"The very existence of the cross, and of the crucified Christ, forces us to make a crucial decision: Will we look for God somewhere else, or will we make the cross, and the crucified Christ, the basis of our thought about God?"
—Alistair E. McGrath
With that quote, Chapter 4 of Contemplating the Cross began.
I see it and hear it all the time...people say they are Christians and then they go off to a Buddhist retreat, or engage in some kind of New Age activity to find healing, or visit a psychic to hopefully gain some insight to their future, or go off to Burning Man to join with humanity out in the desert for some kind of spiritual experience.
I see it and hear it all the time...people say they are Christians and then they go off to a Buddhist retreat, or engage in some kind of New Age activity to find healing, or visit a psychic to hopefully gain some insight to their future, or go off to Burning Man to join with humanity out in the desert for some kind of spiritual experience.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
I call this “Jesus, plus.” It’s as if they’re saying, “I believe in Jesus, plus I add these other things to enrich my spiritual experiences.” As if the Cross of Christ isn’t enough. As if His death (and resurrection) needs something added to it.
It's heart-breaking because if we really, truly, madly, deeply understood the Cross of Christ, we wouldn’t even *imagine* going anywhere else...we’d be on our faces at the foot of the Cross daily, clinging to it for dear life, because there is NOWHERE ELSE to go...NO ONE ELSE who can save us or bring us healing.
“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sins; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and BY HIS WOUNDS WE ARE HEALED.” (Isaiah 53:5)
No wonder the first commandment is to have no other Gods. There are so many imitations out there that look really inviting. But none of them satisfy and some of them do outright harm under the guise of “spirituality.” It reminds me of the beautiful White Witch in Narnia, offering Edmund the Turkish Delight. Oh it looks so good! So appealing! It will surely be the answer! Guess again.
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
There are plenty of glorious and rich spiritual experiences to be had, but they need to be rooted and grounded in the Cross of Christ for He is the only way, the only truth and the only life, and the only way to God. (Don't argue with me, argue with Him, because He said it Himself.)
I can rant about this, but then I have to look in the mirror. I might not be seeking other spiritual paths to enhance my faith, but what “plusses” am I adding to Jesus to try to gain satisfaction in life? This Lenten journey has been one of hard self-examination and I’m not pleased with what I see -- idolatry, covetousness, greed, gluttony, anger, sloth, pride...gosh, it’s beginning to sound like the seven deadly sins!
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
In each of those sins there is a grasping for something more. Isn’t that what sin is? Adam and Eve got the ball rolling for us, grasping for something more than the Lord. And I join them daily by doing things (or leaving things undone) on my own in the attempt to satisfy a need or a deep longing because somewhere in me I don’t fully trust that Jesus will meet the need...or He’s not meeting it fast enough for my tastes. So I turn my back on Him for a minute to escape the painful realities of life. The plate of pasta (gluten-free, of course) or bowl of ice cream surely will make me feel better for a moment. Only it really doesn’t. Daydreaming about what I don’t or can’t have (aka coveting) will surely relieve some of the pain. Maybe for a minute, but then it drives me a bit farther away from the Cross and it’s a longer trip each time to get back there. My knees are bloodied from the journey. And the list goes on.
“I cry out for Your hand of mercy to heal me
I am weak, I need Your love to free me
O Lord, my rock, my strength in weakness
Come rescue me, O Lord
You are my hope
Your promise never fails me
And my desire is to follow You forever
For You are good, for You are good
For You are good to me.”
The bottom line today is this --
I don’t want to live in “Jesus, plus.”
I want to be alive in Jesus, only.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
"Jesus is the only way to the Father, but I am not the only way to Jesus..."
ReplyDelete~ Casting Crowns
I would paraphrase that "Jesus is the only way to the Father, but Christianity in its current iteration as experientially available is not the only way to Jesus..."
I agree with you wholeheartedly re: the overwhelming sufficiency of Christ.
And I believe people find Him in places I would balk at going; experiences I would balk at having.
Merton hung out with Zen Buddhists -- not to add anything to Jesus, but to find Him there in the midst of any Truth which can be contained within Buddhism.
A very good friend of mine is attending Burning Man for the first time this year -- not to add anything to Jesus, but to find Him (and to *be* Him) there, amongst the masses of humanity.
I'm reminded of Paul's exhortation to the gang in Corinth 1 Cor 10:23-33, as well as his thoughts to the folks at Collosae (Col 2:16-23). It is a bit of a slippery slope, what with all the data available online re: why we should avoid the Easter eggs or Christmas trees because of their pagan festival roots.
I guess I would just say that not all who "partake of meat sacrified to idols" are heretics.
"Not all who wander are lost"
~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Sure...what I'm hearing there is INTENTION. Of course, we need to go out into the world and BE HIM...absolutely. That's a very different thing from what I'm expressing here.
ReplyDeleteSomeone I love dearly recently rededicated his life to the Lord upon realizing he'd been trying to find Jesus everywhere except by going directly to Christ Himself. (Remember "looking for love in all the wrong places"?) I thought that was a very insightful and wise statement.
I love these words penned by Chris Tomlin -- "All of You is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need. You satisfy me with Your love and all I have in You is more than enough." Is Christ enough? I think so. There are depths and riches and wonders we haven't even begun to know or find in Jesus. I don't see the need to press into anyone or anything else.
There's all sorts of "truth" out there, sure. But Truth, in my opinion, is based in Christ alone.
Your mileage may vary. ;)
Clarifying even more....I think it's one thing to learn about another faith path in order to build bridges and to find common ground...it's quite another thing to immerse oneself in practices that lead us away from Christ in order to find healing or peace or deeper satisfaction. There are some fine lines and grey areas to be sure. I have no problem doing yoga stretches. I would not, however, do yoga stretches and incantations to some Hindu god at the same time in order to bring me something I was searching for. I think crystals hanging by a window are pretty, but I would not start using them as instruments of healing by reciting New Age prayers to a New Age god...and then go to church and worship Jesus as Lord. Because if Jesus is LORD, then I can't be turning to any other god. This is one clear instance where it can't be "both-and" in my opinion. He's either Lord or He isn't. I have often said that if you believe in everything, you believe in nothing. Paul also says there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and all over his writings he warns against "other gospels." So to my mind, we can't have Gospel-plus. I hope that clarifies what I'm trying to say. (You still might disagree and I'll still love you!)
DeleteHere's the thing that has been bending my mind and refreshing/convicting my heart lately though: If someone was met by Jesus in the midst of a peyote experience, then clearly He was there in the midst of that experience!
DeleteI misunderstand God (and therefore then mis-represent Him to others) when I think He cannot be where I am if I am in the midst of sin. Yes, there are anecdotal verses which could be proof-texted, but clearly at the moment of Original Sin, He did not stay away. He did not avoid Adam & Eve in their sinful state -- He pursued them! It was they who hid themselves from Him! The history of His people has been similar -- He pursues us, we embrace Him to the best of our abilities, then blow it and run away from Him...only to have Him run to embrace us (Luke 15). The last thing he told the 11+ was that He would be with them always. So to use a Wimberism I'm sure you love as much as I do: "I looked up that word 'always' and you know what it means? 'always!'" =)
So He promised to be with me always -- not "with you most of the time, but only as long as you keep your nose clean."
DeleteEven if I wanted to run away from Him I can't (Psalm 139)
So Jesus is All-In-All and He was, at the cross, reconciling all things to Himself.
Therefore Truth can be present in any spiritually transcendant experience. As a follower, connected to His Spirit, I need to listen to that still small voice leading me toward and away from influences and experiences in my life. And I would expect that what He tells me would vary from what He would tell my brothers and sisters -- and may even walk with me into situations other brothers and sisters would frown upon -- either for themselves, or just in general.
So the nuance I would add to the idea of intention is again back at Paul's thoughts on freedom. All things are lawful, but not all things are edifying -- but Paul does not then tell us what is specifically "not edifying", at least not there -- if anything, he seems to be saying "you who say that thus and such ought to be a black/white prohibition, think again -- just because eating meat sacrified to idols, or celebrating that New Moon festival may not be edifying to you, this does not automatically mean that person who is eating and celebrating in that way is walking astray or sinning."
To try for succinctness (not my strong suit): your original post seems to say "If you're a follower you ought not to be seeking Him anywhere but the cross." And I would say it differently: "As a follower I will seek the cross wherever he leads me"
So if that means I look for His hand in the depths of quiet contemplation at a Buddhist retreat...do I need to be sensitive to His Spirit? Yes. Can just anyone go to a Buddhist retreat and find Jesus? Clearly, no. If I can, but my brother can't, should I invite my brother? No. If I can and my brother can't, should I point it out to my brother and others, showing off how spiritually mature I am? No.
...and if I am seeking Him in ways that another brother questions, and out of love and concern for me that brother comes to me and points out sin (idolatry, etc) -- do I need to stay even more sensitive to the Spirit to see if He is speaking to me through that brother, to back away from something I thought was OK but is not? You bet! Iron sharpening iron and all that!
...but if I am feeling free to seek Him in way/experiences that another brother finds objectionable for himself, should I allow my brother's beliefs (that these paths/experiences are not edifying for anyone ever) to curtail the freedom I have in Christ? By no means!
At another attempt at brevity:
I wholeheartedly agree that Jesus-plus... or Gospel-plus... intentions, teachings, paths, or experiences are a step away from following and trusting.
And I would suggest that exploring some other spiritual experiences (again, e.g. attending Burning Man or a Zen Buddhist weekend, etc) may not be "Jesus plus..." at all -- but may simply be "Jesus in the midst of" and so still "Jesus alone".
I removed the heresy comment...an overstatement. Thanks, Keith. :)
ReplyDeleteAll truth can only come from God, therefore, if I find it "off the beaten path", it cannot be a bad thing. The trouble with the "beaten path" is that it is often a tribally-enforced agreement ("believe this way or you're going to hit the slippery slope to hell, or else").
ReplyDelete