Dale Cresap's blog

Are you required to sit still in church? How do you do your best meditation or conversation? For some people these things come more easily when they are moving than when they are sitting still. You could say that their wandering facilitates their pondering. That is the method I used to get from place to place, and you may recall that much of my teaching to my disciples was when I was in the way with them. Movement can facilitate any way of understanding, but especially the intuitive and imaginative ways that are characteristic of spiritual encounter.

You understand that capital usually refers to money used as an investment, but the term could be used in a broader sense to include things like emotional capital that you only have so much of to spend. Another form would be relational capital which is different in that it exists between two people or more. You have experienced this whether you described in these terms or not. You have an intuitive understanding about how much weight or disturbance a relationship can bear, and it isn’t much in the case of shallow relationships. Don’t you prefer relationships that are not fragile?

Do you notice shifts in your behavior as you get older? Some people notice that they become more like their parents whether they intend to or not, and whether they welcome the change or not. Another way to describe this is becoming more like yourself as time goes on, based on the assumption that your parents were further down the road on the same path. Blessed are those who see their lives moving in a positive direction. Even if you don’t, the fact that you recognize the issue is a start. Do you see my transformative work in your life as a lifelong project?

Are you familiar with the story of the wheat and the tares? They grow in the same field, and the tares, which are weeds, were planted by an enemy. The workers want to separate them but the land owner instructs them to wait until the harvest for the separation lest the growing wheat be damaged. The story identifies the tares as being children of the wicked one and the wheat as the righteous. Can humanity be so neatly divided? Can people switch categories? Isn’t this what you would describe as the process of redemption?

What is your approach to evangelism? Are you discouraged if you don’t see results? Do you like to play board games? Typically each player has a playing piece that marks their progress around the board. Each turn is an opportunity to advance. You don’t expect to win the game in a single turn. In like manner, your witness of me may serve as a turn to move someone forward. You are not responsible for the entire process. Ask your friends how many times they encountered the gospel message before they received it. Do you recall that Paul planted, and Apollos watered, and I gave the increase?

I promised that those who seek the truth would hear my voice. This is a strong claim to make. Have you seen this happen? How many people do you think are seeking the truth? There is nothing in this claim that promises that the search will be quick or easy. To really seek the truth means staying with the process while it is difficult or uncomfortable. It means that you must not allow yourself to be taken off course by your fears or prejudices.

Do you belong to the one true church? You can easily think of churches who claim to be The One. Do you find such an attitude off-putting? Is any church entirely free from this? It is admirable when churches take steps to minimize this effect, but at the end of the day, or on Sunday morning, you pull into one parking lot rather than another for a reason. It is preferable to have a strong sense of community rather than a weak one. Can you maintain one without the other? Can you belong to a strongly bonded community that recognizes the validity of my body taken as a whole?

People have made great sacrifices for me throughout time. Implied in the concept of sacrifice is cost, and people have given money and time, and also given up comfort and security and these are real costs. Do you know what sacrifice I am really looking for? The sacrifice acceptable to me is a broken spirit and a contrite heart. You need to have money and resources to make those other sacrifices, but this one levels the field, and comes at the same cost to all. Do you find it easier to give money than to go through the humility of transformation?

Does it seem to you that Christmas has become an entirely secular commercial holiday? Does it seem that it has lost its Christian distinctive when everyone celebrates it in about the same way? Christians present it as the arrival of the Messiah whose real work is yet to come, at the end of his life rather than at the beginning. Yet there is still much to celebrate at my arrival. I had to arrive before I could ascend. Do you see my coming into this world as fully human already validates the human experience even before the cross? Do you see aspects of redemption in the incarnation?

A central aspect of your faith is that you are saved by grace, not works. So a central part of the message is that you don’t need special clothing, you don’t need to pay money, you don’t need to go to a special location, and you don’t need to study to pass a test to enter the Kingdom of God. This means the gospel really is good news. It is available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Isn’t this what you would expect from a loving God who is not willing that any should perish but that all should enter into eternal life? So does this mean that everyone will be saved?