even in the "bad" of life because he is working from, and for and to, eternity.

The greatest evidence of this is the cross, the single most despicable, heinous, evil event in all of history. How many of the disciples would have seen that as "good", the death of all their hopes, the destruction of, what they saw as, their salvation and liberation, what they and all of Israel...heck, the whole world, had waited for, for forever.

How many of them would have given anything just to change that moment when he was hoisted into the air impaled on the cross?

....but would you?

That most evil event in all of time: the crucifixion of Christ, was also the most beautiful and glorious event that brought the most good. We can believe that everything God does is good because he is working from, for and to, eternity.

But we are remiss if we simply stop at the point of being convinced of God's goodness. God's attribute of goodness is a communicable attribute, meaning: we can share in it, we can emulate it. As those who are beneficiaries of God's goodness, partakers of it and convinced of it, let us then allow His goodness to shine through us. Allow the qualities of Christ to be on display for the world through our lives. So often we complain that God's goodness isn't combatting the evil in the world...to us i think he would say: but my goodness should be moving through you into the world...what are you doing?

Are you convinced of God's goodness? Where in your life do you need to be more convinced? Respond like Habakkuk, he knew that if he couldn't understand the world with God in the picture, he sure couldn't understand it without God, so he runs to Him for answers.

If you are convinced, how do you display and take part in the goodness of God? Are you His emissary of love, grace and kindness to a world in need?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

This Post is Only Three Kinds of Awkward.

"Thats seven different kinds of awkward right there"
If you have been fortunate (or unfortunate...) enough to hang around me for any extended period of time, you have probably heard me utter this phrase a time or two. Now, to some it might seen to be a slightly chuckle-worthy statement, to others a dry, antiquated, tired old aphorism. But what most don't know is that there actually are seven different kinds of awkward. I know... because I created them.

In no real logical order, here they are:

1. The Clothing Faux Pas:
Also known as the "wardrobe malfunction". Something (usually the pant's crotch seam) rips at a very critical moment
Sub-levels include:
-mom-jeans
-The denim jumper
-"high water" jeans
-Any Christmas sweater from gramma's closet
-Dudes with Chihuahuas.
-Bonus points if it has any article of clothing. More bonus points if that clothing item is pink.
-The zipper down in public
-The peeing (or pooping) of the pants in public (or even private)
-Pit stains

2. The Bodily Noise
-The fart in the elevator (or any enclosed space)
-The "intestinal rumble" when you hold it in (YOU know what I'm talking about)
-Passing gas in an empty store isle...only to have some random woman appear out of nowhere and start walking down the isle. She knows its you.
-Coughing repeatedly on an airplane
-Laughing and farting. everyone stops for just a second to look...but non one says anything.

3. Nakedness.
-Any kind, any time, anywhere in public...and many private places too. It just deserves its own category.
Sub-Level: The Baby Album
-The naked bathtub pics

-That picture with you're parent's best friend's child of the opposite gender whom they arranged your marriage to at age -7 months when they both found out they were pregnant, whom you never see anymore but there are many photos of you two dressed up together, in the tub together or fake kissing...or whatever your sadistic, sick parents thought up.

-Some "clothing faux pas" can end up in this category as well.

- Dreams totally count

4. Parents (needisaymore?)
This level usually occurs in restaurants or at weddings.
This level can also include all incidents with family members and authority figures:
-Traffic stops
-Arrests
-Crazy bosses
-Aunts, Uncles...grandparents
(the list is more specific the closer to Kentucky and West Virginia you are)

5. Children.
My poor parents. Seriously. I was the most awkward child ever.
This is really rather self-explanatory. Moving on...

6. Vocal Faux Pas:
-eg.: "When is the baby due?" -"I'm not pregnant"
Sub level: The "Word Fuse"

-eg.: "Bud" and "Dude" = "Bood"

- My favorite: "frick" and "suck". do the math.

-Also Includes:
-That awkward moment at the end of a voicemail where you have talked yourself out of things to say but haven't figured out how to sign off yet...yeah...
-Making fat jokes when a large person is standing behind you
-Loud child screaming "MOM! WHY IS THAT LADY SO FAT?"
-Extra awk points if its your child (Awk points exist too. We can discuss them in later post)
-"Oh, hey so how is (insert bf/gf name here)?" "We're not dating anymore"
- Also the mention of some party or event where you find out they're not invited. Or worse: the other way around.

-That moment you make fun of some art work, picture, poster, web design...etc, then the person next to you says "oh, i painted that"

"......dude...its awesome, i was just...you know...joking..." *exit stage left*

Also includes:

- Those ill-timed jokes where one kid is like...."....my dad died from that"

- That moment you realize that the person you're talking about is standing right behind you.

7. Innocently entering a room where mom and dad (or anyone else) are "wrestling"
No explanation necessary (or wanted). It deserves its own broad, unexplained category.

So, you see...it really is a true list system. So far I can pretty much locate all awkward situations somewhere on this list in some form or another. Granted, someone could come up with some crazy situation from outer Mongolia that involves a medicine man, a prop plane, several naked villagers and a cow pie...but that is a remote possibility.

But just think about how crazy something would have to be in order to be declared "all seven different kinds of awkward"....that would be like a guy wearing mom pants, running from his parent's room into an elevator while vomiting in revulsion, carrying a chiuahua wearing a pink christmas sweater, farting in the elevator, saying "sorry bood", dropping a picture of himself as a naked baby in the bathtub as he hurriedly exits into an art gallery where he mocks a painting of what he thinks is a pregnant women only to have the very un-pregnant artist standing right behind him inform him that it's a self-portrait, he then rips his pants as he attempts to make (another) quick getaway; the art patrons laugh at him, he whimpers, "your mom", a delicate lady in the corner begins to sob uncontrollably because her mother died after falling in an art gallery, he is then arrested for public indecency.

That would just be crazy.
...and really, really awkward

Monday, October 3, 2011

In Christ, Scott

I am always fascinated by certain little "Christianese" things that invade, and change, the little things we do in everyday life when we are interacting with other Christians. take, for instance, emails. In particular the way we sign off. To any other person it is "Sincerely", or "Thanks", or perhaps "Love". But when its another member of the body of Christ we come up with all manner of artful slogans to end our letters, a sort of modern day "Jesus fish" as the early Christians used as an identifier.
phrases as simple as "God bless", or "In Christ", or "In His name", or "Shalom", or "because he lives", or "keeping that fire burning!".

Or they can get creative and intricate (usually in direct proportion to the number of years you spent in Bible School, or how many King James Bibles you own) like: "By the blood of our precious savior" (variations include: by the blood of the lamb, by His blood, washed in His blood...etc), or "May the peace of God that passeth all understanding be with you", or "In the name of God's one and only Son" or, "Bound together only by His grace".
Some can be downright doxological, like the writer fancies themselves some kind of modern day Paul: "Grace and peace be with you", "Through Him who is able to do all things", or "With eternal praises to the Father Son and Holy Ghost"...

I'm not hating on our Christian vocabulary, when writing official emails from my church desk i usually sign off with a good strong "in Christ" just to kick up the pastor vibe a bit, but i do think that sometimes its a bit overzealous, like we are compensating for something. It speaks to our insecurity amongst other Christians, we need to appear more holy, look more "christian", act more spiritual in front of them so they think we are "doing it right" or so they wont look at us sideways like the ugly red-headed step child of Christendom. I think a bit of positive peer pressure to be more like Christ is a good thing amongst those who love God (hello, accountability anyone?), but when its fake and contrived, like so much of our "christian" interaction has become, it just makes me cringe. At what point do we draw the line and take a deep look inside and realize that once we start feeling like we have to make up a persona in front of another believer that maybe, perhaps thats just not true, authentic Christianity.

My guess is that if we all dropped the act we would find out that everyone else has been in the play with us the whole time...and they are all just as relieved to take off the mask. The judgmental legalistic people are out there, I know a few. But the secret is that its more the fear of being judged than the actual pharisees that cause this breach in authentic Christian community.

So go ahead, I invite you: sign off that next email to the head of the small group ministry with a simple "sincerely", no hater's gonna hate. But, hey, if you truly do mean it when you sign off your emails with a healthy "Only through HIS grace!" and plop that extra obscure bible verse in the tag, then by all means, keep it up. my guess is that you are ahead of most of us. (And God probably loves you more)

and dont even get me started on that little box on facebook labeled "religious views"...