Too Small

I love science. I love the discipline, the process, the inquisitive posture, the discoveries, the imagination, and the accountability of community. But science is not big enough to satisfy my soul.

I'm moderately interested in politics and government. I see the necessity, I see the potential for the common good, and I love that our society will spend thousands of dollars pursuing the well-being of even just one child in need. But politics is not big enough to give me hope.

I tolerate religion. For all the ways that it can be abused, I can appreciate how religion can contribute to community, mutual support, and attaching to something bigger than oneself. But religion is not big enough to make me good.

I enjoy sports and leisure. I'm my most animated when following a close game. Bicycling clears my head and improves my mood. Travel is like spice, giving the rest of life a rich flavor. But sports and leisure are not big enough to give me peace.

I like myself, usually. I must - I do things to take care of me. I don't have an irresistible charm or anything, but I usually treat myself kindly. But I'm not a big enough reason to press on through this broken world.

If Jesus isn't who he says he is, then nothing is big enough for me.

Tyranny in Your Head

Oppression changes your brain. According to neuroscience research (see resources below for two examples), forms of oppression can physically alter the brain. Some would say that it "rewires" the brain. Our brains respond to repeated or sustained forms of oppression in order to adapt in ways that cause permanent changes. Recall that I have written in recent past about a similar phenomenon, that trauma also can cause changes in the brain that are detectable by brain scans.

The implications spur off into thousands of directions, from counseling to social justice to compassion to ministry. This is relatively new research, and I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about it. I am by no means qualified to speak authoritatively on this topic, but we do have a few people in our church who are currently learning quite a lot about it in a counseling context.

Where I'm intrigued is in the theology of fallenness. In the Fall of Man, humankind was altered. But it would be inadequate to focus on just one form of fallenness. We didn't just fall morally. We didn't just die spiritually. We didn't just lose a close relationship with God. All of this is true, but we also fell physically, including our brains. In short, we got "drain bamage." Our brains were no longer pristine, firing on all cylinders, capable of perfectly healthy decisions. "Adam? That boy ain't right in the head."

Furthermore, given that trauma and oppression further alter the brain away from health, we can cause even further physiological damage to one another's brains. By inflicting trauma, we can change another's brain. By oppressing others, we can change their brains. This means that even by lying to other people about who they are and what they are worth, we can cause negative change in their brains. If we continually tell a girl she's not valuable unless she's thin and pretty, if we continually tell the materially poor that they're just lazy, if we continually tell people God hates them (or treat them as if He did), if we continually tell people they need to behave better in order for God to accept them, we effectively kill part of their brains.

When our brains are damaged, it is harder for us to relate, succeed, behave, care for others, decide, and work. Which, in turn, only invites more lies about our worth, creating a vicious vortex of deteriorating self-identity. You can lie someone into the exact horrible thing you told him he was. This brings new depth to Jesus' words when He said that calling your brother a "fool" is like murder (Matt 5:21-26).

Salvation and restoration, then, would first be the grace to cover all the damage that has been done to us by being fallen. We believe Jesus offers exactly this covering with His own perfection. Second would be for us to fight oppression wherever we see it, which includes policing ourselves to never oppress people with our words - especially children, whose brains are developing rapidly. Denigration and performance-based acceptance are lies that kill. Third would be to reverse the damage by speaking restorative truth to others, especially about their worth in God's eyes. Fourth would be something only God can do - replace these broken, fallen, damaged bodies (including brains) with fully restored bodies. We believe this is the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13).

Within the church, ministry must never assume that people who aren't responding to "plain truth" are stupid, lazy, or hopelessly rebellious. There is a part of everyone that cannot respond rightly to truth - we are fallen. As "ministers of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5:18), our task is to labor toward restoration. This means understanding the crippling effect that oppression and lies have on us physically. Perhaps you've seen commercials lately addressing "neuroplasticity," which employs certain mental and physical exercises that can rewire the brain toward a healthier state. Without understanding the patient process restoration requires, including restoration of a poorly wired brain, we will limit ourselves in what we hope to accomplish.

For those who know more about this than I do, I invite comments, additions, and corrections. My brain needs it.

Resources:
Allen E. Ivey and Carlos P. Zalaquett, "Neuroscience and Counseling: Central Issue for Social Justice Leaders," Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2011.

Beth Barila, Integrating Mindfulness Into Anti-Oppression Pedagogy, 2015.

I Warned You Not to Put These Two Together

Two beloved passages of Scripture, memorized, quoted, read for encouragement, recited at weddings, but not often put together. That's a bit odd, since they are about the same topic.

The first passage: Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 19:19; Mk 12:31; Lk 10:27; Ro 13:9; Ga 5:14; Jas 2:8). Jesus calls this the second greatest commandment of all, second only to loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. That must be pretty important!

The second passage: The "love chapter" (1 Cor 13), which is best remembered from verse 4 on: Love is patient, love is kind, ... It's a lovely verse to think of with your sweetheart in mind.

However, I don't think I've ever heard these two great passages put together. Let's give it a try:

⁴Love is patient with its neighbor, love is kind to its neighbor and is not jealous of its neighbor's stuff; love does not brag to its neighbor and is not arrogant around its neighbor, ⁵does not act unbecomingly toward its neighbor or its neighbor's spouse; it does not seek its own in competition with its neighbor, is not provoked by its neighbor, does not take into account a wrong suffered by its neighbor, ⁶does not rejoice in its neighbor's unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth along with its neighbor;⁷bears all things perpetrated by its neighbor, believes all things for its neighbor's benefit, hopes all things for its neighbor, endures all things by its neighbor. 

⁸Love never fails its neighbor ... ¹³But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is loving your neighbor as yourself ... second only to loving the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Think of your neighbors. Include people of a different faith or political stripe. Think of the not-so-nice neighbors. Think of the people in our communities who end up in the news. Reread this combined passage with these neighbors in mind. Yeah ... those neighbors. Go ahead ... reread it. I'll wait.

Now, go love your neighbor as yourself.

A View from the Canyon

The Grand Canyon is the world's most beautiful hole in the ground. A mile from rim to river, 10 to 18 miles across, 277 miles of river, encompassed in a park covering over 1900 square miles (http://www.nps.gov/grca/faqs.htm#big). With breathtaking vistas, layers of hues, and rugged beauty, the canyon is an untamed beast refusing to be domesticated by the dots of people on the rim looking down.

Some people have never seen the canyon in person. They likely have seen stunning photos and video. Perhaps they've gotten a glimpse from an airplane window, but that doesn't really count, either. They know that the canyon is awesome, but they've never experienced that the canyon is awesome. They probably know someone who has been and can tell them how awesome it is.

Most of the people who have seen the canyon in person and gasped at its size and beauty did so from the safety of the rim, likely from behind the safety of a guardrail. And now, you can even step out into the chasm a bit on the glass-bottomed skywalk, but still safely behind a guardrail. These folks can tell you from personal experience how awesome the canyon is.

(Image from http://www.grandcanyonwest.com/images/latestnews/l-skywalk.jpg)

Imagine, though, someone who wanted to not just be near the canyon, but in the canyon! I'm not talking about renting a burro or scaling the face, but someone who takes a running jump off of the rim, sails a mile downward into the canyon, and SPLAT! Really, really in the canyon! We would say, "How crazy! What a waste!" The man (or woman) threw away a perfectly good life. Even if that life was troubled, it's still a crazy waste, we would say.

Spiritually speaking, there are those who are like the ones who have never seen the Grand Canyon in person. They may have heard about Christ to some degree, but have never met Him "face-to-face." They may know several people who claim to know Him personally, they may even have the impression that Jesus is somewhat awesome.

Others can be like those who have seen the canyon from the ledge - safely behind the guardrails. They attend church somewhat regularly, they read the Bible once in a while, they know from observation that Jesus is incredibly awesome. They could tell others how awesome He is. But they've never taken the leap. They've never been in the canyon - always behind the guardrail.

Still others have taken the flying leap off the rim. No safety net, no scaling gear. Just sailing off into the depths of the canyon. And, just like what would happen in the real canyon, SPLAT! They die!

They die to sin. They die to the "old self." They die to the ways of seeking the pleasures of the flesh. They die to pride, selfishness, rebellion, idolatry, and most of all, religion. And the world says of these who die, "How crazy! What a waste!" All the world sees is a man or woman "throwing away" a perfectly good life. What a crazy waste!

But unlike the canyon, those who make this plunge are resurrected to new life, the "new man," the new creature of the new creation. They are "born again" or "born from above." Scripture says two things about this curious reality: 1) One must die in Christ before he is raised with Christ, and 2) All who die in Christ will be raised with Christ. In other words, SPLAT! of the old self is necessary, but it is always followed by resurrection to the new self.

If the world does not assess our lives as a "crazy waste," then we appear to them to be on the rim of the canyon, not in the canyon itself. At the canyon, not in the canyon. At Christ, but not in Christ. Someone can be in Christ but appear to the world as being only near Christ, and safely never being labeled a "crazy waste." The world should, and in fact the world must, see our lives as a crazy waste, rather than safely on the rim behind the guardrails. We must entice the world to scratch their heads, wondering how we could "throw away" our lives. That is the only way they will know what it means to be in Christ.

Romans 6:4 - Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.