Sankofa

The CNN website recently ran a story about the rise of urban farming.  It’s this trend that is starting to emerge in low-income, mostly minority neighborhoods as a way to supply fresh produce to people who ordinarily wouldn’t be able afford such things at the store.  One leader in this trend cited a Ghanian proverb that says “sankofa.”  He explained sankofa as a word that means “return to your past so you can move forward.”

I like that word – sankofa.  For so long, the Christian community has strove to find and develop the next great thing, the next idea, the next trend.  When instead, what we should be looking for is sankofa.

The Christian life is relatively simple (in concept): follow Jesus.  But most of us try to make it complicated with rules and exceptions to the rules and expectations that we can’t live up to – it’s gets really messy.  When instead, Jesus constantly invites us back into fellowship with God.  Through Scripture, we hear a call to repent; repent means to turn back or away – to return to something we knew before.  In other words, we need to return to the past so that we can move forward…sankofa.

Discipleship is a very old concept; it’s the way in which ideas and knowledge were passed on from generation to generation.  Without constantly returning to this old way of doing things, society and culture could not move forward.  Often times we turn to the newest book (Blue Like Jazz, Irresistible Revolution, The Shack) or latest preacher (Francis Chan, Rob Bell, Tim Keller) in order to get ourselves out of our slump and feel closer to God once again.  When maybe what we ought to be doing is returning to our spiritual roots: the Word of God and the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  Perhaps there’s more to the Teacher’s words when he wrote, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

sankofa…

toledoth

Since it will probably be a while before I start preaching on a regular basis, I’ve committed myself to doing a little bit of translation work everyday, switching off between Hebrew and Greek.  The original languages are my primary source for writing sermons; I do very little with commentaries or listening/reading other sermons.  It’s not that I think I’m smarter than the commentaries, I just feel like the text offers all the material a person needs to write a good sermon.  Commentaries are a last resort for me and only when I get really stuck.  In translating, I’m starting at the beginnings: Genesis in the OT, and Matthew in the NT.  My work in Matthew is doubling as “church work” since this is where I’m planning to start with the future Bible study group(s).  It’s a great book for addressing the Jewish roots of Christianity, presenting an overview of Jesus’ life and the meaning/purpose of what happened, and providing an example of the importance of being a follower of Jesus.

Last week I “worked” on the first several verses of Matthew 1 – not exactly the most challenging Greek in the NT since there’s a lot of repetition.  Matthew 1 is a toledoth – a genealogy – of Jesus.  I’m wrestling with a number of thing here:

1. My convictions regarding Scripture require me to assume that everything in Scripture is there for a reason.  Likewise, each author and book has a rather specific purpose or goal in writing what they do and presenting the information the way they do.  The differences between the various toledoths (Ruth 4; 1 Chronicles 3; Matthew 1) are well-documented.
2. If a major thrust of Matthew’s gospel is discipleship, then what in the world is the purpose of his toledoth?  Perhaps somewhat selfishly, I would love to preach a sermon on this passage.  But if I can’t figure out Matthew’s purpose, I’m a little S-O-L.

Lifestream

First: What is it?

“Lifestream” is a term that is being tossed around the internet that refers to the collection of networking and micro-blogging sites and applications an individual is using.  For example, in my particular case, this blog, Facebook, and Twitter are collectively makeup my lifestream.  The idea is that the lives of millions of people can now be followed and observed through these various venues.  Without a doubt, anyone who reads this blog, is a friend on Facebook, or follows my tweets has a pretty good idea of what my life is like and what sort of things I deal with on a daily basis.

Second: Why am I bringing this up?

This is the most recent idea I’ve had for the name of the church I’ll be planting.  In my last post I talked a little about my thoughts on discipleship and it’s centrality to the life of a Follower of Jesus.  A Follower of Jesus is expected to put their entire life on display as a testament to the transforming power of the Gospel and a relationship with God.  That means that if someone is truly committed to being a disciple of Jesus, then people will see it in everything they do, thereby giving the world a pretty good idea of what their life is like and what they deal with on a daily basis.  Life – discipleship – is a Follower of Jesus’ “lifestream” for the people they’re around every day; the Christian lifestream assumes discipleship.

The Bible is also concerned with eternal life, a major part of what a lifestream is concerned with.  And we frequently find allusions to water, running water, cool water, and streams as the source of life or that which makes life flourish.  All in all, “lifestream” seems like a term and concept that simply and accurately describes the vision I believe God has given me for this new faith community.

Discipleship

The whole concept of disicpleship has been a growing interest and theme for me the past year.  I’m beginning to think that discipleship is really where it’s at when it comes to the Christian life.  Here are a few thoughts:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of man.”  I’ve always seen this as the seminal verse regarding man’s relationship to God.  We are created beings (rather than eternal), created for God’s purposes.  When it comes down to it, everything we do is intended to be for the glory and benefit of God alone.  We benefit from our relationship with God, but to be consistent with Scripture, our top priority is obedience to the Creator.  Even Psalm 1 talks about this when it says “Happy is the man/person … who delights in the Law of the LORD and meditates upon it day and night” (Ps 1:1-2).  ”Happy” is a legitimate translation of the Hebrew and does a better job emphasizing the wisdom nature of the Psalms.  In the Hebrew mind, the Psalms are intended to a guide that instructs God’s people how to get the most out of and enjoy to the fullest extent life, including our relationship with God.  Therefore, we were created in order obey God’s commands, thereby enjoying the closest/best relationship with God we possibly can.

Relationships require mutual respect and submission.  In 1 Peter, husbands and wives are commanded to mutually submit to one another.  Taken literally, mutual submission is absent; but taken within its historical and cultural context, mutual submission comes out loud and clear.  According to the Bible, the only way a marriage can be fully enjoyed by both spouses is if they each submit to one another.  In Ephesians 5, Paul equates the marriage relationship to the relationship between the church and believers to Jesus.  This also emphasizes a posture of submission to God.

At it’s most elementary level, a disciple is a student.  But not just any student; a disciple is someone who strives to mimmic every aspect of their teacher’s life.  The goal of a disciple is to – in many ways – take on the very appearance of their teacher.  In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissions his disciples to make other disciples.  When we look at the entire picture of what the Christian life is supposed to “look” like, we have very little choice but to conclude that God wants his people to become disciples – students, embodiments – of his son, Jesus.  As disciples, we publicly declare Jesus’ lordship over our lives since everything we do is a direct result of the faith we profess.  We are submitting to God’s will and Law.  And by nature, the concept of disciple assumes a personal relationship with the teacher – in this case Jesus.

The book of Matthew has a well-embedded discipleship theme.  It also has the feel of being rather Jewish in its structure and story-telling.  Throughout this gospel are numerous OT references and several calls to “follow him.”  It relies heavily on knowledge of Jewish traditions and culture.  Coincidentally, the Biblical concept of discipleship originates in the OT, with Elijah and Elisha acting as the OT epitomes of what it means to be a disciple.

There are a few things I want to define this new church plant that I’ll be working to establish:

1. I want people to learn the Bible.  Not in the legalistic sense of “Read the Bible or else” kind of way.  But when people come to our Bible studies or future gatherings, I want them to walk out with a deeper fascination and respect for the richness of what is contained within Scripture.  They may not believe what written in it, but they’ll recognize that there is something different about this book, something that makes it more than just a collection of ancient near eastern fairy tales.
2. I want people to grow as disciples.  I want the members of our group to realize that being a Christian is more than just something you think or believe, it’s an entire lifestyle.  That’s why I prefer to talk about myself as a “Follower of Jesus” rather than a Christian.  This isn’t just the “true religion,” it’s the best way to live; and the way we live is always rooted in our worldview/philosophy/spirituality.