Spirituality Column No. 560
August 8, 2017

Spirituality Column #464
October 6, 2015
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville-Geist

By Bob Walters

I had a moment of deep sympathy for Pope Francis a couple weeks ago as he gazed up from his seat during Mass at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Cardinal Tim Dolan was welcoming the Pope into the midst of these 20,000 or so souls: so happy to see their Pope, so blessed to be in his presence, so profoundly moved by his visit and vision.  The Cardinal pronounced, “We pray for you, by name, in all our churches every day, and now here you are; with us!”

At “with us!” the fervent arena crowd erupted in a massive, sustained, and divinely thunderous chorus of reverent cheers, shouts of “Il Pape!” and heartfelt applause.  The longing of the faithful and the hopes of the lost were expansively, wonderfully expressed in this extended demonstration of love and admiration for this Pope of the Holy See, Bishop of Rome, and Vicar of Christ.  This was the ultimate in Big Apple props to the Pontiff, the leader of a billion Catholics across the globe.

Why my sympathy?  Because as I watched TV and saw the Pope’s gentle face smile humbly, politely, at that Garden cacophony reminiscent of an NBA Finals Game 7, I swear I saw a hint of longing in the Pope’s own eyes that reflected what I imagined Francis was feeling at that moment:

Oh, if only that cheer went up for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I am not being cynical about this.  I am a Bible Christian, not a Roman Catholic.  I read and study extensively with a special focus on church history, the development of denominations, Bible literacy, and modern historical context for how the Church, faith, Christianity, religion in general, politics, culture and academia have all arrived at perhaps the most confused, chaotic, convoluted and  complicated faith/political/moral moment in the history of humanity.

What I have absolute confidence in is that Pope Francis knows exactly who he is, and who he isn’t; a man, not Jesus.  Is he the exclusive representative of Christ on earth?  That’s a piece of Catholic doctrine other churches don’t generally share; most other doctrines say each believer is Christ’s representative on earth, or should be.

Regardless, Jesus always should be the main point.

But as Francis sat, the object of that amazing applause that shook the rafters of that enormous place, and the echoing beauty of that Roman Catholic Mass filled it with Holy peace, I am sure he humbly listened, and prayed in Jesus’ name …

That God would get the glory, not him.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) doesn’t remember hearing a guitar or a praise song in any of those lovely services the Pope celebrated.  Just saying …

Spirituality Column #405
August 19, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville

By Bob Walters

For countless years innumerable scholars with immeasurably more Bible savvy than I possess have made the case for and against Who, exactly, Jesus says He is.

Christian doctrine is that Jesus of Nazareth, the fully-human child conceived in the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, is the Messiah Christ, the fully-divine eternal son of God.  It’s easy to piece that together from the first chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, who go into some detail about the birth, person, and divinity of Jesus.

The Gospels of Mark and John blow right past the birth story.  Mark opens with the adult Jesus beginning His ministry.  John’s Gospel begins by clearly describing the Cosmic, eternal, heaven-stretching, Covenant re-writing magnitude of the human incarnation (worldly birth) of the eternal Word of God – Jesus Christ.

And yet, there are those who will dismiss the Bible as just an old book of stories about a mythic teacher spouting outdated, non-intellectual moral lessons; that the whole Jesus “thing” is just one of many fairy tales clung to by naïve people refusing to face the reality of an impossibly pointless, unfair, fallen world.

Honestly, I’ve always been more optimistic than “pointless and unfair,” but before coming to Christ in 2001 and years of study since, hanging absolute “truth” within the context of Jesus Christ and the Bible made no sense to me.  I’d point to little nuggets of “intellectual” insight about the Bible’s inconsistencies.  One of my favorites is, “Jesus never says He is the Son of God.”  HA!  That proves the Bible is wrong.

No … it proves I wasn’t expending the intellectual energy necessary to investigate what the Bible truly is and what the Bible truly says.

The Bible is, without argument, the most “proven” ancient book in existence.  Folks love to deny its inspiration, malign its authenticity, diminish its authority, ridicule its practicality and creatively misread even its most plainly clear information.  But better not say the Bible lacks an immaculate historical pedigree.

As for what the Bible says, understand it as God’s story, not ours.  When we think it is all about us, we start on the wrong foot, go in the wrong direction, and get lost in the wrong lessons.

True, Jesus never says, “I am the Son of God here to die for your salvation.”  But the Old Testament prophets tell us all we need to know about Him, and Jesus repeatedly agrees with those who ask if He is the Messiah (e.g. Matthew 27:11, Mark 14:62, Luke 23:3, John 18:37).  Most of the time Jesus answers, “I am.” 

And that agrees with the Old Testament.

Exactly.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) figures Jesus shouldn’t have to tell us Who He is.

Spirituality Column #380
February 25, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville

By Bob Walters

I find it fascinating and comforting to learn how much intellectual horsepower has been dedicated to Christianity over the past 2,000 years.

It starts of course with Jesus Christ himself, moves on to disciples like Luke and John, to the Apostle Paul, proceeds to second century doctrinists like Origen and Tertullian, to Athanasius, to the church fathers east and west, to John Chrysostom, Augustine, Maximus and so many others.  The unbroken line of intellect and faith includes scholars, bishops, archbishops, Popes, emperors, rebels, monks, martyrs, philosophers, preachers, missionaries and so many others who have been loyal to the Trinity, the faith, the Bible, the Church, and the fellowship of all believers.

Today’s hip, modernist culture seems wholly unaware of the overwhelming intellectual wealth that tracks Christianity on a provable, consistent, faithful line back to the living, breathing days of Jesus.  The Bible in some quarters is mistakenly regarded as a discontinuous book that reaches over history to a legend of long ago, allowing us to define – culturally and politically – what we want Jesus to be today.

But Jesus Christ reaches straight through the heart of history.  His body and blood are as real today as when He was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Admittedly, it’s not been all smooth sailing.  Many religious figures through the years have made it difficult to enjoy the simplicity of Jesus because they have made such a muddle of trying to define Jesus.  Doctrines, dogmas, creeds, concepts, systems, legalisms, disciplines and liturgies have been created trying to define the undefinable – the living, loving, servant-hearted, death-defeating, God-glorifying eternal salvation that Jesus Christ brought to a fallen, groaning, dying world.

It’s easy for Christians to sweat the wrong details, stumbling over doctrines only to wind up worshiping or reviling a religious idea instead of focusing on the reality of Christ.  Are you Roman Catholic or Orthodox?  Protestant or Catholic?  Calvinist or Arminian?  Do you prostrate yourself in sin and shame, or praise God for His grace and love?  Do you prefer pipe organs or guitars?  Where do you stand on tribulation, end times and rapture?  Is Hell real?  Are abortion and gay marriage the church’s business?

The main thing above all is Jesus Christ.  But after offering a robust “Amen” to freedom in Christ, we’ll start a church-rattling Sunday school brawl over a concept, like whether we can lose our salvation.  We insist on definitions, but the Bible plainly says we can’t define God (Isaiah 55:8), and that innocent, uncomplicated faith in Christ is the key to God’s Kingdom (Matthew 18:1-4).

Christ himself – not a doctrine, concept, or rule – is our peace (Ephesians 2:14).

That’s a detail worth sweating.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) encourages knowing Jesus more than knowing doctrines.

Spirituality Column #374
January 14, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville

By Bob Walters

I suppose I’m as politically and socially opinionated as anyone I know.

And I know some very opinionated folks.

But let’s explore how God’s truth is distinct from and superior to human opinion.

For starters, nothing frosts someone who has an opinion more than someone else who has the truth.  And nothing is more commonly troublesome in human relationships than confusing opinion with truth.  All kinds of religions are full of all kinds of people with all kinds of political and social opinions, and certainly all kinds of opinions about the religion itself.  Even non-religious folks have strident opinions about religion.

People form opinions based on available human information, which has the nettlesome short-coming of variable translation depending on a person’s viewpoint, experience, and temporal interest.  Plus, human information is always changing.  Moving target or not, we mistakenly think energetic and clever argument reliably pins down truth.  Hence we argue, often pointlessly, but with gusto nonetheless.

God’s information, on the other hand, does not change.  His truth is both the end of the argumentative line and the beginning of inarguable, eternal love.

The Christian faith starts with Jesus Christ being the truth that never ends.  He doesn’t merely tell the truth, He is the truth.  God is love, Jesus is the truth, and the Holy Spirit informs our souls.  One can legitimately harbor an opinion as to whether this is the best way to describe the Trinity, but that Jesus is God’s truth transcends opinion.

Jesus instructs us to worship God the Father in the truth (John 4:23) and that we will know the truth through His teaching (John 8:31).  Jesus the author of truth asserts that the truth will set us free (John 8:32), and tells us He is the truth (John 14:6).  Jesus prays by God’s truth (John 17:17), and constantly says, “I tell you the truth … .”

I tend to be in prima facia agreement with people who say religion is an opinion because there are so many human shadings to church life and faith doctrines.  It’s unavoidable that any church full up with human beings will be full up with opinions, while any church that is full up with God will be full up with truth.

Honestly, or perhaps I should say, in my opinion, that is a church we would rarely experience because that would be the exact church of the mind of Christ.  Humanity isn’t there yet.  But we go to church, pray often, read scripture and serve others in humility, all in order to encounter the only truth unhindered by earthly opinion.

And that is Jesus Christ.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) finds that airing one’s worldly opinions darkens one’s ability to illuminate Christ’s truth.

Spirituality Column #311
October 30, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville

By Bob Walters

I am a Jesus-believing sinner at the foot of the Cross who hesitates when marking the “religious preference” box on personal information questionnaires.

“Roman Catholic,” “Orthodox,” “Protestant,” and maybe a blank beside “Other,” typically are the Christian choices.  Rarely – in fact I think never – have I seen a box that simply says “Christian.”   Since “Christian” is all I really want to be, whenever possible I check “Other” and write in “Christian.”  It’s minor mischief that makes me smile.  Here endeth the rebellion.

This is not to disrespect those who check a different box.  I deeply appreciate Christianity’s rich and diverse doctrinal history – John 1:14, Christ on the Cross, Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension, the Pentecost, the Apostles, the Revelation, the church fathers, the canonization of the Bible, the heresies, Rome, Constantinople, Orthodoxy, the Council of Nicaea, the Great Schism, the Reformation, the Great Awakenings, the Evangelical Movement and on up to Humanae Vitae, the modern Popes, televangelism (for better or worse), and contemporary worship.

It is of great intellectual comfort to my own faith knowing that smart, spiritual humans have been thinking, interpreting, praying and writing about Christian doctrine for 2,000 years.  What I encounter on any given day as a Christian, including any given Sunday at worship, may be refreshing, enlightening, and new.  But I know that Christianity is old, that God is eternal, and that Jesus is more than an idea.  Jesus, the person who is also God, is the perfect and complete image of God’s original plan for a Creation that glorifies.

Fallen humans are errantly prone to heap superfluous constructs – i.e., legalisms – upon otherwise simple faith in Christ; faith that should lift us atop God’s foundational glory of love, grace, mercy, freedom, and joy.  Too often that faith becomes buried beneath worldly systems and suffocated by sin, fear, guilt, works, and sadness.

I mourn for churches that sacrifice the truth of the Bible for the weight of tradition, and lament churches that perilously ignore tradition while over-worshipping expedient scripture paraphrases.  I shake my head when churches promote worldly and off-point dogmas of “Jesus as Homeboy” or the “Prosperity Gospel of Me and My Needs.”  The “living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9) created, loves and pursues humanity.  We are to love God, pursue His truth in Christ, and share that truth, that spirit, in love and service, with others.  Christ should be the center of all.

By believing in Christ, I am not burdened with having to believe in anything else.

All I have to do is mark “Christian.”

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) wanted to avoid the timely and tendentious topics of Halloween tomorrow and the election next week.  “Boo” if you must, but absolutely – for Heaven’s sake – vote.