Drunken Mystic

From Tozer’s Pursuit of Man …

The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood; the new cross brings laughter. The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross; before the cross it bows and toward the cross it points with carefully staged histrionics — but upon that cross it will not die, and the reproach of that cross it stubbornly refuses to bear.

I well know how many smooth arguments arguments can be marshaled in support of the new cross. Does not the new cross win converts and make many followers and so carry the advantage of numerical success? Should we not adjust ourselves to the changing times? Have we not heard the slogan “New days, new ways”? And who but someone very old and very conservative would insist upon death as the appointed way to life? And who today is interested in a gloomy mysticism that would sentence its flesh to a cross and recommend self-effacing humility as a virtue actually to be practiced by modern Christians? These are the arguments, along with may more flippant still, which are brought forward to give an appearance of wisdom to the hollow and meaningless cross of popular Christianity.

Peace.

Read this to the E the other night and he suggested it would be a good quote.

This is another one from Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese poet of New Age/Christian viewpoints. I’ve quoted him from my favorite, The Prophet, and this is from a collection called The Eye of the Prophet. Hope you enjoy.

Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus did not come from the heart of the Circle of Lights to destroy our dwellings and build convents and monasteries over their ruins, nor to persuade men to become priests or pastors.

But he came to breathe into the air of this earth a spirit as powerful as it was new, with the strength to undermine the foundations of all the monarchies erected over the bones of mankind.

He came here to demolish the majestic palaces constructed over the tombs of the weak and to destroy the statues erected over the corpses of the poor.

Jesus did not come to teach men how to build huge cathedrals and opulent temples close to humble cottages and cold, dark, homes.

But he came to make the heart of man into a temple, his soul into an altar, and his spirit into a priest.

O Jesus, to your honor and glory they built those churches and those cathedrals, adorned them with silk and melted down the golden calf over their cupolas.

They filled the sky with the smoke of candles and incense, while leaving your faithful worshippers without bread.

They intoned hymns of praise, while remaining deaf to the cries and tears of widows and orphans.

O Living Jesus, if only you could return to chase the merchants of Faith out of your sacred temple! For they made it into a dark cavern where the vipers of hypocrisy and trickery crawl in their thousands.

Peace.

Pulled out some quotes from Watchman Nee’s book The Glorious Church for you this week.

“We must realize that God takes into account the source of things, not whether they are good or evil. Men always ask, ‘Is this good or bad?’ But God asks, ‘Where does it come from?’
We need to solve the matter of origin, not good or evil.”

“Only that which comes out of Christ can return to Christ … Only that which comes from heaven can return to heaven … home is the place of our origin.
There are many people who feel they should offer all that they are and all that they have for the Lord’s use. But God cannot accept anything which is offered from a human source.
We thank God that intelligent and eloquent men can come into the church, but their natural, original intelligence and their natural, original eloquence are of no spiritual use in the church.
God never uses the old creation to construct the new creation.
He can never, never use fleshly things to produce something spiritual.”

Good stuff, huh?

Peace.

In our guys group, we are reading a book by Henri Nouwen called The Return of the Prodigal Son. A few months ago, I also read another book by Nouwen called In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership. It is an excellent book, one I could recommend to anyone. I thought I might share some quotes from this book over the next couple weeks.

On the temptation to be relevant:

“.. I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.”

“The leaders of the future will be those who dare to claim their irrelevance in the contemporary world as a divine vocation that allows them to enter into a more deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success, and to bring the light of Jesus there.”

Peace.

Just got done reading The Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical by Shane Claiborne.

This book generally challenged and encouraged me, and I think that his questions are valid. I don’t agree with all of his conclusions, but it was refreshing to get the vibe that I probably didn’t have to. While Claiborne seemed to want to distance himself from both liberal and conservative camps, that’s not as easy to do in all practicality, exemplified by a very liberal media style and his quotes from many of those champions. Not that I necessarily disagreed with the statements; I guess it just seemed pretty safe in some ways, like something you would see in Spin Magazine or Rolling Stone.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book. He’s a good writer in the emergent “everyone has a story” way. I really appreciated his ideas and some of the balance the Lord has taught him so far. His expressions of community and redemption struck a real chord in me.

There were several passages in the book I really appreciated, but I chose this one to share.

“God forgive us for all those we have lost because we made the gospel boring. I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them, not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video games and join the army. But what are they to do with a church that teaches them to tiptoe through life so they can arrive safely at death?”

Great thoughts and question …

Peace.

One last one from Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison.

“Our Church, which has been fighting in these years only for its self-preservation, as though that were an end in itself, is incapable of taking the word of reconciliation and redemption to mankind and the world. … our being Christians today will be limited to two things: prayer and righteous action among men. All Christian thinking, speaking, and organizing must be born anew out of this prayer and action.”

Peace.

Another one from Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. Towards the end of his life, he was planning on writing a book about “religionless” Christianity, boiled down to its basics without the traditions and ceremony attatched to it. Too bad he never wrote it, although his notes and outline were incredible. I loved this quote from his “Conclusions”:

“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others. To make a start, it should give away all its property to those in need. The clergy must live solely on the free-will offerings of their congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling. The Church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live in Christ, to exist for others. In particular, our own Church will have to take the field against the vices of hubris, power-worship, envy, and humbug, as the roots of all evil. It will have to speak of moderation, purity, trust, loyalty, constancy, patience, discipline, humility, contentment, and modesty. It must not underestimate the importance of human example …. ; it is not abstract argument, but example, that gives its word emphasis and power.”

Peace.

Sorry I’ve been off for a week or so.

Been reading Bonhoeffer lately. Excellent stuff. This comes from his Letters and Papers from Prison, compiled after his execution at the hands of the Nazis. As I read the paper, “After Ten Years”, several quotes stood out to me. I’ll choose this one for this week. Others possibly to follow.

“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virture, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God — the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are those responsible people?”

Great question.

Peace.

From Andrew Murray’s book, With Christ in the School of Prayer:

“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. He did not speak much of what was needed to preach well, but much of praying well. To know how to speak to God is more important than knowing how to speak to man. Not power with man, but power with God is the first thing.”

Funny how the modern focus of training ministers is directly contrary to the method of Christ.

Peace.

On a more serious note today, here’s a good quote. It is a weird one, though, because it comes from John Piper’s Desiring God, and he quotes George Ortis in his book. I could just give the George Ortis book, but whatever …

“George Ortis shocked many at the second Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism in Manila in 1989 when he asked, ‘Is our failure to thrive in Muslim countries owing to the absence of martyrs? Can a covert church grow in strength? Does a young church need martyr s?’ Fittingly, he concludes in his book, The Last of the Giants, with a chapter entitled ‘Risky Safety’:

‘Should the church in politically or socially trying circumstances remain covert to avoid potential eradication by forces hostile to Christianity? Or would more open confrontation with prevailing spiritual ignorance and deprivation — even if it produced Christian martyrs — be more likely to lead to evangelistic breakthroughs? Islamic fundamentalists claim their spiritual revolution is fueled by the of martyrs. Is it conceivable that Christianity’s failure to thrive in the Muslim world is due to the notable absence of Christian martyrs? And can the Muslim community take seriously the claims of a Church in hiding? … The question is not whether it is wise at times to keep worship and witness discreet, but rather how long this may continue before we are guilty of “hiding our light under a bushel” … The record shows that from Jerusalem and Damascus to Ephesus and Rome, the apostles were beaten, stoned, conspired against and imprisoned for their witness. Invitations were rare, and never the basis for their missions.’”

Now, I do not specifically feel called to the Muslim world, and it is easy to simply sit in our comfort and agree with these statements … but I do sense a great truth here. While we seek to understand and befriend the Muslim community, will it truly take those who are willing to die for their faith to bring the Arab world to the feet of Christ? Historically, and according to the Bible, this seems to be true.

Peace.