Where does it all begin? When we talk of being human there are a myriad of voices and ideas that govern our thoughts of purpose and meaning. We tell stories, teach, write music, paint pictures, play sports, and build empires, all in an attempt to grasp this elusive idea of what it is to be human. Then, of course, there is the church - often considered in opposition to worldly philosophies and just as often considered irrelevant to much more than our hopes of eternal rest and the occasional answered prayer.
The tragedy that I see in our quest to become human is that each group, like advertisers competing for dollars, see themselves as the ones who offer the superior product and offer very little room for others to enter into the dialogue. As a result, we only discover ourselves as beings guarding our way of life rather than those on a search for God.
This blog is all about being church. I believe in the basic Christian worldview. I believe that there is a loving God in the universe. I believe that love drives God to find this fearful, beautiful, dangerous, fragile, perfectly flawed, group of creatures and help them discover why they are. I believe that Jesus was from this God and understood, better than all of us, what it means to be human and gave it up as a demonstration of love. As a result, I believe that God loves me.
The rest of it...well, let's talk.
I think the quest toward being human is all about the conversation. I have come to believe that we are people who communicate...we need to communicate in order to find each other. In the Eden story we find that what we call sin ultimately is the severing of communication. The tree wasn't so arbitrary. It wasn't like God set up a tree that looked really good and God, like we often believe, just wanted to keep something good from man. No, the tree was a choice. You can have the knowledge of good and evil with just one bite or we can talk.
See, God showed up in the garden for a daily walk with His creation. The walks were conversations. God, little by little, was unpacking what it means to be human. He was in no hurry. They had the opportunity to pick. They could continue to live in relationship or decide that having the power to know was more important.
They picked to live alone.
We have an opportunity to no longer be alone.
This is an invitation to a conversation about being human. In my worldview, the cross stands as an invitation from God to join in.
Please...let's not miss it.
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