what sux about the cradle-up christian predicament

guess what? we ALL suck without God. that would be Christianity 101. And Romans 3:23. even us dyed in the wool fundies with our undies in a big starchy wad.

(and don't forget that suck comes from weaning and the notion that you're not measuring up because you're not grown up yet, and don't make it something that it's not. just revisit that whole why are you still on milk when you should be already into the steak of God's word? exhortation-Hebrews 5:12)

anyone who thinks they don't suck without God is heavily deluded. most susceptible to this delusion are cradle-up Christians who've never been tested or tempted outside the little Christian ghettos that they hide in. they somehow manage to construe the fact that they have thrown themselves upon God's undeserved mercy as a spiritual trophy. it's like thinking someone should be given a medal for allowing the ambulance to carry them to ER and the surgeon to save their life when they were minutes away from death. and then proudly wearing that medal around. . .

i went to the hospital when i was mostly dead and i allowed someone more powerful and skillful than myself to save my sorry butt. praise me, praise me, this was an ACHIEVEMENT. someone gave me a gift i didn't deserve and i opened it!! and i kept it!! and i still have it!! and sometimes i even use it!! praise me for all those achievements. and don't mind me while i look down my nose at those who haven't found their care packages yet much less opened or availed themselves of them.

self righteousness is mystifyingly, mind blowingly, oxymoronic, a gross contradiction in terms!

yet somehow it's hardwired into our dna. that little black thread from Adam's seed, and Eve's really brilliant people are just as susceptible to this assinine line of thinking as anyone else. probably even a little moreso. how very pathetic our little human psyches are when it comes to seeing ourselves in the light of Truth.

cradle christians have long lists of sins they've never committed and good deeds they have. and many of them are only too happy to share that with you. they have usually become pretty eloquent at describing the grace of God in prefabricated chunks handed to them by others-not a bad thing when you are still weaning. not an impressive one, however, when you've been a christian for years.

eloquence can be a good cover for comprehension and experience. flowery language can camouflage the fact that you have virtually no understanding of how deeply your sin nature runs and how desperately dependent on God's grace you are. how many christians seem to think they stand higher up on the hill of calvary, closer to Jesus than other sinners, maybe because they bought their tickets early and got good seats. in serious denial about how very equally they stand at exactly the same place at the foot of the cross, utterly helpless to wash away their own sins, just like every prostitute, pedophile, and perpetrator of perversions worthy of perdition throughout space and time. SAME exact predicament.

the list of sins they have not committed is spelled out in flashing neon lights. the list of those they have (either sins of commission or omission) is written in invisible ink and they are afraid even to look at it themselves. we are so much better at deceiving ourselves than anyone else could ever be. the human heart is deceitful above all things. it is as if we believe that if we actually glance into the spiritual mirror of truth and see the beast in our visage we'll just spontaneously explode and be instantly sucked into hell.

the problem is, when you are a bearer of the image of Jesus, if you have never seen what you were/are without Him, when you look in the mirror it's possible for you to confuse His image with yours. to confuse His free Redemption for personal virtue.

i know because i was pretty much a cradle-uppy. and i'll tell you about it a little later. (:

Embryonic thought about Second Birth narratives and Paul

I haven't had time to really develop this thought, but I realized that even though Paul didn't have a dramatic birth narrative, he does have a dramatic, supernatural conversion narrative, a narrative of RE-BIRTH. As do others in the New Testament. Maybe after Jesus' final triumphant birth, and then the Death of Death that He wrought on the cross-His killing the second death and rending the wall-like curtain to the Holy of Holies from top to bottom, was the point from which the narratives thereafter would be of rebirth and transformation, tales of the experience of being Born Again, testimonies of His Triumph, testimonies that all those dramatic narratives of first births were all leading up to the real Story, The Grand Narrative, (yes, HIStory) (: the fruit of the New Covenant, the Second Births.

First Born Sons, Crown Princes, and God's Favor

In a culture where the first born son was the crown prince of every family, it is amazing that God recognizes this relationship in the detailed code of conduct and religious observance He lays out for His people, while at the same time continually flouting that expectation in His choice of leaders throughout the history of His people as chronicled in scripture.

Jacob was not technically the first born, but he was chosen. Joseph was the firstborn of his mother, but not of his father. He is chosen for glorious leadership and the salvation of his tribe, but he is not chosen as the ancestor of Christ. Neither is Reuben, the actual first born of his father.

It is Judah, the fourth born, as I've discussed in some detail in the posts on Genesis, who becomes the ancestor of Christ. Judah offered his life in exchange for his brother. Reuben doesn't even get to be the fount of the priesthood. Nor does Simon. It is the third son who gets to be the priestly patriarch. Even Moses was not the first born son--Aaron was! And Aaron ended up serving under Moses' command. He did get to be one of the priestly patriarchs however, descended from 3rd born Levi. And if we skip ahead to David, the Golden boy of the Old Testament, the Golden King of Israel's Golden Age, he was the youngest son of a whole passel of quivers in Jesse's cache.

So it's fascinating to read Exodus and see the Passover experience where the first born son of every home is taken; all the crown princes are lost, all those at least whose families did not put their faith in God by putting the blood of the lamb on their doorposts to appeal to God's mercy. This is a poignant recognition in this pivotal act in the Exodus where God acknowledges the significance of the crown princes. He builds them into the justice system and the religious system for His people, into His judgments, which are meant to bring salvation.

But God doesn't limit Himself to those favored by man. It seems like He might be saying, guess what? You don't get to just be born into favor with God. You don't get to approach God with the silver spoon of being the first born son as if that entitled you to His favor. God is not impressed by claims of entitlement. Check out the self righteous older brother of the Prodigal Son in Luke. And unlike some Ivy League schools, nobody gets into Heaven as a 'legacy student.'

Two things are true. One is that God gets to put His favor wherever He wishes-there is no entitlement for any of us in that regard. The other is that faith is what makes you a 'man after God's own heart.' Abraham believed God and was called the friend of God. Jacob never stopped believing that God was going to bless him and his faith in God's goodness pleased God. And David, David was the apple of His eye. Not because of his birth order and not because of his personal righteousness. He humbles himself and puts his faith in God's goodness. And God pours out His favor upon him. This pattern of birth order is one I want to study in more detail throughout scripture, but for now, I just wanted to draw your attention to this little pattern that might be easily missed without reading the Bible in its entirety again and again. Beautiful patterns jump out and reward you. (: I love to pray with Psalmist from 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law!"

Who Gets a Birth Narrative and Why?

We're talking about Exodus and about Moses the mouthpiece of God. Moses of course gets a fabulous birth narrative (which Willow gives a lovely homage to in the story of Alora Danon, also sent to save her people, thank you Ron Howard). (: Who gets a birth narrative in scripture? Let's see




Adam & Eve
(equivalent of a birth narrative,
the birth of humanity direct from the hand of God)
Cain & Able,
the first to be actually born of a woman
None for Noah
None for Abraham
Isaac-miracle of an 'elderly' mother
Jacob/Esau-
unusual birth of wily twins, fathers of rival nations
All of Jacob's children, father's of tribes
Benjamin & Joseph-miracle of fertility
Moses-miracle rescue from infanticide
Samson-miracle of fertility
Samuel-miracle of fertility
None for Saul
None for David
(although for David we had the book of Ruth introducing his grandparents)
John the Baptist-miracle of birth to 'elderly' mother
Jesus-miracle of the Virgin birth, trumps all the other miracle births (:

We have equivalents of birth narratives in the creation accounts of Adam and Eve. None for Noah. No birth narrative for Abraham, father of nations, though we do have them for his son and grandsons Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (and as I wrote of for Genesis, very briefly for each of Jacob's sons and his daughter). Even Samson, who did not turn out as God had desired, because he he failed to fulfill God's high calling on his life, rascal that he was . . . . . . even he had a birth narrative. I say "even," but it may be a critical clue about the nature of God's call on our lives. . . Later we have an elaborate birth narrative for Samuel, but none for David (although as I noted we get a detailed narrative in the book of Ruth, presenting a wonderful story about his grandparents). In the New Testament we have one for John the Baptist and one for Jesus. In fact, all the birth narratives come to a halt in the final miracle birth of Jesus. There are no more birth narratives after Jesus, the Final Savior, the culmination of the salvation plan.

Why do we get birth narratives? Surely it is to show God's sovereign call on the lives of these individuals, that He not only created them and knew them before they were born, but He created them with a purpose. A purpose of redemption for His people. Because we are co-laborers with God, we have to answer the call. We have evidence that people can choose to answer the call of God on their life or not in Samson (I wrote about this in earlier posts). One of the casualties of using the King James Version 400 years after its language has become obscure and often misleading to contemporary ears is the verse that says the calling of God is without repentance Romans 11:29. An amazing woman of God named Wanda, from whom I have learned so much, once shared with me what this really means--it doesn't mean there is no forgiveness for not answering the call of God, which is how it is very often understood and applied with more destructive than edifying results. It means God never takes it back, He never gives up and withdraws the call, He keeps working with us to the very end of our lives to give us every opportunity to reciprocate His love and work with Him. Birth narratives remind us that He knew us in our mother's womb--nay--He PUT US in our mother's womb. And He did so with Purpose.

So, as far as Paul is concerned, even though Paul was man of the millennium for his testament, he doesn't get a birth narrative. Although he does get far and away enough air time to make up for that. (: And his ego does not seem to have suffered for it. He knows who He is in Christ. And God has a birth narrative in His heart for Paul, as He has for all of us. Every day written in His book before any of them came to be . . .

And as for Exodus, it can be seen as the birth narrative of a people. Egypt has become an unlikely womb, its oppression the labor pains that will give way to its emergence as an entity independent of that which has been harboring it. It was a difficult birth with both complications and miracles along the way. It was the birth of a people with whom He would reveal to the world His nature, His desire for relationship with us, and ultimately, His plan to bring about reconciliation between Him and all those in humanity who would receive Him.

Moses, Man of the Millennia, Mouthpiece of God

If the Old Testament had a man of the millennium award, well if they had a man of the last 4 millennia award, Moses would be the uncontested winner. In the Old Testament, Moses is the Man. Sometimes he is compared to Jesus in the New Testament, but since Jesus is fully God and fully man, that is really an apples and parakeets comparison.

His real counterpart is Paul, another mere human. Both men were educated and prepared in the highest classes of the highest civilizations of their time. They were super literate (although there is speculation that both men had speech impediments!), they never did anything half way. Oh, and they were both murderers. Well, if you want to define a person by a single action, repeated or otherwise. In fact, it has often been pointed out that most of the bible was written by three murderers: Moses, David, and Paul. And the point of that? God's redemption is greater than the vilest sin. To be fair, Moses and Paul killed on principle-they killed for social justice and zeal for God, even if they made bad calls in so doing. David killed out of less noble motives, at least in the case of Uriah. But God's grace extended even to him and his very selfish personal reason for murder.

Earlier I said that Joseph's story was a foreshadowing of the story of the Hebrews in Egypt as suffering and education there was necessary for the purposes God was calling them to. Moses is like the book end to the time of slavery in Egypt, the kind of leader Joseph was, one who would save his people by following God. Joseph saved his tribe from famine (and illiteracy). Moses delivered them from slavery. Both men enjoyed favor from royalty and developed great leadership skills among the Egyptians. So Joseph was the left bracket and Moses was the right bracket, so to speak, setting off this period of time when the people of Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt.

Moses and Paul are explicitly recorded as having exclusive, privileged, secular educations, which helped prepare them for leadership that would profoundly affect the rest of human history. Considering their respective importance for their covenants/testaments, it interests me that we have a birth narrative for Moses, but not for Paul. . .

Entering Exodus-The Great Exit

Exodus is all about Redemption. Okay fine, they're all about redemption. Exodus is like Joseph's story magnified by four hundred years and thousands of descendants. It follows the same path. . . there is a time of slavery following all the promises of prosperity (Joseph's dreams about himself and his brothers, Abraham's dreams about all his descendants). Something beautiful happens during the time of oppression that prepares the protagonist for a greater purpose beyond it, both in Joseph's story and the story of his descendants.

God is not the author of suffering or any evil. But God's magic is that He alone can take evil and transform it into good. God took the opportunity to use Egypt as a furnace for educating and shaping His people. He took a handful of nomads and put them in the thick of the most advanced civilization in the world up to that date.

We can assume that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were illiterate. Why all the stopping to pile up a bunch of rocks in commemoration of something? They couldn't write and their people couldn't read. You needed visuals to mark the milestones of your history, to provide an opportunity for dialogue. Uncle Judah, what is that big pile of rocks doing there in the middle of the river? Well, son, I'm glad you asked. . . let me tell you a story about God and your grandpa Jacob. . . which is part of your story, too.

Apparently Joseph learned how to write since he got to be kind of the finance minister for Pharaoh. And boy could Moses write. . . since we attribute to him the Pentateuch, this first five books of the Law, also known to the Jews as the Torah (separate from all the other books of the Old Testament and more revered). But we'll get to that.

While Genesis covers a ton of time and is one exciting narrative right after another, Exodus is only about half narrative. The rest consists of descriptive instructive details about how to worship, how to manage relationships and social conduct, how to maintain the tabernacle and rituals that would be a lifeline between a people and their God, basically an initial handbook on how to have their own culture now that they're not just some random diaspora population of slaves in Egypt assimilating to someone else's values and traditions. Exodus is the beginning of God's instruction about how to build a culture based on God's values, establishing traditions that embody and preserve them.

Among the well known narratives of Exodus are these:

1) The birth of Moses
2) The killing of the Egyptian
3) Moses' exile to Midian
4) The Burning Bush: Moses' Calling
5) Ten Plagues
6) The First Passover
7) Four Tests on the way to Mt. Sinai:
a) bitter water, b) hunger, manna and quail, c) thirst, d) conflict (Amalekites)
8) Moses' brother-in-law Jethro mentors Moses in the art of delegation
9) The 10 Commandments and other instructions
10) The golden calf debacle