...AND HOW THEY BECAME OUR OWN

First, a reading from Daniel 3:

Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage demanded that they bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and that you don’t pay homage to the golden statue that I erected? Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?”

(If you've never read the rest of the story, they make it through the fires of Babylon just fine.)

Has it ever struck you that we typically frame this story entirely in the sense of "Which God is the real God?" And thus we do not appreciate what it has to say concerning "What is this real God LIKE?"

Has it ever struck you that many Christians around us believe God to be much the same as that Babylonian idol? That many Christians believe in "God" in the sense of a mythic icon - one bound dynamically to a certain place (temple court, church), who demands of all, "Worship me... under these precise circumstances... and in this context... in a way that is comfortable and familiar to those around you... Or you're going to burn. You're going to fry."

Do we not see the danger
of promoting the
same God as Babylon
under a different name?

Do we not see that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are not just standing up to the Babylonian *version* of that God, but to that notion of God in general? Do we not see the lunacy of our arguing to people that only OUR bloodthirsty God is the real God? And where did we get the idea that worshiping the character and person of this God under one semantic or name is bad, while under another, it is good and necessary?

God is not a magic word.

And God is not looking for subscribers TO a magic word. God is the still small voice. God is the One gently reaching and moving us to see greater things with better eyes...

God is illumination. God is love.

While we often share this story of these three men being saved through the fires of Babylon, and while we often see its beauty on display as it shows the power of the living God-Who-Is-One to save... We don't often revel in what the story has to say about the character of the "god" being put forth by Babylon. We don't often see how similar it is to the character of the god so many of our brothers and sisters cling to.

CLICK... Resistance. It isn't supposed to be easy.

You see, Nebuchadnezzar asked an important question.

He asked, "Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?”

I'll tell you who this God is...

Because this is the God who saves the persecuted and oppressed - who does not incinerate all those who were in opposition (though Nebuchadnezzar certainly does). This is the God who preserves the testimony of those standing up for justice and tolerance despite their captivity in Empire. This is the God who allows those who witnessed time, and doesn't force conformity under threat of immediate death. This is a God who always preserves a remnant of the truth - no matter how bad things get and no matter how many die beautifully under the thumb of the fearful and the ruthless who subjugate them.

...This is the God revealed in Jesus.

And for anyone who believes, this should mean that, in revisiting the Old Testament narrative, we see more than just the EXISTENCE of those Babylonian gods on trial... Because it becomes clear that there is a problem with the CHARACTER and NATURE of these gods under any name.

Through the lens of Jesus, we might see some of the false Babylonian gods with more clarity. Through the lens of Jesus, we might see some of our own false gods with more clarity as well.

Is Jesus the revelation of God we cling to? Is Jesus our understanding and experience of the God in whom - as Paul says - "we live and move and have our being"? Or do we still cling to some former "god," and merely place that idol under a different name?

Comment

John Cooper, and "What is Happening in Christianity"

Despite criticizing the motivations of others, John Cooper is the only one who stands to benefit from the things he’s communicating to the same target audience.

THE STORY OF "THE WOMAN AT THE WELL" NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU...

...Where could one such as her ever worship? She wants to know. Truly. Jesus is the only learned Jew she has ever felt safe to ask. And in response, Jesus treats her like a serious and worthy theologian. As he honors her capacity for understanding, he elevates her and all women along with her. He drops the most significant teaching on worship in all of scripture on her alone, there at the well. The entire, sweeping theme of the New Testament and covenant, and the implications of everything else he does and says, he lays out plainly for her. He doesn't shroud it in parable. He can see she's ready for the fullness of light to shine. He tells her that worship is ultimately without ritual or rite. That it is found in spirit and truth at the very core of a person. That, whether in Jerusalem or at Gerizim, such temples are already obsolete. This means that people are the very temple of God. And this suggests to her she has as much access to God as some self-important high priest who loathes her. And she always has.

WE ARE NOT WAITING ON REVIVAL. REVIVAL IS WAITING ON US.

People have been pleading with the ceiling for revival for decades. For as long as we've had this American culture of Christianity, they've been attempting to stoke this fire and make something happen. Something lasting and real. They've sung and prayed and wept for it. Hundreds and thousands and millions of them – at altars and in tents and stadiums, in conferences and crusades and every other kind of service imaginable, they've been crying out for revival. And it has never been enough. But they keep telling us to try again, try harder, pray more. And maybe this time our withholding God will answer. Maybe. (Judging by the past, though, probably not.)

Of Course You're "Worthy"

You hear a lot in Christian circles about how "unworthy" we are. You hear a lot of it in Christian music, too. And this idea of our unworthiness is one that's meant to champion God's goodness and grace... But it's misleading. It's misleading because, while God's love and goodness may not be something we have to earn or deserve, that doesn't mean we aren't "worthy" of it. Here's something important that we often forget when it comes to "worthiness": the one giving the gift is the one who decides whether the one receiving it is worthy.

One Wish: Solomon, David & Desire

The desire of David reflected in some beautiful things and progressed the discussion for the whole world. Where his son desired wisdom above all else and wrote proverbs, David desired to sense the nearness of God... and he wrote songs. A whole lot of them. It could be reasoned that David saw himself as an ambassador joined with the move of God, while Solomon saw himself as a diplomat working for God. These two ideas persist to this day. Many still beg God for wisdom and seem to labor as though they were going it alone, while many others simply live with God and focus on declaring God's faithfulness to sustain and beautify all things. Many see God in the compartments, and focus on making big shows and displays of faith and piety for God... But many others see God with them always and everywhere - even down in the muck, when they're at rock bottom and have nothing to give.

things i learned while sleeping

My subconscious mind was narrating something I already understood to be true. Over and over, it was weaving an image of what I needed to come to grips with in myself. The smallness of the System I had known to address the bigness of the world. The smallness of God as I had known God... The dream was an invitation to something bigger. It was a declaration of the position I was learning to take outside the world as I had known it. It was a manifestation of my growing heart to be accounted with outsiders and those on the margins. Mine was a nightmare which helped point me toward greater light and greater truth. And it didn't leave me alone until I was truly ready to wake up.

The Fires of Babylon...

...AND HOW THEY BECAME OUR OWN

First, a reading from Daniel 3:

Has it ever struck you that we typically frame this story entirely in the sense of "Which God is the real God?" And thus we do not appreciate what it has to say concerning "What is this real God LIKE?"