From Hauerwas to Rashi: Christian Effectiveness, Patience, and Miracles

I was driving home from Auburn, Alabama this weekend, where I spent 4... ok, 5 years obtaining a piece of paper that says I've suffered enough to be considered a college graduate, and listening to one of my favorite people on the planet, Dr. Stanley Hauerwas. Dr. Hauerwas teaches theological ethics at Duke Divinity, was named America's Best Theologian in 2001 (to which he promptly responded, "Best is not a theological catagory."), and is probably one of the more interesting theological educators out there. In his lecture, Dr. Hauerwas quoting John Howard Yoder says, "The key to the obedience of God's people is not their effectiveness, but their patience." This leads to an interesting dilemma with the rise and statis of seeker friendly churches that came to power in the 80's, 90's, and on into this millennium. Many people come seeking God, but in their hustle, and bustle, and endless programming, and constant movement have yet to find him... or perhaps to put it better, they've yet to SEE him. I specifically use the word see because it leads me to another interesting insight. I'm currently reading a book called "GOD was in this place & I, i did not know" by Lawrence Kushner. In this book Kushner (a Jewish scholar at Hebrew Union College) examines classic historical responses to Genesis 28:16, the verse which also makes up the title of this book. In Chapter 1, Kushner examines the response of Rabbi Shelomo ben Yitzhaki, also known as Rashi. Summarizing Rashi, Kushner explains that Jacob's not knowing that God was present in that place can be read in light of Exodus 3 (Moses and the burning bush) to give us a wonderful insight. Have you ever watched something burning? Wood burns slowly (hence it's use as fuel for fires) which means that Moses would have had to stop and watch the bush for some time to know for sure that it wasn't being consumed. You see, the miracle could only be spotted by those willing enough to stop and simply wait. And so we come full circle. To often we yearn to see the miracles God promises, to fuel our belief that we're being effective as christians, but how often do we stand still long enough to see God's will come to fruition? And that is our core mistake: To measure by effectiveness what should be borne in patience.

"Don't move." - Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom
"Be still and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10

R-E-S-P-E-C-T!!!

Today Beliefnet.com posted an interview with respected conservative evangelical scholar Wayne Grudem. [You can read the articale here.] Grudem is a graduate of Havard, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Cambridge, as well as the author of a very well received book on Systematic Theology. He is also the author of the recently published book, Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood. In his interview Grudem shares that his experiences as a pastor have led him to solidify his particular hermeneutic principles (which also happen to be the same principles held by many of my conservative brethren) into a list of positions and services that women should and should not perform for the church. While Grudem's view may be grouped in with the Complementarian view of gender, his reasoning for adopting such a view seems, to me, suspect. Grudem says that his views are based on the "pattern in the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, where there is never an instance where a woman does teaching of God’s word to an assembled group of men." Really? Should we then ignore the account of Deborah (Judges 4 & 5), whose reign brought fourty years of peace to the land of Israel? Judgement could not be separated from the Law in ancient Israel as there were no secular courts. How then did Deborah rule? And what of Phoebe? (The one in Romans 16, not the one who sang "Smelly Cat!") The greek word used to describe her is diakonos. While it can be translated "deacon" or "servant", it is equally possible to translate it "minister." [See 1 Tim 4:6 where Timothy is called a diakonos by Paul yet is clearly in a position of authority within the church at Ephesus.] While simple biology leads me to have certain diagreements with the Egalitarian view of gender, Grudem's blatantly patristic interretation of the Bible is clearly outdated and can only add to the stereotype that the church (and God) does not value women as highly as men.

"The only way to recoup our spiritual losses is to go back to the cause of them and make such corrections as the truth warrents." - A.W. Tozer
"All you need is love." - The Beatles

An interesting Christmas story...

(sorry this is so long, but I promise it's worth the read...)
I teach Sunday school and Wednesday night bible studies with some regularity at the church I attend in Huntsville. In closing with a prayer two weeks ago I prayed that we would all have a chance to minister to someone that we would not normally have come into contact with (in case you don't already know, I have a big place in my heart for the poor and underprivileged). The day after Christmas I'm falling asleep on the couch in my grandparents house (all the beds were filled with various uncles, aunts, and cousins) and I'm realizing that I haven't fulfilled my own prayer. This wasn't out of selfishness or inconvenience, but after a moment of self reflection I realized that there really had not been anyone that was placed in my life that was a ministry opportunity (*note: not to be confused with an evangelizing opportunity). I fell back asleep resolving to make sure I paid attention to the people around me lest I miss a chance to show somebody the love that this season is really all about. Two hours later it's 1:45 in the morning and my dad is waking me up to tell me we're going (what can I say... the man likes to travel early!). We hop in the car and begin the 5 hour trip back to Huntsville. About an hour down the road, we're in the middle of nowhere on a tiny two lane highway and I'm woken by the car pulling off the road and coming to a stop. Jumping out of the car and telling my mom and brother to stay put, I follow my dad to an old, beat up van that has slid off the embankment and is stuck in the mud on the side of the road. A young black couple was trying to push it out, to no avail. It was pretty obvious they were poor, the kind of poor that makes middle-class white folks regret every time they ever complained about having money problems. Dad and I jump in there to give them a hand, but the van simply was not going to move. The man thanks us for the help and dejectedly pulls out an old cell phone and 411's the number for the nearest towing service. He tells us that the tow truck is 15 minutes away and thanks us again for our help. Dad, knowing there's nothing more we can do, apologizes one more time saying he wished we could do more and begins to walk back to the car.

"What's the damage?" I ask the guy.
"$75," he replies.

I hustle back to the car, told dad to wait a second and pull $80 out of my wallet. I had been given that $80 by my dad for Christmas with special instructions... "Spend it one someone who needs it," he told me. I ran back to the guy at the van, handed him the money, shook his hand and told him that I hope this could help make the holiday a little brighter. No mention of God, Jesus, or salvation through a cross on a hill, but if you really believe that that wasn't an effective ministry for the kingdom than you've got your head stuck in the sand.

And so I pray the same thing for you. May you have the opportunity to minister to someone in need, because if you look hard enough in the face of the person you serve, you’ll see the face of the savior.

"Generosity without orthodoxy is nothing, but orthodoxy without generosity is worse than nothing." - Hans Frei, Yale Theologian