c. scott andreas

This is part two in a series. Read the first post.

In the first part of this series, I explored Jesus’ exhortation to “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” by considering the word “repent” as it’s often used.

Today, we’ll begin to unpack Christ’s call to repentance.

Matthew locates this statement at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Furthermore, he indicates that these words were perhaps Jesus’ central message. The phrase “From that time” (the NIV translates this “from that time on”) indicates that Jesus continued to use these words. The Greek phrase “apo tote” implies something beginning at a specific point, then continuing in a certain direction indefinitely — much like a ray in mathematics. This word is also used in the New Testament to mean that someone is the first to do something. The Son of God walked the earth, teaching people(s) to repent and enter the Kingdom of God.

But what does it mean to repent? I remember thinking that “repent” meant to say that you’re sorry. In this sense, Jesus’ command as we often think of it makes a lot of sense — “say you’re sorry so that you don’t go to hell!” But the word “repent” meant much more to Him than simply apologizing.

The Greek word for “repent” used here is “metanoeo.” This word primarily means “to change one’s mind.” In this context, it implies that this is a change for the better, resulting from an abhorrence of one’s sins and a desire to make amends.

So when Jesus commands us to repent, he’s not calling us to bow down at the front of a church or say the “sinner’s prayer” — though there’s nothing wrong with these. It’s just important that we keep separate in our minds what Christ has ordained and what His Church has instituted. But Jesus is calling us to change our minds completely by seeking, hearing, and obeying his teaching.

Paul echoes this in Romans 12, calling the church to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” A simple apology will not suffice. The transformation to which Christ calls us is a complete shift in thought and practice.

But why must we repent in this manner?

Check back here on Wednesday. Until then, leave a comment!

- csa

Greek references from Blue Letter Bible.

Mark J. Berry posted a shot from a presentation delivered by Gill Poole to the Church Mission Society Directors and Managers meeting:

Without context, I can’t say whether Gill was expressing his opinion or giving voice to a popular concern within the church. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. As such, let’s just take a look at the statement itself.

“I love Jesus. I hate church.”

I’m a huge fan of making community with the body of Christ as accessible as possible and do what I can to make that happen. But this statement indicates either a lack of love for one’s brothers and sisters, or an inability to play nicely with them.

Neither of these are acceptable within the Kingdom.

Granted, different people are suited to different styles of worship (you won’t catch me speaking in tongues). But the fact that some who proclaim membership in the Body cannot find a community with whom they’re comfortable or even put aside these differences for one measly hour each week in order to worship our Creator, Lord, and Redeemer is troubling. While I acknowledge that there’s still probably a niche that 35,000 denominations have been unable to fill, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find something close enough in order that love might triumph over boredom.

If the pure, unadulterated love shown to us by our God is powerful enough to deliver us from our sins, shouldn’t it be able to overcome a little grumble over teaching or tempo?

If we love Christ, we must love His people. Even though we’re a pretty kooky family.

Let’s stop the church-bashing. Let’s transform reactive movements into proactive movements, lest we forget what we aspire to become by focusing too intently upon that which we abhor.

Because love wins.

Say “Hi” to people you walk past on the sidewalk — especially if you don’t know them.

Both you and your neighbor will be happier.

As a kid, I remember walking by an auto parts shop in the town where I grew up. It was almost always closed, which made me wonder how they made money. A simple sign often covered the door — it said, “Closed. Please call again.” Apart from never opening the door, I thought they were pretty stupid for hanging that sign up. “Call,” I thought? I hadn’t called them — I just walked by the door!

My dad later explained to me that before the telephone was invented, “calling” someone meant that you went to visit them. I pulled my foot out of my mouth and said that they were still stupid for using words two centuries out of date.

Looking back on this experience, I learned that words are not “timeless, unchanging containers of meaning.” Different cultures use them in different ways, and over time, the connotations of a single word within a single culture can shift entirely.

It’s easy to get caught up in a single interpretation of a word when reading the Bible — and entirely understandable! But we must remember that the twenty-first century is far-removed from the first century.

The Book of Matthew begins by establishing Jesus’ genealogy, the circumstances surrounding his birth, then tells us of his baptism and temptation. Following this, we find a rather curious passage:

“From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying
‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’”
- Matthew 4:17, ESV

Google is a great cultural thermometer.
An image search for “repent” turned up these three matches:

When we consider the word “repent,” we often think of altar calls, fire-and-brimstone rhetoric, and people with bullhorns shouting in the streets.

But is that was Jesus meant when he said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand?”

Check back on Monday for part two.  In the meantime, leave a comment — I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Here are some questions that I would like to explore:

• What is the Kingdom of God, how does Jesus speak of it, and what are its implications for the past, present, and future?
• What is sin? Is it something limited to individuals, or can communities and nations sin, and what might that mean?
• Similarly, what is salvation and what is redemption? Is “salvation” something more than the forgiveness of sins? Can Christ “save” communities, and what might that look like?
• What might Jesus have meant when He said, “Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven?”
• How might the Church live and love in light of these questions?

I do not know where this journey will take me. But I pray that the Lord might guide me there by His Word and Spirit.

I’m reading Shane Claiborne’s book The Irresistible Revolution.

In this excerpt, he talks about his experience visiting the church in Iraq:

“I was invited to worship services nearly every day while in Iraq. The Christians in Baghdad gave me so much hope for the church. One of the most powerful worship services I’ve ever experienced was just a few days before I headed home. Hundreds and hundreds of Christians from all over the Middle East had gotten together — Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox. They read a statement from the Christian church directed to the Muslim community, declaring that they love them and believe they were created in the image of God. Then we sang familiar songs like Amazing Grace. We said the Lord’s prayer in several languages. They led us to the cross and prayed a prayer similar to the one Jesus prayed when he was on the cross: “Forgive us, for we know not what we are doing.” Hundreds and hundreds of people continued to try to get into the service and ended up gathering outside with candles. It was holy.

Afterward, I was able to meet with one of the bishops who had organized the gathering, and I explained to him that I was shocked to find so many Christians in Iraq. He looked at me, puzzled, and then gently said, “Yes, my friend, this is where it all began. This is the land of your ancestors. That is the Tigris River, and the Euphrates. Have you read about them?” I was floored — by my ignorance and by the ancient roots of my faith. It is the land of my ancestors. Christianity was not invented in America…how about that?

The bishop went on to tell me that the church in the Middle East was deeply concerned about the church in the United States. He said, “Many Americans are for this war.”

I nodded.

And he asked, “But what are the Christians saying?”

My heart sank. I tried to explain to him that many of the Christians in the US are confused and hope that this is a way God could liberate the Iraqi people.

He shook his head and said, very humbly, “But we Christians do not believe that. We believe ‘blessed are the peacemakers.’ We believe if you pick up the sword, you die by the sword. We believe in the cross.” Tears welled up in my eyes as he said, “We will be praying for you. We will be praying for the church in the US…to be the church.”

Yesterday evening, I found myself reading up on green energy and brainstorming ideas to cut down on consumption. Google pointed me to the 2005 Sustainability Report on my electric company’s web site.

From the report:

Cinergy’s leadership on this issue is not limited to rhetoric…We introduced a green tariff in Indiana and will actively market carbon-free electricity in the Hoosier state in 2006.

Cool.

I called my electric company, Duke Energy (formerly Cinergy), this afternoon to find out more. Brenda, my rep, had not heard of “green energy.” I explained that it generally referred to electricity produced by sustainable means such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. She explained that this hasn’t yet occurred. Instead, she said that Duke had “mostly coal plants” and maybe “a couple fusion ones.”

Fusion, eh? Perhaps they’re further ahead here than I thought. Brenda suggested that I call back later in the year.

I just might.

Many of you know that I harbor some strong political views. I avoid posting my thoughts on what goes on inside the Beltway - mostly for fear of igniting powderkegs that promise to create more heat and noise than light.

But this is an issue of Justice.

Cyrus Kar, an American father, documentary filmmaker, and former Navy SEAL was detained for two months in an American-run Iraqi prison and suffered abysmal treatment - even after being cleared by the FBI of any wrongdoing.

From CNN:

Kar said that while he was imprisoned he was at various times hooded and threatened, taunted and insulted by U.S. soldiers. One soldier slammed Kar’s head into a concrete wall, the suit said.

He’s now suing Donald Rumsfeld and other top military officials in what is the first civil case brought to the Supreme Court regarding detention policies.

I love America. I thank God that we have a military composed of individuals who have placed themselves under the authority of the government in order to serve the rest of us. But in cases such as this (and I expect that this is far from being an isolated incident), I question some of our soldiers. And I question those who hand out the orders.

It hurts to call to account these people whom we’re supposed to be able to trust and respect. But at the moment, they’re our representatives to the rest of the world (though I wonder about the value of this, too). Sometimes I fear that our chief export may become a xenophobic attitude dressed in camouflage. The trouble is, these xenophobic attitudes have guns.

By no means do I wish to imply that all of our fine soldiers harbor these attitudes. My point is that if we wish to project authority as a foreign power, it is of utmost importance that we do so justly.

Cy is from Los Angeles. He’s an American citizen - and from the looks of it, quite a productive one (it takes guts to make a documentary in Iraq). He was cleared of charges. And he was thrown against a concrete wall by his fellow citizens.

Have a look at what the Pentagon had to say about this incident:

“This case highlights the effectiveness of our detainee review process,” spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston said following Kar’s release.

I assume that he meant this positively, but I find it impossibly difficult to interpret it as such. If this is a great example, how horrendous are the “not-so-great examples” ?

I’m highly suspicious of military (and executive) leaders who attempt to spin something as horrible as this into a testimonial.

Keep reading, keep (or start) writing, and draw from a diverse group of sources. For America.

In other words, “be vigilant.”