Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was an American Christian and the other a Pharisee. The American Christian stood tall, and with outstretched arms, prayed, “Lord God, thank you for allowing me to be born in this great country and for making me who I am. I could have been born in Africa or be a homosexual or a Democrat or even a legalistic Pharisee.
When the Pharisee prayed, he was overwhelmed by the ugliness of his self-righteous pride. He fell to his knees and prayed, “Oh God, I’ve exalted myself by pushing down others. I’ve excluded those who should have been included. I’ve burdened hurting people with heavy rules that you didn’t create. Have mercy on me, a sinner.
I tell you the truth. It was the Pharisee, and not the Christian from America, who went home right with God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Powerful!
Hey Wade – I’d love to hear your version of the story “The Good Homosexual”.
thankful for you and all you do
Yeah, that’s the best stereotyping I’ve seen in a great while. What’s the difference between the person you caricatured and you?
Read the story again. You not only missed the point, you crossapplied it.
I don’t mean to be harsh, but we just HAVE to get over this fingerpointing. Let it go Wade – you follow Jesus.
David–Is it possible that you’re the one who has missed the point of my retelling? Is it also possible that by labelling me a fingerpointer you are also pointing a finger?
A fellow named Steve F. has already written an astounding retelling of a gospel incident titled (as if it were a dividing header inserted into John chapter 4) Jesus Talks With A Gay Man, jeff.
Hey, I’m just pointing a finger at another blog.
Wade, thank you for your post today.
I love your retelling of the story.
May we as Christians be humble, forgiving,loving,merciful,and offer God’s grace to those who we may have been excluded in the past.
Great post.
Wade, thanks for that Nathan moment.
DU
Wade,
I respect you because you put yourself out here on this site. Thanks.
Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Western Xian of the Emergent sort and the other an African Anglican. The Western Emergent type stood there, after turning down his iPod, he unfolded a prayer labyrinth that he kept tucked away in his J.Crew messenger bag, and started through this eleven stations of the ancient practice, while reading something by Brian McLaren at each point of contemplation. He then prayed, “Lord God, thank you that I am not a fundamentalist, or that I am not hung up on little things like doctrine, or Scriptural authority. Thank you for opening my eyes to the folly of the enlightenment systems, and for bringing me to a place where I can deconstruct everything and find safe haven in my small community of equally willy nilly 20-somethings.” After praying he went away for a cup of overpriced coffee at St. Arbucks.
When the African Anglican prayed, he was overwhelmed by the false humililty of the postmodern punk. He fell to his knees and prayed, “Oh God, I live in a land that church history has completely passed by. The thelogical arguments of the west are too small for us. Please give us the word in our native tongues. Let Christ incarnate himself in our culture. Please God Have mercy on us, translate yourself to the church here, for we are a people who need the gospel”.
I tell you the truth. It was the African, and not Mr. Emergent guy from America, who went home right with God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
The scenarios are endless…
Why not let the scriptures speak for themselves? Are they not sufficient? I’m sick and tired of “retellings” and “updatings”. Are people really so stupid that they cannot understand the plain scriptures? I’ve had no problem understanding the teaching about pride and prayer since I was a child.
It is so sad to see droves of people from the churches of Christ turn into second rate imitations of the non-denom “navel gazers” who:
1. Think they can only develop faith by “unlearning” everything they were taught about faith. I guess Paul’s third letter to Timothy was lost…you know, the one where he told him to disregard what Lois and Eunice taught him…develop his own faith…that sort of thing…
2. Think they all have to turn into amateur theologians to prove how smart they are. Jesus didn’t leave an intelligence test behind, you know.
3. Hang on every word of every book by secondhand theologians like McLaren, N.T. Wright, Campolo, etc… “I just finished that new McLaren book…I FINALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS WAS GETTING AT!”
4. Imitate the “iPod culture” to a point of self-parody. I can say this because I’m a mac-head. It is just so silly…
Give it up, folks. Let the Bible speak for itself, and stop trying to rewrite it. Do we really think we’re going to do a better job?
Oh yeah…I thought Jay’s post was pretty good…as a response.
I think this is great, I attempted to write something like this, but I couldn’t get my point across in nearly so few words.
In response to some others here… I don’t see this as a rewrite of the Bible, but an application to the current day and times. I think sometimes we can get so caught up in what the Bible says that WE miss the message. We’re so concentrated on not being like a Pharisee and following Jesus, that we’ve created a whole new religious culture that can act just like the Pharisees but we’re blinded to that fact.
I don’t think we should be re-phrasing everything in the Bible, some of it can be obvious, but some parts I think we need to re-emphasize and give people a wake up call — even it does seem silly to some. Even the rewrite by Jay has value — it reminds us that ALL of us need to examine ourselves and our motivations, not just some. By categorizing ourselves and separating ourselves from society at large by our self-righteousness we fall far short of the life that Jesus showed us we were meant to live.
Woah. I guess Wade stepped on some toes. The truth hurts.
I thought it was a good way to reflect upon myself and to make sure I am not doing what I tend to condemn. Thanks Wade.
My we are a bit touchy today. (-:
Please know my toes are fully in tact. I just wanted to make the point that when caricatures are been thrown around the scenarios are endless. My frustration with the fundy American who equates nationalism with being a good Xian is as high as the emergent village bunch, so don’t think I was reacting to Wade’s twist on it all because I wasn’t. The point is that if we are looking for a the good guy in the story (Emergent, Fundy, Pharisee or African) our attention must be fixed on the cross. In this story mercy wins…Jesus is most definitely the point.
Kerry is right. It’s time to get back to the bible. Enough with the retelling, paraphrasing, interpreting, and translating. Let’s get back to reading straight out of the original Greek and Hebrew texts. With that, I leave you with this nugget from Acts 8:30-31.
HA! – That was pretty funny.
Jay,
I don’t know you, but I wish I did. I think I am going to take your first post and frame it. That was just about the coolest thing I have read in years. I get so frustrated sometimes.
I just have this image of Lois and Eunice sitting down with Timothy to explain this silence of the scripture concept. You know from letters that hadn’t been written. I can’t help it.
I enjoyed the overall concept of Jay’s post. I think it has value and is a good addition to the discussion.
Thanks again Wade. Keep doing what you do.
Wade,
You know exactly what I meant, and therefore your response is disingenuous. I didn’t say interpreting or translating, and you know it. I said “updating”, as in changing the stories to something that you think is more applicable than the original. Putting Greek and Hebrew into English isn’t changing the text.
You also know full well that the Ethiopian eunuch (I’m not as stupid as you assume…) didn’t have the New Testament scriptures in his chariot, because they HADN’T BEEN WRITTEN. Therefore, an explanation was needed. If I gave an Australian aborigine a copy of Isaiah, I imagine he would have a few questions, also.
I never said I didn’t agree with the point of your retelling. I just wish that you would put it in some other way so that it doesn’t sound like you don’t think the scriptures are enough. The scriptures are not a template for us to expand upon, but a finished product we should be teaching.
The joy continues. I am so glad that men much smarter than myself are speaking the truth to this fine young man.
Kerry,
I honestly don’t know any Pharisees. I’ve been told that certain people act as though they were Pharisees, but I’m not even sure what that means exactly, though I have an idea. The self-righteousness, etc. that the Pharisees in the NT exhibit are lost on me to a great degree because of my lack of schema when it comes to Pharisees. I hardly think that the point of the story is to knock down Pharisees, but rather to give a clear understanding of what righteousness, humility, prayer, worship, justification, etc. actually looks like. Jesus contrasts two well known figures of HIS DAY in order that His listeners might get the point. The Spirit that was alive and inspiring – what ever that means – the NT writers in their day (lo! the same Spirit that descended upon Jesus at his baptism and empowered his ministry!) is alive today opening our hearts, our minds, and our souls to the same 2000 year old – better yet: eternal – truths! I’m not for scrapping the Scriptures – and I don’t think either of the retellings above damages them in the least – because in a sense I do believe that they are complete in the truth that they hold. But, the Scriptures and the truths that they hold are not always meaningful or understood because of our own experiences and the way those experiences relate us to the stories found in Scripture.
There is definitely a place for books, learning, reading, working out strategies of doing church. Whether it is “Emergent”, “Missional” or whatever the latest catch-phrase is. There is a place for it. It keeps us thinking, it keeps us from getting locked in a box without room for change or development.
If we spend more of our time focused on that process than we do focused on the people God puts in front of us each day, are we not like the arrogant Pharisee praying and looking down at the poor tax collector. “Dear God, thank you for giving me vision and allowing me to work in an emergent church so that I don’t have to be like this misguided soul next to me”. We end up wasting our time “thinking” instead of “doing”. Jesus’ focus on earth was serving people, not developing church growth philosophies. He knew that if you focused on loving each other (loving being an action word, not emotion or feelings) the growth would take care of itself.
God wants us to focus on the things He puts in front of us on a daily basis. He does not expect me, in Oklahoma, to reach out to the homeless in New York when there are stuggling people right here in Oklahoma. We feel we have to have a “Vision” for God, but I like to let God walk me down His path day by day. I don’t need to pre-determine where it is going to lead me……..I don’t care! As long as He is with me, I don?t need to now where I am headed.
These thoughts are not directed at Wade or anyone in particular (probably myself mostly). God taps us all on the shoulder. Sometimes it is a story read directly out of the bible, other times it is a story re-told from the bible. Other times God can make us stop and look at ourselves by things people post to our blogs. It is what we do with that feedback that matters. Do we stop and reflect on the truth of the comment or do we point back at others? Do we just focus on that particular issue or do we reflect on other ways that issue might pertain to us?
This all probably sounds like I am jumping around from one topic to another, but in my rough way of thinking it all goes together……..our focus is relevant and we should not shy away from the tappings of God no matter how they come.
Looking in the mirror, I struggle to see a man focused on helping those God puts in front of me. Those people don’t care where I went to school, what books I’ve read, what words I use. They are just needing me to stop looking past them and lend a hand. There are months that go by that I don’t see the reflection I want, but I will never stop trying.
What the…? Who? How’d we get here…?
This discussion went off the deep end about ten comments ago. And please don’t frame anything I have written…that scares me.
I’ve been trying to help a man named Jesus (pronounced Hay-zeus) find a job. He’s a displaced hurricane evacuee. He attends church at Salvation Army with his three teenage children because he feels accepted there. They’ve given him a house, clothing, furniture. The SA captain will take his kids to school when it’s raining – you name it – the SA does it. Jesus confided in me he really loves the SA tracts that have the story of Jesus with pictures in it because it helps him understand the Bible more easily. He also told me reads on about a 4th grade level even though he was born in the U.S. – thus, his need for the more basic interpretation
The world needs Jesus, just like my friend Jesus needs Jesus – in whatever form or fashion we can give it. Wade’s story illuminates Jesus in a way that could help someone. And there will always be those that will argue incessantly over any and every “way” because it is not their “way”. It’s been that way for centuries.
I like your retelling because it makes it more understandable for our generation.
I too, like your retelling. I heard the sermon this originally came from. My prayers and thoughts for the past 8 days have been dramatically changed because of this and some previous sermons. I must confess that I have been behaving like the pharisee from the original story; I would much prefer to have the heart of the tax collector. I don’t care if you retold the story or not. God was able to use it to change me and that’s all that matters in the end. Thanks for what you do.
That was phenomanal- Keep it up!
Mike S.
Hi,
I am a musician who has been impacted by Keith Green and I would be honored if you would check out my music, all music is free to download. I just wanted to share my music with People who love Jesus. http://www.SeanDietrich.com
I don’t want to be a pest, so if this really annoys you, please delete it and accept my humble apology.
Thanks so much,
-Sean
____________________
http://www.SeanDietrich.com
“All my music is free.”