Identification ===> Justification?

Gentle reader, I have written before about the idea (controversial in theological circles some years back) of justification in Christ for eternal life resulting from identification with Christ in this life.  Yesterday in Sunday worship, the pastor referenced Matthew 10:32 to make a particular point in his sermon.  The point he made was solid, but I was thinking in a different direction altogether from what he used it for.  Here's the reference:

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."

Jesus here is sending out the 12 apostles for their preaching & healing tour, and giving them what amounts to the "pre-game pep talk" by the coach, last minute instructions, encouragements and all that.  It's also the passage where He goes on to say he has not come to bring peace but a sword, to divide families because He demands allegiance to Him above allegiance to family, culture, country, etc.  

It struck me, listening to this, that this is what Saint Paul meant by "identifying with Christ in His death, so that we may also identify with Him in His life eternal".  (loosely adapted from Romans 6, Galatians 2, Colossians 2-3.)

In seminary I studied the various theories of the Atonement (judicial, substitutionary, victorious, etc.), and studied some of the unifying themes of Saint Paul's theology, including the "in Christ" or "with Christ" theme.  The weaknesses of some of the Atonement concepts and the mystical "in Christ" idea all tickled at me, bothered me, until I read the book by N.T. Wright "Justification", which finally made it all clear to me and opened up the notion of identification with Christ as key to understanding our justification before God, and the balance between the free gift of saving faith, and our free will exercise of it.  It also helped me understand God's "identification with the poor", or as Catholic Social Teaching puts it: God's preferential option for the poor.

But in all that study, I never connected Matthew 10:32 ff with identification with Christ.  Yet in this passage, Jesus Himself both makes clear the simplicity of the idea and the difficulty of carrying it out for a lifetime.  In 2 Timothy 2:11-13, Saint Paul writes:

              "Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,

    we will also live with him;

if we endure,

    we will also reign with him.

If we disown him,

    he will also disown us;

 

if we are faithless,

    he remains faithful,

    for he cannot disown himself."

Never was the cost of that identification with Christ so great as it was for the early church.  They understood; they faced death day and night for that identification with Jesus.  We may yet come to understand, as holding to belief in Jesus and the authority of the Scriptures becomes increasingly outside of the mainstream in this country.  We may yet come to understand the parable of the seed and the sower in Matt. 13:1-9 in which some of what sprouts from the seed of the Gospel withers and fades away.  Identification with Christ is a marathon, not a sprint; if we endure, we will also reign with Him.  If we disown Him, He will disown us.  This life presages the next.

The Ethics of Church Involvement

As is often the case, something our pastor said in this morning's sermon caught my attention and set me to thinking.  I'm sure he would be pleased to hear that... until I tell him that I missed everything else he said after that point.  ;)  J/K!

He asked a pretty simple question, which had a far harder answer than I thought it should:

     "Why is it that you do the things you do for church involvement?  However it is that you volunteer: nursery, worship team, setup, serving communion, teaching, giving... why do you do it?"

I, um...
well, it's...
hang on now, I gotta think about this.

So I thought about it and came up with four main reasons:

1. Because I should
2. Because it's good for others
3. Because it's good for me
4. Because it's virtuous

The numbering is deliberate; that's the order of motivation for me.  And there are different ethical motives that sit behind these (at least according to the Ethics textbooks from which I teach occasionally at Upper Iowa University).

1. Deontological Ethics (a'la Immanuel Kant).  I'm driven by a sense of duty.  I serve and give because I should do.  Why?  Because God says so in the Scriptures.  In that sense it's a subset of Deontological Ethics: Divine Command Ethics.
2. Altruistic Consequentialism.  The benefit to others of my service outweighs the inconvenience of it for me.  It's derivative of Utilitarianism, which focuses on the greatest good for the greatest number, and is reminiscent of Mr. Spock on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."  I'm an introvert and the idea of mingling with others has very little appeal to me - it wouldn't ordinarily draw me out of the house on a Sunday morning.  But while I might be put out by serving and giving, these things produce good for others, so that calculus rules the day.
3. Individual Consequentialism.  There is benefit to me from giving: it teaches me to not depend on my own ability to get wealth, but to trust in God for what I need.  There is benefit to me from serving among others.  It stretches me and keeps me from both getting in a selfish rut, and from being a recluse.
4. Virtue Ethics (a'la Aristotle).  Giving of yourself, self-sacrifice, being generous... these are virtues common to mankind.  They are inherently good and morally right, so in doing them you align yourself with moral goodness.

After compiling this list, I first thought:  Well, that's not too bad.  There's many different motivations to my service and giving, not just "because I have to".  Then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was one motivation missing.  I actually did remember something else that our pastor said today; he identified another motive that didn't make my list:  

     5. Because I'm full of gratitude and joy, and want to let it out.

When I realized that, I wondered aloud:  But, but, but... I'm a grateful person with a generally happy disposition!  Why didn't that motive make my list?

It's true, I am normally a person of gratitude, and most of the time, even under stress, have an upbeat outlook on life.  Those are both things I think of as hallmarks of my nature, along with a quick mind, a musical ear, big picture thinking, and introversion.

I'm still not sure I have a good answer, but it might be this:  I don't tend to express my gratitude to God & others, and my general happiness about life, in the church setting.  It tends to come out and be more visible at work.  And at play.  And being out and about, interacting with strangers like wait staff and retail clerks.  Maybe it's because at church everybody is grateful and happy (well, not really, but they SHOULD BE!)  ;)  You expect joy and a grateful spirit there, so I don't think I really contribute anything extra in those departments, but out in the world, I do.  Outside the confines of church, folks are beaten down, grumpy, frustrated, uncivil, worried, etc.  There some optimism and generosity can shine briefly into their lives and maybe bring a glimmer of hope.

I don't know...  that sounds good.  It may not be the whole reason, but... it's what I've got to offer today.

Earth Day? Okay. If you say so.

So today is Earth Day.  Pretty soon it will be Mothers' Day.  Then Memorial Day.  Then Independence Day.  Then... well, you know how it goes.  There's a day for every sort of cause or remembrance or demographic group you wish.  And if yours isn't represented yet with a day on the calendar, just pick one, and post it on social media and soon you'll feel better.

I saw on the web today that Bill Nye the Science Guy waded into the political arena and began labeling the GOP candidates for president as "climate change deniers".  Is that even the right term?  I could probably be labeled as a climate change denier, too, but I don't really deny that the climate is changing (and will continue to).  I just don't come to the same conclusions about it that Bill Nye and others do.

First, the earth's climate is always changing.  And it does so in very long cycles, as are shown in this chart I saw at the British Museum:

As an actuary by trade, someone who deals in pattern recognition for a living, this looks like Time Series to me, not a trend line.

Secondly, I don't believe that we are rapidly approaching some "point of no return" at which point our atmosphere will contain so much CO2 that it will fundamentally be altered beyond anything that there has been on this planet before, and will become incompatible with life as we know it.  Claims like these are extrapolated from the most recent years of upward trend and projected into the future.   Any statistician worth his salt knows that extrapolation beyond any known observed values is fraught with peril. You can interpolate all day long, fairly safely, but extrapolation is a whole different kettle of fish.  Science fiction writers do it, of course, but that's their stock in trade.  To base social policy and economics on extrapolation is simply irresponsible, no matter who is doing it and what their motive or political affiliation might be.

Thirdly, I am not a materialist by ideology.  Unlike the pure materialist philosopher, I do NOT think that matter and energy is all there is, and together they explain all.  I hold instead that the physical is only a small part of what is.  The greater part is in the realm of the metaphysical, and is not accessible by instrumentation, measurement, testing, or the scientific method.  When you are a hard-core materialist, giving credit only to the material realm for substance, and to science for explanation of the human condition (or the Earth's for that matter), you have no other choice than to derive meaning from measurements and formulae.  You know no other language with which to express yourself, or even in which to think.

So Earth Day celebrants, have at it.  I celebrate the earth, too.  Daily.  But from a much different context than yours.

Personally, I think I'd rather stick to days of remembrance that are truly "holy days" (from whence the term "holidays" sprang).  Like Passover.  Tonight.  L'Chaim!

Marooned in San Diego

At the time of this writing, I am sitting in my hotel room in a Homewood Suites near La Jolla, California, waiting for the weekday evening ritual to begin downstairs - a buffet meal put on by the hotel management (tonight is ... burgers on the grill), along with free wine (choice of 2) or tap beer (choice of 1).  The menu rotates each day; it's not exotic, but it is surprisingly good, and very homey.  Last night was lasagna, the night before chicken enchiladas, before that Philly cheese steak, and so forth.  Very pleasant.  :)

But I would rather be home in Des Moines.

I had several purposes in coming out here last Saturday:

     > to sit for a professional exam (Certified Risk Management Professional).  I think I did well, but won't know for 6 weeks.
     > to inspect the apartment/office of one of my direct reports who telecommutes now, and recently moved here to be near family.
     > to attend a convention that should net me some Continuing Education credits (it was huge - 10,000+ people, and well done).
     > to visit some of our Sales Directors and brokers, which I expected would take me about 2 1/2 days.  Instead it took only 1/2 day.

Not enough visits materialized to use up the entire week that I thought I was going to need.  Fortunately, I booked on Southwest Airlines, and they don't charge change fees, but... they do require you to pay the difference in airfare from what your original trip cost and what it would be now on the new return flight.  Pooh.  :(  The company is actually money ahead if I stay and work remotely for the last two days of the week.  So, I'm confined to quarters until Saturday rolls around and I can get out of here.

You would think that I'd be overjoyed to be in sunny San Diego, but for one it isn't sunny!  (well, not continually anyway - it's actually the rainy season).  Des Moines is actually warmer this week than it is out here.  But be that as it may, I have gotten out a little.  Pictures posted below as evidence.  :)

The Cheese is Ripe

Recently, the company I work for decided that they were going to post profiles (including business head shot photos) of its management team on their website.  I've certainly seen those kinds of sections of a business website before, but never before have I been on one!  A surprise promotion last fall put me in the gang of 23 that run the place, and so, I had to go get a picture taken and write up a little bio to go along with it, which I present here for what it's worth.  I suppose it's good timing, as I near the end of my career, to become a "big cheese", as my daughter would say, even if the cheese is well aged and a little aromatic by now.  ;) 

Here I am, 60 years old, and what have I accomplished?

In the shower this morning (where most big thoughts and good ideas come to life), that question came to mind.  I proceeded to answer it, and the internal conversation went about like this:

Q.  Here I am, 60 years old, and what have I accomplished?

A.  Accomplished?  Um...  

     Well, I've raised two children to functional adulthood.  That's gotta count for something.

Q.  Yes, okay, that's good.  What else?

A.  Um...

     I've made a decent living, lived a pretty comfortable life, reached some career milestones that were beyond my expectations.

Q.  Oookaay...  What else?

A.   Then there's music and writing:  books and blogs and poetry and songs written (and published), royalties earned, live singing performances to critical acclaim and wild applause.  How's that?

Q.  Critical acclaim & wild applause, huh?

A.  Hey!   I'll grant that they were small-town audiences with fairly low expectations, but you have to admit that...

Q.  Yeah, yeah.  Prosecution will stipulate to that effect.  Next?

A.  Okay, how about the people I've influenced for good?  That's my personal mission statement, after all: to influence people and organizations for good - to leave them better than I found them.  I've done that.  Not every single time, but.. pretty consistently that's the feedback I get.

Q.  Now maybe we're hitting on something truly useful.

A.  Ahhh.. so that's it.  That's what's behind your question.  What do you mean by "accomplishment", anyway?  What if that's not really the right question?

Q.  And the right question would be...

A.  Hang on, not so fast.  I'm thinking.

     Okay, there's that parable of the wealthy farmer with his barns, right?  Luke 12:16-21, where Jesus tells this story:

“A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?' Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

So the point is, a person is not the sum of his/her accomplishments, any more than his/his self-worth consists in the abundance of possessions.  Right?  Whatever score people choose to keep in this life does not survive into the next life.

Q.  There's more to it than the negative, though, yes?  What's the positive side of that coin?

A.  Right, right!  It's Jeremiah 9:23-24.

"Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24 but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord."

To understand and know the Creator, the King of the Universe... that's a life accomplishment that really matters.  All the rest flows from that.

Q.  Very good.  Nice talking with you this morning.  Have a nice day.

A.  Sure.  Drop by anytime.  Not just in the shower...

Communicating with God as an Introvert

My pastor preached today on Exodus 33 (where God "passes by" Moses in the cleft of a rock).  He expounded on several items, but his punch line was that an intellectual understanding of God is not the same as a personal encounter with God's presence (however muted).  I get that.

But what I don't get is whether or not such an experience of God on an ongoing basis (e.g. a relationship) should be different if you are an extravert than if you are an introvert.  At first glance, you might say no - that God's expectations and desire for us are the same regardless of our personality.  Okay, maybe.  But wouldn't that work itself out differently in daily life? 

My closest relationship in this life is with my wife.  She is an extravert, who has strengths (via Strengthsfinder 2.0 testing) of Communication and Harmony, among others.  So her natural bent is to want to be on the same page with me, and to achieve that through talking with me.  She needs that from me, so I strive to provide it to her.

On the other hand, my strengths are Strategic and Intellection, my core personality is introverted, so I have an active inner life and like to spend time there.  :)  I don't need as much communication or "same-page-ness" as does my wife; I can manage without a lot of external communication.  So, she strives to give me "space", so as to meet my needs for quiet reflection.  Over the years, by trial and error and with flexibility, we've figured out a rhythm that strikes a middle ground.

Now, extending this concept to a relationship with God, the first question I ask is this:  is God introverted or extraverted?  And what level of communication does God want from me as a result?  How can I do what pleases God in this area of relating?

God as an introvert or an extrovert?  Silly question, you may think.  God could hardly be either one, right?  In the world of Myers-Briggs, God must be right down the middle on each dimension.  I guess.  You can probably find examples in the Scriptures examples of God possessing all the Jungian types in perfect balance.

But what if that doesn't really matter?  Part of my pastor's point today was that God does not have needs in this relationship area that we can meet.  God is completely sufficient within, but offers relationship with us FOR OUR BENEFIT, not for God's.  God has our interests at heart  when it comes to relationship, and is not trying to meet a Divine felt need of some kind through relationship with us.

Does that let me off the hook a little?  Maybe.  I think it means that I don't have to worry about how much or how little or what kind of communication God desires, and my prayer life can be instead a natural extension of my personality.  I naturally don't crave communication with ANYONE, God included.  I naturally do communicate with God, though, as I naturally communicate with my wife and with others I encounter while living life.  But I don't crave communication, unless I have a question I want answered, an idea I want to discuss, an observation I want to make, or a plan I want to validate - which, from time to time, I do bring to God (or to my wife, or to a co-worker, or to a blog post...)

I've never been one for consistent devotional prayer times, morning or otherwise, even though some of the extraverts in the Scriptures (King David, for example) write of such things with passion and fervor.  My conversations with God are prompted not by disciplined habit or by a need to relate;  they are serendipitous, they are prompted by living life.  What I do is bring questions, ideas, observations, and plans to God and see what God night make of them, seeking either God's validation or correction - both are good!  So this little post is one of those observations/ideas, and in this moment as I type, I am relating to God, and God to me.  I can feel the blessing of relationship with God at times just like this.