The Blueprint

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - Galatians 5:13-14

The words above are citing an Old Testament text in Leviticus where God is telling Moses a huge laundry list of laws. You know, back when God spoke to those who believed in God. I'd be nice to have that open of communication with God in today's world, but we have iPod's, which is nice.

This law is more familiar because Jesus pimped it in the New Testament book of Matthew after he was asked by a religious leader which was the most important commandment. Jesus answered that loving God with everything you have was the most important, following that up with the gem above coming a close second.

I love these verses. It's like Jesus is giving us cliff notes to the Bible, it's laws and teachings, as well as a blueprint on how to live our lives. Humankind most often doesn't follow the cheat sheet laid out by God. But it's comforting to know that in the end, if you love God and those around you, you are following God's #1 and #2 laws. Not bad for something that is human nature to do. Love others. Your neighbor may be different, believe in different values, and have political differences. But God calls us to love that neighbor. Hugs not drugs, kids.

Reading: Cobb [Nature]

Cobb investigates human nature as well as the nature of human expression, not only describing the human as a "pleasure seeking bricoleur" but confronting the tension between our fascination and "sheer delight in the simulacra that now compose the world" which can temporarily satisfy, with our awareness that acquisitions are, in the end, not enough.

Our desire for spiritual transcendence outside the realm of institutional religion becomes, in fact, the motivation behind our various simulations and creative inventions. We need first-hand experience. We want a reality that goes below the surface, beyond simulacra. And yet in order to touch the invisible we attempt to manufacture tangible facsimiles. Skin and clothes seem inseparable.


WHAT'S IN THE BOX!?! I love how Cobb brings up the films of Nolan and Minghella and how they reflect human nature, but a curiously absent was the counter argument and viewpoint of how human nature is inherently sinful after sin was introduced into the world after the Garden. The "pleasure seeking bricoleur" is of an inherently sinful human nature is perfectly emulated in David Fincher's Se7en. As I continued to read, I kept waiting for Cobb to bring up the flick as a negative point of view of human nature. But it never came.

Reading: Bevans [Anthropological]

Bevans busts out his spin on the anthropological model of contextual theology in Chapter 5 of his MP520 opus. Even before I learned about the details and theories like the anthropological model in my studies here at Fuller, I had an understanding that I was a unique creation of God's with my own path on Earth. Maybe I didn't understand that the method involved terms like "human nature" or "human culture." And I certainly didn't [and probably still don't] know what it meant to be "fully human." That being said, one could look at the war, hate, and ugliness on the Earth and claim the goodness of humanity is damned. Of course, on the flip side, another could argue there is goodness in love, faith, hope, and progress made each day. Is your glass half full or half empty?