The Gospel of "The King's Speech"

"The King's Speech" is the best motion picture of the year 2010. It may, in fact, be the best motion picture of the past decade. But that is not what this blog post is about.

This blog post is about the fact that "The King's Speech" is the strongest proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a cinematic movie setting in eons...(or at least since The Passion of the Christ).

If you haven't seen "The King's Speech, go. Go now. Drop what you are doing and go. After hours of prompting and persuasion by my family members and friends, I went to see the late showing of the movie on a Tuesday night. In Paso Robles, the only other living being in a movie theater at 10:00PM on a Tuesday night are the itinerant mice who are eating slivers of popcorn dust off the Sprite covered theater floor. It was still worth it.

The plot, in a nutshell, is that late George VI is made monarch of Great Britain and the Global Commonwealth of His Majesties Empire through an abdication of the throne by his wayward, and party going brother, Edward VIII. George VI is a very intelligent man, but he has a chronic stutter. So chronic is his stutter, that it is nearly impossible for him to speak to his children, talk to his wife, give directions to his servants, and not to mention to address the nation in a time of war.

All of these elements and plot lines would have made for a very compelling movie, but not for a gospel presentation.

The gospel of "The King's Speech", if you will, occurs when a would-be, and self-proclaimed speech therapist from Australia, Lionel Logue, helps George VI overcome his linguistic impediment. Through a very compassionate, kind loving and, dare I say, pastoral approach, Lionel listens to the King's life story, unearths elements of pain and shame from George's past, encourages the king to listen to his own voice, and empowers the king to do what he was born to do.

In sum, Lionel helped George VI to speak, and in doing so, changed the world

Here is what I was struck by for my own faith and ministry. Very often, in Christianity and in ministry, we feel that we must change an entire person's life, alter the entire course of their existence, reorient a person's entire modus operundi, if they are to receive salvation. More often, the answer to helping a person experience metamorphosis in Christ is as simple as helping a person to form the very words that they cannot express, which are laying latent and unexpressed on their muted tongues and hearts.

Once, when Jesus was walking in a downtown square in Galilee, a woman came up and touched the hem of his cloak. Her life was otherwise unexceptional except for the painful fact that she had been suffering from menstrual bleeding most of her adult life. In touching Jesus' cloak, the woman was instantly healed. Her life was changed. It is noteworthy what Jesus did do and what he did not do here. Jesus did not psychoanalyze the woman, or deconstruct her entire past present and future. He simply helped to fix the one glaring issue, and struggle of her entire life.

In watching this movie, I was reminded once again, how helping a person with a very small thing (or what might seem like a small thing to you) can literally change a person's life, and in doing so, redirect the entire course of their eternal destiny. You and I can change the world too.

All For Now,

GB

Maybe...

I love sitting at fast food restaurants and listening to other conversations around me. This past week, I was at In and Out, relishing and inhaling an animal style #2 meal, with a side of fries (Martin Luther once said, "If you are going to sin, sin boldly..."). Next to me are a couple of young guys in their 20's, having a conversation that I won't soon forget. I will try to relate it to you as it reached my own ears, in between the gastronomic bliss of an In and Out burger...

"So, I am dating this girl, and I don't know if I should stay with her." "Oh really, why not?" "Well, I don't know, but I do know that God has shown me that I should stay with her..." "Ok, great." "Yeah, things weren't going well, but I know that God's plans are that I stay with her." "Good." "Yeah, so my work is going well, but my boss is putting more pressure on me to work." "Great" "Yeah, but God told me I need to be more in your face with my boss." "Great". "Yeah, so, God is using all of these things to teach me something. "Oh really, what?" "God wants me to do great things for him." "How do you know that?" "Well, God is using these things to make me stronger." "How do you know?" "It's just the way God works."

You get the gist...

Now, here's the thing. While I was really happy for the effusive faith of the guy that I was listening to, and the way he was relating his life and how it worked so seamlessly together with God's eternal plans, it was all I could do not to walk up to him and say; "Excuse me, you don't know me, I am a pastor, and I am really happy that you have such a faith. However, can I teach you a word that I think may help you?...it's MAYBE. MAYBE God has shown you, MAYBE God told you something, MAYBE God is using all of these things to teach you something, MAYBE God wants you to do something. MAYBE you know the way God works...

I didn't interrupt my lunch to have this conversation, because I'm basically a wimp when it comes to these kinds of confrontational questions, and because my animal style burger with extra sauce was exceptionally sumptuous.

One of the things I love so much about the way God works in the lives of the hundreds of different characters in the Bible is the ever present existence of the concept of MAYBE. When Eli is in the temple and he hears a voice, he doesn't automatically assume that it is God's voice which he hears it out of the recesses of nowhere. Actually, he thinks that it is uncle's voice. "Eli, Eli," says the Lord. Eli pauses. He goes to visit his uncle and after his uncle's prodding, decides that it actually is God's voice in his life. "Here I am Lord, your servant is listening..."

When Job is wracked with abject loss and pain, he doesn't automatically assume that it is God that is punishing him. He waits, and considers. Even though Job's friends all come to him and say, "You are dishonoring God, and that is why God is punishing you," Job is not sure. Job turns his query and complaint to God and says, "Dear God, if only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on a scales, it would surely outweigh all the sands of the seas..." (Job 6:2)

While all good things in this life, we are told by the prophets, all come from God, there are actually a whole penumbra of causes of things that are not from God:

* Our Own Actions

* The Human Struggle

* Sin

* The Evil One

Not all sickness is caused by God. Not all tornadoes are caused by God. Not all break-ups are God's doing. Not all firings, promotions, melt downs, pontifications, thoughts, mistakes, salary increases, car crashes, computer glitches, or parking meter expirations are caused by God.

I'm sorry if this blog post sounds a bit cynical, if not grumpy-old-manish. But I really believe that for all faith followers, the word MAYBE might add a degree of humility and realism to the process of discerning God's will. Then, when God actually does act. When He affirms that he actually is doing something, we can be all the more impressed and awe inspired.

All for Now,

GB

Uncomplicated is not Unsophisticated

So, I am tasting wine the other day in Paso Robles, and the wine shop owner says to me, "that is a very sophisticated wine you are drinking." Not knowing much about viticultural parlance or wine jargon I asked the wine owner what he meant. "What is a sophisticated wine?" I asked. The wine owner paused before he looked over his spectacles and said, "A sophisticated wine is one where the flavors all blend together in a way that is mysterious and indecipherable." I decided not to press the question, since it seemed like one more query might be a grape too far. One more question might have actually gotten me thrown out of the wine shop. Had I been able to follow up, though, I would have said; "don't you just mean that the wine is complicated?" "How can a wine be sophisticated? How can wine be mysterious? It's just a drink..."

Let me get to my main point. I feel that a lot of things that are simply uncomplicated in this life, are given the label unsophisticated.

Let me give an example. I have a friend who works hard from 6:00AM each day until around 8:00PM every evening. My friend is a contractor who works for the state of California building roads and bridges and such. He's very smart with building and constructing, though his grammar may not always be complete. He uses a lot of colorful metaphors. My friend is a Christian, a good dad, a football coach, a good husband, and an all round nice guy. He doesn't read too many books, or newspapers, or engage in polemic discussions about politics. He wouldn't be caught dead in a wine bar, but give him a can of Miller Lite, and he lights up. He doesn't have any dark areas of sin (that I know of) or any glaring areas of personal existential angst. He works hard, loves God, loves his family, and knows what he thinks and believes. Now, let me ask you a question. Is my friend Uncomplicated or Unsophisticated?

The answer is obvious. He is uncomplicated.

Remember that the word Sophisticated comes from the Greek root - Sophos - (which is where we derive our words sophomoric, and sophistry, and practical, flashy wisdom - sophia). Early sophists were people you shouldn't trust, because they told you things you wanted to hear, not what you needed to hear. Sophists were teflon-tongued con men who swilled wine in wine bars and suggested that drinks can be sophisticated...I digress.

Actually, we are called to live uncomplicated lives. Jesus loved uncomplicated people. He reviled sophisticated ones...

The next time you hear someone describe another person as unsophisticated - ask yourself, is it unsophisticated or just uncomplicated...

All for Now,

GB

Sin = Self Destructive Stuff

Ever since I graduated from seminary, and thought about theological things in a serious way, I have sort of wrestled with the concept of "sin". Not the actual actions of sin - those of course, I struggle with like everybody else, but rather, what "sin" itself means. What is "sin" in actuality?

The list of theological thinkers on the subject of sin are numerous. The Greek New Testament notion of sin came from a word associated with archery target practice. HAMARTIA is the Greek word Paul uses for sin. HAMARTIA means, "to fall short." Sin is falling short. Luther viewed sin as a sort of; "beard that grows on my face. It is an inimical part of my being. Every time I try to extirpate my sin, it grows back." Paul Tillich, from an opposite camp of reason, thought of sin as "separation - from God, separation from others and separation from self." These are all good thoughts, but for whatever reason, they have not been particularly helpful for me, personally, as a way of understanding sin. I still wonder, what is "sin?" What does it mean - on a basic level.

Here's my latest big idea about what "sin" is. It has been very helpful to me, personally. Sin, simply put, is anything that we do to our selves (or others) that is destructive. Sin = Self Destructive Stuff. And what is it that we do to ourselves that is self destructive? Here's my short list, what's yours?

* Gossip (hurts our relationship with others, and therefore hurts us)

* Overeating/Drinking (obviously self destructive)

* Insecurities (brutal on our "sense of self")

* Being Negative (Negativity breeds negativity - so it burdens the self)

* Pride (puts too much pressure on self, self folds under pressure)

My list continues, but for the eyes of my blog-friends, I will spare you the details.

For whatever reason, this formulation is really helpful to me. So, for example, when Jesus says to the woman who was caught in adultery, "go and sin no more," he's really saying, "go and be self-destructive no more." When Jesus goes to Nicodemus' house, the house of a "sinner". And he says, "Today, salvation has come into this house", Jesus is really saying, "Today, I have helped Nicodemus become less self-destructive in his life." When we think about the fact that Jesus died for our sins, what we are really saying is, "Jesus died for our self-destructive tendencies." He literally died in order to stop the endless tide of our self-destructive natures.

Tomorrow morning, I am going to wake up and start my day by doing as few "self destructive" things as possible. I will keep you posted about my progress....:-)

All for Now,

GB

Jack Welch and the Apostle Paul

When you think about the Apostle Paul - if you think about him at all - what are the first four images that come to your mind? For me, the answer is the image of a man who is on a long, hot walk, in the middle of the desert, being struck by lightning from out of nowhere. On that lonely road, Paul is brought to his knees before God on the road to Damascus. For me, the answer is also a person who taught and preached his whole life in public meeting spaces, town halls, and synogogues, an orator of soaring proportions. Another image I have is of a man who had the power to both heal and to cast out demons, and who is constantly being asked by his audiences to do both. Paul was a prophet - "a truth teller" - who didn't mince words or tell people what they wanted to hear, but rather, what they most needed to hear.

However, in my daily devotional time with the Bible this week, I made another profound discovery about the Apostle Paul - he was also a great administrator. One might even say that Paul was first and foremost a CEO!

The Apostle Paul was more like a Jack Welch, a Carly Fiorini, a Meg Whitman, a Steve Jobbs and a Bill Gates, than we really think about or realize. Paul was good at raising money, distributing collections, starting churches, developing young pastors (leaders), and overseeing management structures from afar. Paul's churches were like separate franchises, opened in different countries, across the entire Mediterranean world. These are all of the hallmarks of a great administrator.

One of the best examples of a Bible text that lends evidence to Paul's administrative ability is the last chapter of 1 Corinthians. Remember, 1 Corinthians? 1 Corinthians is the book where Paul writes one of the most famous love poems about God in the history of love poetry: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal..." (1 Cor. 13:1). It's a remarkable love poem. But then, flip three chapters forward, and you begin to hear the CEO Apostle Paul that stumbled upon in my devotional study this week: "Now, about the collection for God's people...on the first day of the week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come, no collections will have to be made." (1 Cor. 16:1-4). These are very specific managerial instructions. Paul wants things to run smoothly with relation to money. He is giving administrative instructions to his church leaders, so that the "show of money" doesn't become the center of attention when he is in town.

Why is this new discovery so exciting to me? Partly because I have come to realize that great church leadership must include the ability to preach, teach, counsel, and minister to. However it also requires the ability to administer, to manage, to direct, and oversee. This discovery also helps me to see Paul as a more nuanced person than I once believed. Paul is not the one dimensional preacher that Sunday School teachers would like him to be. Paul was savvy, strategic, cunning and purposeful. This discovery also helps to explain a lot of Paul's anxiety and agitation that he expresses after he leaves a church. His thoughts an anxieties are those of a CEO, trying to keep hundreds of details in his head at once.

All for Now,

GB

Poem

Oh to be two

And to sit on a swing

And not to have a care in the world.

All for now,

GB

Change the Water in Your Bowl

It has been raining in Paso Robles a lot lately. By a lot, I mean, for the past month or so...pretty much nonstop. I'm checking to see if we are getting anywhere near Bangladesh in terms of sheer water volume, but I still think we have a long way to go in order to compare. In the midst of the aforementioned veritable monsoon conditions, my daughter Haley has been a bit stir crazy. The other day she put both hands on the back door pane of glass and said, "Outside, Now!" Frankly, I knew how she felt. But where does one take a two year old when it's raining? The park was out because of flash flood advisories, the swimming pool was shut for fear of lightning storms, Costco was too far away. So...we went to the pet store.

** Special note for parents..., if you need a good outing with your child that is free, the pet store is amazing. Thousands of pets, all in a small space. The dogs all need love, the lizards just need to be looked at...

Ok, so, while at the pet store, my daughter Haley and I bought a fish. Upon driving home Haley declared to me that, "His name is Fyulix," "Oh, cute...Felix the fish?" I asked.. "No, Fyulix." So, we now have a fish named "Fyulix", who lives in a bowl on the kitchen table.

Now, I have owned fish before, so I was very hesitant to have anything to do with acquiring a new one. My experience has always been that the pet store owners will tell you that they are easy, but by the end of the process, you end up requiring precision chemical TLC, perfect amounts of food, purifiers, pumps, thermometers, gauges, and multitudinous calibrated instruments. By the time you walk out, you have spent more on your fish than you would a vintage bottle of Chateaux La Fite.

The man who sold me "Fyulix" told me that all that this particular fish needed was a change of water once a week. And he was right. For about a month now, every week, I have been changing the water in "Fyulix's" bowl. By the end of the week Fyulix is sluggish and slow. After his water change, Fyulix is alive and awake.

So, here's my question for the week. It's a deep and penetrating spiritual question. When was the last time you changed the water in your bowl? I don't mean changed your bowl. Changing your bowl won't get you there. When did you change the water in your bowl? When did you add more oxygen to your life? Not someone else's life. But your own. Not an imaginary life, but your life.

I believe what most people need, including myself, is to change the water in their bowl. The water in our bowls consists of the people we associate with, the books we read, the films we watch, the amount we are talking to God, the time we spend in the Bible... not to mention the amount of time swim in our own....fish stuff.

The apostle Paul talked about putting on "new clothes for God." Paul was onto something, but I need more than new clothes. I need new water!

After Easter, I will be starting a new series at Highlands called, "Oxygen." The main theme of this series will be how we can add oxygen to our lives. How to change the water in our bowls. I'll be talking to God...and of course, watching "Fyulix" for answers to this question...

All for Now,

GB