students of jesus

Imagine a world of music, but no sound: a world without iTunes. Great music has been preserved, but only as sheet music. You could Google any song in the world but never get an MP3 file. You could only find sheet music: lines, spaces, quarter notes and rests. Or perhaps you could imagine a world of screenplays without movies? Play-scripts without actors on stage?  You could read whatever you wanted: Shakespeare or Tarantino, but nothing to see or hear.

The only way to make the music come alive is to sing or play. To realize a script requires you and your friends to act, film, and edit.

Students of Jesus have been given a gift filled with music to sing and roles to play. It’s called the Bible. The Father has given us an inspired instrument for taking the yoke of discipleship. He waits for those who will take the instrument and learn to play. One of the great challenges in the life of a believer is learning how to experience the life God intends for us through the instrument of the Scripture.

To some, the Scripture is a book of rules. To others, the Bible is an object of study, not much different from learning math or history. And sadly, for some Christians the Bible is the primary resource for criticizing others. They use the Scripture as a measuring stick--one they hold up against others but rarely to themselves. Perhaps you’ve met believers like this: people who get the words right but the music all wrong. After all, it’s easier to relate to a book than a person.  Books don’t talk back. You can pick and choose where to read. And if you’re among the smart kids in class you can demonstrate your superiority through your mastery of books.

I’ve posted previously my suggestions on how students of Jesus can relate to the Bible. I hope those suggestions are life-giving because the Bible is meant to be a life-giving experience for God’s people. Time with the scripture is meant to be time with the Creator, an event to be lived, breathed, sung, acted, collaborated, shouted, and danced. The Bible is the Holy Spirit’s permanent address, and he’s always home--yet he is not confined to ink on a page. He’s the Breath of God, the wind which blows where it wills.

Would it be too heretical to suggest that the words of the Bible on the printed page are not really the word of God until we act upon them? Music on the printed page isn’t really music until the musician brings it to life. When an actor speaks the words of the script a thousand meanings jump to life. The word of God is meant to be living and active. Perhaps that’s why Jesus is called “the Word of God.”

Eugene Peterson says it this way:

“Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus’ name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in the company of the Son.”

Who could argue with a Bible that's alive in every neighborhood, acting out the love of God? Don't tell me you have the right answers, show me how those answers impact the way you live. Is there really any other kind of Christianity except applied Christianity? That’s the kind of book I want to spend my life with. How about you?

The bartender probably shouted, "last call" just before I walked in the door, but I didn't hear him so I don't know any better. I'm a little late to the party here, since people have been arguing about Hell ever since Rob Bell’s promotional video a month before his book. Hell, they’ve been arguing about it for several millennia, actually.  Still, I decided to share just two thoughts because they have been so helpful for me personally.

First, C.S. Lewis wrote an absolutely inspired book on the subject of Hell, The Great Divorce. Recommending a book on such a personal topic is about as warm and caring as telling a sick person, "take two aspirin and call me in the morning."  But here’s the deal: Lewis' work is a first-person narrative that never chides, doesn't preach, and brings light instead of heat to the discussion. It is vastly better than Rob Bell’s book. God bless Rob Bell for raising questions about our motives when it seems many Christians are cheering for the fires of torment. We are all the better for giving serious attention to his questions. Sadly, Love Wins falls disappointingly short on answers.

Second, a hundred years ago I took lifeguard training from the Red Cross. One of the situations we trained for is when a panicked swimmer actually resists rescue because of, well . . . panic. The issue of Hell is a lot like that. I've haven't seen any comments during the debate this year on John 3:17 (That's 17, right after the overworked verse, John 3:16): "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Jesus doesn't condemn, he comes to save.

It shouldn't raise much debate: we plainly see people drowning all around us: drowning in sorrow, in fear, addictions, injustice, and ignorance. For many people Hell isn't after they die, it's today. The kind of salvation needed is the kind that lifts and rescues now and in the age to come. Only the most foolish followers of Jesus actually tell others, "you're going to Hell" for three reasons: (1) it rarely changes anyone's heart, (2) we don't know it all, and (3) we're not Jesus, so it's not our call to make. How foolish would it be for a lifeguard to stand on the shore and shout, "Hey! You in the blue swimsuit! You're drowning!" Better to run into the ocean Baywatch style.

Finally (OK, I said two, but this is a bonus), I'd like to suggest a game-changing question: when does eternal life begin? For my money, I'll go with Jesus' words in John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Only a fool thinks of eternal life in terms of time-orientation. Eternal life is qualitative: knowing the Father and knowing Jesus. How soon can that start? Forget about Hell: how many believers are waiting for eternal life to begin after they die when all the while they could enter in now?

Yep, the party’s just about over. There may not be anyone left to listen. Maybe I’m that guy, sitting at the bar talking to the clean up crew, and they’re thinking, “Dude, give it up and go home.” Either way, be careful, everyone.