-
THE PERVERSITY OF PERFECTION
The Nicodemus Problem The church has a Nicodemus problem. Perhaps you remember the fraught dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Nicodemus, introduced in the story as a Pharisee and one of the “rulers of the Jews,” politely approaches Jesus as a miracle worker, presumably leading up to some theological question or challenge, but…
-
THINKING THE FAITH: “WITHOUT RESERVATION”
“Without reservation” The church order of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in a supplement to Article 5 includes some instructions about what one should consider when signing the Covenant for Officebearers. The Covenant, for those of you who are not familiar with the CRC, is a document that office holders in the denomination are required…
-
GETTING UNSTUCK: A WAY FORWARD
For the past month, we—you, my readers and I—have gotten distracted by another synod, this 2023 version of the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), which doubled down on its opposition to most if not all expressions of LGBTQ+ sexuality. It’s important to keep in mind that the synod is not the church. And…
-
A MEDITATION ON TRUST: TRUSTING EACH OTHER IN A TIME OF DISTRUST
What you have done here by ceasing debate is incredibly harmful to what sense of trust the minority has in this body. (Cara DeHaan, from the floor of the synod of the Christian Reformed Church, June 2023) . . . [Vitalik] Buterin [founder of Ethereum and cryptocurrency theorist] argues that one of the most valuable properties…
-
A LITTLE LESS LOST: RECENTERING OUR FAITH
My wife and I recently returned from Europe. While there, we walked the cities, Amsterdam and Milan, in particular. We frequently were forced to bring up Google or Apple Maps (and sometimes both at the same time) to get walking directions. Truth be told, the programs don’t work well for walkers, especially not in old…
-
A WORD FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT BELIEVE: FAITH AS ENCOUNTER
In the Bible “faith” rarely means “belief”—at least, not in the sense that “belief” has come to have in popular Christianity: what I will call “belief about.” We are not saved by belief. This is not what the Bible teaches. But if my experience is at all representative, this is what many in church think…
-
THE BOOK OF JOB AND A DEEPER ECOLOGY
By any measure, Job is a brilliant book. It’s also something of a mess. Allow me to page you through it. I’m particularly interested in the speeches of God that come near the end of the book and the relationship of those speeches to how we might think about life on earth. The speeches develop…
-
A CHRISTMAS MEDITATION
Christmas is never the New Testament’s first thought. The stories of the birth of Jesus are found in only two of the gospels, Matthew and Luke. Our Christmas celebrations and songs are narrower still, mostly from Luke. Matthew’s account we slip in and around the Luke story as best we can, putting camels in our…