Benediction

The Lost Symbol...and Secrets

On vacation I like reading novels. It gives my mind a vacation while my body rests. This time I read Dan Brown's new novel The Lost Symbol. Brown is a troubling writer to Christians, many of whom love to hate him. His book, The Da Vinci Code, made him a millionaire and a bunch of enemies. I thought The Da Vinci Code was a well-written page-turner. But it put a lot of Christians on edge regarding their own faith. It was a work of fiction, but many Christians were disturbed by all the things that sounded true.

In Brown's new novel, he brings back his hero, Robert Langdon. Langdon is a symbologist, a scholar of ancient symbols and "mysteries." In The Lost Symbol, Langdon is led by a madman through famous venues in Washington, D.C. He is looking for the ancient mysteries associated with masonic lore.

I don't think this book is nearly as well-written as The Da Vinci Code, but I thought it was worthy of a comment or two, especially since Brown is clearly teaching a specific religious point of view through his book.

One concept that comes through clearly in Brown's writing is that all religions ultimately point to the same God, or Supreme Being. We may all call him (or it) by different names, Brown says, but it is all the same God. The ancient mysteries confirm this. To support his case, Brown quotes from various ancient texts, including the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita and others. I don't know how accurately he quotes the other ancient writings, but he eloquently misinterprets the Bible.

The reason he misinterprets it is because he wants to show that the Bible contains secrets that only certain enlightened people could know about. Through one of his characters, Brown declares, "There is a reason Christian monks spend lifetimes attempting to decipher the Bible. There is a reason that Jewish mystics and Kabbalists pore over the Old Testament. And that reason, Robert, is that there exist powerful secrets hidden in the pages of this ancient book...a vast collection of untapped wisdom waiting to be unveiled" (page 487). Brown declares that it is a grave mistake to take the Bible literally. Rather, it's meaning is hidden to all but the most "worthy."

This is a widespread view of the Bible: "It cannot be understood by the masses." For centuries the Catholic hierarchy proclaimed this. "Let the priests interpret scripture," they said. "The layman has no hope of understanding it."

Brown's hero, Langdon, addresses this misunderstanding. "The Bible and the Ancient Mysteries are total opposites. The mysteries are all about the god within you...man as god. The Bible is all about the God above you...and man as a powerless sinner" (page 492). At this point in the story, Langdon gets it. But Brown swings again.

The "wise" teacher in the story explains, "You've put your finger on the precise problem! The moment mankind separated himself from God, the true meaning of the Word was lost." And that true meaning, according to Brown, is that humans are destined to become gods.

That sounds really familiar. Isn't that what the serpent offered to Adam and Eve in Eden? "You shall be like God." In books like The Lost Symbol, the serpent still speaks.

Grade: Writing, B-. Truth, F.

Perhaps the most important words in the book are in the first sentence of the Copyright page: "This is a work of fiction." Amen.

Tribes

My friend Greg Fuson gave me a book recently. It's called Tribes, written by Seth Godin. I'm not an expert at sorting out what Godin is talking about. Sometimes he loses me. And sometimes I think he's just making stuff up. But it is fascinating, and mostly very challenging.

Tribes is about the new networks we are living in. Things like Facebook and Twitter. The old tribes are losing power, according to Godin, and new tribes are filling in the blank spaces.

The crying need for these new tribes is leadership. We need more leaders.

In fact, Godin's main point is his subtitle: We Need You to Lead Us. My friend Greg is an example of this kind of leadership. He influences people around him wherever he goes. He leads by giving away books and ideas and heart. He is a creative idea developer. One of his ideas that has flourished is a conference he hosts called The Vine. Greg also forwards me information on useful, stimulating talks given by experts in several fields. He honors me by believing I am interested in fresh ideas and by believing I have the capacity to see how these ideas relate to me and my work. Thanks Greg.

One idea that Godin presents in Tribes relates straight to the church these days. He says, "The organizations of the future are filled with smart, fast, flexible people on a mission. The thing is, that requires leadership." This sounds like a strong definition of what churches should be: smart, fast, flexible and on a mission. Unfortunately, although most churches are full of smart people, we are not always known as fast and flexible. We easily get stuck in our ways. That's too bad, because the mission of Jesus is too important to be rigid and slow. Jesus moved ahead of the culture. He can be our model for doing the same.

I'm looking for a tribe of leaders like this.

Better

I just read Better by Atul Gawande. It formed part of the background curriculum for the Vine Conference I attended last week. Gawande is a surgeon who has been trying to get his fellow physicians to do better in their profession. Ultimately his goal is to help us all become "positive deviants." He gives five strategies for intentionally bringing positive change. It is not a Christian book, but it might spur our thoughts as we consider how we live as representatives of Jesus. Check these out:

1) Ask an unscripted question. Physicians typically ask their patients a list of diagnostic questions. It can be fairly clinical. He suggests breaking the routine; ask a question outside the expected. People around us need human contact. If we step outside the "expected" dialogs, we may touch people in unexpected and Christ-honoring ways.

2) Don't complain. Apparently people in the medical profession, like most areas of life, have many opportunities to complain. Gawande says, "Resist it. It's boring, it doesn't solve anything, and it will get you down." Moses could have used this advice for the people of Israel. Might be good for us too.

3) Count something. Dr. Gawande is speaking to physicians. He suggests they practice counting something, like the number of sponges going into and coming out of a surgery patient. Ultimately, he says if you count something you find interesting, you might learn something interesting. (I don't know what to do with this one.)

4) Write something. OK, now we're getting into my territory. The reason I'm writing this blog is to make a contribution. Gawande says, "You should not underestimate the effect of your contribution, however, modest." I love the fact that some of you are responding to this blog. You are providing your observation or perspective, and it stimulates the conversation. I believe God created you so that someone else's life might be blessed. By logging in with your ideas, or by writing a letter to the editor, or by sending a letter to your child or grandparent, you are blessing someone else. Way to go.

5) Change. "Make yourself an early adopter," says Gawande. Change is so hard for most of us. We like it as it already is--which of course is not true, or Number 2 would not be on the list. People who teach themselves to appreciate and welcome change are the most contented people in the world, because change is a given. Bitterness grows when we are unable or unwilling to change. One thing I love about God: he never changes, but he loves change. That means God is the constant in our world. We don't have to worry about him changing. He is completely faithful and his character is true. But he loves it when we change, because without change, growth is impossible.

It is all about being better and doing better.