Dear Myung: 35th and Baseline

Dear Myung,

It was good to see you yesterday. Again, congratulations on the birth of your new son. You and your wife have been truly blessed.

Thank you for your comment on the “Rural vs Urban” photo I recently posted. I have enjoyed taking photos of these sites around farming areas that are being encroached upon by the city. Several book and magazine editors have expressed interest in using them to illustrate urban sprawl and the loss of farmland to development.  While I am happy to sell these images to whomever and for whatever reason, pointing out the problems of urban sprawl is not my purpose.

My main point is the same point that Solomon makes in Ecclesiastes 1:4 “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.” The world is always searching for permanence and they are able to fool their eyes into seeing it in buildings and skyscrapers.  The reality is that in a battle between rural vs. urban the farmer’s field wins every time. Long after those buildings have decayed, turned into dust and the people who built them forgotten that field will still be there. This truth leads the world to hide their eyes but for a Christian it allows them to see clearly and value what is truly worthwhile. We are able to enjoy the fruit of our labor while recognizing that it is only temporary. It is our portion. Where we do find permanence is in the eternal purposes of a sovereign God.  Above all else we fear Him and keep His commandments and by doing so we are invited to partake in the eternal works of God.

Myung, like you I am new to the city. I pray that as you grow in your understanding of Christianity that you see everything, including the city itself, from an eternal perspective. I pray that you invest your life in eternal things. I pray that when you look over the city you do not see buildings and shopping centers, but God calling out men and women for the purpose of glorifying Himself for all eternity. May God open your eyes to see and your heart to overflow with thanksgiving.

The Many Gods of Evangelicalism

There is one looming question that no one is asking concerning the worship wars in evangelicalism. Is it possible that the central reason for our inability to worship together is because we worship different Gods? Our imaginations are being informed by drastically different influences, which are leading us to radically different conceptions of God. When we understand that it is through the organ of the imagination that we cultivate a concept of God, it is then that we begin to perceive a problem in Evangelicalism.

It has been said before that our whole concept of God is something that develops in our imagination. It is not that we create God in our imagination but that we conceive of God through the organ of our imagination. No man has ever seen God. We do not experience Him directly with our senses. The Bible uses anthropomorphisms and other literary devices to help us better apprehend a God we have never seen or have experienced directly.

What is influencing evangelicals’ imaginations? Many have their imagination primarily informed by popular culture. For these evangelicals, popular Christian music is not a reflection of their conception of God, it is what is shaping their conception of God. Their imaginations are being informed by a Christian entertainment industry that incorporates books, blockbuster movies, children’s television, music, standup comedy, and theme parks, all which have a profound effect on the imaginations of modern Christians. For these Christians, worship must incorporate popular culture in order for worship to engage their imagination and give their worship meaning.

Many other Christians correctly identify the great chasm that has developed between modern Christianity and historic Christianity. They understand that things are different, and they lament those differences.  Amongst this group, there are many ideas on how we can “get back” to the right sensibilities of past generations. One idea is to employ the forms and liturgy of historic Christianity. The idea is that if we change the forms, we will change the imagination. While this is true at some point, I am not sure it will produce the effect they desire.  There are many that love and use traditional Christian forms that do not love or even believe in God.

What should be informing the imagination of a Christian to help them conceive of God? I believe it is creation.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Paul uses a literary device in this verse that had direct importance to the subject at hand. He claims that the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen. They are apprehended through the organ of our imagination. Paul is saying that creation properly informs our imagination so that God’s eternal power and deity are clearly seen. Paul says that this revelation of God is so clear that all mankind will be held accountable for their reaction to it.

The problem in modern evangelicalism is that our imaginations are being informed by everything but what God originally intended. The glue that held a metaphysical understanding of God together throughout historic Christianity was not a shared liturgy or the authority of the church, it was God’s creation. It was the same glorious stars overhead in the time of Bach as it was for David.  It was the same sunrise and sunset. It was the same fields of grain and fruit of the vine that produced thankfulness for our Sustainer. It was the same creation that brought Jonathan Edwards to awe and wonder as it was for Augustine.

On the other hand, modern man has isolated himself from God’s creation and the invisible things of God that are clearly seen. We pay little attention to sunrises and sunsets. Generations of city people have only seen but a few stars at once. We have little notion of where our food comes from or how it is grown. We are not thankful for the rain that waters the grass that feeds the cattle. Our imaginations are not filled with scenes of glory and majesty, but K-Love and Ted Dekker.

Have we violated the second commandment and created God into our own image rather than worshiping God as He has revealed Himself in creation? Do these varying concepts of God result in the worship of different Gods? Are we no longer worshiping God in spirit and truth?