ROADMAP 101.3: LASAGNE TAKES TIME

By Nico Bruinette

This entry is less about a book, and more about an idea.

Let me explain by telling a story...

X is a free-thinking, relatively liberal Christ-follower, who has done wonderful things for restoring the faith in those who feel that they’ve lost their way, or lost their connection to their faith. He is respected by others for his keen insight into matters of faith, and his knowledge of the Bible. However, somewhere along the line, X fell into a routine of “must”. He still believed, but his faith was regimented and scheduled according to what he had to do, and the time he could spare to do it in. His spiritual diet consisted of fast-food.

It was packaged for convenience.

X would attend Sunday-service every single week, because it was something he had to do... Everyone has to eat, right? However, he would make a point of insisting that it should not “drag on” for too long, as he had somewhere else to be, and something else to do. After all, once you’ve finished your junior chicken burger within two bites, you need to go on with the rest of your day... Even if the only other thing to do is to watch a rugby match on TV.

X did spend time on his faith, but he made sure that his morning Bible-study did not exceed 15 minutes. He would send a quick, glancing prayer up afterwards, and once or twice during the day, especially if he was faced with an impossible task, a stressful encounter, or a nearing deadline. He would finish off his day with a prayer at night, while in bed. More often than not, he would fall asleep during this prayer (which, if we continue with the metaphor, would be like falling asleep with your head on a half-eaten plate of food). He would wake up the next morning, and continue with his 15 minutes of Bible-study. And so it went.

You see, X lives in 2012. He is the centre of his own universe, and everything else plays second fiddle... Including his faith. X lives in a world where relationships are defined by a) usefulness, and b) convenience. To X, this is OK, because that is how the world works (according to popular belief). He doesn’t really spend time thinking about the implications of this mindset. The story of his life is just that... It’s all about himself and his own perspective.

Considering that his perspective is incredibly one-sided just wasn’t convenient. Which is unfortunate, because...

I am X... and so are you.

An old theology buddy of mine once complained to me that people just don’t get what Sunday is all about. He couldn’t understand why people insisted on “getting something out” of a service, and that they were disappointed when they didn’t.

What they didn’t understand, and what I recently shared with him, was that faith is like living to eat, instead of eating to live.

Like any foodie would tell you, the true art of food lies in enjoying what you eat, as much as you enjoyed cooking it. Sure, it takes a while to master the basic skills of cooking, and no-one particularly enjoys peeling onions, but once you get the hang of it, it tends to be an amazingly fulfilling experience...  Every. Single. Time. It also comes with the realization that a delicious lasagne might take a couple of hours to make, but it benefits you a whole lot more than that junior burger.

You get out exactly what you put in... simple as that.

So it has been my New Year’s resolution to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and avoid fast food altogether... Both physically and spiritually speaking.  And the strangest thing has started happening... The more I put in, the more I WANT to put in. The more time I spend with God (and I mean really, really spend time, without checking the time to see that I don’t go over my time limit), the more I want to do it. I don’t schedule an allotted amount of time for my faith activities anymore. I work at savouring the process. It isn’t always easy.

It isn’t really convenient either.

But, then again, lasagne takes time.

Roadmap 101... Establishing where we are.

By: Nico Bruinette

Every journey starts somewhere, and my personal spiritual journey is no exception. Recent events in the mainstream churches of South Africa have given me much to think about, especially where I find myself regarding what I believe. To sum up these events, I will state the following:

•Almost 30 years after it was written, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) has accepted the Belhar Confession as one of the confessions acceptable for use within the church. However, this acceptance is now being questioned and opposed, as many feel that Belhar is a political document, and not something born out of faith.

•A recent publication, which features 5 practicing reverends of the Calvinistic tradition in South Africa, asks whether doubt has a place within the mind and understanding of a believer. What makes this book controversial, is the almost universal finding that doubt is, in fact, extremely necessary within the world of faith, and that without doubt, there could be no questioning and/or growth within a spiritual journey.

First, let me say that you are in no way obliged to agree with any of my musings, as this is simply my thoughts on what is going on in the world of the church, and therefore directly and indirectly in my own life. Anyone with a different opinion or view is welcome to share it. 

Let me start by looking at the Belhar confession. It is a document originating in the Dutch Reformed Missions Church (DRMC), which was the Missional (read “non-white”) wing of the DRC during the years of Apartheid. It was written in the 1980s in the form of a confession of faith, while looking at the role of God when it comes to the oppression of people. Remember that the DRC, at that point, justified the system of Apartheid from the pulpit, which implies that they basically said Apartheid had the Holy stamp of approval. What the Belhar confession did, however, was point out that God is above racial lines, and that His love is for all those who believe, no matter the colour of their skin. It went further by stating that all believers are part of one body in Christ, and that any separation of that body could not be Biblically justified. It also focused extensively on the Biblical idea that God is on the side of the oppressed. In essence, Belhar was a faith-based reaction to a political situation, and not a political document in itself.

Let us depart for a moment from Belhar, and look at the other interesting event on the table. In international theological writings, it has long been accepted that doubting what we believe does not necessarily equal disbelief. In fact, within the Emergent Missional Church, we strive towards asking questions, and bringing into doubt what we have been taught to believe, so that we may find ourselves coming back to the roots of what faith is all about. We therefore go through a process of doubt to get to a point of deeper belief (the academic people call this a “post-critical naivety”).  We find that we do not simply have to swallow everything that is dished up in the faith-jacket, but through a process of questioning, examining, and discovering, we continually strive to figure out what God is trying to tell us about faith in general, but also our respective journeys of faith.  As this belief is not yet an extremely popular one in the South African context, we tend to rely heavily on writers from the US and UK to give us in SA a perspective on Biblical interpretation. Now, a South African publication has seen the light, also asking us to question what we believe, but putting it in light of the very specific South African, Calvinistic context with which most of us were raised.  So in essence, we would tend to agree with the struggles and questions of the authors (the book’s name is “Hier staan ek...”, and it is published by Griffel Media). 

I could go on a pages-long rant about each writer, and what they contributed specifically, but let me rather say that this is a publication that is putting into words the things many people are feeling and thinking, but are too afraid to say aloud. It brings home the message that we are a lost and broken people, who are still searching for God, in spite of what we have been taught to believe. It goes about magnificently in giving us a kick in the guts, forcing us to think for ourselves, and then reach our own conclusions about what we believe. I think that a publication like this could be an excellent tool in delving through our own prejudice, pre-conceived ideas, and fears regarding our faith. It could bring about that elusive post-critical naivety for which we strive. It could, quite frankly, be exactly the right thing at the right time.

Where do these two meet?

Like the writers of the Belhar confession, we are again in a time of political uncertainty, economic instability, and wide-spread injustice. Like the authors of “Hier staan ek...”, we face serious questions about our God-given identity, and what we believe that to be. To me, it is clear that we can make use of both these elements, even if it is only to bring ourselves to question, and then put into words what we believe, and how that belief would influence those in our social circles, our community, and eventually, our country.

As stated in the beginning of this writing, these two elements have been part of my own spiritual journey. I was forced to come to a standstill, to look inward and rediscover exactly what it is that I believe about God, about myself, and about my journey with God. But because I am not the only believer in this world, I will also open this up to you, as the reader, when I ask: What do you believe? 

I look forward to reading your thoughts, comments, and musings.

Roadmap 101.2... When we measure God by our own limitations.

 I enjoy what I get to do for Sq1M, simply because I am tasked with keeping my eyes and ears open, to see what can be seen as relevant, interesting, wacky, wild, meaningful, weird, or just plain astounding in the murky waters of the theological world. I find myself dumbstruck with the sheer volume of interesting things I end up finding. There are two finds I consider interesting and relevant for this post.

First, we have the latest Tiaan Gildenhuys DVD; which focuses on “The Christmas Deception”; and second we have Rob Bell’s latest book, entitled “Love Wins.” First of all, I cannot really claim credit for finding the Gildenhuys DVD.

Thanks to our diligent leader, Karien, we were made aware of this DVD, and we had an extremely meaningful group discussion (and delicious Oppi Stoep breakfast) while watching it. Let’s have a quick look at the contents of the DVD, before I tell you what happened in the discussion.Gildenhuys did extensive research on the origins of what we celebrate as Christmas, and made the finding that what we celebrate is a fallacy, based on an old Pagan tradition. For many reasons (including that Christ was more likely born in September/October than on December 25), Gildenhuys urges those watching his DVD to abolish the current, commercialized celebrations we know as Christmas, as he sees it as a slap in the face of God, and a continuation of Pagan traditions.

During the discussion of what the group felt they could take from what Gildenhuys had said, it became clear that some were in two minds on the matter. It should, however, be made clear that no-one felt obliged to “cancel Christmas”, they merely felt that it would be sensible to celebrate it differently. Some felt that what Gildenhuys had said would not change the way in which they celebrate Christmas, but they would keep the facts in mind, and still make Christ’s birth the central focus of their celebrations. Another interesting thing happened just as we were about to adjourn, in that a member of the group reminded us, in their own way, that we cannot proclaim the ideas of love and community, if we do not make it a practical reality in our everyday lives.

This got me thinking...And then Rob Bell’s book landed in my lap... literally.Bell focuses on the age-old question of heaven and hell, and why God would condemn someone that He had created. Without spoiling the punchline (because I feel really strongly that each and every one of us should read that book), Rob makes a point of noting that we should not measure God by our own limitations, shortcomings, or insecurities. He also suggests that we will only ever understand God’s love if we learn to love each other, without expecting anything in return. This punched me in the gut a bit... Even if we don’t realize it, it is our human nature to love, but to do so on our own terms. These conditions affect how we talk to and about each other, how we think of ourselves, how we think about those we know, and even those we don’t. We presuppose our way through life, because we’ve convinced ourselves it’s OK to do that. It’s not OK. It’s far from OK. We will never be able to fully embrace God’s love if we keep holding on to our conditions and presuppositions. God’s love is unconditional, extremely forgiving, willing to move forward, and able to accept any and all people for who they are. Love is stronger, wiser, and more encompassing than our feeble human minds will ever be able to grasp, because love is a gift of God. God gave humans love, so they could spend their lives striving to grasp and live it, in spite of themselves. In the end, LOVE WINS, and we get to share in the victory.So why did Rob Bell’s book make me think of Gildenhuys’ DVD? To me, the answer is simple... Before I start singing Silent Night on a specific Spring-evening in October, I need to start focussing on how I can truly live God’s love, how I can be what God needs me to be to this world, and how I can help others to see that they were called to be and do the same. What Gildenhuys said has a place and relevance, but personally, I find more merit in striving towards living God’s love, and being grateful for the Gift we received in Christ. In other words, I choose to celebrate Christmas every single day, because to me it is a token of God’s love for us, and a reminder that we are called to share this Love with the world. And, yet again, Love Wins.