Hermeneutics gone wild...

first of all, many of you maybe wondering, what the hell is hermeneutics? don't worry, i didn't know until a few months ago and i have a degree in this crap. anyhow, hermeneutics, herm as i call it, like a dear friend, is one of those fancy pants words that is like 5 words in one. it means how you interpret text. and text could be anything. written text, spoken text, painted text, movie text, metaphoric text, life text. anything that potentially holds meaning.

anyhowwww, most of the churches in america today have a pretty f#$%ed up herm. I will title this herm as morality. everything we say, experience, live out is filtered through morality. is this good? is this sinful? will this lead me somewhere i shouldn't go? could i be changed by going to this place? now as a safety net for the far off right wingers in the crowd, i will first state that, all in all morality is good thing and it's necessary. BUT, a problem comes along when morality becomes our foundation for life, our source of meaning for life. what happens and has happened in so many spheres of christianity-church, music, schools, whatever-is morality has been preached over relationship. this is so very dangerous. which is ironic because that is exactly the churches response to those who will take my point of view, which i am slowly getting to.

(please forgive me, this blog entry may be a bit long, but it's better than taking my hurting brain to heavy doses of alcohol or drugs or what have me. i say heavy because right now i am on a happy medium dose of one of my best friends, mr. johnnie walker, black that is. it's whiskey)

anywaysssss, we have taught morality over relationship. walls have been built in order to protect us from partayying, from perhaps drinking too much, from dancing too much, from singing too much, from listening to the wrong kind of music, from wearing funky clothes, from talking to and experiencing those WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN WHAT WE BELIEVE. the danger as a Moral follower, (i highlight to denote the idol that it is) is that we have agendas and fists up when we come across anyone who could potentially disagree with every theological, philosophical, political, whateverical belief. and what happens is they clearly see my "lyin eyes," so they put their guard up to protect themself from my own, and any chance of ever experiencing life, love, beauty, or truth with the other, is shot down.

speaking of truth...my herm profinspirator brought this ocean of beauty to me the other day in class. what does the bible say is truth? Christ said, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life." so then if truth is Christ, what is Christ? better way to ask he question, how is Christ revealed in our daily lives?...........think on this one for a sec............................keep thinking...................don't just read my answer..............choose it on your own........got it, ok. did it have anything to do with love or relationship? i hope so. a year ago, I would have said in sacrifice and suffering. yes, good answer, but not complete. 3 years ago, I would have said in living a good life. yes, a good life hopefully involves love and relationship. 5 years ago, i would have said in living a moral life. errrrrhhhhhhhh. Very very dangerous. though living morally does honor God, it doesn't bring the kingdom. which is really what life is all about right? bringing goodness, and beauty, and life, and hope, in order to somehow survive through this crazy, sometimes cold, sometimes hellishly hot, sometimes brutally sad, sometimes just plain hell - life. soo, you got it, love and relationship. so a little philosophy here...if truth is Christ, and Christ is love "exuded" in relationship, then in the words of dwight friesen, TRUTH IS RELATIONAL.

that means that Christ exists in relationship. heres the next question, does Christ exist in all relationship? can Christ exist, can truth exist in a relationship between two people who competely disagree on an issue such as, the existence of God? well, that would assume that God speaks and uses and even lives in someone who doesn't believe in Him. wow. chew on that for a sec. are you sure? well, you can't tell me that my beer buddy from across the street where i lived in colorado, who brought me cases of fat tire every week, didn't beam with extreme generosity. it was overwhelming at times. he had all the friends in the world. he had it all. but he would still take time to take us on his sailboat. let me borrow his garage. watch my dog. give me beer, and more beer, and some more after that. tell me that anything that he had, i could use anytime. But, this man would constantly refuse my asking to come to church or hang out with christian buddies, constantly slept with different women, fully enjoyed the fuck word, oops, haha, got your attention, and enjoyed a good roach every once in awhile. (roach as in blunt, weed, pot) but, if morality was my foundation. I would never be able to get past all the sins in his life, and never, never, enter into the beauty and love that existed in his generosity. though mainly beer, i would never have felt that giving hand of Christ that provided for me, through the last past year. well wow. that changes a bunch.

so since my buzz is wearing off and my neck hurts from staring at this thing all day long. i'll leave you with this...maybe evangelism, spreading the good news of the gospel is more about letting yourself be affected, than desperately trying to affect others. and maybe, in our letting go of trying to control our relationships, and protect our morality, we will enter into truth and love with one another. the way that Christ really meant for us, when He said, "when two or three of you gather in my name, I am there." though i can't remember ever saying Christ's name to my buddy, I cannot deny that we experienced Him there together. I cannot deny that I didn't feel the love of Christ through my buddy's giving hand. and there was never any place I felt i could give, except just to say thanks. maybe, i was learning just to receive. thank you Icky for the beer and so much more. thank you Dwight for your crazy herm. thank you Kevin for battling this out with me tonight. and thank you Lord for all these three.