The Brokedown Theologian

I Think My Wife's a Calvinist

2009-12-30T23:12:00.000-08:00

Some funny stuff for this week. This gave me a good laugh - "I didn't choose her, she chose me." Thanks to Chris for this one ;)

The Fallen Nature of Parking Lots

2009-12-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

Something that perplexes me and is continually fooling with my theology lately is the doctrine of the Fallen Nature of Man. Depending on your theological bent i.e. Arminianism or Calvanism, your definition of the fallen nature may vary. I myself am not sure what my exact definition is. I think I categorize myself as a Calminianist. I believe in the sovereignty of God and I also believe that we are creatures with wills and decision-making capabilities. But that’s a whole other B-L-O-G.

But I continually try to find real-life parallels to theology that I study so I can relate it to my intellect. I also try to do this so I can teach it properly and relevantly at the same time. Being the equivalent of Switzerland in my theology, I like to favor both sides. I applaud the efforts of the emergent church guys like Rob Bell and Dan Kimball in trying to define and redefine Christianity for this generation but I also believe in the immutable character of God and appreciate the rigid fundamentalists that went before us like Paris Reidhead and Jonathan Edwards. So, in my Swiss Calminiast theology, you could hear me quoting Rob Bell in one breath and Paul Washer in the next.

What I’m rolling in my mind recently is what I’ve already stated—the fallen nature of man. And being the not-so-bright aspiring theologian, I try to find instances of the fallen nature of man in my daily journeys around the city and in encounters with people. But before I begin, let me give you my definition of the fallen nature of man in the Brokedown Theologian terminology: man is born sinful and evil and not born pure and holy. Before we were born, because of the sin of Adam (Rom. 5:12,13), we have inherited the evil of sin in our lives. This inherited evil nature makes us want to sin and makes us not to want God. We can get rid of that stain of sin on our lives and learn how to live God-glorifying lives by putting our trust in Jesus’ regenerating work on the Cross. I hope that makes sense and I hope you can get a grasp on some of what I’m thinking about in my theology just from my stance on the fallen nature of man.

But back to practicality. As someone who’s not that smart, I need to find ways to understand theology in non-esoteric, un-lofty terms. I need to see it in a bowl of soup or in the eye of a child. And I have found my parallel for the fallen nature of man: driving and parking habits of Malaysian drivers. Now any Malaysians that read this will have one of two reactions if not both, 1) laughter of the reality of the observation or 2) offense at my callousness of judgment. Whatever your reaction, get over it and let’s read on : )

I have only one word that describes drivers in Malaysia: selfish. Now I’m not saying that I myself am not selfish, because I truly know that 95% of the time I am. But in Malaysia I see the pent-up selfishness come out on the highways. I have found Malaysians amazingly hospitable and kind and helpful as a foreigner in this land. I cannot count how many people have been kind to me or have helped me learn. I’ve had more than a handful of random strangers help me when I was in a sticky situation. I have encountered the selflessness of Malaysians so many times from the streets of KL to the kampungs of Sabah.

BUT when a Malaysian gets behind the steering wheel, something else switches on and all that aforementioned niceness and selflessness goes completely out the window. It’s like some sort of transformation. People will cut you off without a second thought. If you wait for more than 2 seconds after a traffic light turns green, you will have 4-5 horns blaring in your direction. There is not only double parking in places that parking is not allowed in the first place but Malaysia is the only place that I’ve seen triple parking. All of this brings unending frustration to my meager mind.

When I first received training on how to live cross-culturally, I heard the best advice I ever got from an older gentlemen that had live in Malaysia for a decade. He said, “If you can handle the food, the weather, and the traffic, you’ll have no problem living here or anywhere else in the world.”

I love Malaysian food. Although I haven’t gotten used to the heat, I’ve gotten used to sweating. But my last hurdle is the traffic. Unholy, fallen nature inspired traffic.

And that’s where I found the strength to jump the last hurdle. My theology became real. It isn’t the fact that Malaysian drivers are selfish, rude people. It’s not that Americans are war-mongers and insensitive. It’s our fallen nature showing itself tangibly. When a driver in KL double parks for an hour to have Bak Kut Teh and doesn’t even leave a note or budge from his bowl when he hears someone horning for him to move, he’s not that way because he’s Malaysian. It’s because of the inward me-centeredness that comes from the fallen nature of man. When someone goes around a LONG line of traffic and cuts in at the front so not to wait is not because Malaysians are lazy or impatient, it’s because of our Uncle Adam and what he gave to us.

Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t have consciences and we don’t have ideas of what’s right or wrong or even what’s socially acceptable. The fallen nature of man does not exempt a murderer from receiving judgment in the courtroom. We are all culpable of sin but we are all also creatures of conscience and can make proper decisions. But our fallen nature strongly influences that decision.

So as I’m driving and someone cuts me off or as I’m leaving a coffee shop and someone has blocked me in, I wont get as mad as I used to because I’ve learned how to properly apply theology. Who knew a proper theology of sin and the nature of man could be so therapeutic?

So, once again, your faithful servant, the Brokedown Theologian, the Swiss Calminiast, hopes that you’ve gained a little insight on how to humbly engage theology so you can humbly engage culture for Christ. So don’t get so mad in the parking lot this holiday season ; )

The Soloist: When do we stop helping people?

2009-08-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

I recently watched an intriguing movie this past weekend called The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The basic plot is that Nathaniel Ayers, played by Foxx, is a gifted cellist that was trained in New York’s renowned Julliard School who has become homeless because of his schizophrenia. Robert Downey plays Steve Lopez, an LA times columnist who begins writing a story about Ayers but becomes involved deeply in Ayers’ life and tries to help him. This film is adapted from the book of the same name, which is based on a true story.

Throughout the film, Lopez becomes less and less detached as a journalist and becomes more of a friend to Ayers. He obtains for him an antique cello and he even sleeps on the streets with him in the alleys of LA’s infamous Skid Row. The only recourse Lopez gives Ayers is that if he wants to play the cello, he must play it at the local homeless shelter called Lamp and not on the dangerous streets of Skid Row. Fandango has a small synopsis that contains the idea of what I’m getting to in this blog:

Steve Lopez hasn't had a good story in a while and the newspaper where he works is laying off journalists due to falling ratings. He had been looking for a story in all the wrong places when he happened upon a homeless violinist, Nathaniel Ayers, playing beautifully with only 2 strings. Ayers was a former Juilliard student who begins to trust Lopez, and a friendship grows, but not necessarily to the benefit of either. While Lopez's intention is to help Ayers; he isn't sure what he has in the end. Some believe Lopez saved Ayers, because he became his only friend. Can the act of caring be enough to help a person who has a mental illness? Even still, Lopez has been positively influenced by witnessing the musical genius he has found in Ayers.

The twist in this somewhat feel-good film is that the ending isn’t all that happy. By the end, Ayers still has socially crippling schizophrenia. At the apex of when Lopez has helped Ayers, Ayers psychotically turns on Lopez in a schizophrenic rage and tells Lopez that he does not need his help and that if he seems him again, he will “gut him like a fish.” Lopez does eventually see Ayers again and isn’t gutted like fish but still understands that this man is terribly ill due to mental problems and will have to deal with this as long as he helps Ayers.

The initial idea of the film is that it’s about a classically trained musician that has become homeless and living on the streets of LA. But by the end, it is a deeply introspective film that really makes you question and analyze the idea of helping people—especially when they don’t want help. At a very poignant moment of the film as Lopez is talking with his wife in tears about this friendship with Ayers, he questions whether or not he is helping him or if helping people at all is even worth it. He honestly brings up something that I think many people deal with in helping people who need help. Steve Lopez invested significant amounts of time, both physically and emotionally, into the life of Nathaniel Ayers but Ayers who, by no fault of his own, was too mentally damaged to process or appreciate this help.

My takeaway from this film was Lopez’ deep honesty of whether he should keep helping this guy that does not appreciate him or even understand what is going on. He was acquiring a tremendous amount of heartache and mental anguish by trying to help this homeless man further himself with the amazing musical talent that he had. But all of this was done seemingly in vain because Ayers was too mentally ill to process this and everyone else thought Lopez was crazy for continuing this relationship.

This movie made me think deeply about the idea of “good works” (James 2) and “loving your neighbor” (Matt. 22:39). As a believer, I stand on the Biblical truth that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves as illustrated by Jesus in the Gospels and that the fruit of our justification by faith is good works to our neighbors for God’s glory as outlined in the controversial chapter of James 2. But how about doing this when people don’t care or don’t want help? Let’s even forget the fact that Nathaniel Ayers was mentally ill. Should Lopez have continued to help him even if he was hostile and uncaring? Our immediate “Christian” response is “Yes, of course!” But put yourself in his shoes for a moment.

You have invested immense amounts of time physically and mentally into a person for months. You’ve sacrificed family time, work time, and public shame. And after many months of trying to help this person, they turn on you and seem to hate you for your patronization and empathy. They feel degraded because they now feel lower than you because they are being helped by you. How would you deal with this? How would I deal with this? Lopez came to a point in the film where he thought what he was doing was hopeless. I’ve felt this way before in situations where I was helping people. Have you ever encountered this?

For example, I currently spend time weekly with a very poor family that that lives in deep poverty mainly due to heir lack of education, job skills, and illiteracy. I am trying to help the children of this family in a small way by providing a weekly lesson in reading and writing and trying to bring them out of illiteracy. I think this will be a tremendous hand-up for these youngsters as they develop in life. I usually bring them small foods and drinks as well to just be a blessing to them. But the children will often complain about what I’ve chosen for them to drink or eat. They will complain that they don’t like the food and they want something else. Or they don’t like the drink because it is too cold. I’ve even made the two-hour journey to this family and they weren’t even home for the lesson. All of this can, and has, led to serious frustration. Just like Lopez, I am investing large amounts of time and effort into this family but I feel like sometimes they do not appreciate it.

But how do I respond to this Biblically? How would Steve Lopez respond to Nathaniel Ayers’ situation in a Biblical manner? How would you respond to these situations in a Biblical manner? The book of James says that faith without works is dead (26). It even goes on to make the bold statement that “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (24). Now, this is an intense Biblical argument of whether or not we are saved by faith alone or that faith and works save us. I hold to Martin Luther’s reformed Protestant doctrine of sola fide, or by faith alone. James’ statement of justification of faith and works is that good works are the fruit of a person that is truly justified by the saving work of the blood of Christ. Quoting the ESV study Bible, “For James, ‘faith alone’ means a bogus kind of faith, mere intellectual agreement without a genuine personal trust in Christ that bears fruit in one's life.” So helping people and doing good works is an overflow and fruit of the justification that we have received in our lives through Christ.

Now, good works without faith in Christ does not save us. That is a derivative of heretical Liberal theology. Our good works and compassion for the hurting and lost is an overflow of the imputed nature of Christ that is now within us. So is it natural to want to help people that don’t want help? No. But because of the imputed nature of Christ that is within us, we are now working and flowing in a new realm of compassion and love: Christ-like love. Even when it seems like those we are helping have no appreciation or concern for what we’ve done for them, we soldier on because of the imputed nature of Christ in us that has given us a new capacity for compassion and love. We as well had no appreciation for what Jesus had done for us until we came to the place of understanding. So, when we are in these situations where we are helping people and they seem to not care, or are maybe incapable because of mental illness cannot care, we should pray that the Lord will given them understanding of what is being done for them.

But even if they never have that understanding, we must continue. We must continue to help the sick, poor, widows, orphans, lame, dorky, and overall icky people that don’t or will never appreciate what we do for them. Here is your solace: Christ appreciates what you’ve done. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, as you do unto one of the least of these, you do it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). What we do to the outcast and downtrodden of society, we do it like we’re doing it for Jesus himself. I am also a firm believer in the idea that hospitality and caring for strangers is a test: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:2).

May you meet the Nathaniel Ayers of your life. May you meet the poor, downtrodden, uncaring, and hostile people that need the love of God. And may you care for them impartially, as if your were entertaining angels or serving the Lord Jesus Himself. And may you not grow weary in doing good. Amen.

Introducing the Brokedown Theologian

2009-08-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

So what is a brokedown theologian? Great question—glad you asked. It’s quite a story and this name was a bit of inspiration in the midst of a time of immense frustration and confusion.

I currently live in a major city in Asia and have a car that is barely reliable. It is a gift from some very generous people so I can’t complain that much. It gets me around and gets me to the places I need to go and it blows cold air in the tropical heat so that’s basically all I need. It gives me a few problems here and there but I get by. A friend that rides in it with me from time to time calls it “the tank”. It shakes, rattles, and makes tons of noise that you wouldn’t think a car would make. Having loose change or keys sitting in the cup holders is not an option because you will go deaf from the noise of clanging metal. I often feel like I’m heading to the front lines of Flanders Field when I pull out of my apartment complex. Driving in any city in Asia is always an adventure—even more so when you have a car like this.

As I was on my home one day, the car began to overheat badly. It would shut off when I ever I let off the gas and made lots of horrible sounds. Just as I was coasting into the front of my apartment building, it died completely. I can thank the Lord for that much.

But as I lifted the hood and steam rolled out like a smokestack from an Al Gore documentary, I felt extremely helpless. I know absolutely nothing about engines and vehicles in general and here I was standing in the street in a foreign country trying to figure out what was wrong with my car. Luckily I was able to call my good friend who is a local and he helped me get things sorted out.

As a stood there helpless beside my car with passers-by staring at the white man with the broken down car, I realized how truly useless two degrees in theology are when you can’t even get your car started. But it was in the midst of all this vehicular chaos that I had a revelation. I had wanted to start a blog for a while and as I was staring at this smoking heap of steal, the name of my blog jumped into my mind:

The Brokedown Theologian.

I love studying theology and figuring out the different facets of historical and practical theology and basically just trying to figure out our God. But it was in this moment of helplessness that I realized that knowing lots of theology can only get you so far. Many great theologians are venerated and their books are published worldwide—but can they change a tire? Can they shoe a horse? Can the bait a hook? Can they fix an engine that’s overheating?

So this blog is for those people out there that love theology but know that being a theologian is something that is done with a humble heart. And honestly, a theologian is quite possibly one of the biggest losers around. Why? Because most of us can’t do practical things like fix cars and we’ll never be that great at our profession of studying theology because God can never be figured out. God truly is a mystery and this blog is my mind trying to wrestle with that mystery and the culture that surrounds us. Not everything will be spiritual and high-thinking because I’m truly not that smart.

Being a brokedown theologian is about humbly knowing God and relating humbly to our culture. I hope you enjoy.