Yes, a few weeks have passed since I first pounded out that description of my housemates, our mission, and my reluctance to start blogging. I know: I’m going to have to get more disciplined if I’m going to be a successful blogger, but hey, I’m working on it.
This post is actually a reflection on a conversation a handful of us had during our first week in the house. We had little furniture save for some wooden kitchen chairs, but we all gathered in the second floor living room over a dinner of chicken parm to watch the Celtics (a week or so before their heartbreaking Game Seven loss). So my exact recollection of it might not be 100 percent accurate, but I still find myself pondering and questioning the themes we discussed that evening. I think it has important implications for our mission in the house and on Earth, so I wanted to relay it to you readers as a kickoff.
As we watched Pierce & Co dominate the court, one roommate asked if we thought sports and athletic competition were part of God’s original plan for humanity, if they fit into the vision He had with the creation of and life in the Garden of Eden. I think the immediate answer is no. But I also believe God has followed us throughout the ages to still make His voice known and His kingdom come, despite modern technological and societal advances that people have come up with in the meantime.
My suspicion is that world is far from what God intended it to be when He first put things together in paradise. Humans have strayed from perfect communion with God, into a land of pride, greed, selfishness, anger, jealousy---you name it. These negative emotions, motivations, and forces worked their way into society long before our modern world came into being. And there are plenty of things that have since evolved along the way that aren’t inherently bad, but probably weren’t part of God’s original design. Highways, iPhones, the Internet, high fashion, political parties, top-tier universities, investment banks, skyscrapers, credit cards, and yes, professional sports leagues are just a few of the things I can think of that wouldn’t have come into being if we had all stuck to the initial plan.
Clearly things have gone a different way. But, I don’t think that God’s spirit of love, grace, redemption, forgiveness, and compassion can’t infiltrate these modern day entities. One of my favorite Bible stories summing up this idea of good coming from bad is illustrated in Genesis 50:20 (a story that was brought to life for me in another REUNION sermon).
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
This was said by Joseph, when he met face-to-face with his brothers years after they had beaten and sold him into slavery in a jealous rage. This act of violence and familial betrayal was undoubtedly a departure from the ideal vision God had for these brothers and how they would relate to each other. But it also turned out to be a blessing that put Joseph in pharaoh’s inner circle, giving him access to resources that could spare and save his family once massive famine hit. Powered by God’s love and forgiveness, Joseph brought life and shalom to a place where things weren’t exactly the way they ought to be. (Read Genesis for the full story; my few bullet points definitely aren’t doing this redemption story justice, but I hope they work for the point I’m trying to make.)
Not all of us have had experiences of pain and backstabbing that rival Joseph’s, but I think we can all recognize instances of where things in our lives and world have gone astray. And I’m not saying that God was chipper about the hatred Joseph’s brothers enacted on him, or that He’s thrilled about all the things that have been created to counter His perfect nature; I’m just saying God is bigger than all of that. That’s what the resurrection is about. God has done things that have accomplished His will through objects and structures that were created for reasons far from honoring and growing close to Him.
And I believe this carries over to the institutions that even stand against God’s idealized vision for how humanity was meant to relate to Him and to each other. I believe God can be seen by a famous athlete who conducts himself with dignity and composure, to bring peace to a culture that was originally created largely out of the desire to prove one’s superiority over another. I believe God’s kingdom can be furthered in products powered by modern technology, when those gadgets are used to bring water to the thirsty and food to the hungry. I believe God can be present in the boardroom of a massive financial services institution, when the people who work there treat each other with compassion and honesty. Yes, there are aspects of each one of these entities that stand against the kingdom of God, but when they are powered by people looking to become more like Christ, those smears become vehicles for redemption. I believe that what God did on the cross and in the resurrection was so big that its fruits can stomp out the self-seeking motives that are at the root of most of the things around us today.
I’m fairly certain my job at a technology news blog isn’t anything that can be found in the first few chapters of Genesis, but I am compelled to figure out what it means to live as a reflection of who God is at my workplace. I don’t think our steel-and-concrete, grid-lined city neighborhood looks like the tree-laden Garden of Eden, but I believe my roommates and I are challenged to figure out how we can bring the peace, joy, patience, grace, and love of God to a place born of centuries of man going astray.
So little in our world is perfect and spotless, but my prayer is that God can use us in bringing His resurrection to this place nonetheless. I don’t have to know exactly how to do this, but I do have to believe God is capable and ask Him to use me in His restoration.
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