Shouldn't All Christians Be Universalists At Heart?

I recently read a blog post from a mainstream, conservative evangelical Christian blogger/author that leveled some damning accusations toward three authors/Christian thinkers, who I admire: Rob Bell, Donald Miller and Bryan Mclaren.

All three of these men had once been included beneath the mainstream, conservative evangelical umbrella, but (according to this blogger) they had strayed from orthodox Christian belief and become "universalists," who believe that God lets anyone into heaven, not just those who follow Jesus.

In our current culture, a Christian leader, pastor, author, theologian, etc. being labelled a "Universalist" by mainstream, conservative evangelical Christians is the post-post modern equivalent of being anathematized--a practice the early church fathers employed to rid themselves of heretics and people who had too much imagination when it came to Christian beliefs.

I realize that I just oversimplified and caricatured the development of orthodox Christian doctrine--development that took centuries of struggle and debate.
I also realize that there are things that sometimes get lost on the way to orthodoxy---and sometimes those things are fairly important.

Take, for example, the aforementioned dominant belief among Christians that only a select few people get to "go to heaven"--specifically those who have prayed the right prayer, and said the right things about Jesus afterward to indicate they have indeed "been saved."

So let me ask you a question, and it's a good one:

What if that wasn't exactly right?

Think about it.  What if God had different criteria, or no criteria?  What if in the end everyone got to go to heaven?

Would that really matter to you?

Would it tick you off?

Here's where I get anathematized by a slough of mainstream, conservative evangelical Christians...  But hear me out before you start smearing pine tar on your torches, friends.

Being a Presbyterian minister, I am situated in the Reformed Tradition of Christianity--a tradition that claims John Calvin as one of its spiritual fathers. Calvin lived, wrote, preached and pastored in the sixteenth century.

In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin wrote this:

Let the Christian man, then, conform his prayers to this rule in order that they may be in common and embrace all who are his brothers in Christ, not only for those whom he at the present sees and recognizes as such but all men who dwell on earth. for what God has determined concerning them is beyond our knowing except that it is no less godly than humane to wish and hope the best for them. (Institutes 3.20.38)

I underlined the last bit of that quote because its one of those important things that I think got lost on the way to orthodoxy.

Here's the thing, Calvin wasn't a universalist to the extent that he believed God let everyone into heaven whether they confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior or not.  And neither am I.  I firmly believe that God redeems and "saves" through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

But I am not God.  And who God's chooses to save is God's business.  It's not my job as a disciple of Jesus to walk around trying to determine who's in and who's out.  My job is to worry about whether I am working out my salvation with "fear and trembling," as the Apostle Paul exhorted to the Early Church in the first century.

And to be glad that I serve a generous and loving God.

In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus told a parable about vineyard workers.  "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner," he begins.  He goes on to tell how this landowner goes down in the morning to where all of the laborers are hanging out waiting to be hired.  They agree to a wage and then get to work.

Later the same landowner goes back to the labor pool and hires more guys, and agrees to pay them the same as the early workers.  Then he goes back out in the evening and does the same thing.  When the early workers realize that the landowner is paying the guys who worked like an hour the same wage as he paid them, they get ticked off and start complaining.

Jesus ends the parable with the landowner saying this:

‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? 
Or are you envious because I am generous?’

I underlined that last sentence because it hits me in the gut--right in my conviction muscle.  What is it to me if God wants to "save" people in the eleventh hour?  Shouldn't I want that?  This is, in fact, what Calvin asserted. Christians should want everyone to experience inclusion in God's kingdom, regardless of how or when it happens.  We should be for everyone, praying for them, hoping the best for them and never giving up on what God can do.

In so doing we can affirm the orthodoxy of the Christian faith when it comes to the particularity and Lordship of Jesus all the while holing on to a universal hope.

Or to put it another way--we can say that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to God except through him...

We can also say that God is merciful and offers eternal life to those whom He loves, in His way and His time.

And, if I may be so bold, we wouldn't be true followers of Jesus if we didn't hold out hope that everyone receives this eternal life offered by God.  

Lenten Reflections: Week One - "Wilderness"

I am convinced that there are moments in your life when you are better prepared to be shaped by your experiences than others.  Maybe you just needed to get your mind right first.  Perhaps you needed to be a certain age, or have a particular set of experiences under your belt. 

Or maybe you just needed to have your heart in the right place. 

This particular season of Lent has become just such a time for me.  I can feel it.  There's something different about this Lenten season than any of those that I previously observed.  Not having been raised in a faith tradition that valued the rhythms of the Church, I am a recent adherent to "liturgical living," so I don't have all that many years to use as a reference.  

But on Ash Wednesday this week I was struck by something profound:  I can choose to endure Lent, ignore it, or be shaped by it.  That's about it.  And for most of my life I've opted for the first two choices. 

Then I read something that changed my heart about the season of Lent--hopefully forever.  It was a simple phrase:  "Build a Lent that Becomes a Life." In other words, Lent isn't a season to deny yourself pleasures just for the sake of feeling better about yourself.  It isn't about controlling your base desires and fleshly urges for forty days--bookended by binge eating and drinking (or whatever you've decided to "give up") on Fat Tuesday and Easter Sunday.  

It's about adopting practices that will last beyond the forty days. 

I have given up all forms of social media for Lent--Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. I've also given up listening to "secular" music and talk radio while driving, working out, etc. I've also decided to change how I speak--not saying certain words, for example.  

But in each case, I have also decided to replace these things with other things that feed my soul.  Instead of spending so much time browsing Facebook and Twitter on my computer, iPad and iPhone, I write or read good books.  Instead of filling my head with anxious news programs, or music that isn't uplifting I listen to sermons and inspirational music.  And I find other things to say when I am tempted to use words that aren't helpful. 

When I started this whole "fast," I figured that even though it was ambitious, I could do anything for forty days.  Then I read that line:  "Build a Lent That Becomes A Life."  And it hit me.  What if, after all was said and done, I came out of Lent with new habits?  What if---these forty days were life changing?

In his excellent book, Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit The Story of God, Bobby Gross writes that these kinds of Lenten fasts are "like sabbath-keeping: a restriction that makes space for God."  They remind us that in the end, we can't get true sustenance, complete satisfaction from anything that our culture has to offer to us.  Only when we draw near to God and trust God to supply all our needs, will we be transformed into the people we always hoped we would become.  

In the Exodus account from the Old Testament, we are giving the example of the ancient Hebrew people who wandered in the wilderness, helpless and totally dependent on God for everything.  Their journey through the wilderness was filled with temptations to turn from God and long for Egypt, and an entire generation of Hebrews gave in to those temptations, and perished in the wilderness filled with those Egyptian longings.  

I don't want to die in the wilderness.  I am tired of walking in circles.  It's time to learn that I can build a Lent that becomes a life.  It begins with making space for God to change me, then allowing myself to be changed.  

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth - A Book Review

I think it was Rudolf Bultmann who said that those who go about searching for Jesus more often than not find a Jesus that looks an awful lot like themselves.

As I read Reza Aslan's Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, I couldn't shake that quote from my head.  I also couldn't shake the notion that the most fervent non-smoker is an ex-smoker, which naturally led me to another notion I've had from time to time: the most fervent nonChristian is an ex-fundamentalist Christian.

I don't know if Reza Aslan has ever smoked, but he does reveal that he used to be an evangelical, fundamentalist Christian.  Aslan's family immigrated to the United States from Iran after the Iranian revolution in the 1970's.  He was, in his own words, raised a "lukewarm" Muslim, and found Jesus through friends who invited him to church when he was fifteen.  Aslan chalks up his initial conversion to Christianity to a need to fit in to American culture--a need that evaporated when he went to college and decided that nearly everything he had been taught about Christianity was false.  Aslan returned to his Muslim faith and pursued a career in historical scholarship and writing.

When Aslan's book was released some months ago, he appeared on Fox News for an interview with Lauren Green, who essentially asked him if his being a Muslim had colored his point of view.  There was an immediate firestorm from left-leaning folks, including more than a few of my own liberal colleagues, who decried Green's question as out of bounds and intolerant--another example of how Fox News always gets these kinds of things wrong and MSNBC and NPR don't.

Here's the problem.  It was a valid question.

In Zealot, Aslan asserts that Jesus was simply just another revolutionary figure in Jewish history--a revolutionary who was executed by the Romans for sedition, nothing more, nothing less.  Further, Aslan identifies Jesus with other "zealots" or revolutionary figures in the first century who were basically considered terrorists by the Roman Empire, and who sometimes conducted acts of terror against their Roman occupiers.

Hmmm...

Literary criticism should be limited to an author's work, but when an author so blatantly inserts himself and his own distorted bias into the work---it behooves us as critics to ask why.

I can't be the only one who read this book and saw right through what Aslan is trying to do by writing it.  Turn after turn Aslan discredits the assertions of the New Testament about Jesus and his contemporaries, gleefully pointing out discrepancies and passages that he ham-handedly asserts are historically inaccurate.  Aslan's Jesus is not even close to being the Son of God.  In fact, Aslan's Jesus seems to be little more than an indictment of Christianity in the West--and the West along with it.

To his credit, Aslan is a great writer and the book is very engaging.  There is much to be gleaned from it in terms of first century history.  But I couldn't get beyond the hypocrisy that rested between the lines.  And honestly, if I wanted to read books about first century history there are a dozen more qualified scholars I could choose from.

Here's my take...

Rather than being offended by the suggestion that his Muslim faith had anything to do with his treatment of Jesus, Aslan should have told the truth--a truth that is more than a little evident.  He obviously has an axe to grind against Christians who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but who also espouse prejudice and have all kinds of far-fetched notions about Muslims being terrorists.  Zealot was merely a two-hundred plus page pointed stick in the eye from Aslan to all of them.  If my assumptions are true---there's a kernel of truth in the midst of them: Christians need to become better at loving our enemies or we'll keep making them.

I do have to say this, though: If the shoe were on the other foot, and this book was about illegitimacy of "The Prophet" and contained passages discrediting the Koran...  Yeah, ask Salman Rushdie how that turned out.  However, I am sure that Aslan would agree with me that it's better to live in a world where theology of all kinds can be held up to critique.  Perhaps he can turn now toward his own tradition and do the same.

Related articles

• Fox News Under Fire for 'Embarrassing' Interview With Reza Aslan

Church Worth Getting Up For: A Book Review

I read a lot of books on church transformation, leadership and growth.  And when I say "a lot" I mean a lot.  What I've discovered is that a great deal of the work that is being done on church transformation, leadership and growth is coming out of the non-denominational, or "evangelical" wing of the Church.  There's a decided lack of voices (at least in my experience) from experts within the "mainline Protestant" tradition.

Which is why I was excited to read Charles E. Gutenson's book Church Worth Getting Up For, which was published last year.  Gutenson is a former pastor, current consultant and professor at Asbury Theological Seminary.  His frame of reference is the United Methodist Tradition (UMC).

For Church Worth Getting Up For Gutenson interviewed a virtual "who's who" of pastors, authors and church leaders who have been in some way, shape or form connected to what was once known as the "missional church" movement. He references emerging pastors like Nadia Bolz-Weber, Greg Boyd, Ross Picardo and Chris Seay, and two of the pioneers of the missional church movement Alan and Deb Hirsch.  From his own tradition, Gutenson spent time interviewing Mike Slaughter, pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church and one of the most well-known pastors in the UMC.

A significant portion of Gutenson's work in Church Worth Getting Up For is gleaned from both the interviews he conducted and also from work that was done by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, who wrote the book unChristian.  
Dave Kinnaman also wrote a book entitled You Lost Me, which Gutenson references frequently.

Despite the fact that some of the material Gutenson presents was from works I had previously read, I rather enjoyed the way he presented it, and then processed it from his mainline lens.  Gutenson affirms that our culture is changing and that the emerging generations are avoiding church like the plague.  He offers some basic criticisms as to why he believes this is happening, which move above some of the specific reasons that authors like Kinnaman and Lyons outlined.

Gutenson offers a criticism of traditions within the church that rely too heavily on evangelistic tools and methods without paying attention to the kingdom work they have been called to do.  On the other hand, he offers similar criticisms to left-leaning mainline traditions that rely too heavily on deeds and not words. Essentially, he calls for a balance between the two extremes: evangelism and missional focus.  Gutenson cites Slaughter's Ginghamsburg church as a fine example of the kind of church that emphasizes right belief, evangelism and outreach, but also is focused on embodying the kingdom of God in the world.

Church Worth Getting Up For also provides a vision for churches to engage the world in different ways--to move beyond traditionalism and become transformative through radical hospitality, blurring the lines between sacred and secular and raising the bar when it comes to discipleship programs.  The latter is one that Gutenson also uses Ginghamsburg church to highlight through which he asserts that when churches challenge their members to deeper discipleship it will pay huge dividends for the kingdom of God, and could very well be one of many factors that draws emerging generations back to the church.

I recommend Church Worth Getting Up For for pastors, church leaders and church governing bodies who are seeking discernment in the next steps of transformation for their church.  If this is the first book of its kind that you read, it will definitely give you plenty of stepping off points for further reading on the topic.

Jim & Casper Go To Church: Book Review

In the early 2000's Jim Henderson, a former pastor and newly minted church consultant,"bought" an atheist off of E-Bay for $504, and put him to work.  The atheist, a young man named Hemant Mehta, had been looking for a fun way to show Christians that he could attend church with an open mind, and was willing to allow Christians to give him their best shot at converting him.  Henderson won the bid, and sent Mehta out to start visiting churches with the assignment of reporting what he experienced. The result spawned a website, discussion groups, stories by the Wall Street Journal and much more.

In 2006, Henderson met Matt Casper, a marketing copywriter and freelance writer and singer/songwriter, who lived in San Diego.  Casper also happened to be an atheist.  The two became friends and decided to write a book together as they visited churches all across America--documenting their dialogue and their experiences.  They agreed to be as open and honest with one another, and with their readers about what they experienced in the various churches they visited.

The resulting book was Jim & Casper Go To Church: Frank Conversation About Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians.   Henderson and Casper visited Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Southern CA and the Dream Center and Mosaic in Los Angeles.  They went to Chicago to visit Willow Creek Community Church, a Presbyterian Church in an upscale neighborhood and Lawndale Church, a church/mission in urban Chicago.  Their journey took them to the Northwest to visit the Bridge, Imago Dei and Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill Community Church.  They rounded out their pilgrimage by heading to Texas for a visit to Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, and T.D. Jakes' The Potter's House.

All in all, they visited Pentecostal, Baptist, Mainline, and Non-Denominational churches.  There were plenty of "mega-churches" but just as many medium to large sized churches as well.  One church met in a house, several of them met in converted warehouses and one (Mosaic) met in a bar.

The fascinating thing about this book is the way that Casper responded to the various church experiences.  There were moments when he was revolted (mostly in moments that had to do with the offering, and messages about money) and moments when he felt very connected (in the house church, and during the worship music of the Bridge).  Casper drew clear lines between churches who seemed to be all about their own self-preservation and growth and churches who seemed more interested in making the world a better place.  He was impressed when pastors and church leaders would speak from their heart, and could sniff out staged behavior, "pastorspeak" and "Christianese" very quickly.

In a way, Jim & Casper Go to Church was quite difficult to read--at least from a "professional" church goers point of view.  Casper didn't hold back when he thought that something was contrived, irrelevant or condescending in the churches he experienced.  But this honesty is also what makes this book so helpful.  After reading it, I found myself taking notes on things I needed to keep from saying when I preached, and ways to demonstrate to visitors just what our church is all about (not self-preservation), and how we are hoping to make the world a better place.

This isn't one of those "12 Keys to Effective Church" or "7 Ways to Change Your Church" books--it's something more.  Jim & Casper Go To Church provides the reader some rare insight into how nonChristians view what we do on Sunday mornings (or evenings... or Saturday evenings...).  I highly recommend this for pastors and church leaders who are seeking new ways to relate to people outside the walls of their church.