Magic—the problem with Romeo

1). In a paragraph or two, right down some assumptions you have about Jesus?

2). Theologians, philosophers, scientists, and everyday people have all grappled with what C.S. Lewis called “the problem of pain,” that there is some great conflict in the universe with which we are interacting. Many have struggled with the fact that pain exists but doesn’t have a traceable beginning. What do you think loneliness, addiction, price, war, and self-addiction reveal about the state of humanity and the millions of individuals who are a part of it?

It reveals that we all have something in common. Sometimes we try to focus on our differences rather than see what we have in common. That could go a long way in seeing God’s hand in the world and see people reconciled to himself. I think it also shows us that there is something that we all feel and we all try to fill it with different things. Whether it drugs, alcohol, loneliness, addictions, we use those things to fill the void that is common to man. A void that only God can fill and a void that God wants to void.

3). “I couldn’t give myself to Christianity because it was a religion for the intellectually naive.” Does this statement resonate with you, make you angry, confused? In your opinion, does Christianity offer a substantial and believable answer to the problem of pain?

I’m a pastor and I have had to deal with this and wrestle with it. There are times that it just doesn’t make sense to me, and than at other times it is the only thing in the world that makes sense. It’s not that we are naive, but that there are many evangelical Christians who have made a subculture all there own, who can’t see outside of it. They make it seem like something for naive people because they can’t carry on conversations with people without getting defensive. They won’t dialogue with others and invite them into their story.

I think once we get past this, Christianity does offer a response to the pain in the world. A God who loved us so much he came to earth to take that pain away from us and then entrusted us to share this message with others, to help God, to partner with God in reconciling the world back to him, healing the hurt, comforting the lonely. That is a faith I want to be a part of and that I will gladly proclaim.

4). Is the Navy SEAL story a more appealing hero than what you know and believe about Jesus? Why?

Any time we can see a story of redemption and salvation that we resonate with as humans, we are more apt to like that. The story of Jesus seems like something we know happened but happened so long ago that we can’t truly wrap our minds around it. We want to believe it but we have cultural differences, 2000 years of historical differences, and 2000 for His story to become mystical and all most fairy tale like.