St. John Studies

Billy Graham, in his book The Holy Spirit, recounts a story of a seminary student who asked a question about the inferiority of the Holy Spirit since it comes third. As we refer to the Holy Spirit, we usually say Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with the Spirit in the third position. Graham explains that the third position does not imply inequality, but does imply functionality. The Father came first, followed by the Son who was God incarnate, died and rose again. Following the Son is the Spirit who does His work in the age of the Spirit, even unto today.

But this raises another question; why do we say Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Why is this grouping called the Trinity? How did this grouping come about?

Almost all Christians believe in the Trinity. For us this means that God exists in three Persons and these three are one God, co-equal, co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes. Now all Christians believe this but most Christians struggle to understand it and explain it. Many throw up their hands and say things like “it is a mystery!” or “it is a paradox!”

Even as the Bible unfolds the revelation of God progressively, there are indications of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Genesis. However, Graham admits that the New Testament references to the Spirit are much more numerous. But where does Trinity come from?

According to Wikipedia, the first recorded use of Trinity was by Theophilus of Antioch in the year 170. Tertullian, a Latin theologian who wrote in the 3rd Century is credited with being the first to use the Latin words “Trinity” to explain the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” This means that the idea of the Trinity came about after the Bible was written.

Scripture in the New Testament is very close to the idea of the Three in One. One can find instances like the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:14 where he says “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Graham states “His benediction clearly indicates the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and one with the Son in the Godhead” even though the words “Trinity” are not used.

The word Trinity is just not in the Bible.

Why did it come about? Graham says the most confusing part of the subject of the Trinity is the claim that Christianity is monotheistic. Polytheism was the norm in many cultures when Christianity came about; the Romans worshipped twelve Gods for example. Christians did not want to be associated with pagan concepts, so they emphasized one God [monotheism]. First Corinthians 8:4 says “There is no God but one” and 1 Timothy 2:5 explicitly says “there is one God.” The thorny problem is the incarnation of God in Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there also and they are on par with God.

Sounds like polytheism…

Until Christian doctrinal leaders develop the doctrine of the Trinity.

Graham uses a story from Dr. David McKenna to illustrate the practical problem of the Trinity. McKenna had one of those “stump the father” episodes with his small son. His boy said “Is God the Father?” McKenna said yes. “Is Jesus Christ God?” McKenna said yes. “Is the Holy Spirit God?” Another yes, and then the child said “How can Jesus be His own Father?”

McKenna used the car they were sitting in to explain how this could be. I sure can relate since I am not mechanical at all. He said under the hood is one battery [God] and that battery can turn on the lights, blow the horn and start the car. How this happens is a mystery but it happens. I am sure the boy accepted the mystery.

God exists in three Persons and these three are one God, co-equal, co-eternal. Father is the source of all blessing, the Son is the channel of all blessing, and the Holy Spirit is at work in us making God alive and operative in our lives.

Did this concept come about in a very pragmatic way to avoid polytheistic theology? Is it revealed in the Bible and Church leaders were inspired by Scripture to explain the Triune God using the term Trinity?

Does it really matter?

It does…

Pastor Don Hemingway writes “The Trinity is a doctrine that all Christians believe but no one really understands….If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul.”

Maybe the best attitude to have is represented by the Massachusetts’s Senator Daniel Webster. Webster who was a fervent Christian was asked “How can a man of your intellect believe in the Trinity?” He replied “I do not pretend fully to understand the arithmetic of Heaven now.”

Emphasis should go on the word now…

The concept of the Holy Spirit as a self-conscious individual, a human entity inhabiting the earth; that idea gives me trouble. I expressed that in my previous post “Holy Spirit as Person.” Maybe the confusion that I have is just mine alone. Pastor Billy Graham in his book The Holy Spirit says the Holy Spirit is a person and furnishes several examples of human-like traits to support his assertion.

At the end of his discussion of the Holy Spirit as person, he has a single sentence that helps me with the Holy Spirit being a person. “He is a person. He is divine as well.”
That is when I can come aboard.

Here is evidence of divinity. The Spirit is eternal which means that there was never a time when He was not. One can reference Genesis 1 verse 2 and read “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Holy Spirit was, is and always will be and His presence is found throughout God’s word.

It is found in Luke 1:35 where we find He is all-powerful. Indeed we find that His power overshadows all of us.

We learn He is omnipresent in Psalms 139:7: “Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee Thy presence?” Short answer: you can’t flee the Holy Spirit.

He is omniscient in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 where we learn that God is revealed through His knowledge of the thinking of man. The Spirit knows how man thinks: “Who among men knows the thoughts of man except the spirit of man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”

He is creator in Genesis and in other places in our Bible like Colossians 1 where Paul writes “For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Lastly, He is God. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” [2 Corinthians 3:18].

In my church and in many churches the Apostles Creed is recited and the Holy Spirit seems to be on par with God and Jesus. “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Later in the Creed, we say “I believe in the Holy Spirit” reciting a belief statement very similar to God and Jesus.

Now the idea of the Holy Spirit gets even more confusing for many because now the Holy Spirit is on par with God and Jesus. How could that be? This idea is called ontological equality, meaning the Father, Son and Spirit are equal in value, although separate in function.

The Holy Spirit now is one of three parts of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Bible declares that there is only one living God, yet we learn from scripture and from Pastor Graham that He comprises three separate personages.

From the “All About God” Website one can read common explanations that may help us conceptualize this difficult idea: “One way to partially visualize this concept is to examine the nature of water (H2O). Water is a single compound that can exist in three states – liquid, ice and vapor. An egg is another picture. It is comprised of the white, the yoke and the shell, yet it is still one egg. Of course, by no means do these examples paint a complete picture of our God, but they are illustrative of the fact that His three “persons” in no way invalidate His oneness.”

Pastor Billy Graham has begun his book The Holy Spirit right where he should. Chapter 1 deals with “Who is the Holy Spirit?”. He explains that the Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is divine and I have tried to explain that divinity is an attribute that I can accept in my understanding. I have tried to establish the idea that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the one and same, which will lead to a discussion of the idea of Trinity, but before we go forward, let me go back.

Writing on St. John Studies is something I do because I like writing but it is also something I do because I learn as I write. Maybe my confusion about Holy Spirit as person is a little less confusing if I think about the impact of the Holy Spirit on me.

Maybe as I learn to let the Holy Spirit lead me, guide me, comfort me and transform me, I can claim the Holy Spirit as a major force in my life. Maybe, just maybe the Holy Spirit can be a person.

And that person can be me…

Pentecost is a day of celebration occurring fifty days after Easter. This year, it fell on May 20 and our pastor and choir director tried to give our church a representation of the Holy Spirit. A wind sound was piped into the church and various choir members rang choir bells at random times.

Did our congregation get it? Did this presentation explain the Holy Spirit?

I’m not sure, because the Holy Spirit is one of the most confusing aspects of Christianity.
Statistics would make one think we should get it. Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer’s life. This form of Christianity cuts across all denominations. In 2011, there were an estimated 584 million Christians who identified as charismatic worldwide. They made up 9 percent of the world’s population and 27 percent of all Christians.

All those folks claim that the Holy Spirit is a major part of their lives. But who is the Holy Spirit? Can we think of the Holy Spirit as a person?

Pastor Graham just says it: the Holy Spirit is a person. “We see from the Bible that the Holy Spirit has intellect, emotions and will. In addition to this, the Bible also ascribes to Him the acts we would expect of someone who was not just a force, but a real person” [p. 2-3].

How does he support this idea?

Graham points to scripture that says the Spirit speaks, intercedes, testifies, leads, commands, guides, appoints, can be lied to, can be insulted, can be blasphemed and can be grieved. He makes a strong point that all these attributes are indeed attributes of human personality.

But Tom Kirkpatrick in his article “Is the Holy Spirit a Person?” feels that the word “person” has multiple meanings over time. What can be confusing for Christians is the idea that person means a self-conscious individual, a human entity inhabiting the earth. I am not sure that Graham means that at all. I don’t believe the Bible means that the Holy Spirit is a self-conscious individual.

To add to the confusion, why does our Bible have so many references to the Holy Spirit as a person, with even the most common pronoun “he” being used to refer to the Spirit? That certainly would lead one to assume that the Holy Spirit is a real person.

I am convinced that this Holy Spirit as a person idea is a way to explain the power that God and Jesus gave to man, what Kirkpatrick calls “projecting Their will, Their influence, Their nature and Their creative power throughout the universe, including affecting the minds of human beings.”

Jesus told His disciples that they would be filled with power when they received the Holy Spirit, not that a person would come and fill them with power. The apostle Paul explained that Christians have been given this spirit “of power, of love and of a sound mind.” The words power, love and sound mind are all abstract concepts, not literal terms [power is not a thing you can pick up for example]. In 2 Peter 1:3-4 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul explained the effect of the Holy Spirit on the believer, having the ability to create a new nature, a divine nature, a “new creation” in the image of Christ’s character. So let’s not denigrate the power of the Holy Spirit, if it can help us be new people. Many think of the Holy Spirit as a “gift” that will be poured out on people but the idea of gift seems to say that The Spirit is a thing, not a person.

It seems like I am splitting hairs on the meaning of Holy Spirit as person, but if the Christian thinks of the Spirit as a literal person, that can be a stumbling block. When Graham writes: “The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, like gravity or magnetism. He is a Person with all the attributes of personality,” those words confuse me.
Until he ends his discussion of the Holy Spirit as person with these simple words: “He is divine as well.”

Can the Holy Spirit speak, intercede, testify, lead, command, guide and sound like wind and random bells?

I think the answer is yes, if that person is Divine.

Can you imagine what the disciples felt? Jesus knew His time was short and He wanted to tell them He had to leave them. And then He said this…

“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you [John 16: 5-7].

Talk about confusing. I bet they thought “what is He talking about?”

What He was talking about is giving them the power of the Holy Spirit.

The catch…

The Holy Spirit will come after He is gone.

Is this a promise for all believers today? Is the Holy Spirit something we can count on to help us in life as we go through the situations we face?

The answer to that question is a resounding YES.

Pastor Graham* writes “No conditions were attached [to this promise]. Jesus didn’t say that He would send the Helper (or “Comforter”) to some believers and not to others. Nor did He say that we had to belong to a special organization or be higher on the scale of spiritual performance than someone else. He simply said “If I go, I will send Him to you.”

The disciples had to go through their time of agony, their time of waiting, their time of faith. They had to witness the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus and they probably had doubts that the promise of the Helper was real. They probably felt alone.
God said that they should wait and wait they did.

Possibly when Jesus rose from the dead and was glorified and then made his appearances to the disciples they thought this “ghost” was what He meant by Helper. Of course, Jesus had them touch Him so they could see He was indeed a real person, back from the dead.

But this was not what Jesus promised. He left them again and they had to wait some more.

A fifty day wait.

“And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance” [Acts 2:14].

These members of the early church were transformed.

But can a believer be transformed today too? Can a believer get help from the Helper?
The answer is yes, if we come to The Lord. Peter said “Repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” [Acts, 2: 38].

When Jesus said He had to leave so the Helper would arrive, He was not just talking to the Disciples. He was sending a message to us. Graham states “we are no longer waiting for the Holy Spirit—He is waiting for us. We are no longer living in the time of promise, but in the days of fulfillment.”

It is interesting that Graham says “He is waiting for us.”

What does that mean? For me, that is a power that could be accessed to help us in life.
What else do we need to do to have this access?
Ask.

I know that sounds too good to be true. Ask.

In Luke 11: 13 pay attention to the following words: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”

Ok, it is a bit more complicated than that. Some believers ask questions like who is this person Jesus has promised? How can this person transform our human nature? How can the Helper give you supernatural power to face the crises of life?

I have a feeling that all our questions will be answered as we get further into Billy Graham’s book, The Holy Spirit.

*Billy Graham The Holy Spirit

Well here I am…

Try as hard as I can, I have done it again. I start every day thinking about what I did yesterday, thinking about what I did wrong.

Thinking about my sins.

Wishing I had not done what I did.

It is very early in the day so I have not done much to get me in trouble with God, but I know as the day continues, I will trip up. I will sin again, probably multiple times. I don’t know what will trigger it, but I know it will happen.

It is just me being me.

You see, I am a human, far from Divine.

The big question is how am I supposed to live this life? Am I supposed to feel defeated? Am I supposed to be discouraged all the time? When I sin, I know I feel discord. My wife says I get “grumpy”. That is mild for what I am feeling. Sometimes it is inner strife and I choose to let it show on the outside as “grumpy.”

Is this the life God intended me to live?

Short answer: no.

Billy Graham begins his book The Holy Spirit with a very plainspoken discussion of what we all need. All men and women fail to live sinless lives: Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Graham says man has two great spiritual needs. One of those needs is forgiveness and the other is goodness.

For many those deep-seated needs go against their nature. To own up to sins and ask for forgiveness means acknowledgement of wrong-doing and a certain amount of humility. For many, to need anything is tough. The asking part is the hardest part. Many people don’t want to admit any need at all and they certainly don’t want to ask anyone for it…even God.

Goodness is problematic for some also. Often times in our world today it seems that goodness has gone “out of style.” What good is goodness in a world where winning is everything. We even have a phrase “good guys finish last” that touts the idea that it is ok to win by any means as long as you win.

Maybe that is why Graham says “Consciously or unconsciously [man] longs for both [forgiveness and goodness]. There are times when man actually cries for them, even though in his restlessness, confusion, loneliness, fear and pressures he may not know what he is crying for” [xi].

In His infinite knowledge, God knows man needs forgiveness and to address those needs, He sent His only Son to die for our sins. This is His gift of forgiveness, His knowledge that humanity is in a constant struggle against sin. The Apostle Paul calls Jesus God’s “indescribable gift” in 2 Corinthians 9:15.

But to be honest, forgiveness is not enough. God knows that men and women need to move beyond their state of affairs to a life that is “good.” I don’t know how many times I have searched for answers for my sins, especially those that reoccur. I have used this example before but reoccurring sin is like going around and around the mountain when I really want to go up the mountain. Sinning, repenting, asking for forgiveness, receiving forgiveness and sinning again is a life that is going nowhere. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in, the power to get us to the next level of that mountain.

Graham was known as a powerful evangelist, but his writing skills are powerful also. Here is a prime example of his ability to drive home his point. “If we wish to be men and women who can live victoriously, we need this two-sided gift God has offered us: first, the work of the Son of God for us; second, the work of the Spirit of God in us [xii].

I am excited about the book The Holy Spirit. I need the power of the Holy Spirit to help me with my aforementioned “inner strife.” I know that the Holy Spirit is the source of power that I need, the power to change a stagnant life to a more vibrant life. The power that I need to get rid of some defeat, discouragement and discord in my life.

The power to quit repeating some of those nagging sins that reoccur.

The power to draw just a little closer to God.

“And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galileans?” [Acts 2 1-7].

The Holy Spirit…

The life principle of the early church.

The Book of Acts provides Acts 2 and four other separate and dramatic instances of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers [4: 28-31, 8:15-17, 10:44 and 19:6]. If you have had teaching on the Holy Spirit, you know this “helper”” guides us in discerning the truth. The Holy Spirit directs your steps into the abundant life that Jesus intends for us. The Spirit can give you spiritual gifts such as wisdom, prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc. This same spiritual power gives you the power to proclaim Jesus and guarantees your hope of heaven.

Yet why are there so many questions about the Holy Spirit in Christian circles?

Pastor Billy Graham, in his book The Holy Spirit, writes that “the misunderstanding and even ignorance” of the Holy Spirit is a major reason why he has written his book. The most common questions about the Holy Spirit range from the simple like, is the Holy Spirit God, to the more complex like how can I recognize the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

Graham knew he wanted to write a book on The Holy Spirit because studying The Holy Spirit would give him needed insight. Many times people who study and write are given a chance to learn as they express themselves, but Graham is really driven by Christians who have little understanding of this important aspect of their faith lives.

Graham was such a popular world-wide evangelist that he came into contact with all kinds of people. Graham’s staff estimates that over three million people came to Christ as a result of his preaching. This amazing response put him in the forefront of religious leaders of his day and he found himself in contact with famous people throughout the world. In the preface of his book he reports that Pope John stated that The Holy Spirit is the church doctrine that Christians most needed to understand. Karl Barth, the noted theologian, personally told Graham that the next main emphasis on Christian theology should be The Holy Spirit.

Graham knew that this task would not be easy. He stated “The subject is so infinite—and our minds are so finite.”

But like me, don’t you want to know what happens when we are filled with The Spirit, slain by The Spirit, walk in The Spirit or become baptized in The Spirit. I look forward to the spiritual gifts The Spirit provides. I want to know more about them. I want to know when I am feeling The Spirit. I want to know how to pray in The Spirit. Can I speak in tongues today? Is speaking in tongues evidence of The Holy Spirit?

We may be confused and lacking knowledge today but from the earliest days, people were confused. Paul writes in Galatians 3 “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Why is he addressing the Galatians this way? Because they have the wrong idea about The Holy Spirit. Like many Christians today, they understood the role The Holy Spirit played in their conversion but they did not realize “The Helper” was available in the ongoing life of the believer. Isn’t the ongoing presence of “The Helper” good news?

Today we have to admit that we are still confused.

Pastor Billy Graham’s book was written to clear up our confusion.

Let’s look forward to exploring it together. Maybe together, we can avoid being “foolish Galatians.”

It’s moving day…

This move does not require a U-Haul truck rental. You don’t have to call a moving company. You don’t even have to load up your car.

Like a physical move, it requires a commitment. The idea is that you need to be somewhere else, so it does require some commitment and dedication to being somewhere else. The problem with this move is that it is not to a place where you may want to be but it is to a place where maybe you know you need to be.

It is a move within the Kingdom of God. It is a move that refocuses our hearts and minds.

Like most of life for the Christian, we hardly ever move in a straight line. Pastor Labberton says the move he is calling for “undulates, wobbles and slips.”

Yesterday my pastor spoke of her struggles; we all have them, times when we are excited about God and times when we are not excited at all. We have times when we feel He is close and then there are those times when we have moved away and He does not seem close anymore. Mountaintop experiences are wonderful but guess what, we don’t stay on that mountaintop forever. We all have our times in the valley.

We are finishing a book that urges us on every page to help our neighbor; locally, regionally, world-wide. We are finishing a book that urges us to examine our internal thoughts about people and take stock of our external actions. The book I have been blogging on since December 2017 has urged me to quit thinking so much about me and start paying attention to others; the needy, the displaced, the hurting, my neighbors.

This moving day is a move from isolation to involvement. It is so tempting to remain in isolation, to close the doors to the world, limit watching television and ignore social media. That allows us to kid ourselves that things are ok with the world. Poverty does not exist, trafficking is not real and drug addiction is just a fantasy. But all these things are real and isolation will do nothing to stop them. Even when we see evidence of people in dire need we may mentally protect ourselves by choosing to ignore others’ troubles. Many of us have grown very good at compartmentalizing our lives. We can attend to the “good stuff” and ignore the bad.

This move may mean pain because if we move, we are going to see people who are desperate, maybe victims of violence and maybe suffering from neglect. We may find out that they experience this daily, but this type of person may also have a chance to experience great joy. Labberton says the needy may suffer but they also may be rescued and healed by God. “Grace always gives in the midst of need” [209]. So maybe the move will not be totally dire.

From the beginning of the Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor, Labberton has tried to get the Christian to see that moving into the world of the needy is a move into the heart of God: “Any who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ…this is not an optional side tour, a temporary distraction. It’s a move that the Bible depicts as a move toward home. It’s where we were all meant to live, where we are no longer fooled into thinking that the divisions we are so accustomed to are final or true” [209-10].

I sit here trying to get my thoughts together in the midst of a remodeled home. It is in the 90’s outside and I am cool from the air conditioner and ceiling fan. I know how much money was expended to get my wife and I to a level of stylish comfort that we wanted. Just a few months ago, we were all about the countertops, the cabinet finish and the matching flooring. Right in the middle of all this, I was blogging on a book that encouraged me to let go of my small-heartedness.

All that concern for our creature comforts seems so silly and so wasteful.

Let’s hope that The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor will help me to meet some needs. Maybe God will unveil opportunities for me to act to help the less fortunate. I already have had opportunities, things that I have done to help some people who are struggling, but I know I could do more.

It’s moving day.

Yes, we are moving to a new book. My next post will be from Billy Graham’s book, The Holy Spirit, but maybe it is moving day for me in other ways too. Maybe I can grow to love the Lord our God with more of my heart, more of my mind, more of my soul and more of my strength. Maybe I will grow to love my neighbor more and love them as I love myself.

“This is why we are.”

“This is how we are to live—seeking a just hope”

Today—everyday—is moving day.

I try not to get too personal in this blog; it is supposed to be dedicated to my thoughts about a book rather than my thoughts alone.

My wife says “David, you have to get to an end with this book about helping the poor, our neighbors. It is too hard on you and your readers.”

She is right.

I have been blogging since December 2014 and I have not dealt with a book like this before. Oh I have had moments of lack before, moments when I felt like I was not doing what I should be doing but this book has been non-stop guilt trip. Pastor Mark Labberton has made me feel sadly lacking every time I have posted on his book.

I should feel that way.

When I began working with The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor I dedicated my comments to John Allen. John was a close friend and his death shook me. I had known him for about twenty years and I knew he was in bad health these past few years and at times I wondered about him.

I wondered why he did not take better care of himself.

He did not want to.

I wondered why he took time to care to help the poor.

Now I know why.

He knew the meaning of “love your neighbor as yourself.”

People says things like a person’s life inspires me to do better and in John’s case, I do feel like I should help less fortunate people in our society. But following his death with blogging on The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor has really impacted me.

My wife is my editor. I don’t put anything up on my blog that she has not read and she has witnessed my struggle. She has witnessed it in my words. She knows I lack.
I have to finish the book. I will write only one more post on it after this one. Pastor Labberton’s thoughts about “moving day” do bear comments so I will close with “moving day.”

John left behind a wonderful wife and I know her pretty well; not as well as John. I think John’s death is still very much a part of her life and it will be for some time. Grief is a slow, slow process and it takes its own time to work its way out. Sally, I know you will one day get beyond the sadness and bewilderment. God has plans for you; I know.

Months ago, I knew I wanted to take a prayer from the book and directly quote it on the blog. This post is the post for that prayer. It is so meaningful for me and maybe it will be for you.

“Lord open and soften my heat today. You have been so generous toward me. May I give out of all I have and even out of what I think I don’t have. Help me to see and respond to my neighbor as you do. Use and meet me as I walk down the street, stand in line, engage with friends who live on the street, in the classroom where I tutor, as I wait at the Social Security office for an elderly friend who is difficult to be with or as I write to my city council representative about the crack house I know about. Use my gifts and life as I am working, playing, relaxing. Take my time. Take my money. Take my power. Take my powerlessness. Take my weariness. Take my fears. Take my tongue. Take my questions. All that I have and all that I don’t have are in your hands.”

Thank you for this prayer Pastor Labberton.

Thank you for your life John Allen.

Thank you God.

It was a minor dilemma. My son married a wonderful Colombian woman. So a few years ago, my wife and I had an opportunity to go to Colombia South America for Christmas. We did not know Spanish and we knew we would be surrounded by native Colombian Spanish speakers. We were wondering how we would survive the week with the minimal Spanish we knew, a week staying with her Mom and Dad who were not very fluent in English, a week where there would be countless gatherings with her very large, affectionate Colombian family.

Needless to say, we made an effort to learn what we could before we went. We studied out of a Spanish grammar book and I began to use Rosetta Stone for South American Spanish.

Our efforts paid off, not because we were good speakers. We weren’t. The family just appreciated that we were trying to speak their language. We grew to really like them and they seemed to like us.

But it was a stressful week. I kept an open mind because I knew I was an American visitor in a Colombian culture. I did not want to take my American cultural views and try to assert them in a very different environment. Some Americans do this type of thing, expecting the whole world to copy American ways. It was not like that for me. I tried to adapt and assimilate as much as possible. It was hard at times. We did not want to offend; we just wanted to relax as much as possible and have a good time.

Pastor Labberton speaks of learning the new language of helping others. “Like any language learning, it takes practice and review. It will mean awkwardness and failure. It will mean breaking old habits and overcoming embarrassments. It will mean taking risks. It will mean having to admit that the language we are trying to learn is first outside us, and only gradually comes to belong to us” [203].

Why is this important? He says that as Christians we are supposed to be in the business of calling and inviting, comforting and assuring, forgiving and including. All this takes language, a language that we are not used to speaking.

Where do we find this form of Rosetta Stone? Where is this grammar book?
It is in our Bible.

Recently I was counseled by a Pastor who tried to help me with fear. I went to him because I had been feeling some dread about some issues. He said I could pray, I could fast, but most of all I must turn to the word of God. Labberton says “the Bible is the bedrock from which we learn the taxonomy of God’s heart.” To learn the language of God and speak the language of God it is necessary to read the word of God. Like any language, we have to know it well enough to know if it is the voice of God or it is not. Labberton says that people can be “ventriloquists, imposing their voices where God’s belongs.” Learning the language of God is hard work; it takes time and it takes discernment.

The language of God’s heart is a foreign language for us all. None of us are native speakers. We could all do it but we have to want to do it, and for many, it is just too time consuming. We have other interests. We are sometimes just too lazy. Learning God’s language is like learning anything. You have to feel it is needed and worthwhile or you won’t do it.

The irony is that learning the language of God does have a huge payoff. The payoff is that we have a chance to be more fully ourselves as we begin to discern the will of God. Not only do we learn the true purpose of our lives but we begin to see that the purpose God intends for us leads us to true freedom and joy. Many don’t believe this. We need worship to convince us. We need Christian mentors, and teachers. We need to practice our language with others to really make it our own, so that it eventually comes out of our heart.

Labberton states that “the goal of taking every thought captive to Christ means moving toward the Rosetta Stone of the heart of God” [204]. It means looking at those our hearts call “strangers” and hearing in Jesus’ word that we should be calling them brothers, sisters and friends.

It was hard to travel in a new culture, not really speaking the dominant language, but when our trip was over, I felt like we had a successful trip. I did want to return home. I had days of stress trying to avoid horrible mistakes, but as our hosts took us to the airport and we said our final goodbyes, I began to cry. I tried to hold it in; I did not know where it came from, but I got very emotional.

I never became fluent in Spanish but over the week, communication occurred and it was good communication. I knew our Colombian friends appreciated us and I knew we liked them. I wanted to return to America where I was able to function better, but I felt a closeness to our new friends that was hard to explain.

Maybe a new language, a new language from my heart.

Labberton says God’s language takes time. “It starts on our lips, engages our minds and eventually emerges from our hearts” 204].

“God transcendently sees us from a wider vision of why and how we are.”*

I guess it is just human nature, the tendency to emphasize differences between ourselves and others, but I don’t believe that God sees us that way. I believe God sees value in all humans. After all, aren’t we made in His image?

Communication study has revealed the most important factors which make an impression on us as we encounter others. As humans, we jump to conclusions very quickly about other people due to the appropriateness or inappropriateness of their clothing. Body type comes into play next with the lean, muscular build [mesomorph] edging out the tall, less muscular build [ectomorph] and the heavy, less muscular build [endomorph] coming in last. Facial expression is the prominent feature as people draw closer. Positive facial expressions like the smile are much preferred [all features are going up]. Negative facial expressions are not preferred [a frown for example, with facial features going down].

Let’s stop.

Does any of this matter to God?

Not really. Judging people according to their clothing, their body type or their facial expression are concerns we have as humans. I don’t believe this is very important to God. Managing the impression we make on others is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event. Many of us try to manage our impressions because we want to be accepted by others or we want to influence others. Maybe we want to create a specific social identity through managing our impression.

If you believe in God, maybe this activity is futile. Labberton says “Our story is not finally our own. Our life is not our own. We ‘live and move and have our being’ because of God. We are the treasure of God’s design” [201].

Sounds like God is truly in control…of who we are.

If God sees through all of the stuff we do to impress others, what should we do? If we dedicate our lives to loving God, maybe we can begin to see ourselves and our neighbors more clearly. “The shadow lines fall in different places. Where there had been only shadows is now sight. What had been hidden is visible. What had seemed small may now be much bigger, and what may have seemed big might now be much smaller” [202]. In essence, we can begin to see the value in others as God sees value.

Differences begin to matter less, efforts at impression management may seem silly and harsh judgement can be abandoned for something more Christ-like…love.
Emphasizing my point of view at the expense of another’s is no longer appropriate. God does not want us to do that. Maybe even today’s focus on diversity is not correct. Emphasizing that culture is not monochromatic may be ok, if it keeps one perspective from overpowering all the others. But focusing on distinctions can draw people further apart rather than together. I believe God intends us to tear down walls of hostility. He wants us to live in peace and mutual respect.

Our discussion of Pastor Labberton’s book is drawing to a close and again his focus is on the similarity we see in all those who confess their love for Jesus.

“When every knee is bowed and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, we will be a community.”

In God’s wider vision, maybe He sees us as a worshipping community, seeing each other as valued children of God, made in His image, loving Him, loving our neighbors and loving ourselves.

Ephesians 2:14 : “ For He himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…”

*Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor