Evolution & the Holy Spirit & church

There are lots of ways to see how "church" and "God's plans" change over time.  Also, there are lots of ways people have interpreted how God's plan/the church is "supposed to be".  Here are summaries or large generalizations of some I've heard over the years.  

1. God put the Bible in place (through mainly sinful and likely lost people) and it's our job to figure out what God's intentions for us are through the correct interpretation of "the Bible".  The truth that is "the Bible" is like a seed that, regardless of where it's planted, it will grow and produce the exact same plant, anywhere on the planet.  

Like if a seed gets stuck on the wheel on the landing gear of an airplane in Chicago and then, when landing, it drops off the wheel in Hong Kong and lands in the dirt, that seed will germinate and grow and be identical to the plant in Chicago that it originated from.

And with that idea in mind, a person is supposed to be honest and selfless in their reading of that "seed" or truth they find in the Bible.  And IF they are, they will get it right and do the right things and believe the right things and be "good with God".  If they are not honest and truth seeking, they'll get it wrong and be lost forever.

Correct interpretation will then include believing the right things and practicing the right things about how to do worship services, how to believe about salvation/baptism/works, how to believe about who is allowed to do what inside of "worship services", which version of the Bible best represents the truth, and so on.

There are basically moral sins and sins of belief.  Immoral sex, "bad greed", being deceitful, etc are moral sins.  Thinking or practicing wrong when in comes to how to think about God, good vs evil, or what to do inside of a worship service are sins of belief.

Right relationship with God is achieved through purity of belief and behavior.  The day you die is when the weight of your good versus bad is placed on a balance scale and if your good outweighs your bad, you get to go to heaven and (options exist) then: a) do whatever you want for all eternity or b) worship God in a kind of eternal church service for all eternity.  "Just a closer walk with thee..."

2. God made the Bible and it contains truth about life, guiding principles for interacting with himself and all people, and really good and practical suggestions for how to live in such a way that you'll experience the best life.

Sin is anything that "messes with" or disrupts the good, ideal relationship we can have with God, each other, and the world around us.  Salvation is living by the principles laid out in scripture and living your best life now in proportion to how well you understand and follow God's principles.

Christians or "the church" are to be a place, literally, where people gather and remind each other about those principles and apply appropriate encouragement or rebuke to each other so as to maintain the pure truth about the principles, how they're lived out, etc.

This has been the general plan from the first century. Inside this general plan, different church groups or organizations have grown or developed as they evolved in the wide ranging physical, economic, and social circumstances they found themselves in.  

God is "in" all the groups in relationship to how well they are following the plan and the principles.  Even when groups disagree and splinter off, God is at work in that to create new collections that will be able to adapt and flourish in emerging environments.

God is mainly about helping humanity be in relationship with each other and being peaceful and not causing problems with each other.  "All you need is love!  Love is all you need."

3. God made humanity as a featured part of what we know as creation/the universe.  Early on, humanity chose, when given the option, to choose to know what God knew - good and evil - under the assumption that their life and existence would be better.  

We don't know if God was going to give them that knowledge later, at a more appropriate time, or if they were simply breaching a barrier that was never intended.  Either way, there were consequences to their choice.

Instead of living in blissful unawareness of how well they were taken care of in The Garden, God allowed them to see and experience more fully behind the scenes of how creation works - to feel, to struggle, to work, to suffer, and to do so without his special presence they knew before.

And he left them.  They "died" spiritually.  If they wanted to know it all like he knows it all, he stepped back to let them do it on their own.  And that's the story of The Fall, Adam and Eve, etc.  And from there, all the way through the Old Testament, God still was there and was around and allowed people to reach out to him if they wanted to and communicated with anyone who wanted to know him.

He set up or allowed different kinds of interactions, many of which we may never know about because "the Bible" only records a certain collection of people over time. Through that one collection of people, God worked out a plan that was set in motion before The Fall, but that would be hidden until the time was right.  

He called a person who would make a tribe and that tribe would grow exponentially, becoming a nation.  That people and nation would be shaped through some of the hardest experiences humanity could bear. They would learn a way of life that, while a blessing, was impossible to keep up - on purpose.

They would experience blessing and curse.  And when all hope seemed lost and the plan seemed finished, God himself showed up in an unexpected way.  He was born as a person in the middle of this people he shaped and developed.

He would grow up and teach "the way", but even more stronger than anyone could bear - to make a point to them/us that a relationship with him was and is a gift.  Sure, you can work yourself into an early grave to "make God happy with you", but you're always gonna "fall short".

And to punctuate his point, he allowed himself to be killed by "his own people" and then NOT kill them all for it, but instead say, "I forgive you because you have no idea what's going on." In addition to forgiveness, he went a massive step further and he puts his spirit into anyone who would "receive" him and walks with them through life.  

The first people who "got this" grew together, wrote a bunch of stuff down that God still uses to share the larger story of what he's doing and that written record is a part of the ongoing relationship we have, walking together with God - learning, growing, flourishing, etc..

And that walking together results in him offering them guidance and peace if they want it and change how they think from "this life is all there is and I have to work for it all" to "life is more than just what is around me, there's a spiritual side as well and that spiritual side is a person who can integrate it all together for now and forever".

There are parts of the way of life he taught through his "chosen people" that still are helpful and beneficial for living, generally speaking, but they're no longer "the path" to an actual, good relationship with God.

People that believe this POV live by God's Spirit and do life together with God and other people. "Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own."

Again, that's just three very overgeneralized pictures of the whole shooting match.  And that's just from the Judeo-Christian POV.

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"So, what?  Why'ah'ya bringing all that up?"

Behind most people's religious experience is a larger story or meta-narrative that is the software that runs whatever religious system we're engaged in.

Most churches don't talk about this stuff because it will mess up their system, getting the bills paid, keeping community growing smoothly, etc.

And I get that.  

At the same time, "the witness" to the world, of many churches, is absent because they can't explain what it is they believe or think about larger issues.  

It's kind of like they don't even believe it themselves.  They do, but it's such a hot topic and they feel way too inadequate to talk about it, especially with outsiders who have hard questions.

"So, let's just sing the next Chris Tomlin song or tune into K-Love and look forward to the next Max Lucado book.  

Don't listen to the doubters, just keep coming each week, putting on a smile (or tears if that's what's programmed for the day's service), and giving."

It's way easier do # 1 - it's super cut and dried.  # 2 is what most churches I see trying to live by, even those that are growing out of # 1, usually secretly so they don't frustrate the monied people in their group who are still mentally camped at # 1.  Many good places I know are a combination of all three. 

And yes, I know my three generalizations aren't balanced at all.

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Now, I realize I'm being a bit of a jerk with how I'm describing the above.  Again, I'm overgeneralizing for a purpose.

I don't hate church or believers.  I do believe there is great value in being part of a formal church just like I believe there's great value in being a part of an informal church, etc.

I'm just recounting some of the big picture ideas I've been working through and trying not to hide them from myself, much less people in general.

I do believe in God.  

I do believe in Jesus and the good news that comes through him. 

I do believe in the people he has made, and is always making - those that he calls together to encourage one another and grow together in a different way of life with him.

And, like the flowers and leaves all around me that are unfolding and blooming in season and in their own time, there is always more coming...