Saturday, 21 February 2009

• The sign says open but the door is locked.

  The sign says closed but it looks as if there's a party going on inside. 

   

  Of course there are private parties, but the kingdom of God isn't one of them.

   

  There are several basic emotions with corresponding facial expressions which are universal to all humans the world over.  Paul Ekman did some in depth research into that topic and he was introduced to me by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink which book was suggested to me by a friend, Kim Sink, in a bookstore in Troy, Ohio.  An adept communicator can play on those emotions as if they were wired to keys like a piano.

   

  There is joy, generally listed last, perhaps it’s an emotional thing, or maybe it’s alphabetical.  There is boredom, which may or may not be listed, but is always emphatically implied by scientific research and lists.  There is anger, first in most lists, it is all too common, but again, perhaps it’s an alphabetical thing.  There is fear.  There is contempt.  There is appreciation, which could be mistaken for joy and get listed just under anger by the alphabetically inclined.      

   

  There is happiness; I can’t tell the difference personally, but I’ve heard that theologically it is an altogether different emotion, and vastly more deficient than joy.

   

  Did I mention boredom?

   

  If human feeling were more diverse there could be no Universal Studio.  Artists would have to work one on one with their clientele and face immeasurable surprises as they tried to move or simply entertain us.  There would be no blank stare, no common ground to read the emotion of laughter, disappointment, or anger.

   

  Babies can express the basic emotions, and often do so.  You can tell the difference between contentment and happiness (some can even detect joy, but then I guess theoretically that would come much later after they were saved, except in the case of the Catholic child), between hunger, sickness, pain, or anger; and of course boredom.      

   

  So I suppose it is safe to assume that we can tell the difference between being appreciated, welcomed, tolerated, ignored, shunned, or eventually; contemned.

   

  The range of emotion between value and contempt is wide enough perhaps, that I think we can generally pick up within a few split seconds which side of the balance we’ve be placed. 

   

  We just know.

   

  Often we don’t know why that we know what we know.  It all goes on behind a locked door in our minds in a matter of milliseconds, we can’t put a finger on the source, but we know, and we know that we know.

   

  The kingdom of God, which Yeshua taught in terms of education, application, and family, is said to be a welcoming family, an appreciative family.  It is also said to be a lot of other things that become manipulative and confusing, but for the sake of the next five minutes let’s assume a family who values the stranger, even the enemy.

   

  I the family of God according to the way lived and taught by Yeshua we belong first, we learn second, and we conform last.  That’s how a natural family works, when a baby is born, she is accepted, actually welcomed and adored; over time she learns the family values, and more often that not in a loving family, she obeys the families basic rules.

   

  I received that basic thought at the teaching of Peter Rollins in the book “The Fidelity of Betrayal.”  I think he said it like this, “belong, believe, behave,” rather than “believe, behave, belong,” or “behave, believe, belong.”

   

  I believe that in the kingdom of God, belonging comes first, while belief and behavior follow.  I believe that I was valued, welcomed, and accepted by Yahweh long before I’d even heard of him, let alone believed in him, and certainly before I began to behave as he suggests.

   

  It’s almost impossible to manipulate our expressions when our emotions aren’t engaged.  Also it’s hard to manipulate our emotions to bypass our beliefs.  Making a difference for our generation in the way of Yeshua depends on aligning our core values with Yahweh’s core values.  Old Estimate aside, Yahweh’s core value is love, a love that goes well beyond the status quo, extending to enemies. 

   

  Enemy love. 

   

  It is the vulnerability of the cross of Yeshua.  You can’t be in control when you rise to Yeshua’s challenge and love your enemies.  Your enemy may, and often will, take advantage of you when it becomes clear that you love him in spite of his spite.  However, sometimes after the death and suffering of your natural desires to repay your enemy after the manner of his malice, there may be a premature resurrection. 

   

  Someone may be won over to the kingdom.  The blank stare of boredom may hit the get-it bell.  I’m not speaking of sheer numbers and statistics, pie charting and graphing the rise and fall of dominate survey results as to percent of Christian influence as compared to pagan, secular, and other religions.  I’m talking about a change that is moving outside of the pollster radar, like a grain of mustard seed, like the yeast in pizza dough.

   

  Otherwise friends, if we do not love our enemies, our smiles of joy may be put on, our hands in the sky will be props and illusion, our gospel tracts will only magnify our life’s contradiction. 

   

  Christ’s communion will be closed.

   

  Is that really what he wants of us; an assortment of private clubs, an array of separate communions?  Closed communion is just one of the signs of the unwelcoming nature of the church, just a mere expression, not unlike the narrowing of the eyes with a slight frown.        

   

  Things like this aren’t without their proof texts of course; closed communions hang a lot of weight out on one or two obscure verses.  Emotions matter though, and if we don’t feel invited, it may be that we’re not really welcome.

   

  There is a universal emotion for discovering that all the other kids were at your “friend’s” birthday party.

   

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