The Diversity of God

On Sunday we talked about our God, who is a Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We discussed how this operates, and all kinds of traits that God has revealed himself about being a Trinity, and why it matters.  If you are not certain about the Trinity, I recommend your reading the sermon from Sunday again, which can be found at www.bellspringsumc.org.  Just go to Worship > Past Sermons (PDF) > August 23, 2015.  Having some understanding of Trinity will be necessary for this post to make any sense at all!

One topic we did not cover was the uniqueness and diversity within the Trinity.  Too often we simplify God, and do not fully appreciate God's fullness as being a Trinity.  Where would we be if God were only the Father, without the Son or Holy Spirit?  How much would we be at a loss if our God were only the Holy Spirit, whose role is to sustain our church and guide believers, if we did not have the Son to teach us God's truth, or the Father to prepare a place for us in heaven?  What makes God so special is that God is a Trinity, three in one and one in three, a God unlike anything else in creation, a God who defies metaphors.

God is not created; God has always existed as a Trinity, and will continue to eternally exist as a Trinity.  Therefore, God's nature is inherently diverse within himself.  The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit; while all three "Persons" of the Trinity are fully God, each one has a different role in the universe, in our world, and in our lives.  Each one relates with us differently--think about how the Son relates with us verses the Holy Spirit.  The Son came to us in flesh and blood, yet the Holy Spirit and Father do not.  

While God is fully God as a Trinity, there are some differences between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, leaving us with a God who is diverse, even within himself!  And what a beautiful God we're dealing with--the Scriptures proclaim that this is the God of salvation, eternity, and infinite wisdom. Something else really interesting for us is that he has created humankind in his own image.  In Genesis 1, we see that we worship and adore a God who has truly given us his own mark, as his children and inheritors of the divine life.  And since God is diverse within the Trinity, God has left us with a mark of diversity among ourselves.  Diversity therefore is not the mark of evil or danger, but is a gift from God by which we have been created into God's very likeness!

I hear and see too many comments on Facebook, online, and overhearing conversations where people are opposed to one another's diversity.  Diversity takes many shapes: gender, ethnicity, background and upbringing, ideology, culture, language, etc.  The list goes on, because inherently each of us is a little different, and each of us has a little different role within the Kingdom of Heaven.  But what astonishes me is how we as Christians are often those who are creating division as a result of our own diversity.  Diversity is God's own gift to us, a gift that we as Christians proclaim is one of God's greatest gifts to humankind.  The only gift that we have received greater than God's own image is the gift of God himself, of Jesus Christ who came to our world to dwell with us in solidarity, to offer himself up as a sacrifice on our behalf, to welcome us into eternity through his life, death and resurrection.

Celebrating diversity of human beings is not some tenant of a bleeding heart liberal; it is foundational and thoroughly rooted in the Scripture, in the Christian life and in God himself, because God is a Trinity, inherently and essentially diverse within himself, uncreated and eternal.  When we engage with people in this world, we will see that everyone around us is different than we are, and instead of asking them to conform to our likeness, we should note that God has already made them in his own likeness, for diversity is one of God's own trademarks.  

Questions for further consideration:

1. How should we as a church celebrate diversity?  If we though more deeply about diversity in worship, and sought its practice, how would our time in worship be different?

2. How does our society encourage conformity to a certain standard?  How can we as Christians resist this temptation and instead celebrate the uniqueness of God's children, as different as they may be?

3. In God's internal diversity, God remains to be the definition of goodness and holiness.  What is the difference between celebrating diversity yet striving to conform to God's goodness and holiness? Can we pursue holiness as a family in solidarity while retaining our diversity of gifts, graces and cultures?

The Mission of God vs. Our Missions

On Sunday we talked about the mission of God, that God has already determined to be God with us, God for us, and through Christ and the Holy Spirit, to never be God without us.  God's plan to bring all nations and peoples into covenant with himself has already begun; however, God's mission is not quite finished yet, so God continues to move through the church on earth to accomplish that mission.

In order to think about this mission in more concrete terms, let's use 21st-century American terms to describe God's mission.  When we think "mission" in English, we sometimes think about a spy movie, perhaps with a dauntingly impossible task; however, that's probably not the best way to think about it.  But when we think about God's "mission" we probably most often think about it as God's "goal".  Our society is a goal-driven society, where children and adolescents are taught at a very early age to set up short-, medium- and long-term goals for themselves to guide them in life.  In the workplace, we have goals (or quotas, or benchmarks) that are set daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.  When we write out our résumés, we almost always add adjectives like "goal-oriented" to describe ourselves.  Even at home we make a to-do list and seek to accomplish it in a certain way within a particular amount of time.  Most of what we do in today's world is driven by goals.  And lest we forget that goals are so important to our way of life, that when the New Year arrives, we set for ourselves a whole new set of life goals named "resolutions".

God's mission/goal is different from the way we handle goals in our world today.  In fact, churches, pastors and entire denominations function much in the way I have just described above, but this is not how God's mission/goal works.  You see, our missions and goals in life are typically crafted for a desired end result; that is, we set goals in order to reach a new milestone, an accomplishment, a new reality in which we are no longer overweight, we have sold a thousand more widgets, or have scored sufficiently high on the benchmark examinations.  God's mission is a little different; whereas we think of missions and goals as a means to a desired end or achievement, God's mission is already promised to end in victory.  It is really important that we understand that Scripture reveals to us truth that God wants us to have.  Why on earth would we need to know about God's new heaven and earth in the future, its dimensions, its colors and shape, its creatures?  Because God really wants us to understand that our mission as the church is not to reach an end goal or accomplishment; God has already guaranteed the end result of victory, and there is nothing we can do to change that outcome.

All too often in the church, we have come to the conclusion that we exist simply to carry out a series of goals, resolutions and quotas in our community: more members, more converts, more baptisms, more community involvement, more ministries, etc.  This plagues the church today, as is evidenced by hundreds of new books being published every year to help pastors figure out how to bolster the numbers.  Our problem isn't that we're turning ministry into numbers; it's that we've long ago turned our mission into a game where we're seeking specific results, even though the final outcome was determined so long ago.

So what is God's mission?  What is the church's mission?  God's mission is the church's mission, so in order to know one we must know the other.  Whatever God's mission is, it is not an end result but rather a journey.  If God is on a mission at all, and yet the "end" of this mission is already determined, then God must be concerned about the period of time in between now and that end.  And since we don't have any idea when that end is going to come (probably not anytime soon, mind you), it reminds us that God's mission is likely to take place over a very long period of time, just as it has already for so long.

As we discussed on Sunday, and have learned in the church in the past, God's mission is fulfilled through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, both examples of when God decisively decided to be with us, and to enter into profoundly new relationship with us.  In fact, we can largely deduce from Scripture and the world around us that the only reason we know anything about God is because God told us about himself, and wanted to be with us in the meantime.  In my mind, the best answer for the question, "Why are we here?" is "Because God wanted to be with us."

In Isaiah 55 and 56, we learned that God's mission is to be with us and to gather us together, bringing everyone under his solemn covenant, first established with the Israelites and then with the Gentiles through Christ.  This mission, however, of being with us in relationship and community, is not a mission that will actually have any "end" as it were; God's mission to us is an eternal mission, as God has already decided to be God with us for all eternity, and seeks to keep us in his presence forever.  Yes, the world will have an "end" and a new heaven and earth is promised to us; but that doesn't end the mission!  That is only one step in the eternal love and camaraderie that our Father in heaven has promised us.

Our mission as a church must have the same parameters.  First, we cannot think of our mission as a set of goals to check off of a list.  Now, is it sinful to have goals of any kind?  No, I don't think so, at least not in earthly terms.  God knows the utility of organization, forethought and passion: Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came to earth to experience what it's like to be right here in our shoes!  We in the church are allowed and encouraged to set goals and such to maintain certain regular operations, but the reason we exist at all is because God is already with us and simply wants to remain in relationship with us.  Absolutely God wants more of his children in relationship with him, and it is part of our mission to reach out to others and gather them into the flock.  But even reducing evangelism and outreach to a number, goal or quota is completely missing the point; what God desires more than anything is to be in relationship with us, not only today but every day, as he carries his mission out throughout the journey which is our life and eternity with him in paradise.

So then all of this begs the following questions:

1. What goals have I set for myself?  Are they realistic?  Why did I set these goals?
2. Do I desire a lifetime spent in a journey and relationship with God along the way?  Is that a goal that ever gets "checked" off of a to-do list?
3. Why do I become upset at myself when I do not accomplish my goals according to my own plan?  Do I hold anxiety or uncertainty or doubt about my future in God?
4. What is my mission, my reason for existing?  Will it ever end?

Our kingdoms vs. God's Kingdom

On Sunday we discussed some of the differences between the Kingdom of God (aka the Kingdom of Heaven) and the kingdoms we build here on earth.  If we are going to be the church, we are going to need to be building God's Kingdom rather than our own kingdoms.  But what do we mean by "kingdom" anyway?  A country with a monarch (king or queen) with absolute power?  Probably not--and the Scripture probably doesn't meant that either.  So what does Jesus mean when we tells us about the Kingdom of God?  And what do we mean when we talk about our own kingdoms here on earth?

I want to first be clear on what I'm not talking about.  First, we understand God to have created everything that there is--in fact, there is nothing that God didn't create, except for God himself.  Everything falls into those two categories--God, or creation (not God)!  In that sense, yes, everything is God's "kingdom" in that God does reign and is sovereign over all God's creation.  That is a very cosmic understanding of "kingdom", and not the exact way Jesus is using it when he talks about the Kingdom of God.

Secondly, Jesus is not using the term legalistically or literally.  When we think of "kingdom" on earth, we think of a monarchy, that is, a country or territory with a king or queen reigning with absolute power and authority.  When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven, he's not talking about building a new country literally.  And when we say that Christians should not be building their own kingdoms on earth, we are definitely not talking about creating our own little countries and seceding from the United States!  

Mark 4:26-29 gives us one of Jesus' parables: "Then Jesus said, 'This is what God's kingdom is like.  It's as though someone scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps and wakes night and day.  The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn't know how.  The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain.  Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it's harvest time.'" [CEB]

God's Kingdom is something that Jesus compares to a way of living, a culture, or a profession, as in this case with the farmer.  The key to this parable is that the farmer's reality is very different from the reality of a farmer here on earth.  Here on earth, we must be very intentional about sowing, fertilizing, weeding, and caring for plants against disease and pests in order to have a harvest time at all!  You might imagine how much this would change the profession of farming, if all food could be grown in this manner!  

Along that same line of thinking, God's Kingdom is a reality very different from our reality here on earth.  God's logic, the way God's Kingdom is organized, the order and sequence of existence is all different than in our human kingdoms.  In that sense, the Kingdom of God is less of a "place" or a "thing" and is more of a trajectory, a series of actions, and a way of life which is unlike the trajectory, actions and way of life we live in our human kingdoms.  

What motivates human kingdoms?  Why do we even build them, and what are they like?  Let's look at Matthew 6:19-21: [Jesus speaking, Sermon on the Mount] "Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them.  Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don't eat them and where thieves don't break in and steal them.  Where your treasure is, your heart will be also." [CEB]

Did you catch the motivation behind human kingdoms?  It's not the word treasures, although preachers will often tell you that is the case.  The fact is that Jesus encourages us to "collect treasures for yourselves in heaven"!  Treasure is a good thing!  The problem is not treasure, but the motivation behind it: "for your own benefit on earth".  In order to build up the Kingdom of God, we must stop pursuing our own benefits and selfishness, and instead look out for the benefit of others.  This, of course, goes against the very nature of the (sinful) human being--we are genetically programmed to serve ourselves, protect ourselves and raise ourselves up as the most important ones around, gaining importance, prominence and influence.  We are naturally very sinful, selfish, prideful and--in pursuit of our own benefit--we naturally seek to build up our own kingdoms here on earth, where rust and moth eat our efforts.  

If we claim to be Christians at all, we must pursue, idealize, or at least attempt a lifestyle where we allow God to change the way we think, to challenge the very basic understandings of human civilization.  Rather than seeking to build our own kingdoms, i.e., living lives where we protect, serve and help ourselves first and foremost, we are called to a radically, completely different way of life where we truly put others' welfare first.  And as a side note, this cannot only be people we love and cherish, because then we are effectively building our own kingdoms as families or small groups, isolated and impenetrable from the outside.  Not only are we to be completely selfless in this life, but we are called to make sure that at least some of that effort to care for others is loving people who do not necessarily love us back or hold the same Christian views we do.  But more details about why will be forthcoming in another devotional.

Here are some questions to help guide you in thinking about "kingdoms":

1. Do I deserve everything I have and more?  Have I "earned" my own living?  Do I consider my time, treasure and talent truly "mine" at all?

2. In 100 years, do I really hope that people will still remember me for all I have done?  Or do I really pray that somehow, through my work, God's Kingdom is magnified, even though my name is long forgotten?

3. Why do I fear putting more time, money, energy and attention into the church or other ministries?  Do I fear losing a part of myself to God or the church?  

4. If someone were to hack into my email, financial data, and correspondence, and know everything about my daily routine, would it appear that I was primarily building God's Kingdom, or my own?  

5. Am I willing to spend less time on my kingdom and give more time to God's Kingdom?  Why or why not?