WTF is poison bread?
I have been rebuilding my music collection. Back during my “responsible” christian days I purged all secular music from my home. This included many albums I have not been able to find or replace.
There is a teaching predominant among christians that has many variations. The basic premise revolves around eating bread with poison in it. The question is asked would you want to eat from poison bread? It is a caution against faulty doctrine, bad teaching, wrong living, worldly goods, etc etc. The focus becomes a striving for control and understanding. I have even heard smatterings of the forming of Christian Government for Christians by Christians using the 5 fold model. I shudder at this primarily because we loose the most important part of the Kingdom in this process, The Father. I wonder how it will be different from Islamic states? Are floggings next? What are we becoming?
My itunes randomly played this recently…
“Brothers and sisters, I want to see a sea of hands up there! I want to see a sea of hands!
I want everybody to kick up some noise! I want to hear see some revolution out there! …
Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide-
whether you are going to be the problem or you are going to be part of the solution …
Brothers, it’s time to testify! … Are you ready to testify? I give you a testimonial…
(yes, the MC5! but the principal is the same.)
The time for a radical change is now here. As I have said before a sort of Christian Anarchy. Savage Grace,
revolution (noun)
1 a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.
I believe as I reread the bible, this is what Jesus came to do as well.
Matt. 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
I took a survey for church that somehow ties to our church health. I was scored as “enthusiastic!” My relationship with the Father is much more organic then that. Kind of a Christian myers briggs test I suppose. It feels like we are so busy defining who we are that we might be missing who He is.
Meanwhile:
In the spirit of the poison bread teaching: (in reverse) from the outside.
-The Christmas season is the time when wedding proposals happen, during January and February I meet with couples to plan their weddings. Because of where we live and where I work, I get a majority of the “non-traditional” weddings. Yesterday, I met with a woman who wants a wedding but wants no part of her event to be in or near a church! She was very emphatic on this one point. Even a church building without the church people.
It’s a flipping building!
-In my office we celebrated when the Dali Lama was in town, we rejoice when a new Harry Potter book is released. We knock on wood, don’t talk about good successes for fear they will go away, and never seem to have enough sales. I suppose all companies are like that faster, faster, more more, better better. Never enough. We seem to crave a connection with God but avoid the very avenue to get us there.
-One of my co-workers was raised in a Southern Baptist family and has a real strong sense of right and wrong but is an agnostic. Hoping to God she is going to get to heaven because her Grandfather is a pastor. She thinks the idea of grace is far fetched. Yet her sense of justice and right and wrong permeates much of what she does.
-Then IHOP has a prayer conference in Kansas City. One of the focus’s besides prayer was protecting the church from the Emerging Church movement among other things.
I harp on the same issues over and over again but this time I want to work on the being part of the solution= revolution.
Matt 11: 29 Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Allow me to illustrate:
Re-read this:
Luke 15:11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
Luke 15:13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
He remembers he is a son. We need to remember we are son’s!
Eph. 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
Gal. 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
This is God’s reaction to us, filled with compassion, running and kissing. The words translated here as ”threw his arms around“ can also be translated bear hug.
But the son is sure his father will remember what he has done wrong.
Luke 15:21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
The father does not even acknowledge the sons wining, and instead says, LET’S EAT.
Luke 15:22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
But the other son get’s disgruntled.
Luke 15:25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
Luke 15:28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
Luke 15:31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
The focus of the father is not the concerns of the sons, but eating. The father is focused on celebration.
As people of the cup and the loaf. Our interactions and decisions must be filtered through the cup and the loaf. EVERYTHING He has is already ours. We get to feast.
My point…
It’s about the celebration and the amazing Father. Not who is out to get you.
Psa. 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Revolution begins at the table.
Begin with the cup and the loaf. Not the little wafer and watered down grape juice we have settled for.
“Brothers and sisters, I want to see a sea of hands up there! I want to see a sea of hands!
I want everybody to kick up some noise! I want to hear see some revolution out there! …
Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide-
whether you are going to be the problem or you are going to be part of the solution …
Brothers, it’s time to testify! … Are you ready to testify? I give you a testimonial…
wow, great to read this right now. and the unforced rhythm of grace.. i forgot about that verse. the message, isn’t it? reading it made me remember whose i am, and enabled me to lean more.. and stop trying so hard to get away from what’s happening, but lean into my father. thanks paul.