April 2010 Archives

So this is my last Callings blog...to quote Monty Python, "And there was much rejoicing." All I have to say about this last week's reading is: 

That is what I have to say about this weeks' reading. The author, George Fox, was certifiably nuts. Honestly. This guy was eventually the founder of the Quaker religion, and believed that only  "the Inner Light of the living Christ provides a reliable guide to religious truth" (294). Basically, he believed that he received visions directly from God, which is quite obvious from his journal.

Reading the excerpt from his journal was a bit like what I imagine being on an LSD trip would be like. I mean, he's hearing voices and seeing blood pouring out in the streets of Lichfield. The latter example was the weirdest part of the whole thing. I mean, Fox had been in jail for a while for his beliefs, and from what I've heard, medieval prisons were not the best place to spend a few years of your life. So basically, once he gets out of jail, sees the steeples of the churches in Lichfield and suddenly feels God calling him there. So he goes there, and is compelled by God to give his shoes to some shepherds outside of the city even though it's winter. Fox then basically runs through the streets of Lichfield crying "WOE TO THE BLOODY CITY OF LICHFIELD!" (that's a direct quote from p. 299, by the way). The town people are basically looking at him like he's a few fries short of a happy meal, and asking him where his shoes are. Fox then leaves the city, goes back to the shepherds, gives them some money and - this is the kicker - he takes his shoes back. I mean seriously, what kind of guy would do that? Wouldn't he trust the Lord to provide for him? Those poor shepherds probably needed the shoes more than he did. But still...there is absolutely no explaination as to why he did this. We aren't given any sort of history as to why he felt like running through the streets of Lichfield yelling (literally) bloody murder. Like I said earlier...he might have been just a little bit high on something or other...

Ok, I get that religious freedom wasn't really England's deal at the time. I get it, really I do. I mean, I agree with Fox that the Church isn't a building full of white, middle class men - it's everybody, all believers. But still...if I had seen Fox, I would have written him off as a loony. Honestly, he might have liked the religious freedom in America. I mean, at first he would have possibly loved the fact that one can worshiped however one wanted to; however, he probably would have started trying to convert everyone else as well, and I don't think people would like that very much. Instead of being one of the sole dissenters in religiously pressing government, he would have been one single voice, lost in a sea of opposing religious views. Perhaps that's why it's a bit hard to "convert" people in America today; every single religious group is shouting a slightly different message. Today's post-modern culture also has something to do with it, I think. Instead of proclaiming Jesus Christ as THE ONLY way to salvation, it most often comes across as Jesus is a way to get to salvation; if He's not your style, there are plenty of other ways to get there that might suit your fancy. Of course, that's all a bunch of nonsense,  but it's what's happening, whether we like it or not. American's seem to go at religion like Old Country Buffet; they simply pick and choose which pieces of which religion they like. Which is another reason why the message of Christianity is so hard to successfully "market" in today's society. Which is kind of sad. Everyone is afraid of offending somebody else, even though we're in a Burger King "Have it your way" kind of culture. But really, Christians shouldn't be afraid to offend. After all...Jesus wasn't afraid to offend people with the truth.

This Wesley is actually a guy named John Wesley who (along with his group of friends) came to be known as "Methodists" because they approached religious observances...well, rather methodically. Sometime after an unsuccessful missionary trip his heart was "strangely warmed" (and no, it was not from participating in the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin' Challenge), and he started preaching. The social classes that the Church of England ignored loved Wesley. He never "officially" broke away from the Anglicans, but really he did, and basically became the father of the Methodist church.

Anyway, in his Sermon 28: Sermon on the Mount-8, (another imaginative title), he chooses to focus on Matthew 6:19-21; you know, that whole bit about not storing up treasures in heaven. Anyway, one of the first things Wesley does is list the things that the verse does NOT forbid:

This radical idea of saving up money obviously goes against today's money obsessed culture. Granted, it's not a crime nor a sin to be rich (but that's another argument that I'm not getting into here), but you shouldn't be spending money just to spend money. In today's world, simply providing for your family takes a lot more money than it did in the past; there are new clothes for one's constantly growing children, food to feed the whole family and one's bottomless pit of a teenage son, medical bills, taxes, mortgage payments, gas money, loan payments...the list goes on and on. But if there's one thing I've learned from working with non-profits, it's that people always find that they have more to give than they thought once they start sharing with others. This sharing has nothing to do with money; when we share our physical things with others, oftentimes we find that we unknowingly share the love of Christ with them as well. Why can't we simply learn to love each other like that? To quote Miracle Max, "It would take a miracle." (Score one more Princess Bride reference for Erin). Good news is, that miracle has already been done. Christ already shared the ultimate currency with us when He died on the cross. Today we throw this word "love" around without knowing what it really means to love others; but by sharing, we truly come to understand what this "inconceivable" love for others is. Our rational minds cannot truly understand it, but thankfully, we don't have to. All we have to do is share that feeling with others.