Blog – Page 14 – Chandler Warren

What’s Going On

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to post here. Last night I submitted my last essay for the term. I have two final exams in December, and then I’ll be halfway through my degree. Although I’m just a month from Christmas break and the wedding, I’ve got plenty to do in the mean time. This post is really just to describe what’s going on in my life for the next few weeks.

Projects

In terms of writing projects, I have plenty to do. I am working on several different papers to submit for publication and essay contests. (I’m currently reading Philosophical Fragments by Søren Kierkegaard over and over again, and I’d encourage everyone to give it a chance, with a helpful commentary by your side!) I’m also writing a book review for a blog affiliated with St. Mary’s College. And I’m reading for and writing my research proposal for PhD applications. And last, but certainly not least, I’m working on some new content for the website!

New Blog Content

Although this website has my name on it, I’d like to share content from other people. I’m not the only person doing research, ministry, or living life, so I thought it would be nice to talk to some other people about their experiences and thoughts on any and every topic that they can share on. Look forward to seeing some new interview content on the blog soon! If you know any interesting people that may want to share some of their thoughts on a given topic, please let me know!

I think that’s about all that is going on with me right now (besides spending time with friends and having American Thanksgiving in Scotland). Leave a comment or message me what’s going on in your life right now! And subscribe to the blog if you’re interested in seeing more content in the future! (You can do that to the right of this post.)

London, Friends, and Essay Writing

Last week the university had independent reading week which means I didn’t have class. Taking advantage of this freedom in my schedule, I spent a few days with friends in London. I returned to write an essay, and realized that I needed to change my topic just a few days before the due date. I just turned it in a couple nights ago. I hope I can catch up on sleep in the next few days.

After a six hour train ride across England, I arrived in London. Having spent the last couple months in a small town, I forgot how fast paced life can be. Immediately I became one of millions hopping on the tube from King’s Cross to a little borough in NE London where I stayed with some friends. They even had a piece of OBU for me to enjoy my coffee in…

I randomly, or providentially, attended The Village Church’s two year birthday service! It was great to celebrate a place and a gathering of people which was my home during a formational time in my life. Enjoy the pictures!

I don’t know who to credit for taking this, but it’s a great picture!

After a great Sunday with amazing people, Five Guys for lunch the next day, and a visit to the 30th floor of the Barclays Bank building, I went on the Christian Heritage Tour in London with an Oklahoman friend (who happens to be from London originally).

Joy, the Oklahoma from London visiting her homeland.

An image from John Newton’s church. There’s a cafe operating in the foyer.

A page from John Wesley’s personal journey in front of The Museum of London.

I had to get some Caffe Nero while in London.

After a fun, relaxing trip to see friends in London, I made my way back up the countryside to good ole Scotland. After getting some rest, I set about to get an essay written for the following Monday. I had done some reading and research while in London, but I realized Friday that I had to throw it all out. It wasn’t going to work. Providentially, I had received a free book from one of my professors that had some information related to the topic. I opened it hoping to find an essay that would connect. There it was. I read it. I disagreed with it. I wrote an essay about it, and I turned it in a couple nights ago. Now I just need to catch up on some sleep before the next one.

The West Sands

Have you ever seen Chariots of Fire? If you have, then you probably remember the opening scene where they run across the beach with the inspiring music playing in the background. If you haven’t, then go search for “chariots of fire opening scene” and watch a clip of it. I’ve heard more about that one scene sine I’ve lived in St. Andrews than I have about that entire movie in my life. Why? That scene was filmed on the West Sands in St. Andrews. I had been on the West Sands before, but I had not actually walked up to the most northern point of it. This last Saturday I joined my friend Leif to walk the beach, and because it was a beautiful day, I thought I would share some pictures and videos.

This is probably my favorite picture from the day.

Here one can see the town of St. Andrews from the beach.

I’m on the left with Leif on the right.

Radical Forgiveness and Love

It was only a little over a day ago when I saw the video being shared from ABC News of Botham Jean’s brother forgiving his brother’s killer (Amber Guyger). If you’re unfamiliar with the story, I won’t try to retell it. You can look at the news article that I have linked below; as someone not trained in journalism, I would rather not accidentally include or exclude certain details. What I will say is this: it was a terrible incident that led to outrage in various communities.

However, I don’t want to comment on the legal, moral, or racial issues surrounding this story. I want to focus on that video I mentioned before. In that video, a brave young man shared his heart and soul in front of a courtroom of grieving people including his own family and to an international audience. Looking on his brother’s killer, Brandt Jean admitted that he didn’t want Guyger to go to jail. He wants what’s best for, and he forgives her and loves her. He wants the same thing for her that he says his brother Botham would have wanted; he wants her to accept Christ. After repeating this, he leaves the stand to hug Guyger with audible tears being shed throughout the courtroom.

If you watch that video, you will see what I can only describe as radical forgiveness and love. That cannot have been easy for him. I cannot imagine being in his place and being able to say those words. I can hardly watch it without tearing up. Looking at comments on social media, it becomes clear that some people think that she doesn’t deserve it. Many people think that he shouldn’t have done this. But I don’t think for a second they’ll change his mind. When someone does something so astounding, it’s hard for the world to understand. When someone shows love and forgiveness to the least deserving person in their life, the world may call them crazy or misguided, but God calls them blessed. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

This act was a fulfillment of the ministry done for us and given to us by God: the ministry of reconciliation. Paul writes:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:16-21; emphasis mine).

I honestly cannot get that young man’s act of love out of my head. It convicts me. Could I do the same? It confuses me. Is this really what love is? It calls me. Go and do likewise. I cannot watch that video and not see Jesus. Following in his footsteps, the judge went to Guyger before she was taken away after her sentencing. She went to her and gave her, what was reported to be, her personal Bible. She read her John 3:16, and she told her to start by reading the gospel according to John. She told her that God loves her and has a plan for her. She, like Botham Jean’s brother, embraced her. What another beautiful act of Jesus-love. We cannot forget that radical forgiveness and love are the means by which God’s kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.

For the news story, http://abcn.ws/2puWKDl.

A Place to be Loved

I have been reflecting on the church a lot recently. I thought about the church quite a bit before, but for the past eight months, I have really thought deeply about the theological underpinnings of the church and its purpose in Christian life. It has framed the Scripture that I’ve read, and it has occupied my vacant hours. I cannot stop thinking about it: the church.

Church Isn’t Perfect

Many people have bad experiences with the church. I don’t want to discredit those. Sadly, churches as institutions can become prone to institutionalizing sin with drastic, painful, and sometimes truly evil consequences. Other people do not have such extremely negative experiences of church; in fact, they have no “extreme” experiences of church whether good or bad. They have neutral or apathetic feelings about the church. They would rather go to a place where people are just a little friendlier or nicer, where the music is just a little bit better, and the preaching is a little more polished. Or they would rather sit at home avoiding the mediocrity of their local church.

Despite some bad experiences and some apathy-enducing experiences, I remain quite hopeful—some might even say unrealistically optimistic. I rest in God’s gracious decision to give us the church and his desire that we should be a part of it. So what’s the church?

What Is Church?

Without getting too deep into any explanation of how I understand church, I’ll just say that the Greek ecclesia is better translated “gathering” or “assembly” than “church”. Because the term assembly makes me think of grade school assemblies, I opt for the former definition/translation. Simply put, I see the church as the occurrence of Jesus-people being gathered together for any of a number of Christian practices (even practices as simple as fellowship). Again, I don’t want to get into debates about the “true church”. I’ll say simply that I think my idea of church is at least partly, if not wholly, consistent with Calvin’s idea of the true church.

Therefore, the church is Jesus-people gathered. This brings me to the title of this blog, “a place to be loved.” Perhaps a better title for my intention is “a people to be loved by.” Jesus commands his followers to love each other like he loved them, and he said that everyone will know them as his followers by the love they have for each other (John 13:34-35). This theme is apparent in John’s first letter, and it is a major theme in Paul’s letters. The whole New Testament (really the whole Bible) is enamored with the claim that God is love and that we are to be people filled with love and practicing love to everyone! Thus I think the church is a people to be loved by, and when your church meets in a specific building or house or park, that space becomes a sacred place to be loved.

What Is Love?

I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to say what I think about love. I won’t be as bold to say that there is a definition of love in Scripture, but there are plenty of examples.

Love is not just a feeling. Love is active; you might even say love is an activity. In describing love, Paul writes:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

That may be one of the most beautiful paragraphs ever written. It is written in the context of the church. It is written to bring unity to the Corinthian gathering and focus them on the love that should exist at the foundation of their church. Paul does not tell them how love makes them feel gushy or happy or joyful, but he describes it in terms of actions. Love is completely and utterly active; hence, when Jesus tells us to love God, we are to do it by four different acts only one of which could be construed as the act of having an emotion. He also tells us to love our neighbor as we want to be loved. I think very, very few people want to be loved by people who have a passive emotion that is never related to them. They want to be loved by people who make it apparent with the action of love!

A Place to be Loved; or, A People to be Loved by

As James K.A. Smith observes in his book You Are What You Love, humans are at their core loving creatures. We will find something or someone to love whether it is right or not. We also need to be loved by someone else. God loves us, and he often chooses to use his people to show us this love. The gathering of Jesus-people is supposed to be a hotbed for experiencing God’s love. If you don’t feel God’s love in your local gathering, have you considered when the last time you took the opportunity to love the people around you? Start with the man/woman in the mirror. Love one another.