outWORD by Matte Downey

In John 3, we find two of the most popular concepts in evangelicalism: the idea of being born again and the famous verse 16 which anyone brought up in Sunday School can recite at will. I wrote about the idea of being born again here  if you want to check it out. In this post, I take a fresh look at John 3:16. The context for the two is the same. Jesus has just cleared the temple of money changers and many people have witnessed the signs he performed in Jerusalem during the Passover festival. In other words, he has gone public in a big way. This causes a religious leader, a well-known, socially and politically involved member of the Jewish ruling council, to approach Jesus privately at night. He wants to know what Jesus has that he is missing. Before the man can pose a proper question, Jesus confronts him with the idea of spiritual rebirth, of having to start again like a vulnerable and helpless baby in order to enter into Jesus' world, the kingdom of God. Jesus then rebukes the rel...

One of the most persistent categories in the story of humanity is that of family. We hear the importance placed on family in our contemporary context: someone buying a million-dollar cottage says that the purchase is all about being together as a family, a contestant in a singing competition proclaims that their family is everything to them, a politician running for office declares that they stand for family values, religious folks urge us to stave off the attack on the traditional family, a celebrity steps out of the limelight stating that they want to focus on their family life. For the most part, these appeals to the worth of family are accepted and even applauded. The question is, what is the nature of the family we are giving priority to? The Oxford dictionary defines family  as 1) parents and children living together in a household or 2) all descendants of a common ancestor. However, many of us can attest to the fact that familial ties exist outside of legal and blood bon...

When you search for images of someone praying, you see a lot of this: person with hands folded, head bowed, eyes closed, on their knees, with a Bible. Interestingly, their mouths are usually closed. However, conversing with the Creator is so much more than the standard pictures suggest. I recently finished Eugene Peterson's book, Tell It Slant . In the latter half of the volume, he deals with the prayers of Jesus. As I was reading, I realized that for much of my life, I have seen prayer as a task, a responsibility, a job, a burden, a required discipline for all who claim to follow Jesus. But Jesus never presents prayer like that. When his disciples make the request, "Teach us to pray," Jesus starts off with, "Our Father..." He makes use of the inclusive pronouns "us" and "we." Instead of giving the disciples a task, Jesus invites them to join him in what he is doing: communing with the Father. Perhaps prayer is not so much a spiritual di...

The familiar description of love found in Paul's letter to the church in Corinth is often read at weddings. However, in 1 Corinthians 13 we find no mention of a particular "other" whom we are to love. Neither is there any reference to an exclusive relationship. Instead, Paul's description of love stands firmly in the context of community life, meant to inform a follower of Jesus concerning their posture toward others in the faith community and beyond. Let's take a look at three of the characteristics found here (verse 5): 1) love is not self-seeking, 2) love is not easily angered or provoked, and 3) love does not keep a record of wrongs. These are all stated negatively, a technique which helps us to recognize what is missing or distorted. However, negative descriptions have their limitations, because they fail to give us a means whereby we can imagine what something actually looks like. So, let us identify the positive side of each of these statements. Love is...

When I ask people what love is, they very often mention the list of characteristics found in 1 Corinthians 13. You know how it goes: love is patient, love is kind… Lately, I have been thinking about these two particular adjectives at the beginning of this description of love. One reason for this is because I find it hard to remember what comes next, so I keep repeating “love is patient, love is kind” with the hope that my memory will eventually start functioning. But I also wonder if their placement next to each other might be intentional, if they are connected in some way. Perhaps our understanding of love loses something when we dissect its characteristics into singular, separate ideas. What happens when we join patience with kindness? The word translated “patient” is makrothymei in Greek. It has two parts to it: the idea of length or slowness and the concept of suffering or anger. The word is sometimes translated as longsuffering or slow to anger . Here are a few example...

In English usage, freedom is defined as the power or right to act, speak, and think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Most often, at least in our Western context, we use the word freedom to refer to self-determination, meaning we are free to be who we want to be, to do what we want to do, to say what we want to say. This way of thinking about freedom has some problems. First, it assumes that we have relatively few limitations as human beings when, in fact, we all have limited choices and options in life. Not everyone has the capacity to be an astronaut or an Olympic swimmer or an opera singer or the Prime Minister. I could do none of those things well. I also cannot be a cat or a bird, much as I would like to be able to jump six times my height or fly by moving my arms. Viewing freedom as pure self-determination gives us an inflated sense of our own agency. It also sidesteps the fact that we do not function in isolation; our choices and actions have implications for ot...

Prepositions are rather tricky. When learning a new language, these small connecting words are one of the most difficult elements to get right. Prepositions are generally short and simple words, but they carry great weight. Is Bob running to Julie or from Julie? Are you  at your desk or under your desk? The entire meaning of a sentence can hinge on a preposition and dictate whether one should be comforted or alarmed. Is the cat on your stomach or in your stomach? Prepositions are relationship words. They define how subjects, objects, and other elements of a sentence relate to each other. In the context of religion, prepositions reveal how we relate to God and to the world. Two prepositions, in particular, seem quite important in matters of faith and spirituality: for and with . We thank Jesus because he died for us. We ask God to do things  for  us. We say that God is for us and not against us. The word "for" places us in a receiving, passive position and ...

Much of the thinking and writing I have been doing for the past year or so, especially in academic settings, has to do with how hierarchy is embedded in our theology and ways of structuring communities. To me, that's not a good thing. One of the papers I presented on the topic last year was titled, "Toppling the Divine Hierarchy: How Trinitarian Thinking Shapes our Communities." Essentially, I argue that our penchant for hierarchies, both within and without the church, reflects more about our human constructs and desire for control than it does about the character of God. Defining God as the Lord Almighty, King over all, the being at the top of the cosmic heap, positions power (not love) as the primary attribute of the divine. The idea that sovereignty is the supreme characteristic of God is found in statements like, "God is in control," and the theological omnis: omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. When commenting on the book of Revelation, I have hea...

Think about a typical day in your life. What's the first thing you do when you wake up? What's your morning ritual? What do you do during your lunch hour? What's the last thing you do before you go to bed? We all have life rhythms. Every day, we do certain things at a certain time in a certain way. Most of the time, we don't even think about these habits; they are just a part of our life. Each of these small details may seem insignificant, but they are building blocks. The habits we inhabit are formative. This is because our life rhythms are connected to two big questions: What is the good life, the flourishing life? What is our vocation (what is God calling us to)? Let's look at an example. Here is the daily rhythm of a Benedictine community in New Mexico called Christ in the Desert. Vigils at 4 am (read 12 Psalms, scripture lesson, reading from Church fathers) Lauds at 5:45 am (prayer and Eucharist) Breakfast, personal time Chapter Meeting at 8:30 am (wo...

Why is Easter important? It is arguably the high point of the Christian calendar, celebrating Jesus' victory over death and sin. It is also a time of fulfillment in which darkness gives way to light, death gives way to life, the kingdom of earth gives way to the kingdom of God, and the final sacrifice for sin is offered. But what exactly happened when Jesus died and was resurrected? The Christian church has many ways of explaining or illustrating the saving work of Christ. The Orthodox Icon of the Resurrection pictured above (there are several versions) is one of the most celebrated icons in the church. Icons, in addition to being invitations to prayer, are meant to be instructive. Here we see the risen Christ descending to Hades, grabbing Adam and Eve by the wrists, and raising them from their tombs. The position of Christ's hands denotes that the two being raised have no active part in the process; the work is all Christ's. The doors (gates), chains, and keys underne...