The Minister's Daughter

This morning, I grabbed my Grandpa's poetry book and it fell open to this poem which was written in 1880 by the Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with Dad when I rejected the notion of a hell of eternal torment and had begun to learn what I was to lose by that choice. I call it a choice for lack of a better term...because you don't really choose what you believe you just believe what you believe... and you either own it, or you live a lie....  He said, "Well, you never heard me preach about hell."   And I said, "but the threat of hell is foundational in the teachings of the church....it is the "given" that is the undercurrent of everything."  

I guess, I admired Dad for expressing what he did to me...but I was a bit disillusioned too...that he would just remain quiet about what he believed...when it makes such a difference in our perception of who God is.  "WHO GOD IS" is very important and profoundly effects our relationship to Him.  It's why Jesus came...to reconcile us to God...to show us who He really is. (think, "If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.)

I think the false image creates a destructive dissonance and is often the reason that people walk away from "religion."  Atheist humorist George Carlin likes to say,

“Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!”

People find this funny.  Why?  because it does resonate with what "religion" has taught and it shows up as a rediculous caricature the "god" of "religion." 

Anyhow... I really can't say more... although I have much more to say... Here is the poem... I particularly like the 15th stanza...because a false image of God is, as the poet has expressed...quite simply...an idol...
    
The Minister's Daughter

In the minister's morning sermon
He had told of the primal fall,
And how thenceforth the wrath of God
Rested on each and all.

And how of His will and pleasure,
All souls, save a chosen few,
Were doomed to the quenchless burning,
And held in the way thereto.

Yet never by faith's unreason
A saintlier soul was tried,
And never the harsh old lesson
A tenderer heart belied.

And, after the painful service
On that pleasant Sabbath day,
He walked with his little daughter
Through the apple-bloom of May.

Sweet in the fresh green meadows
Sparrow and blackbird sung;
Above him their tinted petals
The blossoming orchards hung.

Around on the wonderful glory
The minister looked and smiled;
"How good is the Lord who gives us
These gifts from His hand, my child.

"Behold in the bloom of apples
And the violets in the sward
A hint of the old, lost beauty
Of the Garden of the Lord!"

Then up spake the little maiden,
Treading on snow and pink
"O father! these pretty blossoms
Are very wicked, I think.

"Had there been no Garden of Eden
There never had been a fall;
And if never a tree had blossomed
God would have loved us all."

"Hush, child!" the father answered,
"By His decree man fell;
His ways are in clouds and darkness,
But He doeth all things well.

"And whether by His ordaining
To us cometh good or ill,
Joy or pain, or light or shadow,
We must fear and love Him still."

"Oh, I fear Him!" said the daughter,
"And I try to love Him, too;
But I wish He was good and gentle,
Kind and loving as you."

The minister groaned in spirit
As the tremulous lips of pain
And wide, wet eyes uplifted
Questioned his own in vain.

Bowing his head he pondered
The words of the little one;
Had he erred in his life-long teaching?
Had he wrong to his Master done?

To what grim and dreadful idol
Had he lent the holiest name?
Did his own heart, loving and human,
The God of his worship shame?

And lo! from the bloom and greenness,
From the tender skies above,
And the face of his little daughter,
He read a lesson of love.

No more as the cloudy terror
Of Sinai's mount of law,
But as Christ in the Syrian lilies
The vision of God he saw.

And, as when, in the clefts of Horeb,
Of old was His presence known,
The dread Ineffable Glory
Was Infinite Goodness alone.

Thereafter his hearers noted
In his prayers a tenderer strain,
And never the gospel of hatred
Burned on his lips again.

And the scoffing tongue was prayerful,
And the blinded eyes found sight,
And hearts, as flint aforetime,
Grew soft in his warmth and light.

He loves ME because I'm His child

I’ve been reading two books recently about Germany in the Hitler years, “Bonhoeffer- Pastor-Martyr-Prophet-Spy” by Erik Metaxis and “They Thought They Were Free – The Germans” by Milton Mayer. Both books speak of the nature of the relationship between the people and the state and the church and the state, and it has been interesting to read them in tandem. I have been struck by my own need to stand up and be authentic about what I think and believe, because it is only in every individual excusing his silence and opting out of the dialog that evil and error are allowed to thrive.

It was Martin Niemoller, one of the founding pastors of the “Confessing Church” in Germany (which was formed to resist the Lutheran State Church’s apostasy) who wrote the now famous words,

They came for the communists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me -
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

The Confessing Church which Niemoller helped to form (along with Bonheoffer) was not perfect. It still had a lot of stuff that left you wondering about their teaching, traditions and beliefs. It was made up of individuals who all seemed to have a variety of ideas about where to draw the line concerning the direction that Hitler was taking Germany and the Lutheran State Church.

I certainly would have found it difficult to aligning myself with them on all points.

Most of them were far too strong on “The powers that be are ordained of God.” Some of them were stronger on “We ought to obey God rather than man.” Some even joined in a conspiracy to kill Hitler, believing that in the grand scheme of things, it was less evil to murder Hitler than to allow him to continue to murder thousands of other people.

I found it disturbing that they wanted to take the place of the State church. Did they not realize that the reason the church had become so antichristian was because it was the STATE church...controlled by the state...by Hitler! The pastors didn’t want to lose their jobs and government salaries (not to mention their lives) by speaking out…so they just went further and further into idolatry and apostasy. So the Confessing Church….imperfect as it was….was raised up in opposition to it.

The thing is…they did something remarkable. They stood against evil, and despite the fact that in a way, they accomplished very little; possibly went about things wrong; were slow to take stands that seem obvious now; many of them sacrificed their lives to stand against evil.

So this week two things in my own life have stood out which have made me examine myself. One was the resignation of Rob Bell (author of Love Wins) from his mega-church. As far as I know he has simply resigned from “his” “mega-church” to do other things and was not forced to resign, but I went to Google him to see how it was being presented. What I found was an ugly slug fest amongst Christians and especially Calvinist Christians, who seem as anxious as their leader, John Calvin to murder those who oppose their view. Here is a small sampling from YouTube of their views.

http://youtu.be/guy7aE9jcs0 John Piper...who made the unloving and uncaring twitter… “Farewell Rob Bell”

http://youtu.be/XxCKxxRU_s8 Mark Driscoll…another Calvinist speaks on hell

http://youtu.be/8k6AcQvXxH8 Don’t know who this is but…could he be more graceless?

Anyhow, I have not yet read Rob Bell’s book, "Love Wins". I’m assuming he is making a case for the concept of “the restitution of all things” as taught in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. I am a believer in this teaching which I see as biblical…. Certainly more biblical than the teaching of ETERNAL TORMENT, ( I am absolutely powerless to type that in lower case) which is an affront to the character of God.

Plutarch, the great Greek biographer, once wrote, “I had rather a great deal men should say there was no such man at all as Plutarch than that they should say there was one Plutarch that would eat his children as soon as they were born” (He preferred to have men deny his existence rather than have them hold an unworthy conception of his character.)

Honestly, the only reason I didn’t read Bell’s book yet is because of his label as an “emergent church leader” and a pastor of a “mega church”. I thought I might have a tough time swallowing his culture and expression….but I was wrong to judge him just because he is younger and his style is different (he probably knows how to order coffee at Starbucks)…and his interface and involvement with the institutional church is different than mine. So now I’m going to get his book and read it and I think I will find that I enjoy it and probably learn something good…and even if I don’t agree with everything he has to say or his way of saying it, I will certainly agree with his title, “Love Wins.”

I made a supportive comment on one of his videos and (I didn’t know this would happen) my comment was posted to my FB page… and I am already paying for that one small comment. My point here is…. For the last three years, I have almost given up my right to think….certainly to express who I am and what I believe just in order to keep hostilities at bay….perhaps to prevent being labeled and marginalized by Christians in the same way Rob Bell now is… So now I see that I need to be taking my stand in my own little bean patch. I want my children and my grandchildren to understand me, even if they don’t agree with me. What is the point of them having a relationship with an unauthentic me?

Church history tells us that all the movements which have brought progress have brought it at the expense of “unity” and peaceful conformity in the church...but in every important case, these movements were in response to great evils which had corrupted the former established church. And then it seems, each new iteration of "the Church" has eventually been corrupted and supplanted by the next movement… Luther was responding the corrupted practice of the Catholic Church of selling indulgences….The confessing church responded to the Lutheran church’s adoption of Hitler’s paganism….etc…etc.

I believe there is now a movement about which seeks to correct a lie which has been taught about our Father God….that it is not His mercy…but rather his torment which is eternal and I find on reflection, that I could no more go back to believing in Hell is a place of torment where 99% of people already are or should expect to be spending eternity suffering in a literal burning lake of fire….than I could to believing in the tooth fairy. I cannot…so I will have to take my stand. I guess in the immortal words of Sammy Davis Jr., “I gotta be me.” (The lyrics to this old chestnut are actually more apropos than I had imagined)

In spiritual things...as it seems in all of life, when we stop growing…we start dying. I confess I have stifled my own pursuit of God and His truth…simply to have peace and the hope of relationship. This I can no longer afford to do for several reasons.

Neil Anderson when talking about our identity in Christ says, “No person can consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with the way he perceives himself.” I think it has been harmful on many levels to do what I have done in simply sitting down and shutting up. I have never said that anyone should follow me or believe what I believe I just want to follow where Jesus is leading me. I believe that Father deals with us each in His own way and doesn’t need me to bully anyone else. I do wish though, that it wasn’t so habitual for Christians to become angry and hostile rather than patient with those who have divergent ideas, or even dare to question things that have been set down for them. How many times have we all heard people say, “The Bible is as plain as the nose on your face” about this issue or the other, when in fact…it’s often not that plain at all? Makes me wonder if they've ever actually read it.

Anyhow…enough of that for now… The second thing (if you still remember I said there were two), is that I have been inspired to take my place in the peaceful 40 day vigil for life. It’s something I can do. There are many things I feel unqualified to do…but here I have been presented with a small part to play in a cause I believe is important and vital…and so this is the time to do the small thing that I CAN do, rather than ignore the whole ugly issue. There is no point in being ashamed of my past under-involvement. The thing is that I begin to live out who I am. I am not called to be anyone else….but I fail God if I am not authentically me because he wants to work through and use MY life.

Do I think these two issues are linked? Yes I do. If God is a personal God….If He cares about the individual, then He hasn’t made billions of people so that he can choose say,144,000 (just an arbitrary number) to keep, and the rest, not only destroy…but torture…not just for a thousand years or so…but FOREVER…not to correct them…but well…why then?

Also, If God is a personal God, then He cares about the lives of the children that are conceived and murdered in their mother’s wombs…and He cares about the people who have been so hardened off to their humanity and identity in Christ, that they have lost even the basic animal instinct to protect their young. I believe that God is a personal God… that He loves individuals. And I believe that these issues are part of the larger question…. “Does God love ME?” Yes He does...and...LOVE WINS...