Faith + Life

I have been told by a number of people whose faith and practice formed in the early to mid-20th century that their greatest faith testimony is two-fold:

1. They’ve never smoked, and
2. They’ve never tasted alcohol.

Really? Not even a nip of the vanilla extract?

In our church?

These same persons made impassioned pleas for me to evict Alcoholics Anonymous from the church basement because they smoked! (No.  I’m not making that up.  Same folks weren’t keen on the Girls Scouts using the church, either. )

Now, I may be youngish as of this writing, but I can read.  What I read are crazy exhortations to “be like Jesus.” (Whose name really wasn’t Jesus…but that’s another story.)

At dinner?

Funny thing…  Jesus made the wine for the wedding in Cana. He was also hanging out with all sorts of people, even sharing a meal with them. You know which people… Those people!

Another interesting note: sharing a meal in Southwest Asian cultures means something very different than it does in Western European culture. To share a meal in Sidon or Cairo or Haifa is to proclaim a family bond. If I invite you to a meal, I invite you to be my brother…  No joke. No caveats. No addenda.  It’s the same today as it was 2000 years ago.

(Put that among your Communion Table misconceptions and let it simmer. The fact that the Bread and Cup were shared at a dinner table and are stilled served at the Lord’s Table are not coincidental. )

Holiness?

What’s your reaction to that word?

We use it in several contexts in the Christian Way.  Some of them are as follows:

• Personal Holiness
• Social Holiness
• The Holiness Movement

Work through it

Take a moment to get a pen and paper.  Once you have that, write down your answers (or best guesses) to the questions below.

1. What comes to mind when you think of the word “holiness”?
2. List some denominations or groups within the “holiness movement.”
3. Who is credited with starting the current “holiness movement” in Christianity?
4. What does “personal holiness” mean to you?
5. What does “social holiness” mean to you?

Read Chapter 4, “Party Person” of Why Jesus? and address the following questions.

1. How did Jesus respond to the moral (“holy”) code of his day?
2. Through what actions, if any, did he support it?
3. Through what actions, if any, did he thwart it?
4. What conclusions about Jesus do you draw from his association with the “party crowd”?
5. What lessons stand out for your own journey to follow Jesus?

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• Why Jesus? : Preacher
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• Is God Our Idol or Our Prisoner?
• Why Jesus?