What Was From The Beginning

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the Word of Life…

Picture the apostles, the struggle and responsibility. How to communicate the truth of their life-changing relationship with Jesus? Inspired by God, yes. Still, they were faced with the challenge of explaining what they had seen and experienced while Jesus was with them, and all that they had come to understand about the infinite breadth of God’s love for us. Far away from those other believers struggling to understand, somehow, the apostles had to speak the truth of it – in writing. Did they think, “How much will they really understand? How much can we hope for?” They wrote, and covered their words in prayer.

I hesitate to write about being a Christian and a writer. Even after forty-some years of trying to do it creatively, twenty of those semi-professionally, I still consider myself a novice. I feel the same about my relationship to the Word of Life. The two are bound up together and inextricably linked. I want both to be whole and healing, but how much can I hope for in this life?

…and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us…

How to communicate the seminal experience of your life, to those who have known only a fraction of the same experience, if at all? The apostles came to understand God’s eternal nature, His power, love, and sovereign goodwill toward us, as they walked the earth with God manifested – with the man, Jesus. They saw Him, touched Him, spoke with Him, heard the words from His own lips. They loved Him as a friend before they loved Him as their God. “You can, all of you, have this same rich experience of God,” they seem to be saying. “Listen! You can know this fellowship, too, and for an eternity.

Do I feel like such a novice because I’ve barely begun? Will I continue to ponder and illuminate my eternal relationship with the Word of Life through a heavenly version of creative writing...forever? Will I continue to improve, always increasing in understanding? “Further up and further in.” Infinitely? A heartening thought, that endless possibility.

...that we have seen and heard and proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

It seems the apostles never stopped trying, even to the point of death, to explain what their experience of Jesus and His death and resurrection mean for all of us. In every way they could think of – metaphorically, poetically, creatively, scholarly, in simple language and lawerly, sometimes just the straight, unvarnished facts – no holds barred, all genres employed, to communicate the truth. They believed that these things they wrote, and the results of their writing, completed what was begun the day they met Jesus.

A God who knows us and wants to be known by us is a miraculous thing - it is almost unbelievable. It is also the only thing that makes sense, our only cure, and our only way home. It seems I, too, am compelled to keep trying to explain the joy and freedom I have found in this fellowship with the Word of Life. I struggle to do it in every way I know how, in my relationships, my work, as I “come in and go out,” as I write. There isn’t just one way. It doesn’t have to be chapter and verse. Except sometimes. Sometimes it does. These things I write, so that my joy may be made complete.

Lola 2

This is the second in a series, catch the first one in the archives on the right to catch up!

 Personally, one of the things I most love about God is His incredible creative genius. We, being created in His image, are also made to create. When I see what we humans come up with, imperfect as it is, it makes me happy. It makes me glorify God. I can honestly say, part of what’s going on when I’m enjoying The Kinks’ song, Lola, is that I admire the creativity it exhibits, and it makes me think about the Creator who created the creator who created Lola.

  I don’t have this experience with all art. There is a lot of really bad art out there – a surprising percentage of which is created expressly to mock God and another percentage that’s created to do the opposite, but because it isn’t well thought out or true, it ends up mocking God all the same. However, I don’t believe this is true of Lola, or of a lot of “secular” art in general. Yes, I believe that God would probably be grieved at the lifestyle and culture that a song like Lola comes out of, and I should be, too. But Lola doesn’t glorify the lifestyle – in fact, part of the genius of the song is that it makes fun of itself. 

   It tells a story that people have loved in all its different forms for more than a thousand years – the country rube goes to the city, and he thinks he’s all that, because he got away from the sticks-in-the-mud in his small town. Practically the minute he gets off the bus, he makes a huge mistake due to his ego, stupidity and naïveté, that most people (including the audience) could see coming a mile away. Ultimately, the mistake leads to greater self-knowledge.

  

 By 1970, this story has been told a hundred different ways – everyone has heard it more than once. Yet, Ray Davies takes it and sets it to the bizarre chorus of the life he found himself in. With one bold, humorously self-effacing song he and his mates exhibit a cutting edge musical style, an amazing set of lyrics, and an astute commentary on society in general. I would say that’s worth admiring and, yes, even emulating.  Because there isn’t much new under the sun, and if Christian artists were striving to do what the Kinks did, and setting it to the chorus of their lives in Christ, think what kind of art we Christians would be producing. It’d be different than most of what we have currently – it would be better.

“…Girls will be boys and boys will be girls.

It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world…”

  The words still apply. Seriously, I’d rather not struggle with this. I’d much rather play it safe.  It wouldn’t kill me if I never heard Lola again. I could go all Amish and walk away from pop culture altogether, it would be easy. I have that kind of personality – I home school my kids – I’m half-way there already.

  Except…except…Jesus never played it safe. Not once that I know of. It seems like most Christian artists are happy to do so, though. We’re pretty sure we know what we shouldn’t do, but that doesn’t get us anywhere until we hit on what we should be doing. Kind of reminds me of some other lyrics, by another of my favorite bands, 

“…The trouble is

We don’t know who we are instead…”

  I could walk away from Lola and all of pop culture, but that wouldn’t change anything, because I’d still be the girl who loves Lola. Isn’t that the heart of it – my desire? If Lola is wrong to listen to, it’s not that there needs to be less Lola in the world – there just needs to be less Lisa.

Thanks to Erika and her friends for the awesome picture!