Just got out of our weekly pastors meeting and I'm blogging and eating lunch in my office. Having pastors who really are friends, meeting and sharing our "real" stuff is so refreshing. After years of seeing pastors "look good" while with other pastors, its so inspiring to live and work with friends in God's ministry. Pastor John founded Living Hope on friendships. Those core couples are still doing life together and it's rubbed off on those "newbie" pastors who are living this dream.
So I ended my blog yesterday talking about SIN! I made the statement that sin's root, the basement level core, isn't selfishness. I do think this ties into my series here on "friendship." Here's what I suppose --- Sin is a relationship word. It simply means, "I'm into me more than you!" Sounds like selfishness don't you think? But I still don't think the self-mush-ness is the core! I love the A&E story. Two lovers lusting after a tree ripe with avocados! They were warned about the guacamole mojo but somehow forgot (?). The first thing the dragon (want to refresh on this story right now?) says to them is, "Is God holding out on everything wonderful in your life? Did He say you couldn't eat any of the great treats from ANY of the trees in this luscious garden? Sin is DISTRUST! The very first fall was Adam and Eve questioning, then believing that maybe God wasn't 100% good! It's not that they saw their Creator-friend as bad, just off on the current avocado tree they were about to chip into (Who said it had to be an apple?).
Sin takes us away from that vital friendship with the one who makes us whole. Sin's result is we become more isolated, pulling away from friendships (hiding from God and each other . . . "Don't look at me like that!"). Our selfishness is a result of distrust!
Oops I ran out of time (tomorrow I'll attack those who are afraid of "The Shack"). To call a book heretical is a very, very strong statement at best . . . tomorrow I'll examine Tim Challies' review of the "The Shack". Tim is a self-employed web designer, and is a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere, having one of the most widely read and recognized Christian blogs. He is also editor of "Discerning Reader". It seems to me Tim needs a God with big steeples and great "Otherness." Tim gets a bit wrinkled with a God is our friend and can understand even our outbursts. This is from Tim's review:
"This portrayal of the relationship of man to God
and God to man is a far cry from the Bible's portrayal.
And indeed it must be because the God of The Shack is
only a vague resemblance to the God of the Bible.
There is no sense of awe as we, through Mack, come
into the presence of God."
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