6/2 Thursday Theological Thought

Physical Needs vs Spiritual Needs.  Body vs Soul.  Mercy Ministry vs Evangelism.

Which is more important to God?  Up until recently, I would have probably said that the body doesn't come anywhere close to the importance of the soul.  Don't get me wrong.  I believe that we should help the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, and the disabled, BUT I would have probably told you that doing that without verbally sharing about Christ is NOT what God calls us to do.

But a few months ago I came across this video on Youtube featuring two of the most respected figures in Christianity today, John Piper and Tim Keller.  In this video, they answer this exact question.  While they conclude that the soul is more important than the body, it's not as lopsided of a battle to them as it is to me.

"We exist to relieve all suffering, especially eternal suffering!" -- John Piper 

"We're saying that the eternal is more important than the temporary, NOT that the body is less important than the soul" -- Tim Keller

And so...I'm left wondering if I've gone too far to the side of overvaluing the soul over the body.  For me, stories of people coming to Christ have always made my heart pound with excitement.  But stories of people cured of illness...are just ho-hum ho-hum nm nm to me.  It's not like one occurs much more frequent than the other.  And it's not like one is more difficult than the other...

So why do I struggle to see them on the equal footing?  This is troubling to me because I'm training to care for the physical needs of people...BUT I'd much rather share the Good News of Christ with them.  I sometimes look at strangers on the street and wonder who will share the Gospel with them, but I never look at people to gauge how their physical health will be restored unless I'm assigned to do it.

Because I respect Keller and Piper, I can trust that the body and soul are equally important, but my heart doesn't tell me that....yet.

5/26 Thursday Theological Thought

“[They] summon him when the need arises and when the crisis is too much for them to handle.”

This may sound like the answer to “When do Christians call out to God?”….but I actually took this quotation from a Wikipedia entry entitled “Captain Planet and the Planeteers.”

If you will recall from this classic 90’s show, the Planeteers are a bunch of incredibly diverse teenagers each entrusted with some sort of ability (although one ability was completely useless) to battle against the evil of pollution.  Near the end of the episode, they inevitably would become overwhelmed by the opposition, and would have no choice but to call upon Captain Planet to save the day.  Then, Captain Planet would ALWAYS clean up whatever “mess” the Planeteers were in and would be fairly dominant in doing so.

And just like most Saturday morning shows, the plot would be almost exactly the same for every episode: Planeteers get into trouble.  They summon Captain Planet.  Captain Planet saves the day. 

You would think that after a few episodes, the Planeteers would just be like “Umm…Cap’n, I think you should just stay with us all the time….even at the beginning of the episode when things seem to be going well, because that’s kind of when things actually start going wrong."

Surely, that's what non-cartoons would do, right?

I, for one, wish that were true.  I remember the terrible lows in my life in which I had no choice but to rely on God...and I remember how he carried me through and never let me down.  But just like a silly Planeteer, I don't cling to God the same way when things are going swell.

Recently, I've been thinking about what it means to meditate and listen to God.  I've learned that not only am I not better than the Planeteers, but I am no better than the Old Testament Israelites who seemed so foolish for always falling into idol worship even after seeing miraculous things like the parting of the Red Sea.  Even though the death and resurrection of Jesus allowed for me to directly communicate with God, why is it such a struggle to do so.  Why is it so difficult to just sit there and listen?

Just like how the Israelites demanded for prophets and kings to communicate with God for them, we're the same way today.  We'd rather have our pastor tell us what we should do instead of listen for God's voice.  We'd rather flip through our Bibles than just sit in silence.  I'm not saying that we shouldn't turn to our pastors or our Bibles, I'm just saying that maybe we should turn to God first.

So instead of just depending on our Fire or Heart, let's summon God early and often.  Meditate.  Listen for what he has to say and obey it. 

Disclaimer: While I may have indirectly compared Captain Planet to God, let me just say that God is so much greater and I doubt that God has a green mullet.