THE LAST RIVER MILE

Thoughts near the take-out.

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GEOFF POSEGATE

Retired United Methodist pastor and leadership coach.

  • PRACTICING FAITH IN A HOSTILE, AUTHORITARIAN AGE

    Following Jesus does not always take us on an easy path. It can be especially challenging when the culture (mission field) in which we’ve been placed is detrimental or even hostile to the life we have chosen to live. Obviously, we are in such a situation now in many ways. Hostility toward one another becomes more frighteningly normal every day. Things I was raised to value – statesmanship, diplomacy, compassion, kindness, empathy, etc. – are regarded as marks of weakness by many. Division between human beings seems to be a given, if not a macabre kind of necessity. Power is the god worshipped, even when thinly draped in a “Jesus” veneer. How does a Jesus-follower survive, much less thrive in such a toxic daily immersion?

    There’s no one answer to this, nor does the perfect “to-do” list exist for it. Disciples would do well to share best practices with one another in order to encourage each other. Spending time with God daily is a given, I would think. In addition to that, here a few things to remember or to do that help me stay focused:

    1. GRACE COMES FIRST. Grace is a gift that is unearned, unanticipated, undeserved, and yet freely given. Creation itself is an act of God’s grace. God calling a people through whom all the world would be blessed is grace in action. The crucified Jesus rising in victory over all that separates us from God and each other is the supreme act of grace. I am someone whom God loves supremely and to whom God offers uncommon grace. Grace is where God starts with me. That’s where I must start with others, across the board.
    2. SEEK THE HEART OF GOD. I must see others and see myself as God sees us all. I need to spend time in the Bible every day, not just to learn information, to memorize verses, or to catalogue “the letter of the law.” I should invite the Holy Spirit to push my heart beyond the words to that to which the words point – the very nature and heart of God. God is love, period. (I John 4:8.) Rather than just let my heart rate accelerate because of today’s news feed or the latest infuriating social media post, I need to allow my heart to beat with God’s heart.
    3. PRACTICE PHILIPPIANS 2:3. (“…in humility value others above yourselves.”) As exasperating and even threatening as they can be to us, people are not the enemy. People can be unspeakably cruel and create unbelievable damage. We all face accountability for our actions. Yet there’s not a human being alive whom God sees as unworthy of the life, death, resurrection, and promised return of Jesus the Christ. My fiercest theological or political opponents deserve grace from me, and not judgement. I must allow Paul’s words in Philippians 2:3 to haunt me in every reaction or encounter of mine.
    4. MEASURE EVERYTHING BY THE GREAT COMMANDMENT AND THE GREAT COMMISSION. My goal is not just to keep myself intact. As a follower of Jesus, I am under clear marching orders. Jesus said the central commandment which governs and interprets all other commandments is to love God and to love others as God loves us. (Mark 12:28ff.) And Jesus commissioned all who claim him as Lord to go and make disciples – i.e., those who become like Jesus and who follow him. (Matthew 28:19.) Nothing changes these mandates nor gives me an excuse to neglect them, regardless of the type of era in which I am living.
    5. FIND AND JOIN THE HELPERS. Fred Rogers’ wise advice for times of crisis still holds. Even while all else is a sea of chaos, harm, and hatred, wherever people are loving and helping others, that’s where God is at work. Find them and join them. This is not without risk. Sometimes it will mean speaking up and speaking out, in both love and clarity, when it would seem much safer to stay silent and uninvolved. It may also mean acting up; again with love and clarity. (Think John Lewis’ admonition of getting into “good trouble.”) Security is not the goal. Love is.

    We would all do we to learn all we can about the disciples of the first century. While their age was different than ours in multiple ways, it was also a time of authoritarian rule, division, and violence. Yet the movement thrived and grew like wildfire. History, fully embraced, can teach us much.

    There’s nothing exhaustive about the above, and it’s certainly not a “one size fits all.” It’s just what seems to help me at this point. If you are a follower of Jesus, what’s working for you in these days?

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • IT’S NOT JUST A PERSONAL TICKET TO HEAVEN

    For most of my life I’ve heard people talk about “a personal relationship with Jesus.” I’ve used this phrase in my own preaching, teaching, and faith-sharing. To me, a personal relationship with Jesus has meaning if it refers to actually knowing him, growing in relationship with him, and loving others with the same love with which he loves me. However, the impact of the phrase breaks down it it means possessing Jesus like a prize. It seems to me that many people reduce a personal relationship with Jesus to securing an individual eternal guarantee. This results in a privatized faith, which is nothing more than a collection of personally satisfied individuals. Nothing could be further from biblical faith, no matter how many people buy this bill of goods currently.

    God’s spokesperson Amos made clear that individual practice and proficiency in being “religious” means nothing apart from corporate responsibility. (See Amos 5:21-24.) Jesus, God made known as a human being stung the religious leaders of the day for individually obeying the letter of the law, but failing to lead the collective mercy and justice demanded by the heart of God. (See Matthew 23: 23-24.) The earliest followers of the risen Jesus were characterized more by group life and commitment than by individual spiritual benefits. (See Acts 2:42-47.) Following Jesus is more about what happens collectively than personally.

    At its worst, privatized religion can become a smokescreen for corporate sin. For example – I’ve said the sinner’s prayer, so it doesn’t matter that I (and you) own clothing that’s kept cheap for me because it is off-shore, sweatshop labor created. I claim Jesus as Lord of my life, so it doesn’t matter that people are dying in the Middle East, while my biggest concern is that I’m paying $4.19 a gallon for gasoline. Father Richard Rohr expresses the dark side of privatized religion this way, particularly as it is manifest in the United states:

    “Killing is wrong, but war is good. Greed is wrong, but luxury and capitalism are ideals to be sought after. Pride is bad, but nationalism and patriotism are admirable (never in the Bible, however). Lust is wrong, but flirting and seduction are attractive. Envy is a capital sin, but advertising is our way of life. Anger at our neighbor is wrong, but angry people get their way. Sloth is a sin, but wealthy people can take it easy. Murder is wrong, but easy access to guns is a right and a duty.”

    Rohr goes on to say, “The church gas been trying for centuries to save individuals while ignoring the corrupt system in which those individuals operate.” The Lordship of Jesus doesn’t just challenge our individual sin; it calls out our collective, systemic sin as well. As the now cliche image goes, it’s not about pulling drowning babies out of the river. It’s about going upriver to stop whoever/whatever is putting babies in the river in the first place.

    The good news of a crucified and risen Jesus is way beyond my individual ticket to heaven. WAY beyond…

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

    (Recommended reading: THE TEARS OF THINGS: PROPHETIC WISDOM FOR AN AGE OF OUTRAGE by Father Richard Rohr.)

  • A TOUGH 250TH TO CELEBRATE

    Our great nation is 250 years old this year. I’ve been struggling with exactly how to celebrate this. It’s sounds mundane, but I’ve even been stuck on what to wear on July 4th.

    I love this country, and I’m thankful beyond words for the gift of being a citizen here. Founders built this republic on the values of freedom and justice, equally available for all. We’ve had rough chapters in our history since 1776, but I believe we exist to continue living into those values.

    However, there is considerable evidence that we are slipping backward on this important journey. For example voting rights for non-white citizens once again are in danger, with court backing for this backward step. Authoritarian leadership seems determined to carry the day; the very thing our country’s founders fought to eliminate. Too many of our leaders are fueling xenophobia, when we are by definition a melting pot nation. (An old meme says, “Unless your ancestors could field dress a buffalo, you came from immigrants; documented or not.”) Persons in authority increasingly do not want us to face and learn from the dark chapters in our history. (Very few of you learned of the sanctioned destruction of Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street” in your schooling.) There are those who want to mandate a very narrowly defined “Christian” nationalism, in the very country established on the principle of freedom of religion. (Legislated faith is no faith at all.)

    To make matters worse, these things about which I am concerned are regarded as “patriotic” in the belief of many. How do I celebrate two and half centuries of the United States of America without signaling any kind of support for much of this direction in which our country is headed currently?

    Then I found it…A T-shirt with a poem across a background of the Statue of Liberty and the American Flag. Here is the poem:

    “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” (Emma Lazarus.)

    That’s it. That’s who we are. I am here because of what is valued in those words. Most of us are. This is the real American dream. This is what we should celebrate. This is the heartbeat of our nation, still beating in spite of it all.

    That’s what I’ll be wearing on July 4th. Happy 250th, U.S.A.!

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • ERODING THE BALANCE OF POWER

    The United States Constitution mandates a balance of power in governmental leadership. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and the judicial branch interprets laws. Each branch holds the other two in check by design.

    Some people believe that our current president’s actions strain this delicate but crucial balance, pushing the limits of the executive branch. To be fair, Donald Trump is not the only president to have tested these boundaries. At issue is something called unitary executive theory. (Go to Google, ChatGPT, etc. for a complete explanation.) Simply put, unitary executive theory interprets Article II of the United States Constitution to support singular, largely unchecked power of the standing president over all executive officials and departments. If this ends up extending beyond the executive branch to heavy influence over the legislative and judicial branches, so be it. So, what some people call presidential over-reach others would call constitutionally allowed.

    I believe it is important to know all we can know about the original context of anything directive which is preserved in writing. We have to remember that those who formed our Constitution wanted to create national leadership which could not be reduced to one monarch with unchallenged authority, given what they and their ancestors had experienced in Europe. Recognizing that the constitutional balance of power is a dynamic thing, with understandable ebbs and flows, historically this was the original intent,

    It’s a matter or record that Donald Trump’s business organization is a family business, operating without a board of directors or any real, independent structure of accountability. He has no experience with being checked by anybody or anything, apart from the presidency. It would be natural if not alarming for him to push toward unchecked executive power. Historically, leaders who want this kind of autonomous power often claim it is necessary to guide a country through some real or manufactured crisis. I know Trump supporters bristle at comparisons to the Third Reich, but sometimes it’s hard not to connect the dots. We’re in a war without congressional approval. Courts are supporting voter-suppression redistricting in many states, at executive direction. At the same time the president has failed to enforce legislative action calling for the complete release of all Department of Justice material related to Jeffrey Epstein. If there’s not cause of concern, there’s at least a reason to raise questions.

    The ancient nation of Israel once cried out to have a king like all of the nations around them. Samuel warned them of what kings would do, with unchecked power. (See I Samuel 8.) In these days it might be good for followers of Jesus to revisit that. We’d also do well to remember the political impact of proclaiming that Jesus alone is Lord. (If Jesus is the ultimate and final authority, then no one and nothing else is.) Reviewing our great nation’s birth two and a half centuries ago would help as well.

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • AS A DROP OF WATER WILL FIND THE SEA…

    It’s like this:

    Montauk Spring pushes out crystal clear water not too far from Salem, Missouri. It forms the headwaters of the Current River; arguably the greatest Ozark stream in the state. The most spring-fed of all rivers in the state, the cold and swift waters of the Current cover about 52 river miles before being joined by the pristine Jack’s Fork River. The widening Current river feeds into the Black River around Pocahontas, Arkansas, as the rolling Ozark mountain country gives way to flatlands. The Black River meets the wider White River near Jackson Port, Arkansas. Close to the Arkansas/Mississippi border the White River flows into the mighty Mississippi River around a place called Montgomery Point. And Old Man River meets the waters of the Gulf of Mexico somewhere near Venice, Louisiana.

    Water flow on this good Earth is resolute and relentless. A drop of water that emerges at Montauk Spring will make it to the sea. Barriers may block the flow for a time. Drought may lessen the flow. Humans may try to convince themselves they “control” the flow, only to have to deal with the next hundred year flood. The flow of water may be slowed, redirected, channeled, pooled, and even temporarily stopped. But water will find its way to the ocean. The Current River and waters it feeds existed before Salem, Pocahontas, Jackson Port, Montgomery Point, and Venice. And it will outlast them all. The flow is relentless and will not be denied.

    That’s what God is like. God’s love is not some passive, sentimental, benign thing. It is a persistent flow. It will push past denials, confinements, definitions, theologies, doctrines and all manner of things we humans use to try to dam it up. It pushed past the cross and death itself. It will not be denied. Like a drop of water moving to the sea, it will find a way. The love of God wins in the end.

    Every Ozark stream is a cathedral to me. (Especially the Current River, where I began my life as a river-rat 61 years ago.) I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • THE MAIN THING

    Few things divide people who call themselves Christians quite like how we view the Bible. Interpretations run a wide range. Some see the Bible as completely literal. Coming directly from God, it is all proscriptive, containing truth and commandment which are not limited to any particular era or context. Others see the Bible as containing both the literal and the allegoric. While some material is not true in an empirical sense, it all conveys God’s truth in some way. And its content cannot be fully understood apart from its original context. Whole church denominations have split over these differences, my own tribe included.

    (Both sides seem to dismiss the fact that the Jesus-following movement existed and thrived for some three centuries before the Bible as we now have it existed. But that’s a topic for another blog…)

    Regardless of where a Jesus-follower stands on all this, the main thing is fairly clear. When religious authorities asked Jesus of Nazareth what the greatest of commandments was, he answered with what Hebrew people know as “the Shema” – Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbors as yourselves. (See Matthew 22:35-40.) But Jesus didn’t stop there. He followed up his answer by stating, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The Greek verb literally means, “to suspend from.” Think of a hanging plant, filled with a diverse floral arrangement. Beautiful as the flowers may be on their own, it ceases to be a hanging plant without the hook from which it is suspended. The hook is the main thing. Jesus is saying that this, the Great Commandment is the main thing, defining all else. It is the lens through which all scripture is seen and interpreted. It is the standard by which all of the Bible will now be assessed.

    This is monumental. The Hebrew people had some 613 laws, statutes, and ordinances in what we now have as the Old Testament of the Bible. In my view, some of those laws were important, but temporary; for a particular time and situation in God’s history with the Hebrew people. For example, there are laws specifying treatment of slaves. We now discern that human beings owning other human beings as property is contrary to the heart of God. Some commandments are meant to be for all time, such as Deuteronomy 6:4-6, where the Shema is found. In either case, the crucified and risen Son of the Living God declares that the Great Commandment is the main thing, above all other.

    This means that in some instances the Great Commandment will override other commandments themselves. As evidence of that, there are clear commandments about observing the Sabbath and doing no work on that designated day. (See Exodus 20:8-11.) However, Jesus overrode that by healing on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:9-13.) Loving others as God loves us trumped doing no work on the Sabbath. The primary command superceded the letter of the law.

    The Great Commandment as the main thing can complicate matters, regardless of where one stands on debates about the Bible. However, it sets the missional stage for followers of Jesus: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35.) So, as an old friend named Larry Fagan frequently reminded me, the main thing is to keep the main thing as the main thing.

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • BULLETS AND BALLROOMS

    Violence is never the answer. No one should be a victim of gun violence, much less the President of the United States. As much as I oppose most of the policies and practices of Donald Trump, I am thankful that he and others were spared on Saturday night.

    At our president’s initiative, it has been suggested that a solution for this kind of thing would be his proposed ballroom addition to the White House. This would provide a secured 90k-square-foot space for large gatherings up to about a thousand people. Projected costs vary, but estimates seem to hover around $400,000,000. As I understand it, the plan is for this to be financed largely by private donors and corporations, though accessing public funds has not been ruled out.

    Most construction costs always end up higher than anticipated, so let’s just assume a half a billion dollars and do the math. What could $500m do in efforts to promote and ensure responsible, legal firearm ownership and use? How much impact could that kind of money have on at least making a dent in keeping illegal or illegally acquired weaponry out of the wrong hands? What could a half a billion dollars do to improve mental health care, which is way to expensive and too hard to access for many, if not most United States citizens? How could weak mental health systems be improved at least a little bit with that level of funding? What might a united, bi-partisan effort do to that end?

    But, sure – a gilded ballroom…

    For the thousands of victims of gun violence in our country and the thousands of people struggling with mental health issues who are on the streets, because there is nowhere else for them to go – where’s their protective ballroom? (Psalm 82:3-4, among dozens of other biblical references.)

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • FAITH IS MORE CAUGHT THAN TAUGHT

    What ultimately draws a person to become a follower of Jesus?

    In my lifetime I’ve witnessed two extreme approaches. In the faith tribe of my childhood church folks assumed that people would be drawn to churches by a “loving influence.” Somehow just being good, kind people would be enough. The name of Jesus was rarely mentioned and a specific invitation to him was never given. At the other end of the spectrum was the “in your face” approach. It was a barrage of “If you died right now, where would you spend eternity?”, delivered at used-car salesman pressure and intensity. The Christian did all the talking, and the non-Christian did all the listening. I see neither method having much success, as the number of self-identifying Christians in North America continues to decline. So what is missing, at any point on this “evangelizing” continuum?

    I may be over-simplifying it, but I think it’s blindingly obvious. People will not be drawn to Jesus by force. That just creates an assembly of Pavlov’s dogs. They will not be drawn by threat of judgment. People live in a sea of endless judgment already. They will not be drawn by biblical or theological correctness. I know plenty of Christians who are “right”, and I want nothing to do with them. Jesus himself made it clear: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35.) This is not just any love. This is the core love that is the very definition of God. This is the sacrificing love willing to endure the horror and the weight of the cross for the sake of the ones loved. This is inviting, welcoming, life-changing, liberating love, now and forever.

    And it is a chosen, active love. It is not laying back with some sort of benign “loving influence” presumption within the false security of church walls, then wondering why new people don’t show up. Nor is it a verbal, sign-on-the-dotted-line hard sell, just to run the numbers up. Words without complimentary actions are worse than meaningless.

    My wife Elaine and I are fortunate enough to be in a church striving to be Jesus-love with skin on it. Weekly our pastor keeps us focused on the primary mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. He challenges us to know that this mission cannot be kept inside a church building on Sunday mornings only. The destination is not the church; the destination is the mission field around us and those whom God deeply loves within it. Last Sunday after worship he led 114 people from our congregation out into hands-on service projects throughout our community, demonstrating and speaking of the love which is Jesus. We’re not a perfect church by any means. But the vision of being known by Jesus’ love is clear.

    Most things that are genuine and which last are more caught than taught. It’s the same with following Jesus.

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • WHAT IF…?

    These are two of the most powerful words in our language. Granted, “What if…?” can lead any of us into obsession over worst case scenarios. Conversely, though, “What if…?” can open up visions of previously unrealized possibilities. The examples throughout history are endless: What if enslaved Africans could become free American citizens? What if human beings could achieve flight? What if Hitler’s Fortress Europe could be invaded and liberated? What if polio could be eradicated? What if the four-minute mile could be broken? What if a computer could be held in the palm of a hand? Breaking the ceiling of these and millions of other impossible barriers began with somebody asking, “What if…?”

    Once I was part of a church fellowship whose vision of its future was redirected by asking two key questions: What if people making a commitment to follow Jesus and being baptized was normal on Sunday morning rather than the rare exception? Also, what if we had more people involved in hands on service outside of the walls of the church than inside it? The images evoked by these questions caused us to think about would need to happen in order for the visions to become realities. That guided our priorities and our steps moving forward. And both visions were realized in and through our congregation.

    My own story kind of follows a “What if…?” question. What if a deeply introverted, largely unknown, social wallflower who is indifferent to Jesus became a Jesus-follower who is a preacher and teacher, speaking to large groups of people thousands of times over a half century? It all started with a disarming, life-changing question.

    Not every “What if…?” results in redefining success. For every one that is transformative, thousands will go nowhere. But what if the one that sticks is worth it all the ones that don’t?

    Here’s one – what if an apparently unemployed, itinerant carpenter from some backwoods town, without any theological credentials actually became the risen, conquering Lord?

    So where in your life do you need to ask, against all odds, “What if…?”

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

  • WHERE’S MY ARMY?

    Twice a week I spend a good bit of the morning at a favorite coffee shop. It is a faith-based business. They don’t beat you over the head with it, but the good news of Jesus and a positive welcome are very much in the atmosphere. This includes background music. While sipping my latte and doing some writing the other morning, Lauren Daigle’s “I Will Rescue you” was played I’ve heard this tune for years; it’s very encouraging.

    Part of the chorus Lauren sings is, “I (God) will send out an army to find you, in the middle of the darkest night, it’s true – I will rescue you.” Immediately my thoughts went to a close friend of ours who is in his darkest night. A blinding, paralyzing combination of illness, isolation, discouragement, and hopelessness defines his every day. He sees no way out, and prayer and determined presence seems all any of us can offer him. In sudden defiance I heard myself blurting out, “Where’s his army?!?” This has been a years-long struggle for him. If the song’s words are true, what’s stalling his army in his darkest night?

    Yes, I know all the theories and explanations of unjust suffering and unanswered prayer. I’ve preached and taught many of them. Many are strong, Christ-centered, and biblically sound. But all the theologies and theories are of little value if you’re in your deepest, deadliest valley and your promised army isn’t there.

    In the last post I spoke of Holocaust victim Betsie ten Boom, who died at the Ravensbruck concentration camp in 1944. Somehow she had an unshakable faith in the coming army, even though she might not live to see it. Reportedly she thanked God and praised God for the fleas infesting their living quarters, because the vermin kept the guards from wanting the enter the space. This gave the inmates the protection and time to gather around the Bible and worship each evening. Maybe she saw the infestation as the advance guard of the army God was sending. Maybe it was enough for Betsie that God’s army would come for others, even if not for her. I don’t know…

    I do know this: If you are in the darkest night, and the good news of the active, transforming presence of a risen Jesus feels like like a far-away, fanciful panacea for others and not for you, then we who claim to be Jesus-followers are not doing it right. If our presence does not feel like the advance guard of an army coming to rescue you, that’s on us; not on you.

    We’re not giving up our friend. As weak a vanguard as we may be, we’re determined to hold ground. We will be present, even in the darkest night, no matter how long it lasts. Even when we see no evidence of it, we will cling to a God who rescues.

    I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.

    (Recommended reading: GOD ON MUTE by Pete Greig.)