bhull's blog

At the heart of the discussion about discipleship is the definition of faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer defined faith as obedience-only the obedient believe and only those those who believe are obedient. The idea that faith is only real in obedience is simple yet profound. It is also an inescapable truth, for obedience is the only evidence that someone has believed. When faith in Christ is taught as discipleship, it becomes a faith that will raise the church from its deathbed. If you think by discipleship I mean participation in a program in a church, then you have a very programmic view of discipleship. We have made small what God meant to be big. The life of discipleship is apprenticeship to Christ for all of our lives.

The formation of Christ in a follower is a lifelong process. Life contin- ues to amaze, challenge, and mostly surprise every person. One of the great surprises is how thin the veil between good and evil and that it remains thin all of our lives. The crux of spiritual formation is that it is not primarily about 

If the church in Uganda, Rwanda, China, the Ukraine and the other "Stans" are so good-and the church in North America is so bad-why do the good churches keep inviting the bad churches to teach them? A cynic might suggest they want relationship with American Christians in order to benefit financially. Most novices in teaching in the developing world tend to lionize the spiritual lives of the impoverished. "Oh, they are so happy in their ragged clothes sitting on dirt floors, they have the joy of the Lord."  They go on to say, " I'm just not that deep spiritually, I could never make it work if I were in their shoes." Could it be that they are not that good and we are not that bad?

I suppose the first thing to say is that Christians have been in charge. Jimmy Carter, Bush I and II, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were professing Christians. The degree to which they practiced their beliefs has been debated. Each brought his own kind of change to the world, but it must be  admitted that not much of it has stuck. Even if each of them were devout , living an exemplary personal life, it can be argued from this that a private spirituality is not capable of changing the world. For justice, peace and love to reign it would require systemic change. Many would rather put their money on Bill and Melinda Gates foundation that addresses cultural problems in needy countries.

Wasn't it Clive Staples Lewis who advised, " When you are tempted to read a new book, reach for an old one." I read a lot, too much really. I have read hundreds of biographies in the last decade, everything from Joe Namath to Albert Camus, John Stott and John Steinbeck, Frank McCourt  and of course several on Mr. Lewis himself. I find these books chalked full of stories and ideas I want to remember, the marked up books and my own catalogue system is proof.

When one surveys the church scene world wide, it is the American church that is now the mission field. The church in Africa and Asia(yes, even in China) are where efforts to make disciples are now most serious.The energy of church leaders must be turned toward enlisting younger men and women into apprenticeship to Christ. This assumes that existing leaders are living in such a way as to be good examples to the flock.

The contemporary church has reduced the gospel and hollowed out a new disciple’s natural response to the gospel, which is to follow Jesus and build his or her life around his practices. Receiving Christ is the starting line, not the finish line. It means “game on.” What did salvation cost Jesus? His life! What does it cost me?

Teacher to the Nations “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”  Jeremiah 3:15 My friend, Dallas Willard, writes in his new book, 

I am a teacher. I spend pretty much all my time writing, speaking, reading, and learning.  I hear daily from readers who have questions, challenges, or simply want to say thank you. That is gratifying, but days can go by when I don't feel like I have taught anyone something that matters. But then there is my 7 year old grandson James......He has a wonderful disposition, he is loving and affectionate. A dare devil he is not-he doesn't like noise, speed, heights,-he needs to be nudged. He owns a bright red bike, he has had it for two years and it has never been ridden. Last week I had him for the day, I made up my mind that this is the day James will ride his bike. We had taken off the pedals so he could learn to balance with his feet and get acquainted with guiding the bike.

The reason the Christian faith has not transformed American culture is that it has not significantly transformed the majority of Christians. The American church has taught a gospel that most often has been unaccompanied by discipleship.When the gospel loses discipleship, it loses the permission and the ability to teach people deeply. This eliminates the process Jesus commanded, “ teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The teaching Jesus commanded is applied in three ways in local ministry, philosophy, program and curriculum.  Philosophy is the biblical understanding, program is the infrastructure , and curriculum is the content of what is taught.

I collapsed in laughter this morning when I saw the picture on page one of the newspaper. I live in Long Beach, California, home of the Queen Mary. The great ship sailed the oceans regally for many a year, it carried the world's elite and during World War II it carried troops. In 1969 the grand old ship was retired to Long Beach. It is now a tourist attraction, not a really good one, but it continues to draw patrons from around the world. I have been out to the ship a few times, it has restaurants, a beautiful hotel, and an interesting tour if you like the musk of a once majestic lady. -What caused me to spew my coffee was the picture of a fine gentleman in a Naval Officer's uniform, he was the current Captain of the Queen Mary. That is right, the Captain of a ship that never sails.

I am on a sabbatical,  I granted it to myself, in forty years of work this is the first time I have tried it. I decided I would work a half-day and the rest of the day was sabbatical. The reason for this is that I don't think I am able not to do some work most days, I just can't take it. I am better at not working on weekends, but Monday -Friday my insides gnaw at me if I am not producing. This is why I am such a good candidate for a Sabbatical, it reveals so much about me. A sense of wasted time overwhelms me, this is particularly acute when one pasts sixty-there ain't that much time left. Unless you actually believe that eternal life begins when you start following Jesus and then continues forever.

When you conflate Jesus' words "Blessed are the poor in spirit"  with " it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle" you can reach the false conclusion that being poor is a blessed state because you can get closer to God. Many monastic orders require a vow of poverty, but have you noticed that monks are never poor, they just don't own anything. Even though monks don't have much, they are well-fed, well educated, and live in sparse  housing, but environments where their needs are met. They can write, paint, make wine, or serve others in many ways. They actually live off the wealth of those who earn money and contribute to the Monastic mission.

When I was fourteen I worked at a Sunoco Station. I wore a company shirt with my name on it, a bow tie, and a friendly smile-I lasted a month. I was fired because of incompetence, I fumbled wrenches, had trouble finding the oil gage, couldn't fill tires with air right, would take too long to service a car, I was a disaster, I deserved to be fired. But last week my primary care doctor fired me as a patient, I didn't think I deserved it. We have been a team for nine years, he has been with me through  the continuing crisis that is the aging process.

I was interacting with a friend who thoughtfully summarized his view of our gospel in the US and the problems it has caused. He is qualified to speak because he is a Phd [when he finish dissertation........ because he has been a missionary for ten years......... and because in the last seven years he has had a liver transplant and is now fighting pancreatic cancer. He has been greatly weakened and lives with one foot in the next world and one in this. His name is Terry Dischinger, he and his wife Emily live with their three children in the Chicago area. Terry writes

Saturday Night Live has been a very powerful teacher, it's producers, writers, and actors have a point of view. It is fair to say it has been more left than right, in fact, I can't remember any politically right character or position that has been presented on their air that hasn't been saturated in ridicule. From this array of talented actors and comedians comes one who is now United States Senator Al Franken. Franken's most memorable character from the program was Stewart Smalley, a kind of trans-sexual talk show host who was not in touch with either side of his gender. When people get their news from John Stewart and take Steven Colbert as a serious thinker, you have the pop-culture Neil Postman warned was coming in his classic book, Amusing Ourselves to Death.

Michael Jackson, just the name evokes an array of emotion. The television is playing in the background as the media world prepares for his memorial service at the Staples Center. He was a superstar, he was a hurt little boy, an accused child molester, a generous giver, a lover of all things young and innocent. What interests me most is Jackson's loss of identity. His gradual surgical changes over the past twenty-five years is evidence enough to convict him of being a lost soul. I am saddened by anyone who is tortured by fame, and money became his tool of self-destruction. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, in the case of Michael Jackson-mission accomplished. Don't all of us suffer to some degree the pressures of the world system that attempts to develop a false self.

The common complaint of the parishoner to pastor, "you are not feeding me," is about more than the complainer's opinion of the pastor's sermons. It reveals something much deeper about preaching centered churches. The arrangement is that preaching pastors have presented the sermon as the main event, this is very human of pastors. The parishoner then expects to be nourished and experience some level of change upon hearing a sermon. On rare occasions a parishoner will hear a sermon, be moved to action and go out and do  it. If they keep it up over a period of weeks, even months, they form a new habit and indeed they will be changed in that area of their life.

So where have I been?

I would call the yearning for no programs idyllic rather than naïve. I say this because I am not naïve about programs, but still yearn for such a world. I would like to think that I don’t need someone else to tell me what to do and then to check and see if I did it. But without such a person or system, I would be a disaster, and I might add, so would you. I have heard it said by people I respect that you can’t program transformation, it is too organic and authentic to be organized. When the yearning for no programs becomes a philosophical position then the word naïve is appropriate.  Normally this position is based on the loftiest of goals, that much prayer and mediation will replace the need for study guides and meetings.