Why the naked guy?

As I was reading the gospel of Mark this morning, I came across a familiar and baffling passage. It is just after Judas comes and betrays Jesus and the mob comes and takes him away. Mark 14:51-53 is given the auspicious subtitle "A Young Man Flees" but basically it states that a guy follows the mob and then runs away, leaving his linen cloth covering behind. Here are the verses:

"And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked." Mark 14:51-53 ESV

Thats all. The passage ends there and the next few verses deal with Jesus before the High Priest. It seems so random. It seems superfluous in the unfolding drama of the week of Jesus' death. Apparently some scholars believe this young man to be the apostle John. I don't know what reasoning was used to posit this however. But Calvin and Matthew Henry both agree that it is placed in the text to show how unruly the mob was. They are so out of control that they pick on a defenseless young man in order to humiliate him. This reasoning seems better than the John interpretation, but it still doesn't seem to make that much sense.

I thought of another interpretation that could be plausible. It seems to me that the point of the few verses that precede verse 51 is to show that everyone is deserting Jesus. Vs. 50 states "And they all left him and fled." The next verses are the one's about the young man. Perhaps the young man is one of Jesus' disciples who just takes a little bit longer to flee him. Perhaps he followed behind the crowd, interested in knowing what was happening to his Teacher so long as he was not identified. The moment that he was noticed, however, he ran away because he was unwilling to endure the same suffering as Jesus. I don't know if this is remotely correct, but it seemed to fit the context somewhat better.

I'm Changing...but reluctatantly

Right now, I am beginning to import my entire cd collection into itunes. It will be a long, boring process. For ten years or so I have been collecting music on cds. I estimate that I have nearly 200 full length (and store bought not burned) CDs in my collection. I am frustrated by the digital music movement that will soon make compact discs obsolete. There are two main reasons why I don't like digital music:

Reason 1: It causes the artists to make less money for their work. This is primarily because it is so much easier to burn and share music. Because it is so much easier to share, they have had to lower the price of songs so that people will be more likely to buy the music. It is frustrating to hear people's excuses for sharing/burning (especially Christians). People... pirating music is nothing less than STEALING. My favorite excuse is what I like to call the Robin Hood Excuse. This is when people say that they only burn music from artists who are really successful and who "don't need the money." This is no more appropriate than saying that it is OK to steal money from Bill Gates because he is successful at making it. Stealing is Stealing and there is no way around it.

Reason 2: I'm sad that I will soon not be able to buy cds for the mere pleasure of it. One of my favorite things to do is to drive to a store to buy a cd. I love to open up a cd (yes even with the frustrating plastic sticky stuff), look at the artwork inside, read the lyrics and place it into my cd player to listen to on the way home. Its a great experience. I also love that I have an entire album of a band's work. Its cool to see all of the songs that they include on an album and in what order they placed them.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with digital music in general. I will submit myself to the power of technology and start downloading (legally). Its just that I fell in love with music by means of the compact disk and I am sad to see it go.

This is sad

This is the list of books that I have started to read this semester but have not yet finished:

The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (Piper)
The Pursuit of God (Tozer)
Called to the Ministry (Clowney)
Atlas Shrugged (Rand)
A Long Obdience in The Same Direction (Peterson)
Knowing God (Packer)
Understanding Dispensationalists (Poythress)
Creation Regained (Wolters)

There is absolutely no excuse for this. I am starting to realize that, if I'm honest, much of my "desire" to read is basically just a desire to "have read" something. I want to be able to say that I have read something so that I can hold my own in a theological discussion. I am looking to break down books into a couple of sentences so that I can either praise it or refute it and feel comfortable with myself. It is just striking to me how I can flit from one subject to another, and think that I growing spiritually. Shame.

Another look at CCM

I, like many of the people in my circles, have gagged on the sweet, money making sounds of contemporary Christian music. I get frustrated when I listen to a Christian station. I hear songs that are basically "I" centered and have little or no theological or otherwise Biblical content.

However, I have recently been drawn to what I consider to be a subgroup within CCM. I have a close friend who also serves the Church by leading worship and he recently showed me some incredible music written by popular worship leaders. There are, of course, bands that travel around and basically use our sub-Christian culture to generate profit. But there are also worship leaders that serve at local churches that produce good music. Some examples: David Crowder, Matt Redman, Travis Cottrell.

These guys are solid. I might not like everything that they produce and, stylistically, I might not always approve, but I can't really say that I always approve of Indelible Grace's style either. The main point is that these guys drive me to worship. They make me want to put my heart into leading people in worship. They show me that God is glorified when we work hard to make new arrangements and make our music sound excellent with skillful playing and good production. I'm not ready to say that I like CCM...but I do like worship leaders who are proactive and intentional about worship.

A "Christian" Paradigm

From time to time I have these realizations that, being in college, I really am supposed to be learning something. Sometimes I get so used to routine that I forget that the point of an education is to get educated. I realize at these times that I have a further responsibility, as a Christian, to process my education in terms of the gospel.

So lately I have been contemplating some ideas that were expressed in my Intro to Communication Research Methods class and I have been trying to process them Christianly. This class deals with how research is conducted in the field of communications (my new major...see post below). A large section of the class is devoted to what is called research paradigms. These paradigms guide the researcher in how and why he/she conducts research. The three paradigms are as follows:

1. Discovery Paradigm: There is an absolute truth that can be found with research on any subject. Nothing is subjective. Research can tell us exactly what is true for everyone. (Ex: Good Communication in marriage leads to relationship satisfaction)

2. Interpretive Paradigm: Ideas found in research are subjective. The person being studied creates his or her own meaning. This paradigm wants to collect as much data from as many people as possible because every person has a unique take on each subject. (Ex: What aspects of marriage increase relationship satisfaction for individuals?)

3. Critical paradigm: This paradigm seeks to correct what is perceived to be wrong in the world. A researcher studies some injustice and provides research on why it should be changed. (Ex: Husbands should use good communication because it leads to their wife’s relationship satisfaction.)

As Christians, which paradigm should we use to process truth? At first I thought the answer was simple: We should use the Discovery paradigm because we all know that there is objective truth in the world. Most of us have been affected enough by the Church’s reaction against post-modernism that we chafe at the idea of something being “subjective.”

The more I think about this, however, the more I realize that the paradigms are not merely a pronouncement of truth, they are “ways of knowing something.” I think therefore that we can use all of them in both Biblical scholarship and our everyday lives.

Let me give an example. I know that God is sovereign because the Bible tells me as much (objective reality=discovery paradigm). I also know that God is sovereign because when I hang out with friends, they give me examples and I myself can experience the sovereignty of God (Interpretive Paradigm). Finally, I can prove that God is sovereign in my own life by trusting that he will work things out for me. This means I SHOULD trust him (Critical Paradigm).

Thus, God uses many means to convey truth to us. We believe that the Bible is truth. But the way that we unpack and apply that truth is by examining our personal experience and by making changes based on what we have observed.

A Major Major Change

After nearly two weeks of prayer, talking with godly friends, and consulting my amazing parents, I have decided to change majors. Currently, I am a business management major and I have nothing against business as a whole, or the professors, or the department. However, I am under conviction that God would have me develop the particular gifts he has given me in the areas of Communication Studies and English.

Its totally crazy, in a sense, that I am switching (as a finishing sophomore) to a double major in two subjects that I am currently not in. But I am really excited about it. Ever since I came to college, I have been longing to develop my reading, writing, and communication skills. I started out in Engineering. I pretty much couldn't get any of these skills in that department (no offense to anyone). Then I switched to business and communication studies minor. This was good for a while. The communication classes became my favorites and I even got some communication skills from my business classes. However, it became clear this semester that I am never really going to be able to write in business classes.

So that brought me to this point. I will probably switch majors tomorrow. I am nervous and excited and happy. I must give a hats off to my parents here. I was able to talk with mom and dad this weekend and they were the most supportive and caring people that I could ever want as parents. They are godly and perfect models of depending on God's sovereingty.

Now all I have to worry about is finishing my business classes this semester...ugghh.