The Other Mark

I've been reading again. This time from Living By the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible by Howard Hendricks. I'm reading it with a men's group from church, and it's been very insightful and has helped me enormously with picking out observations in the text.

This morning I read a section called "Getting the Big Picture" and worked with chapters 4 & 5 of Mark (the gospel - not me). At the beginning of Hendrick's book we'd look at just one verse, then we did just a paragraph, and now we're here.

So I whipped out my hip Extreme Teen Bible (NCV) since it was the first thing I found after moving back home for Christmas. I opened to Mark 4 and read the two chapters straight through.

Verses 1-34 of chapter 4 cover Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God. And from what I can tell, this is really the only part of Mark that really hammers out kingdom teaching. The topic comes up again, but not this extensively.

Then the end of ch. 4 and all of 5 cover 4 miracles: the calming of the storm, the man with demons, the bleeding woman, and Jairus' daughter.

After my brief read-through, I decided to get some background, so I went back to Mark 1 and sort of skimmed through to gain some context. I made some interesting finds.

Mark seems to write in a very specific way. He moves forward chronologically, but covers only one particular aspect of Jesus' life at a time. He starts with Jesus preparing for ministry from the call of John the Baptist, through the baptism, and then to the desert with fasting and temptation. Mark spends hardly any time on these details which would lead the reader to believe that this is not what he wants to talk about.

Then Jesus picks some followers.

Then he begins healing people.

Now both the followers and the healings are reoccurring events in this gospel. Over and over, Mark will describe how Jesus separates his followers from the crowds that follow him around (4:11). The followers were told that they could "know the secret about the kingdom of God." Mark also makes a distinction between Jesus' first few followers and when he officially picks his twelve apostles (3:14). I think this attention to Jesus' disciples is very important. But I want to focus more on what happens at the healings. Or the first several at least.

Before even the first chapter is finished, Mark records Jesus forcing out an evil spirit. The text says that the spirit knows who Jesus is - "God's Holy One." Jesus immediately responds, "Be quiet!"

The next subheading in my Bible is "Jesus Heals Many People." And 1:34 says Jesus "would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was." And the next morning when Jesus finds out people are looking for him, he tells his disciples that they should go to other towns.

Verse 44: "Don't tell anyone about this," Jesus says after healing a sick man.

Then Mark moves his focus to people criticizing Jesus and his followers, the section which will end with the Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus for the first time.

Like you probably are beginning to notice, I observed that Jesus was developing a habit of telling people to keep quiet about what he was doing.

Why in the world would Jesus do this? I feel like this was a question raised in Sunday School a couple times. We'd read just the one little passage ending with this statement, and then were asked why Jesus would do this. But I've never noticed before that Jesus did this all the time.

Could it be because once the wrong people caught wind of this, Jesus knew he was going to be in trouble? Possibly. Could it simply be because Jesus was humble? Possibly.

Maybe Jesus was just worried that these people just would not understand. After all he told his followers that if they couldn't even understand the parable stories, then how could they understand the actual kingdom of God?

Fast forward to the demoniac. He was crazy with a lot of demons (5,000 if his name was literal). Jesus healed him, and then told him, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you." The text says people were amazed at the story.

So why was Jesus not okay with people talking about his healings, but then it was okay for this guy?

To be honest, I don't know. Maybe an in-depth study on Mark as a whole would help us find out.

In the very next story, Jesus tells Jairus not to tell anyone about him bringing his daughter back to life.

It makes sense that Jesus did not want to be killed yet. It makes sense that he still had work to do. But why is it ok to just give one guy permission?

Maybe it was just geography. Maybe the place this guy was from (Decapolis) had no other way of hearing or witnessing news like this.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that Jesus kept his work a secret. And it's important that we find out why. If we don't, then our evangelizing might be all wrong. What if our perspective is skewed and we're not doing it right?

The life of Jesus is fascinating. But it is a model that we are supposed to use in our own lives. And if we choose to just shrug something like this off, I think we've missed why Jesus even came here in the first place (Christmas reference).

I encourage you to look into this. And I will too. Chances are there will be another blog about it soon.

Crazy Love

I started in on Francis Chan's new book. I'll admit that I wasn't too impressed with the first thirty or so pages. But then he impressed me. Check out some of these quotes:

We don't get to decide who God is. "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am'" (Ex. 3:14). We don't change that. (p. 31)

Don't we live as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?
... we keep questioning Him: "Why... are so many people dying of starvation? Why... is my family so messed up?"
... The answer to each of these questions is simply this: because He's God. He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving. (p. 33)

Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation? (p. 33)

God is the only Being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. Because God hates sin, He has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that's not an appealing standard. But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. (p. 34)

Now I'm not very far in the book, but I found these statements in particular both challenging and comforting. Knowing that there is a God like this is humbling. Knowing that my God is this in control I'm ok with. But that also means that sometimes I don't get the answers I want. And the reason for this is because I'm not in charge. Obvious, yes, but overlooked.

Caleb the Genius

If you know me, you probably know that I have worn black, thick-rimmed glasses for quite a while. It seems that of lately though, there has been an outbreak of mockery against me. I have seen around APU's campus a number of people who wear black, thick-rimmed glasses, but without prescription lenses. Sometimes they have no lenses at all!

Let me explain this: PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE TO WEAR GLASSES OUT OF NECESSITY ARE CHOOSING TO TAKE AWAY A FASHION STATEMENT THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME ARE FORCED TO MAKE AGAINST OUR WILL.

Perhaps you do not understand the enormity of the situation.

This is where Caleb comes in. I told him about this after seeing a girl wear these fake glasses. I believe she and the others that do this are trying to look rebellious or cool or something.

"It really bothers me," I told him. "It's like they're taking this thing away from me that I was forced into. It's almost like they are mocking my poor eyesight."

He said this:

"It's like if I rode around in a wheelchair just for fun."

Exactly, Caleb. Exactly.

Slowing? I Don't Think So

So I had this thought driving to APU at 12:45 am.

I was thinking about how helpless I feel sometimes to relax. Or even just to keep up with all the things I am involved in. It's like no matter how bad I want to do it all, no matter how much time I want to devote to this or that, it's just not going to happen. And that makes me sad. I don't want it to be that way.

And for some reason my mind drifted to the thought of Sabbath. A God-intended time of rest. And I totally feel completely unable to acknowledge this wonderful day that I can only dream about. So I started thinking... "What can I do to change this?"

To be honest, I became a little disappointed. Because I soon realized that I go to a Christian school that keeps my schedule wrapped up seven days a week, every week. There's no time to rest. And if I show up to my concert tonight unprepared, I don't really think my director will take my "day of rest" as an excuse for not knowing my part.

I think the problem is bigger than APU though. This problem is a national epidemic. We Americans are unable to slow down. And I feel the stress tugging at my heart. I constantly think to myself, "I need to practice my trombone tonight, but it's already 1:30 am." Or, "I should stop practicing. It's 12:30 am, and I need to start my homework."

That's not the worst of it though. The worst of it comes when my girlfriend shows me that I can't even devote a single day of my week to relationships. Not just with her. There's no day that I can drop all the schoolwork, all the churchwork, and just be. With God. With people. Period. There's always something to do. Something I'm behind on. Something that's due the next day.

How is that for flat out rejecting God's plan for human beings?

It's interesting too that at APU this semester one of the morning chapel themes has to do with slowing. But APU itself does not allow its students to slow down. The professors aren't keeping in mind that students need a day of rest. (Granted, most students wouldn't take a day of rest anyway, but that's another conversation.)

Not just APU students, but every single person across the nation finds himself or herself bombarded with work to do every single day of the week. There's no time for "rest." No time for "Sabbath."

This points me to another chapel topic. I think the only way that humans will ever begin finding a day of rest, the only way that we will ever embrace God's calling us to "Sabbath" is if we take up Woody Morwood's Kaleo theme and stand up as revolutionaries in a hectic world full of insane schedules, and stop.

Just stop.

We stand and say, "No. I don't care if culture says that I am supposed to literally work myself to death. I'll take the kingdom life instead. The one that my Creator has already designed. The life that actually works properly."

Until we start doing this nothing changes. Until we become revolutionaries and stop ourselves in this spinning world, things will not get better. Stress will grow. Relationships will diminish.

And this is my last point. This is all quite timely considering that in a few hours my church begins the 40 Days of Love. I got the book early and have read a whopping one chapter and already realized how much I have neglected one of the most important aspects of my life due to a busy schedule. I'm beginning to think that Sabbath is all about relationships. All we have to do is stop.

We need to stop our spinning world. We need to find our Sabbath. And we need to embrace it and find the purpose of our lives again.

Strengths

So today was the day. I finally took my Strengths test! Hooray!

Here were my results. I thought a couple of them were absolutely true (input, empathy, adaptability). Then I didn't expect the other two, but after reading the descriptions they made sense. So here they are in order, starting from my top strength: (Danny will be pleased)

1. Connectedness: I believe things happen for a reason in a purposeful manner.

2. Adaptability: I easily adjust to my environment, I'm a "go-with-the-flow" person, and live in the moment.

3. Input: I want to know more; I crave information.

4. Empathy: I can sense what it feels like to be someone else.

5. Achiever: I am busy and productive, and I don't require external motivation.

Well done, Strengthsquest. I would say that you describe me well.

Perfect

Jon Stewart, you are amazing.

On Michelle Obama:

She's got to. She's a Democrat. She must prove she loves America.

As opposed to Republicans who everyone knows love America. They just hate half the people living in it.

Watch the whole episode here.

Are You A...?

Caitlin and I found ourselves discussing some of our friends and the situations they find themselves in. By the end of the conversation, we felt we had made some neat little categories that most people fall into.

Clashers, wobblers, cyclers, and fidgeters.

The way we named our groups is primarily based on how each personality interacts with other people. See what I mean...

Clashers are aggressive and like attention. They tend to direct conversations in a certain way, and they're not afraid to approach people with a cheerful voice and a big smile. You know that guy at the party that has a whole room full of people intently listening to his story? That guy is a clasher.

Fidgeters, on the other hand, are almost completely the opposite. They feel uncomfortable at the center of attention. They don't really enjoy conversations with people they don't already know, and if they are approached by someone else (like a clasher for example), you can bet the farm that the fidgeter isn't going to give the conversation any substance.

Wobblers and cyclers are in the middle of the two extremes.

Wobblers and cyclers can both handle attention, although they don't really prefer it (well, maybe sometimes they don't mind a little reinforcement). These personalities have both the ability to happily allow someone else do the talking (clasher) and to fill in the gaps for someone who really doesn't want to do any talking (fidgeter). In a few moments we'll get to how wobblers and fidgeters are different.

You're probably wondering where these names are coming from. Well, let me continue...

Caitlin and I began talking about how these different people function in the context of relationships.

Clashers tend to prefer excitement and new experiences. It is difficult for them to simply settle indefinitely because it is enjoyable for them to meet new people, gain new experiences, and express themselves to many different people. There are times though for clashers when they encounter other clashers and the two people are forced to, in a sense, battle it out for the attention in a particular scenario. The result is usually some confrontation, or "clash" you could say.

Fidgeters like to settle though. They like consistency. It makes them feel stronger, and sort of compensates for the fear of creating new relationships with other people. It also allows the fidgeter to "attach" themselves with - to almost find an identity in someone, which they like. Unfortunately, if this attachment were to for some reason or another break, the person's entire world will be affected. We used the term fidgeters because these people don't really come into contact with too many people and sort of keep to themselves. (Imagine a super shy person sort of shaking in fear alone in the corner. I know it's sad as well as an exaggeration, but you sort of get the idea.)

Here's where wobblers and cyclers separate:

Wobblers can hold their own. They can recover from relationships without much long-term damage. They can shake it off. They get "bumped," but don't really go anywhere; nothing really happens. They just.... wobble.

Cyclers are the people that make the same mistakes over and over again. They think they've got what they want figured out, so every time a relationship goes under, they start a new one the exact same way. And that relationship simply results the same way as the first one. They go through cycles (obviously).

So, as I see it, this pretty much categorizes everyone I think I've ever met. There are some exceptions - of course. But for the most part, I bet you can put yourself into one of these categories. So which one is it?

By the way, I should mention that each group is equally balanced between its pro and cons even though I didn't represent them fairly all the time. So I hope you're not afraid to call yourself a clasher for example, or ashamed to call yourself a fidgeter.

Tell me what you think!