Eugene Peterson | Tim Høiland

Archives For Eugene Peterson

“I find that cultivating a sense of place as the exclusive and irreplaceable setting for following Jesus is even more difficult than persuading men and women of the truth of the message of Jesus. Why is it easier for me to believe in the holy (because God inspired it) truth of John 3:16 than the holy (because God made it) ground at 570 Apricot Lane where I live? …

God’s great love and purposes for us are worked out in the messes in our kitchens and backyards, in storms and sins, blue skies, daily work, working with us as we are and not as we should be, and where we are… and not where we would like to be.”

– Eugene Peterson, in the foreword to Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith (Brazos)

Cultivating a sense of place

Posted on May 13, 2013 In Culture city, Eugene Peterson, faithfulness, holy, neighborhood, place

Forgiveness trumps justice every time

June 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

In Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers (Eerdmans), the fourth in an excellent five-part “conversation in spiritual theology,” Eugene Peterson warns against the dangers of godtalk: taking rich theological and spiritual language and cheapening it for short-term ends, using it to manipulate or depersonalize rather than to love and serve in Jesus’ name. It’s not always obvious at first, but eventually, the twisting of language leads to the twisting of lives.

It’s easy to point to the ways others twist biblical language for their own ends, but it’s often painful, or at least inconvenient, to take an honest look at ourselves and the ways we do the very same thing. Christians my age, it seems to me, would do well to consider the kinds of language we use to talk about our concern for justice.

Do we talk about justice the way the Bible does, the way Jesus does, in the context of everything else he has to say about our depravity, our brokenness, and the basis of our hope? Or do we talk about it the way we want to, the way we wish the Bible did? Is it possible that when we observe what is wrong with the world — and we don’t have to look far — we use the language of justice by default when Jesus may be calling us to use a different, more costly kind of language that leads to a different, more costly — and ultimately more redemptive — way of life?

In his meditation on Jesus’ final words from the cross — in particular, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34) — Peterson writes:

We live in a world seething in sin and awash in violence. We daily read and see the news of it in the media. We also come up against it, even though unreported in the police logs, many times a day in our homes and workplaces and neighborhoods. What I am contending for as a consequence of praying Jesus’ prayer from the cross is that forgiveness should become our first response to every person who demeans and hurts and takes our life. There certainly will be matters of justice for society to deal with along the way, and it may be important for us to participate in them. There are judges and prosecuting attorneys, police and juries, and there are many of us who pursue and uphold and cause of justice who are counted among them. But who else is there to say “Father, forgive them” but Christians who know how to pray that prayer with Jesus? However important justice is — and it is important — forgiveness is more important. The Christian at prayer, even as Jesus at prayer, is not first of all an impersonal agent of justice but a personal conveyor of forgiveness and a witness to the resurrection.

Such forgiveness is not soft sentimentality. It is hard-edged gospel. Such forgiveness is not a moral shrug of the shoulders. It is a white-hot flame of resurrection love forged in the furnace of the cross.

Assuming that the criminal crucified next to Jesus was receiving a just death sentence (he said as much himself), the sentence was not revoked in Jesus’ prayer. The criminal died for his crime. But forgiveness trumped justice. It always does (pp. 247-8, emphasis mine).

I hope we’ll continue to seek justice and to speak about it. But as recipients of God’s grace, which is the last thing any of us deserve, let’s remember to give forgiveness the last word.

In Justice Eugene Peterson, forgiveness, Jesus, justice, language, parable, prayer, Tell It Slant

Katie’s top 11 books from 2011

January 5, 2012 — 4 Comments

One of the myriad things I love about Katie, my wife of eight weeks, is our shared passion for books. Even better, we read a lot of the same kinds of books. And then we get to talk about them, and often, what ends up on this blog begins as a conversation over dinner or while driving through the Arizona desert. I’m smarter and wiser because I have her around, that’s for sure. On Monday I shared my top books from 2011. Here now are Katie’s top picks. There’s a bit of overlap, as you’ll notice, which owes itself just as often to me copying her as to her copying me.

Although I share my husband’s desire to read widely to develop critical and discerning thinking rather than cloning myself to one or two author’s thoughts or perspectives, I have compiled a rather narrow top 11 reads of 2011. It seems somehow wrong to have two of the same authors as well as three books on the topic of justice, but these were the books I was honestly most impacted by this year.

Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart
An inspiring and informative read about how relationship and empowerment can bring change and self-respect to those who easily believe they are worthless. Boyle is a priest whose impact shows how each of us desire to be invested in, known and loved.

Emmanuel Jal, War Child
An especially timely read in light of South Sudan’s 2011 independence, Emmanuel shares his story of becoming a child soldier. Scarred by hatred, hunger, isolation and violence while just a child, he found his voice through music which he has used to raise awareness, protest and advocate for peace, child protection and human rights.

Richard Foster, Streams of Living Water
Foster’s grace and wisdom approaches six traditions of the faith offering perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of each. Each offer enduring elements that challenge those of us who desire to live faithfully.

Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge
Who among us can say we grasp forgiveness and extending it to others? This book is best summarized by this quote from the introduction: “The true God is a God who cannot stop giving and forgiving, and that our knowledge of Him is utterly bound up with our willingness to receive from the hand of God the liberty to give and forgive.” (Dr. Rowan Williams)

David Powlison, Seeing with New Eyes
I re-read this for a class and am grateful I had the opportunity to do so. A solid collection of articles written for those who desire to help others in the process of becoming more like Christ. He encourages us to place the Redeemer at the center of the picture and find the power to change in turning to Him in all of life.

Eugene Peterson, The Pastor
Absolute soul-medicine. A masterful weaving of the formative moments of Peterson’s development into a true pastor. He redefines what we often view as the essentials of a good pastor and extends to us something richer, steeped in Scripture.

Edith Schaeffer, L’abri
The concepts of L’abri had shaped my views of hospitality and personal vocation long before I read Edith’s description of their story and vision. But this book still brought new shades of light and context to the ideas of facilitating, in relationship, the process of leaning into God and what he has to say about the realities of the world we live in.

Robert Lupton, Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life
Lupton breathes experience, wisdom and genuine love for the poor and marginalized. He navigates the tensions between reaching out with compassion and defending the dignity and humanity of every person.

John Perkins, Let Justice Roll Down
A compelling story of Perkin’s civil rights journey. Although heartbreaking to read about the depths of hate and oppression, it’s inspiring to learn from one who pursued social justice rooted in strong evangelical faith even before it became trendy.

Timothy Keller, King’s Cross
A collection of sermons based on the Gospel of Mark which bring the words of Jesus to life, offering context and references that reveal the message as truly good news.

Timothy Keller, Generous Justice
A treatise of the implications of our faith and belief in Scripture; the Biblical basis for what should drive us to pursue justice. Keller beautifully articulates what many of us know in our hearts and see as we read Scripture, but often struggle to communicate effectively.

My top 11 books from 2011

January 2, 2012 — 13 Comments

Last February I shared some thoughts on the merits of reading both widely and wisely, and I shared my own reading goals for the year. Specifically, these:

At least one book about/from every continent in the world (plus Central America and the Middle East)
At least one book by an adherent of every major world religion
At least 25% to be written by dead people
At least 40% to be written by women or non-white males.

Well, how closely did I stick to those goals?

I had each of the continents (plus Central America and the Middle East) covered
Though I read a lot of books written by Christians and a range of non-Christians (including Alice Walker, a Buddhist, and others I presume to be either atheists or agnostics), I don’t think I read anything by Hindu or Muslim authors.
20 written by dead people; only 21%
26 written by women or non-white males; only 27%

So I did better in some areas than in others. I’ll keep the goals more or less the same for 2012. But in the meantime, as is the custom (sort of), here are my picks for the top eleven books I read in 2011. Like last time, these are in no particular order, and include books not necessarily published this year. When applicable, I include a link to what I’ve already written about it.

Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just
A must-read on following Jesus and doing justice. I reviewed this one for PRISM and blogged about it here.

Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir
If you are a pastor, know a pastor, or have opinions about pastors, read this. I blogged about it here.

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
It’s a classic, and I should have read it a long time ago. I’m guessing you already have.

Michael Casey, Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
A fascinating look at how the iconic “Che” image has been reproduced and re-appropriated for countless causes — and has paradoxically come to represent global capitalism.

Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
This biography of the great German theologian who was part of a failed assassination plot against Hitler won all kinds of awards last year. I blogged about this here.

Michael J. Sandel, Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do?
In this book the Harvard political philosopher put the cookies on a relatively low shelf, helping you and I wrestle through different understandings of justice in the world around us. I blogged about it here.

Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
One of the most inspiring, funny and heart-breaking books I read this year. I blogged about it here.

Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era
From what I understand, this book never really took off, which is a shame, because it’s a wise, nuanced, an intelligent handling of the two topics none of us seem to know how to discuss in polite company. I blogged about this here.

Robert Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
An important book on doing no harm when seeking to do good. I blogged about this here and it was also picked up by the Values & Capitalism blog.

Richard Mouw, He Shines In All That’s Fair: Culture and Common Grace
I haven’t had a chance to blog about this yet, but I plan to in January. In this slim book, Mouw articulates a wonderful theological and practical vision of common grace.

N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
For Christians unsure about what’s supposed to happen between being “saved” and dying, this is an important book on ethics and cultivating virtue. I blogged about it here.

How about you? What were your favorite books of 2011? What are your reading goals for 2012?

Repaso: Letter to OWS, transparent church, mission & culture, powerful photos of 2011, global financial mess, spiritual theology & relevance, blessing & cursedness at Christmas

December 9, 2011 — 2 Comments

1. A Letter to OWS
Makoto Fujimura, head of the International Arts Movement, has written a letter to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. He has a love/hate relationship with movements, he says, and encourages and implores those involved with OWS to remember a few essential things:

The value of your movement is in spontaneity, diversity, and flexibility. Do not let extreme ideologies hijack your movement. Do not let the media define who you are. Avoid every temptation to name a spokesperson or a leader, no matter how charismatic that person is. Keep pressing into raising questions more than giving answers. Be generous, mysterious, and enigmatic. A movement is organic and generative, and your passion must be carried into the conversation for the next generation, from Wall Street to dining room table discussions. Above all, do all things out of love.

2. The transparent church
Skye Jethani blogs about a public art installation in Belgium resembling a see-through church, and what it can teach us as Christians:

The architects said they were motivated by the growing number of abandoned churches in Belgium, and the declining role of religion in the highly secularized country. They have titled their structure “Reading Between the Lines” because it “extends this idea of transparency onto the church and equally onto the observer who must learn to read between the lines even among things that are seemingly transparent. Just because you can see something doesn’t make it real, neither does something not exist because it can’t be seen.”

3. Do missions destroy cultures?
This one by Jordan Monson, a church planter in Spain, has sparked a good conversation at RELEVANT on the role missions and missionaries play (or don’t) in changing other cultures. Monson says, in effect, that missionaries have great power for good and for ill in the cultures to which they are sent:

Christians—and missionaries—can be at times the best and at other times the worst representatives of Christ. They’re not perfect. They will make mistakes, and they will take some cultural presuppositions with them no matter how much they are trained not to. Missionaries will unapologetically keep campaigning against female mutilation, deceivingly referred to as female circumcision; they will fight against cannibalism, witchcraft and human sacrifice. But they will also miss the mark sometimes and carry their Western values too far. Missionaries are still sinners, but when they follow Christ and make His glory their chief end, they elevate culture and follow the call of Jesus.

4. Most powerful photos of 2011
This collection of photos is stunning and sobering. It’s been a rough year for many in our world, and I was struck by just how many photos of natural disasters and mass protests were included.

5. Who owns this mess?
In this New York Times Magazine piece, Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto (who I’ve blogged about here and here) weighs in on the global financial crisis (see also his bio at the end of the piece for why he’s to be taken seriously):

Once it is clear that this recession is about the organization of knowledge or, more precisely, the lack of organization, Western governments can step in to get the facts. That will allow them to target the disease without getting stuck in the left-versus-right controversy about regulation and government oversight. We need increased truth-telling; increased recognition of what exists and who owns it.

6. Eugene Peterson, spiritual theology and relevance
Patton Dodd writes for freq.uenci.es on Eugene Peterson’s important and counter-cultural legacy within North American evangelicalism (and the irony that the world’s biggest rock star admires him):

When Peterson set out to make the Bible relevant, he didn’t mean to make it hip, or even successful. He meant to make it ordinary—to make it spiritual. He meant to show people that spirituality is nothing special as we normally understand “special.” It’s the quotidian quality of Jesus. In Peterson’s straightforward words, “life, life, and more life.” Peterson is straining to help Christian believers to understand that that message is the message of God.

7. “Far as the curse is found”
Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary, writes a wonderful reflection based on the lyrics of “Joy to the World”:

There certainly is a lot of cursedness around these days. There are the “macro” curses of homelessness, poverty, political oppression, the sexual slave trade, religious persecution, whole populations devastated by war and disease. But there are also the “micro” curses that afflict many individual lives in highly personal ways: grief, abandonment, loneliness, abuse, fear of the future, difficult illnesses—and much more. The good news of Christmas is that Jesus has come—born a baby in the manger of Bethlehem… God chose to experience the curse in a very intimate way, experiencing our cursedness from the inside by becoming one of us. The final “conquering,” of course, came at the end, when Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose victoriously from the tomb. But it had to begin with his utter helplessness in the Bethlehem stable. “God with us”—in the cursedness of our helpless estate.

Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!

[Photo credit: Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian via Buzzfeed]