Chapters 7 & 8

Chapters 7 & 8

As I read these two chapters, a word kept popping up in my mind...blindspots. Blindspots are those areas or places of life that are hidden from view; they're hard, sometimes impossible to see without moving and changing our perspective. You learn about blindspots when you begin to drive, especially the first time you cut someone off on the freeway because you couldn't see them next to you. I've heard that horses have blindspots directly in front of them because their eyes are on the sides of their head and point outwards, so there is a slice of life right in front of their nose that they cannot see.

In these two chapters Yancey really begins to get to the "heart" of the matter. He begins to examine Jesus' words, attitudes and actions in the Gospels in order to try to explain what Jesus was about. In Chap. 7 he talks about two things that we must understand in order to live a wholesome Christian life: 1) God's Ideal and 2)God's Grace. He illustrates these two things by talking about the lives and faith of two great Russian authors: Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Tolstoy could see and understand God's holiness and his desire for us to be holy and sanctified. He lived his life in pursuit of holiness, but his sinfulness and inability to be obedient drove him crazy. He could not see grace. Dostoevsky understood God's grace and forgiveness in a way that Tolstoy never could. Why?

Blindspot.

Chapter 8 brings out the grace-full quality of Jesus' life. Like no one else ever has, Jesus defied public opinion and negative perception to live and love with reckless abandon. His perspective on the poor, the outcast, the marginalized...was full of mercy and compassion. We see Jesus' priorities: his unashamed grief, his ability to suffer, his willingness to touch the untouchable, to approach the unapproachable, and we are amazed at him.

But then we look at the church. Yancey says that "down and out, who flocked to Jesus when he lived on earth, no longer feel welcome." We seem to have different priorities than Jesus did. We seem to be able to rush to judgment while being slow to show compassion. We often value safety more than service. Why is this?

Blindspots.

Our culture and tradition have caused us to have many spiritual blindspots. I feel like I am constantly becoming more aware of my own blindspots, and there are a ton of them. Our age, our race, our experiences, our income, our biases, and our gender all contribute to the problem. It seems to me that the only real solution is to recognize that we have blindspots, and then begin to look at things from a variety of perspectives to gain an accurate picture.

Have you discovered any blindspots lately?

How do we learn to see things from different perspectives?

Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5
During my senior year of college I was able to go on Westmont College’s Europe Semester with a group of 40 students and 3 professors. One of the highlights of the trip was the 3 weeks we spent in Israel. The Galilee region was my absolute favorite, mainly because it was so beautiful and rustic and maintained an old-world feel. You could imagine the scenes of the Gospels playing out: you could sit on the ruins of the synagogue in Capenaum and imagine yourself there when Jesus stood in that very place and taught, or sit on the shoreline of the lake and picture Jesus standing in a little fishing boat pushed out from the shore, teaching. Being in those places did wonders for my imagination and helped me gain a different kind of understanding of the Gospels because I had a picture in my head.

We all, I think, have pictures in our heads of what the people and places of the Bible looked like. We gather information and our imagination pieces it together and arranges it in certain ways so that we can have a picture in our minds. It’s like when you read a novel and have a whole set of images in your mind, and then the movie comes out and you have to adjust and get used to the picture that the director had in his mind. (This happened to me with Narnia…although the picture in my mind was very similar to the imagery of the movie, certain characters and scenes were different or backwards to how I had imagined it.)

When I was in Israel we went to the church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the place where the angel’s visit to Mary to announce that she is going to give birth to Jesus is remembered. In the courtyard of the church there is a wall that has a number of pictures of Jesus on it, each one done by artists from different countries. There is a Hispanic Jesus, a Chinese Jesus, a black Jesus, a European Jesus, an Indian Jesus, and a middle-eastern Jesus (who, by the way looked a lot like my friend Paul, who’s Armenian). I remember being sort of bothered by the pictures because they didn’t look anything like I thought Jesus should look like. But, who says the image I have of Jesus looks anything like he really looked? And does it matter?

I do know what Jesus looked like on the inside. His teachings and actions in the Gospels paint a clear picture of a man who was full of compassion and mercy yet was as strong and resolute as any man ever could be. This is what matters to me; his integrity, his heart, his mind, his will. I find that these things are also what matter to the God when he looks at me.


Chapter 6
I am always enamored by the paradoxes of Christianity and the sort-of reversal of thinking that happens to those who really are sold out to following Jesus. The whole the-last-shall-be-first and he-who-is-the-greatest-must-be-the-servant-of-all stuff. It’s so against our nature as humans. We’re always trying to have more, be better, stronger, faster, etc, but Jesus instructs us that being poor is a spiritual advantage, that being better is a hindrance to depending on God, that individual strength often masks an inner weakness. Jesus teaches that to be “blessed” means to be fully dependent on God. As Yancey says, “Dependence, sorrow, repentance, a longing to change—these are the gates to God’s kingdom.”

Isn’t it interesting how in America we always refer to ourselves as a “blessed” nation? This is absolutely true in just about every regard: ie—freedom, liberty, justice, etc. But are we truly a blessed people spiritually? Is it possible that our political independence and the ability to pursue personal happiness have caused us to have a lack of dependence on God and an inability to confront the truly sorrowful aspects of our own thoughts and actions?

I am the first one to say that I love America and I love living in America. I have a tremendous amount of pride in our nation and heritage and believe that God has been active in our history. But our cultural advantages can cause us to be at a spiritual disadvantage. In many ways our health and wealth as Americans blinds us to our true spiritual condition.

I ask myself, “how do I become poor in spirit? Am I fully dependent on God? Do I grieve over my sin and over the evil in the world or have I become numb to it?
Do I really want to change? Do I really desire to do whatever God has for me to do?”

I’ve been to Mexico a number of times on service projects, etc. One thing that strikes me every time I go is how happy the Mexican Christians I meet are. They seem so aware of blessings and God’s provision because they are so dependent on it. They’re always looking for it. Everything in life is underlined with a “Gloria a Dios” or a “Gracias Senor.” (Glory to God and Thank You Lord). It’s a blessing to see and it reminds me of how life with God ought to be. Full of dependence on the Lord.

Chapters 3 & 4

Chapter 3

My main encouragement here is to have you go to the Follow the Rabbi website http://www.followtherabbi.com/ and look around. I have been visiting this site for a couple of years and it has helped me become acquainted with Jesus in a new way and to understand discipleship in a new way. There are some great audio files on Jewish discipleship…type audio into the search box and it will give you some files on Jesus, talmidim, etc.

I wonder: Why has Christianity (through the years) been seemingly so afraid of Jesus’ Jewishness? Why is Christian history so spotted with anti-semitism?

Yancey really helps us to understand and imagine more truthfully the situation and context of Jesus’ life and teachings. Many times Christians have a wealth of information regarding Jesus’ and the Gospels, but lack an understanding of the historical and cultural situation and context. But learning the context and developing our imagination help us make connections and cause us to grow in our understanding…helping it to all make sense and for us to see Jesus’ more clearly and ourselves more clearly.

There are a lot of similarities between the context and situation of 1st century Jewish culture in Palestine and current Christian culture in America. I see a lot of “fence building” and trying to protect ourselves, our families and our values. Is this the only way to really live holy lives and to pursue God? I ask myself, “what am I supposed to learn from 1st century Judaism?” What is the balance between protecting ourselves, protecting our kids, from the influences of the world but also really engaging our culture and reaching out to people who need Jesus desperately?

Regarding Jesus’ Jewishness: His teachings, His training as a rabbi, His calling of his disciples, etc. only makes sense in light of his being a devout Jew. I think this also helps us understand Paul in a new way. It all makes much more sense.

Chapter 4

Pg. 72 second paragraph…Isn’t it amazing how we want to construct our own God or our own version of Jesus? Our flesh (aka-sinful nature) is always fighting to create a world of pleasure with no pain, a life of gain with no loss, a religion of blessing with no curse, a lunch that is free with no cost. A crown but no cross.

I have never thought about how much “restraint” God shows. It’s remarkable what Jesus chooses to do with the power (from the Holy Spirit) that he has. He chooses to serve, to love, to sacrifice, to teach, to heal, to endure, to cast out demons, to resist temptation…to demonstrate God’s love to us.

It seems to me that so much of “Christianity” in our culture teaches and preaches a “crown-without-a-cross” version of following Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit. We hear so much (especially by televangelists) about how true faith in God is always “rewarded.” To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that you felt really good about yourself that day or that you did well on a test or a presentation. It’s as if to be full of the Holy Spirit means that you were empowered to succeed rather than serve. It’s not that I don’t believe in blessing or success, for God has blessed me in more ways than I can recount, it’s just that it seems so much of Christianity, including the Church, really teaches the crown and rarely teaches the cross. Our culture is all about fast and easy, but it seems to me that microwave-Christianity is a false doctrine, an empty and hollow philosophy as Paul would put it.

As I read this book, I am reminded of just how amazing Jesus is. He is so paradoxical and brilliant and humble. In Him there is a total absence of Pride; the very thing that feeds our flesh. The Wisdom and Word of God (both of which are names for Jesus) is fantastic. There is nothing like it. It is precisely these characteristics that make Jesus so compelling to me, it makes me want to follow him and be like him.

Ramblings--Chapters 1 & 2

Thoughts from Chapter 1: Images of Jesus

Yancey writes that “According to Jesus, what I think about him and how I respond will determine my destiny for all eternity.”

This is very similar to what A.W. Tozer writes: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

I think “what images of Jesus are etched into my mind, what kind of Jesus do I believe in, what kind of Jesus do I live for?”

As I think about it, the image I have of Jesus in my mind is most like that of a soccer coach (I played a lot of soccer as a kid). He is pretty demanding but he’s a really nice coach and he would prefer us to practice by scrimmaging rather than by doing a bunch of drills. What he wants most out of us on the team is to give it our best effort every time out. He’s going to play those of us who hustle, who communicate, who pass, and who play like he’s coached us to play. If you showboat, ballhog, loaf it, or miss practice you’ll find yourself on the bench. But he is always ready to give us a second chance. Our coach wants us to play hard, to get dirty, to have fun. He loves it when we encourage each other and help out if someone else is struggling or getting burned repeatedly.

For better or worse, I know that the one fear I’ve always had regarding God (and also my parents, coaches and teachers) is letting them down. I’m sure a lot of this stems from the way that I think about God…about Jesus. I don’t want to let my coach down. I cannot bear the thought of disappointing Him. I don’t want to get benched, I want to play. I feel that if I were let God down, it would take a long time before he puts me back into the game.

What images of Jesus do you have in your mind? How does that affect you and the way you live your life?



Thoughts from Chapter 2: Life is Messy

The Greek philosopher Plato has this concept of the Ideal that basically says that ideas and essences are eternal, timeless, and are the most Real of all things. Truth and Being are less real for they are bound and determined by matter, time, etc. Ouch, my brain hurts.

Anyway, I’m not a philosopher so I don’t pretend to know what all that stuff really means. My understanding is that when we say something is ideal what we are really saying is “that is the way I thought about that.” When we imagine things they usually tend to be pretty close to perfect, right? Think of a young girl imagining and thinking about her future wedding…everything is Goldilocks—just right. The ideal wedding in your mind doesn’t usually involve rain, family drama, limited finances, someone in the wedding party fainting, a pushy photographer, a baby crying in the back row, tons of stress, the zit that no amount of makeup can cover, etc. No, the ideal wedding is perfect. Everyone is happy to be there, they all got there on time, cost is not a concern, everyone is healthy and looking the best they ever have (thin and tan), the food and cake are perfect, the soundtrack from Cinderella is playing in the background, and you’ve never been more sure about your love for someone in your life.

I’ve been to over 50 weddings in my life, including my own and one that my family went to Hawaii for, and I’ve never experienced the ideal wedding. But I’ve been to a lot that were perfect. Not perfect as in not one thing out of place or missing, but perfect as in “full of life.”

The idea of a perfect person is hard to relate to. We believe that Jesus was perfect. What we mean is “sinless” but I think we often think in our minds that his life was ideal. I think Yancey does a good job of reminding me and showing me that life is messy…even Jesus’ life was messy. We tend to pursue a life without problems, without the mess…but even the most perfect Life ever lived was full of problems, full of hardships, and it was plenty messy.

Think of a model home. You’ve seen the pictures in magazines or Pottery Barn catalogs where everything is just so clean and perfect. It’s ideal. Obviously, no one live there or at least it doesn’t look like that on a daily basis. For sure, they don’t have little kids living there. Where are the little stains, the worn path in the carpet, the out-of-place piece of furniture that you inherited from your grandparents?

I’ve been to Hearst Castle a couple of times. It’s a huge mansion built by a mega-rich guy in the early 20th century that is full of expensive art, customized furniture, gaudy architecture, indoor pools, outdoor pools, servants quarters, libraries, etc. They even imported the ceiling from a palace in Europe and installed it in one of the rooms of the house. It took William Randolph Hearst and an army of people over 30 years to build. Actually, it still isn’t quite done but he’s been dead for a long time and now the house belongs to the state of California as a landmark. Hearst and his family only lived there for a short-time. It’s super-impressive, but one of the things I kept thinking as I walked
around it was that I could never live there. It’s cold, lifeless. It’s almost too nice. I’d be afraid to touch anything lest I break a Ming dynasty vase with my Nerf football. There’s no life there, it’s a museum. Empty.

Sometimes I think we have this “ideal” view of what it means to live the Christian life. We think that it means perfection; total spotlessness, no mistakes, no mess. But what kind of life is that? Life is messy. Even Jesus’ life was full of messiness. We don’t live in a model-home world. Our lives are full of hardship, trials, doubt, grief, pain, inconsistency, frustration. The Apostle Paul even tells us that everyone who desires to live a righteous life in Christ Jesus will face attack. We are to expect messiness. But even in the midst of that mess our lives can be full of blessing, full of the fruit of the Spirit, full of hope, full of righteousness, full.

Life is messy. Jesus’ life was messy. But it was perfect.


(By the way, sorry about the book I just wrote. My next posts will be shorter.)

The Book

What happens when a respected Christian journalist decides to put his preconceptions aside and take a long look at the Jesus described in the Gospels? How does the Jesus of the New Testament compare to the ''new, rediscovered" Jesus -- or even the Jesus we think we know so well? Best-selling author Phillip Yancey says, "The Jesus I got to know in writing this book is very different from the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. In some ways he is more comforting; in some ways more terrifying." Yancey offers a new and different perspective on the life of Christ and his work -- his teaching, his miracles, his death and resurrection -- and ultimately, who he was and why he came. Relating the gospel events to the world we live in today, The Jesus I Never Knew gives a moving and refreshing portrait of the central figure of history. With a willingness to tackle difficult questions, Yancey looks at the radical words of this itinerant Jewish carpenter and asks whether we are taking him seriously enough in our own day and age. From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers; a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith. The Jesus I Never Knew uncovers a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying. This honest book will help you discover a different Jesus from the flannelgraph Sunday school figure, the sweetly smiling Victorian Savior, and all the cultural clichés that have tamed Jesus and kept him in comfortable religious boxes. According to Yancey, "No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same. In the end I found the process of writing this book to be a great act of faith-strengthening. Jesus has rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don't do a better job of following him."