Category Archives: passion

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Greatness is Within

The power to be
The power to give
The power to see

Suddenly I see
This is what I wanna be

“Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall

In 1916  Russian Greek Orthodox priest Father Grigori Rasputin was a feared and hated man.  He was thought to be many things: a mystic, a psychic, a hypnotist, a faith healer who could work miracles, a crazed man, a lecherous and dangerous person, a demon, and a political threat.  His closeness to the Royal Tsar (as the faith healer supposedly keeping the Romanov’s son Alexi from dying of hemophilia) and his wild ways drew scorn and blame when Russia plunged into war, poverty and famine.  In fact, when a prostitute who claimed he gave her syphilis stabbed him two years earlier in 1914 she screamed, “I have killed the anti-christ!” and no one argued.  Except – she didn’t kill him.  He miraculously lived through the stab wound that actually severed his intestine, which furthered the idea there was something unnaturally powerful about him.

That spiritual, physical, mystical power myth wouldn’t end with his death, but grew larger when the details of his eventual murder came to light.  On the night he was killed by a group of Russian noblemen – they reported the following dramatic tale:

At the palace of  Prince Felix Yusupov Rasputin was taken to the basement for a talk with the prince. He was fed cakes and wine laced with cyanide. After what seemed like a very long time of pointless chatting, Prince Yusupov went upstairs and told his friends that the poison was not working.  He went back downstairs and shot Rasputin in the back.  Elated, the Prince ran back upstairs claiming he had “killed the devil” but when they went down to see him – he was very much alive and tried to strangle the prince. The group of friends shot him 3 more times.  While figuring out what to do with his body, he lunged at them – proving once again to be living. They took a chair and wooden implements in the basement a beat him badly.  With Rasputin seemingly finally dead they tied up his body, wrapped him in a carpet and threw him off a bridge into the freezing Neva River.  To their horror –  a still alive Rasputin got out of the bonds, and the carpet.  Eventually he drowned in the turbulent water of the river.

There were, of course, questions about this amazing story – however the written autopsy of Rasputin, which was an open record until the Stalin era, recorded that the body “contained poison, 4 bullet wounds, bruises from a bad beating, evidence of being restrained, and water in the lungs from drowning.”   Talk about having 9 lives!

The world's creepiest Superman

Rasputin clearly had some kind of personal strength most people didn’t understand. It wasn’t the powerful people around him that gave him power, it was something within him.  I’ve always wondered – with that kind of constitution and passion – if he had just stayed a local priest and not gotten involved with fame, politics and royalty – what an amazing ministry he might have had.  Truly, having “something within” is not helpful unless you are within something good.

The boxing equipment I use comes from Everlast and is emblazoned with their slogan:  Greatness is Within.

One of the bags I use for cardio punching practice is a heavy rubber bag covered in nylon with nothing put air inside so I have to chuckle when I see that logo even though I understand they are trying to inspire me into the thinking the “greatness” is within me, not a bag of air.   I have quite a love/hate relationship with exercise so this is how I prefer to think of greatness within:

Why do they even bother with that cookie part?

But no matter how you see internal greatness – the strength of a mystic, the power to strengthen your body, or appreciating the joy of a simple dessert there is still the truth that what is inside you matters most depending on what you are inside.

In American culture we value individualism and that value doesn’t just play through our politics, families, parenting or consumer habits – it plays out through our interpretation of theology as well.  We tend to spend a lot of time focusing on God with us or God in us.   What is the first thing churches invite you to do? Invite Jesus INTO YOUR HEART.  It’s clear from our earliest faith memories of songs we sing, that aged fading picture on a sunday school room wall of Jesus knocking on the door with no handle, the way we are taught about salvation and the ways we are taught to teach others about Christ that our focus is recognizing the greatness of God within us.

And we miss the point.  Relationship with God is not simply about having the spirit of Christ within you. It’s about YOU being within God.  Let me say that again, in case you were distracted by the cookie picture (I know I am…).   Faith life is not simply about God being in you.  It’s about you being within God.

What does it mean to be in God?  It means to recognize ourselves as part of a whole being and joined inherently with the creation, goodness, compassion, grace, abundance, giving, healing and freedom that is the very nature of that being.  We are not always  graceful people but we are people who live in grace and do well when we remember it.

Psalm 100 is thought to be a Psalm of praise – but it is also a good reminder of how we should understand ourselves not through the lens of individualism, but through the fountain of beloved belonging.

 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

We are God’s people, sheep in God’s pasture. We are within God.

How does that help us to know that?  It gives us a chance to truly reflect and re-prioritize our life and the message of God we carry to a world that needs to hear it.  When we seek to be the people God made us to be, we can find comfort and inspiration understanding that we don’t have to reach to something inside us and find God – but God is around us and we have that love of God in abundance.  When we need to be forgiving we are surrounded by forgiveness. When we need to be compassionate in circumstances we don’t like or with people we are challenged to care for – we don’t have to dredge it up from inside – its around us – we need to take it in, learn it and live it.  When we are unsure or feeling unwise, we can pray and admit we don’t know what to do – then remember we are in a pasture of wisdom with a shepherd who wants to walk with us as we forge ahead together.

It also says something about the way we view “evangelism” – and maybe why it’s not really working.  Churches in our mainline modern day don’t really seem to do much gospel teaching and good messaging as much as we focus on discipleship development (always worthwhile). We don’t bring people in as much as we “people swap”.  When was the last time someone came into your church and said, “I didn’t know who God was” or “I have never been a Christian but now my eyes are opened.” and you knew it was the first time they really got the gospel?   More likely the last 2 or 20 or 200 people came in saying, “I used to go to “X Christian Church” but I like your youth program, or your preacher speaks to me, or I want to be part of your mission.”    There’s nothing wrong with people moving about faith places finding a field in which they can both feed and be a feeder.  But there’s not much evangelistic about it either.

People who haven’t seen or heard of God’s love aren’t really ready for a message that they need to bring Jesus into them. Many of them feel (or have been told) that Jesus or God or the whole christian family wants nothing to do with them.  But the message that they are within God’s pasture – already there – not waiting to change or needing to take 3 membership classes and a bible quiz –  is something they have been waiting to believe their whole lives.  And once they realize we are God’s created people – the changes God desires, the wisdom they require and the beauty of community will all come into being.

In sharing the gospel:

It’s not our job to bring people into church.

It’s not our job to bring people into our view of “right”.

It’s not our job to bring people into agreement with us and what we believe.

It is our call, and our great joy, to show people they are already brought in – created and loved by God, and that from within God they will forge the relationship with God that can heal, change, encourage, and grow in them.  Then the community of the church, the discipleship and development  and the empowerment to share their witness can begin.

Greatness is Within.

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From Pleasantville to Haiti

Scripture: Matthew 23 

One of my favorite movies is “Pleasantville”. It’s a very well done film both in its use of color, and metaphor. The story follows Toby Maguire (pre-spider-man) and Reese Witherspoon as modern teenagers who end up being transported into a black and white TV show (very similar to any 50’s family show- Donna Reed, Andy Griffith, etc) where they believe life will be simpler.

Everything in Pleasantville is perfect. The fire department only rescues cats, because there are no fires. The school kids all sit up and pay attention. The basketball team never misses the hoop. Men go to work, and women vacuum in pearls before making huge amounts of food. Families sit down and talk over dinner. Wow.

However, our protagonists soon discover the black and white world of Pleasantville is not as perfect as it should be. The books in the library don’t have any words in them. The role of art in a colorless world is small and unnecessary, and the road out of town goes nowhere. Perfection, it seems, lacks passion.

As the teens encounter the ideal world of Pleasantville – they bring their own knowledge, passions and experiences to the town. Introducing Pleasantville’s residents to everything from self-esteem to sexuality, soon color begins appearing all over. Books now tell stories (not all of them pleasant) and art is powerful and provocative. Pleasantville becomes chaotic, divided, messy and very much alive. It’s no longer perfect, but its real.

The encounters Jesus has with the Pharisees are very much like Pleasantville. The temple administration had everything under control. People knew their roles and had their place in the temple secured through status and lineage. Lepers knew to keep away, and officials knew who to go to if they needed something done. The Sabbath had its purpose, and its limits. The faithful stayed in line and the blind stayed blind.

And then…along comes a Rabbi with the ability to hear and to heal (even on the Sabbath). Along comes a Rabbi who brings with him a messy group of followers and introduces everything from dining with tax collectors to raising the dead into the midst of the order. Suddenly the temple was abuzz with colorful people, healed sinners and angry authorities who don’t like being questioned.

In Matthew 23:27 – the Seven Woes – Jesus spells it out.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Jesus points out that turning the Temple – the community of God – into a black and white (or white-washed) museum is not what God intended for people to do in the world. Our world is full of messy situations, colorful people and vibrant challenge. It was the great desire of God for the church to be in that world – changing, healing and helping.

Jesus angered the Pharisees because he upset the order, and he showed without question the disordered, creative, techno-colored spectrum of existence – all of which God inhabits.

This week as we have watched the island nation of Haiti struggle with the aftermath of devastating earthquakes the people of God are still struggling to deal with the reality of it all. As people stand around the rim of this tragedy and say “Where was God during this? How could God let this happen?” we are showing our own tendency to want the simple black and white world to come back.

We want a world where good things happen to good people and bad things only happen to bad people. Certainly folks like Pat Robertson who want to blame Haiti (and some kind of devil-pact) for this disaster are trying to push this hard-to-understand reality into a box that is easier to get a handle on: “Haiti was destroyed because it was bad”. But Haiti is not to blame for the fact earthquakes (a natural design to release pressure and prevent the earth from exploding) happened.

We want a world where the easiest explanation is the right one. “It was God’s will” many will say – as if that takes away pain or answers our many questions. With a swipe of the “God’s Will Credit Card” we can make our offering and walk away without suffering pain or sadness. However, one look at the people of Haiti, and all they have lost, would tell you this certainly is not the desire of a loving God. I am reminded of the earthquake that Elijah experienced and the clearly written understanding that “God was not in the earthquake”. (1 Kings 19).

So if the simple, black and white answers don’t work for us anymore, what does? Where IS God? God is digging people out of the rubble, God is holding the grieving, God is boxing up food and blankets, God is inspiring soldiers, missionaries, neighbors and workers to go forward. God is putting on someone’s bandage. God is finding someone’s child. God is in the very midst of the rubble – where the colors of blood, water, courage, and faith are flowing all over the simple realities.

As Christian people, let us not retreat into our whitewashed tombs and long for simpler, happy days devoid of reality. Let’s be the likeness of God and jump into the colors that make up our world. Let’s bring our expertise, our gifts, and our passion into the rubble of the Caribbean, the reality of Richmond and to our very dinner table. From Hull Street to Haiti – let’s stop hiding behind how we want it to be… and let us bring about messy, amazing, colorful salvation through living the good news of the message of Christ.

Praying, working and reckoning with disasters like the one in Haiti make us stronger in our understanding and relationship with God. Ask hard questions and work through the answers. Like the newly colored Pleasantville- our faith may not be perfect anymore. But, it is real.