Posts Tagged: a marginalized God
“A Marginalized God”
Many New Testament scholars have noted Jesus’ ministry to those on the margin: women, the poor, and so on. Luke is especially insistent about Jesus caring for those whom society considered outsiders.
Those of us who believe that Jesus was God embodied believe that Jesus’ concern for those who are outsiders reflects the very heart of God. Even if you believe that Jesus was only a great man, prophet, or teacher, but not God-in-the-flesh, you probably hope that there is a God like that—a God who cares for the outsider. And don’t we all sometimes at least feel like outsiders?
But what if God Himself is marginalized? What if God is the Ultimate Outsider? That God is love is an old idea. Yes, it is ever fresh and deep, but it has been around for a very long time. And the idea that God loves especially those who are not loved by others is an old and venerable idea as well. And if we believe that God loves those on the margins, we might extrapolate to our own responsibility: We also are called to love outsiders. But God being marginal? That’s a new idea—or at least it is to me.
Now you may say, “Wait a minute! Isn’t God the center of everything? How could the creator and sustainer of the universe be considered marginal?”
The simple answer is “Yes, God is the Center.” But, as with almost all simple yeses, this yes must be nuanced. In this case, nuance means asking myself questions that I don’t want to ask, because I already know the answers and don’t like them. Here are the questions: Is God an outsider to me? Do I marginalize God? Do I sometimes (often?) act as if there is no God? Am I, practically speaking, an atheist?
My own belief is that faith is not simply a matter of the intellect, the emotions, and the will. Faith is action as well. So the question that cuts like a knife is this: Do my actions suggest that God is in the center of my life or on the margins of my life?
Oh God, you are The Center. Help me to treat you that way today. Please.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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