not much help

Saturdays are always a little tricky, because we usually don't have anything scheduled but we never are quite sure how the day will go. The students have a four-hour work period on Saturday morning, so if you have students assigned to work at your house, you can get a lot done. We were talking about making a longer trip today, maybe exploring Clark Special Economic Zone or something like that, but we were hoping to get some student help this morning, so we decided to at least hang around for a little while.

I needed one of the men to come and help with some yardwork. I've never had a yard before, so I generally don't have any idea what to do with our yard. Nevertheless, I got out for several hours yesterday and did quite a bit. I took out all of our potted bouganvillas and gave them away to the Clarks and the Gacals. I spent a long time pulling out creeping vines, trimming the other bouganvillas and other plants, and doing various other tasks. I decided to leave some of the brush to be hauled away in our front yard until a student came to help. Naturally, no men were assigned to us today. We did have one of the ladies come for half of the work period, so we stayed around while she worked.

wedding

I still haven't really been to a Filipino wedding, but there was one held on campus today, so I kinda crashed it. Apparently, it was just some neighborhood Pentecostals who had rented the building. I wasn't really certain if the wedding was happening today or not. We heard some people rehearsing wedding songs this morning, and then we did see a lot of people dressed up in barongs and nice dresses. I wandered over to the tabernacle and watched through the back window along with several of the students. The processional was, um, proceeding. I think the sponsors were being seated when I arrived. I'm not sure how many sponsors there were--maybe 15 or 20 couples. There were also 8 or 9 attendants on each side. As the sponsors and attendants walked down the aisle, there were two girls at a microphone on the platform reading a piece of paper stating who each person was. They seemed to be giving stage directions, so I thought maybe this was still the rehearsal. I asked one of the students, and he said, "No, this is the wedding."

Another reason that I thought this might be the rehearsal was that, besides the wedding party and sponsors, there were probably fewer than 2 dozen people in attendance. Yes, the number of people actually participating in the wedding far outnumbered the rest of the crowd. There were also very few decorations, except on the car.

Most of the processional went as I expected, including some traditional Western classical pieces. Before the bride came down the aisle, though, there was a dance number by one of the bridesmaids and a young man on an oriental carpet spread in the aisle at the front of the tabernacle. Then, during the bride's procession, someone was singing a song. I was kind of in and out, so I didn't really catch all the details of the ceremony. From time to time, though, I heard snippets that were very familiar to me from American weddings. When it came time for the preacher to wax eloquent, all of the wedding party went to their seats in the front and sat down. What a wonderful idea!

Glenbert told me that usually each of the sponsor couples will give 100 pesos to the presider. In a big wedding, he mentioned, that can mean an extra 4-5,000 pesos. We also discussed who pays for weddings. I still don't have all the breakdown on this, but as far as I can tell, the groom and his family basically shoulder all of the financial responsibilities. I would guess the sponsors probably help in some way, but I'm not really sure to what extent.

I saw that they had a traditional Western ring ceremony. Glenbert said they sometimes light a unity candle, but I'm not sure if they did that today. I think the bride and groom signed their marriage license and it was read by the presider, but I was really too far away to determine most of the rest of what was going on. I actually left before the end of the wedding, so I will have to wait for an occasion where I'm actually invited, before I can study it in more depth.

Just a couple of side notes. Glenbert and I were talking about bachelor parties. He said he'd seen them in movies. He noted that they sometimes rented a girl to dance; he asked if I had done that for mine. :) He also asked if we really have wedding crashers in the US. I don't know about the movies these kids are seeing (shakes head in disbelief). I guess we were actually crashing this one.

rude awakening

We were awakened earlier than usual today. The timekeeper, Paeng, set his alarm clock for 5:00. Another student, Jeff, needed to get up at 3:00 to study. So he changed the time on Paeng's clock without telling him. At 3:00 AM, the alarm went off. Paeng didn't even look at the time on the clock; he just assumed it was 5:00, so he went out and rang the bell . . . loudly and repeatedly.

The Saguds had all of the faculty over for lunch today. I'm not sure exactly what the occasion was. I know several of their family members are visiting right now. I think it may have been Pastor Rheynil's birthday, or possibly his mother's birthday or both. I know when they asked Pastor Bong to ask the blessing on the food, they als0 asked him to pray for Rheynil and his mother. I think Rheynil's mom is working abroad in Hong Kong, so she must have come back to visit for the holidays.

At any rate, the meal was served buffet style. We heard a goat in apparent pain early this morning. Evidence of that was on the table. Besides rice, naturally, there were two dishes of kilawan (?), one with papaitan and one without. Kilawan, according to Pastor Alex, is the goat's skin. There was also caldatera and pancit bihon. Finally, there was a large stockpot of what I assume was pinapaitan. I tried everything but the pinapaitan. As one might suppose, the kilawan was not my favorite, especially the one with papaitan included. I just don't seem to be able to acquire a taste for intestines and bile. The caldatera was pretty good; I went back for seconds. It was, however, very difficult to eat, since every chunk is more than 50% bone and even the meat has little chips of bone in it. It almost requires you to eat kamayan. The pancit was good too, but I don't think I've really had bad pancit.

I spent some time talking to Pastor Alex during the meal. We talked about cowboys and Indians among other things. I was telling him how Tiffany and I each have trace amounts of Indian blood in our ancestry. He told me that his paternal grandmother was full-blooded Kalinga. As a consequence of that upbringing, Pastor Alex experienced an unusual discipline as a child. I'm not positive I have this 100% correct, but as I understand it: Alex was tied in a sack and hung upside down from a tree. His hands and feet were tied, so he could not get away. Then his father hit him with a stick. I don't know anything about the Kalinga, but apparently they are notorious for their "savagery."

phonemes and stuff

Most people hate Mondays, but this semester it's Tuesdays that really get to me. Classes here start way too early. And somehow, I ended up with my classes being the first two hours on Tuesday/Thursday. The first class is at 7:15; it's church growth 2. My eight fourth year students meet on our back porch. Apparently, though, one of my students hasn't made it back from Christmas yet. And all the rest of them were late to class. Today, we were discussing how to recruit a team for church planting. I didn't quite finish all I needed to say, so I guess we'll continue talking about team recruiting and developing next time.

As soon as I finish that class, I have to grab my missions stuff and dash across campus to the third year classroom. There, I have 11 BTh students for missions 2. Today, we began our discussion of cultural anthropology, which is one of my favorite topics. It's so fascinating to see the rainbow of cultural diversity on our planet. In this session, we discussed language and communication. When we talked about phonology, I explained that phonemes are the small units of sound that make a difference in a language. For example, l & r are phonemes in English, because "lake" is different than "rake." In some languages, however, they are not phonemes, which is why we always get asked about eating "flied lice" when we go to Chinese restaurants in the US. I was speculating that maybe p and f were not phonemes in Tagalog because they seem to be used interchangeably but the students assured me that they are. Apparently, they're just not very careful about choosing one or the other when speaking English. I told them that I notice this everytime someone talks about "frayer and pasting" (prayer and fasting).

extra pan de sal

Well, I guess I'm a regular enough customer at the bakery now that the girl can just say, "How many?" And I answer "5" as I do most mornings. But, as always, when I get home, there are 6 pan de sal in the bag. I guess that's one of the benefits of having a suki (sp?).

Today, Mdm. Merly asked me to be involved in tonight's school promotion at the CLD youth camp.

This is non-involvement?

Tiffany went to Manang Rebecca's today to explain to her that we were willing to be her companions to the youth convention in NWLD tomorrow but that we didn't want to have a high level of involvement. This is because we've never done school promotions like this, nor have we ever been in a gathering like this. Tiffany returned to the house with the news that Rebecca wanted me to preach the sermon. She told Manang Becca that I might be over shortly to protest.

Shortly, I was. Manang Becca was visiting the Bermudezes and was sitting in their front yard.

massage appointment

It's Christmas Eve, and there's not too much happening on the campus. I thought it might be a good day to get a massage. I called the fitness center for an appointment, because the receptionist told me yesterday that they only have one therapist. I couldn't really tell if the receptionist on the phone was telling me that the therapist was available or not. She kept saying something about the masseuse going to Manila to celebrate.

test preparation

This morning, I wrote my pre-lim exam for my missions 2 class. I'm always "hard up," as they say here, when it is time to write the exam. The students do best at recognition tests or at memorizing lists, but I can't help but challenge them to critical thinking. So, I've written the exams as mostly short answer and essay, which I may yet regret. I copied the exam to a disk and took it to Mayette, the helper for the blind students. Within a few hours, she had returned the disk along with two copies of the exam in braille.

Madam Virgie was the speaker in chapel this morning. She gave her personal testimony. When she came here as a student, she came against her father's wishes and with no financial support. She talked about how she could not even afford soap to wash her clothes. Still, her bill was always paid, although she never knew who was paying it. She also told about how Pastor Alex had chosen to marry her, even though the doctor said she could never have children. God has blessed their marriage with three kids. It's always funny to see the students' reactions when anyone talks about boyfriends and girlfriends, even when Virgie talked about God giving her Pastor Alex. There are always giggles and little shrieks and the obligatory "Wooooooowwww!"

Waiting

Here's a little piece I wrote for our school newsletter:

Waiting. I’m not very good at it. Waiting for the bus, waiting in traffic, waiting for the salesman to test and package the item I’m trying to buy. I don’t like to wait. I come from America, where time is very important, and when I’m waiting, I can almost feel the seconds being stolen from me. In fact, I have a friend named Darrell, who absolutely refuses to wait. He says that he waited in so many lines when he was in the army that he won’t stand in any line again . . . ever. Any place that requires you to stand in line, he stays away from it.
But waiting is what the Advent season is all about. We love to focus on the story of Christmas Day, with the Christ child and the shepherds and the angels. But we often forget about the waiting. You see, hundreds of years had passed since God promised in the Garden of Eden that he would send One who would crush Satan under his heel. And all that time, Israel (and the rest of humankind) had been waiting. For ninety years, Sarah waited for the child she was almost sure would never come. For forty years in the desert, Moses waited to see if God could do anything with a man who had thrown his future away. For another forty years, Israel wandered in the wilderness, waiting to see if God would really bring them into the land he had promised. And for a thousand years, Israel continued to wait as prophet after prophet foretold the coming of a Messiah. I’m sure that many echoed the psalmists and the prophets who moaned, “How long, O Lord? How long?”
Until finally, “in the fullness of time,” the Scriptures tell us, there was just one more wait. An unmarried teenager named Mary was waiting nine months to see what God would look like as a baby. Of course, the waiting ended in a way that nobody expected. Everyone was waiting for a king; few noticed the baby born in a manger. Everyone was waiting for the warrior who would overthrow the Roman Empire; it was easy to overlook the humble Jesus.
But a few did notice. I think especially of Simeon in the temple. “He was waiting for the consolation of Israel,” Luke tells us. God had shown Simeon that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Messiah. When he looked at Jesus, only eight days old, Simeon knew that God’s promise had been fulfilled—the wait was over.
Or was it? After Jesus had been on earth for 33 years, his disciples were ready to crown him king. He had been crucified, resurrected—surely, the time had come. The disciples asked, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus’ response: “Wait! Stay in Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit.” And then he returned to his Father, leaving the disciples waiting for the Comforter.
No, the wait was far from over; in fact, it was only beginning. We are still waiting. We are waiting for Christmas. Like little children, we look forward to celebrating that most amazing miracle—God putting on human flesh, lying down in the animals’ food trough, and beginning the awesome task of redeeming the world.
But we also wait for the return of Jesus in glory. When he came the first time, Jesus ushered in the kingdom of God, but “this present evil age” did not end. So, we live in an “in-between” period. We are members of the kingdom but we’re surrounded by a world that is an enemy to that kingdom. We wait for God to come and set things right. The eighth chapter of Romans reminds us that even “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” And we also “groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Even the last chapter of the Bible reminds us of Jesus’ words, “Yes, I am coming soon.” And with John, we say, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
Jesus could come back today; he could have come back a thousand years ago. Why does he keep us waiting? First, waiting teaches us to patiently trust God. Peter reminds us that God is not slow in keeping his promises; he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish. Can we trust God that his timing is better than ours? Can we remember that while we only see what is right in front of us, he sees the whole parade? Can we be patient enough to wait for God’s calling, to wait for God’s choice of partners for us, to wait for God’s provision for our needs?
Waiting also teaches us both confidence and humility. It helps us to remember how small we are; we cannot make time move by one second faster. We have no power over history’s timetable. But waiting also reminds us of how big our God is. Remembering that God is in charge of this world’s “game clock” gives us a positive outlook on life and an eager anticipation of the future he has planned for us.
Finally, waiting teaches us to hear God’s voice. When we are trying to control the circumstances of our lives, we get so easily distracted by the size of the task, by the advice of others, by the worry that we will not be able to accomplish our goals. But when we are forced to wait, we begin to get quiet before God. And once we are quiet, he can speak to us and know that we will hear his voice.
In this holiday season, we can get overwhelmed by busyness, and that can make us cynical, or worried, or even apathetic about the whole story. Or we can wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we maintain that joyful attitude, welcoming Jesus into our hearts and our homes, it keeps us ready for Christmas; it keeps us ready for Christ’s return.

car repairs

We had our 5:00 a.m. core group meeting again this week. They seemed to participate a little better in the singing. Someone even mentioned how things had picked up as they learned the new songs. They used it as an example as to how we ought to introduce new songs to our congregation. I think we made some strides this morning, if any action is taken on the things we came up with. I need to figure out some way to encourage greater training efforts; I did push them a little today toward greater organization of the worship program and greater emphasis on the monthly themes.

Saturday afternoon, I noticed that the right CV boot on our vehicle was torn. Pastor Alex looked at it yesterday and said that I should take it to the dealership. I was pretty scared about what it was going to cost me, but Pastor Alex said nobody around here would know how to replace that. Madam Becca suggested that I have a Filipino take the vehicle to the dealership, so that I wouldn't get ripped off. So this morning, I headed over to Pastor Gacal's house. I called out "Apo," was invited in and told to take my seat. I started right in to the topic at hand then interrupted myself to ask Pastor Gacal about his weekend, what classes he was teaching, etc. He actually seemed anxious for me to get to the point. (Maybe he's used to dealing with Americans, who don't know any better). So I told him the situation. He said he would take it to the dealership for me but could look at it to see if he could fix it himself. I assured him that it would be best to just take it to the dealer. In retrospect, that may have seemed insulting. I was really trying to save him the trouble of getting into a very difficult job. He said he would come soon to get the vehicle. I asked permission to leave and headed back to the house. Soon the pastor was there for the car. I showed him the problem. He acted like it wouldn't be a big deal, but I kept arguing that it would be a difficult job. I told him to just drop the vehicle off and I would pay his fare back. He said he would just stay if the job could be finished before 5:00 today. I gave him 21000 pesos to make sure there was plenty for the bill. He looked at me like I was crazy and peeled off only 2000. He said it wasn't safe to carry that much. I finally convinced him to take 5000. Sure enough, it cost less than 2000 and only took an hour or so. Live and learn, or live and just keep being stupid (as I generally choose).

Floating holidays

This morning, our chapel service was a thanksgiving service. It lasted quite a bit longer than a normal chapel with lots of special songs, instrumentals, testimonies, etc. I missed most of the sermon because Tiffany was sick and I had to try to get Elijah to take his morning nap. I did get back in time for the announcements at the end of the service, though.

November 30 is Bonifacio Day in the Philippines. The President has decided that it will not be celebrated on the 30th this year, however. Instead, it will be on Monday, December 5. But our students didn't need a day off on December 5. They have a variety show to prepare for Friday night. So our academic dean moved the holiday back to the afternoon of December 1 and the morning of December 2. This has been our experience with holidays here. It's not a holiday until the President says it is, and she doesn't usually announce it until the day of the holiday or the day before.

Even when we first arrived in the Philippines, the people we talked to weren't sure if there would be a day off for their Independence Day or not. They were waiting on the President's announcement. If I recall correctly, there was no Independence Day holiday this year.

Cultural comparison

This morning, I began with teaching my church planting course some rather Western perspectives and strategies on life management which I don't practice and which I'm not sure totally transfer to this culture. But I hit my stride the next hour in my missions class, because we were talking about one of my favorite subjects--cultural diversity. I was just trying to broaden the students' horizons to see a little more of how different we all really are. For comparison, I was using Gailyn Van Rheenen's descriptions of the Kipsigis of Kenya, the students' descriptions of Filipino culture and my descriptions of American life.

We talked first about nonverbal aspects like gestures. In Africa, it's common for men to hold hands with men, and for women to hold hands with women. When I intimated that the same kind of thing takes place here, I got winces or looks of puzzlement. So, I amended my statement to say that women hold hands here and men walk around with their arms around each other. In the US, those kinds of actions are generally an indicator of homosexuality. When I shared this, the students seemed genuinely surprised.

In the same area, we talked about how to motion someone to come to you. Our textbook gave an example from Thailand, where an American student gestured a two-year-old to come to her by curling her index finger upwards. For this insulting gesture, she got a punch in the arm. That's how you call an animal, not a person. I tried to explain the other day that this was the way Americans usually beckon someone but the students all seemed rather blase about it. Today, when I mentioned that it was offensive in Thai culture, the students volunteered that it is also offensive in Filipino culture. I had read this, but it was the first time someone here had actually verified that to me. I explained to them that their way of gesturing (palms down, bringing the fingers to touch the palms) would actually confuse an American. For example, traffic policemen here will often raise their hand in a symbol that looks to me like "Stop!" and then sweep it down to their side to tell me to proceed. This is repeated, appearing to me as, "Stop! Go! Stop! Go! Stop! . . . "

Rainy Days and Mondays

Today began, as most Mondays do for me, at about 4:30 AM, when I rise to prepare for the core group meeting on our porch at 5:00. As they have been recently, they were early. I popped in an iWorship DVD to start our meeting with a few songs. Now, granted, I think that 2 of the 3 songs were new to the group, so I can understand a little hesitancy on the part of some to join in singing. But the other song was "How Great Thou Art." The arrangement's a little different than we normally sing it, but we just sang it this way 2 weeks ago. But most of the students sat in silence and just stared at the screen or looked like they were having trouble keeping their eyes open. This was ironic, because the subject we were tackling this morning was the passivity of the church members, especially during the singing. There was a part of me that wanted to shout, "Hey! Maybe this is why the members are passive; we're passive!" but I restrained myself. I tried to give a few points on leadership and talk to the group about setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, result-oriented and time-bound) goals. Then we started our discussion about improving the worship in our church. It usually takes some time after I ask a question before I get any response. I try not to call on someone to answer a question, but that seems to be the most effective way to elicit a response. It strikes me that each of the students has an answer on the tip of his or her tongue but will not volunteer that answer unless they are specifically called upon. They did manage to come up with a goal, though. "We will have a congregation that worships in Spirit and in truth. Everyone is participating in singing, listening attentively, bringing their Bibles (?), and participating in church vision and ministry. By the end of 2005, we will have designed a worship service that fits our people." There are several of the SMART criteria that this goal fails to meet, but I really had to press them for specifics to get this much done. Sometimes, I feel like the group members leave out important details, but when I make a statement based on the information I have been given, they courteously correct my misunderstanding about the details. We still made a little progress and decided to do some informal surveying of the people in the preaching points regarding their worship style preferences and hopefully educating them both about worship and the importance of their finding a place of ministry in the local church. Frankly, I'm still a little reluctant to pose the question that probably most needs to be asked: "What do we want our church to look like?" I'm afraid that I will hear that they want a megachurch. I'm not really interested in building that kind of ministry, but it seems that is where our methodology is headed. If they are bold enough to say that is what they want, I may be bold enough to recommend that they find a different mentor.

I had 2 boys come and work for me at 4:00 this afternoon, a rare thing indeed. I told them that I needed one to burn the trash and the other to cut the grass on the west side of the house. While I went to get a bolo and matches, they began to quarrel about who would do what, but they had it worked out before I reappeared. I didn't check on them for several minutes. When I came out, the one who was supposed to be cutting the tall grass and weeds was actually digging up every plant on the side of the house, grass and all. I explained to him that I only wanted the broadleaf plants removed, but he still was preparing to dig up grass. So I sent him over to the area with taller vegetation and told him to chop with the bolo.

Disciplinary meeting

Tonight, following the students' prayer meeting, we heard the report from the disciplinary committee. We do this about monthly. The acting president of the college went to the front and began to read the list of offenders. I think there were 8 this time. Three couples were named who had violated the school's social policies. Generally speaking, they had engaged in prolonged conversations, texted each other on cell phones, or, in one case, the boy had given the girl a gift. The other offenders had left campus last Saturday night without obtaining permission. Each name was read, one by one, followed by the list of offenses, sometimes containing language of shock that someone would dare to violate these rules (despite the fact that it happens almost continuously). Then, the punishment, er, disciplinary measures were read. Every offender was required to give a public apology, extra work assignments were given to all (digging a 5x5x5 pit, making & maintaining a garden, cleaning the tabernacle, washing dishes, etc.), the couples were forbidden from any contact with each other for the next month, and the gift that was given was to be returned. In addition, four of the students were given a "WARNING FOR SUSPENSION." These were, I believe, repeat offenders. Six of the eight students were first year, the usual suspects. But there were also 2 third years on the list this time--a rarity, as they are supposed to be beyond this by now. Even while the acting president was reading the report, I noticed one of the couples talking to each other, mere moments after it had been announced that they were to have absolutely no contact with each other. So I moved up and sat down by the boy, a third-year student. He immediately hung his head in shame and never looked up again. When the report had been read, those being disciplined began to get up one at a time and give their public apology. Some were in English, some in Tagalog. Most sounded like Academy Award acceptance speeches--I'd like to thank the discipline committee for their understanding, etc.

Thanksgiving service

I've noticed that Filipinos celebrate things that are, um, "different." On Saturday, we went to a birthday party for someone we didn't really know, but that was okay because we went with people who did know the celebrant. The thing that was different was that the celebrant had been dead for a year. Today, we went to a thanksgiving service held in the home of a person with whom our only connection is that we recently ran into him with our school vehicle. In fact, all of the victims of the accident were present.

Disappointment

As days go, yesterday wasn't terribly disappointing, but I really feel that it could have gone better. Tiff and I had a good time of sharing in our devotions, and I kinda came clean with some of the stuff I have been talking about in here. But I was really hoping and praying that we could have a good time of authentic, open sharing in our small group. And, frankly, it just didn't happen. The leader didn't even ask some of the most probing questions, and the ones he asked, he quickly reworded so that they didn't ask us about any personal issues. As we usually do, we spent a lot of time chasing rabbits. I wish we could focus on the issues at hand.

Practicing the presence of God

Our small group has just started a new study, and as a part of that study we are to be working on doing everything in our lives just as Jesus would do them. In principle, I agree strongly with this idea. I think every Christian ought to live every moment as an act of worship, live every moment on purpose. Yet when it comes to actually applying this to my daily life, I seem somehow intransigient. It's not that I don't want to live daily in God's presence (I don't think), it's just that . . . I don't know, maybe it seems like a lot of work or that it will keep me from doing what I want to do. Is that not the height of arrogance--to think that my idea of how to spend my time is somehow superior to God's plan? It reminds me of that quote--was it by G.K. Chesterton?--"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."

This morning I was reading about the cloud that rested over the tabernacle in the wilderness. The sons of Israel seemed completely content to follow it without question. If it moved, they moved. If it hung out for a week or two, they hung out for a week or two. If it moved within a few hours, they moved within a few hours. For a stubborn and rebellious people, they seemed remarkably in tune with God's leadership. Now granted, the Holy Spirit is perhaps more subtle than a visible cloud. It may not always be quite so obvious when it's time to move. But I'm guessing I might not see the cloud move in big ways, because I've never learned to follow the gentle nudges.

I don't want to admit how wrong I am in this area. My self rears up and says, "Oh, come on! You have the right to live life the way you want to. Where's the me time if you're going to always be focused on God? That's just gonna be a lot of work." And yet I know that there's no way I could spend my time more profitably than just in following God's plan.

I know introspection is not always healthy, and I especially tend toward the morbid.

Loopholes

It's interesting to read the prohibitions in Leviticus. One kind of caught my eye this morning. It said that you were not to curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of the blind. Well, duh! It's kind of sad that you have to spell out every possible kind of meanness, or else humans will see that as a loophole and try to find a way around it. But, really, that's what we've done, isn't it? We have somehow found loopholes for even those things that are expressly forbidden in Exodus. God prohibits homosexuality, but we say a God of love would want loving couples to be together regardless of gender. God prohibits bestiality, but we say God would not want to place restrictions and limitations on our sexual freedom. God prohibits incest, but we say that love is more important than rules. God prohibits sacrificing to the goat demons, but we say that everyone should worship their own god in their own way.

It's no wonder really that the new dispensation is a whole new way of thinking. God recognized that people would always find a way around the written rules, so he designed a better path. The "new and better way" was a relationship, a friendship with One who would steer us away from self-destructive behavior. Instead of focusing on the do's and don't's of a rulebook, we would be obey out of a desire to please our Friend, who had done so much for us.

Clergy-laity distinctions

I just finished reading about Aaron's ordination, and I'm suddenly feeling like my own wasn't a very big deal. Aaron had fancy clothes, bits of blood & oil scattered here and there, and waved some big chunks of meat in the air. I just got prayed for and handed a Bible. Okay, so I'm being a little facetious, but it does make you stop and wonder . . . have we gone a little too far in eliminating the clergy-laity divide?

I understand that we are in a different dispensation now, and I know that there is a sense in which we are a priesthood of believers. We no longer offer blood sacrifices, we no longer have to go to a certain place to worship and we no longer depend upon another human to mediate with God for us. So, does this mean that those who provide spiritual leadership or religious assistance must necessarily fall in prestige?

I certainly think that it is healthy that the laity have been encouraged to step and shoulder part of the load. There is definitely a responsibility for them to be actively involved in evangelism, in Bible study, in prayer, in the exercise of spiritual gifts, and on and on. However, there is a different and specialized role for the clergy. These are the men and women who have received a special call from God to have the ministry of equipping others, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Have we not downplayed their role in the process of empowering the laity?

Paul clearly made distinctions between the clergy and the laity. He said we ought to give triple honor to those among us who minister the Word to us. He said that the worker (the clergyman) was worthy of his hire. He held the clergy to a higher standard and discouraged people from entering the clergy who did not feel a call from God and a commission from the church to do so.

How does this play out in modern Christian life? Well, the clergy probably do not need the elaborate costuming of the priest, but there is something to be said for a style of dress that distinguishes the sacred from the secular. Obviously, the animal sacrifices are not relevant to our culture or historical setting, but perhaps the member of the clergy needs to take more seriously the trust that has been placed in him or her by the church. If there was some more symbolic way to do this within the setting of an ordination ceremony, it might well be worth the inclusion.

Unintentional sin

It amazes me how much space is given in Leviticus to unintentional sin. Over and over it says "If a man sins unintentionally and later finds out about it . . . "Always, a sacrifice was required to cover that unintentional sin.

As a Wesleyan-Arminian, I tend to define sin as "a willful transgression of a known law of God." However, it's obvious that the biblical definition is much, much broader. Wesley, of course, did say that even our unintentional sins are in need of Christ's atonement, but it seems that we always cut ourselves some slack in that area. It seems, though, that, if we lived more carefully, more consciously in the presence of God, even unintentional sin might not be so frequent.

I often feel that I am not sufficiently contrite for known sin. Would it be possible to live so close to God that even a new awareness of a past unintentional sin would send me running to his throne to plead his mercy?