The Furious Longing of God

The End of the Pursuit

Frank

As we conclude Brennan Manning’s book The Furious Longing of God, I’m left thinking and feeling, “well, what does it look like?” Manning gives us plenty of anecdotal examples from a father reconciling with his son, to Don Quixote’s pursuit of Dulcinea; from his own story of redemption to Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. But as Manning often cites as an obstacle for these experiences, my head gets in the way of my heart.

It is easy to understand Manning’s description of “being in that boat as the storm hits” (pg 130) just as I can read about the disciples’ fear with Jesus napping in the boat– the moment forced them (and us in our storms) to call on Jesus’ name.

But personally have I ever experienced anything like “a certainty of God’s longing for intimacy unlike anything you’ve felt in hand-clapping worship or anointed Scripture studies”? (pg 130) I struggle to identify with that. Even as I reflect upon My Story, I “know” God was reaching out to me through my circumstances, my relationships (and lack thereof), in spite of my choices at the time. I know he was breaking up hard ground in order to receive a seed that could grow.

I remember as I was visiting different colleges for graduate school the strong feeling of I had as I was driving home from one: I have to go here- God wants me here. Little did I understand at the time, at the same time on the other side of the country another young man was questioning God over drinks at a bar, determined to find him on his own terms not his family’s, and as he was resolving this in his heart he looked up and saw a neon sign for Boulder Beer and knew where he was going to go to school.

Had he not made that choice, we would not have been teaching assistants together. We would not have become great friends. And he would not have been there to share the Gospel with me after he found what he was looking for. Had I chosen to go somewhere else, who knows what God would have done in His pursuit of me?

Or I can relate to how my wife and I got married. Often we describe courtship as either chivalrous, showering with gifts and bending over backwards to win our love, or aloof and mysterious, not showing too much emotion, not giving too much away, leaving the other longing for more. I fell in a third category- the clueless. My wife knew even before our first date that I was “the one” and was utterly convinced by the second. I needed a bit more time.

I think of God’s longing not like my clumsy uncertain pursuit of my wife, but rather as her love for me. She knew all along, but she waited for me to recognize it for myself. Isn’t that how it is with God? He chose us before the creation of the world, but he patiently waits for us to come to our own convictions, to fall in love with him on our own.

Maybe he reaches out to each of us differently-some with a booming voice from heaven, others with patient silence- knowing to what exactly we will respond. But there is no doubt in my mind that God pursued me, and continues to do so.

Looking back, how do you see God pursuing you? Would you describe that pursuit as “furious”?

This post concludes our discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion.

Give Until There’s Nothing Left

Frank

In the penultimate chapter of Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God, Manning compares the sacrifice of Jesus as described in Paul’s letter to the Philippians to Shel Siverstein’s The Giving Tree.

How serendipitous to read this right before we celebrate Easter!

I’m going to jump right to his discussion questions, as that was the direction I was going to go with this post anyway…

Consider This:

Some have considered Silverstein’s parable to be a story of selfishness and greed by the boy and irresponsible passivity by the tree. What do you think?

Personally, I love this story and I love to read it to my children. And every time I do I have to fight back tears by the end as I reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus, like the tree, gave until there was nothing left.

I remember reading a blog post a couple of years ago that blasted this book for the reasons above, namely the selfishness of the boy and what a bad example it sets for kids. While I understand the criticism, I never took the story as being about the boy and I make that point with my own children as I read it to them. The story is about the tree. Now is the tree irresponsible? Well that’s a different question.

Our culture values hard work and self determination. We look down on those asking for handouts because they haven’t earned it. From this perspective you might consider The Giving Tree as subversively socialist.

But if I change the lens to view the book through the eyes of Jesus, I don’t see it that way at all. Jesus called us to love our enemies, to give our tunic if someone asks for our cloak, and that the world will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. It is giving shade to the playful, food to the hungry, homes to the homeless, and rest for the tired. Just like the tree.

The first attitude scoffs at the panhandler begging for change at an intersection, knowing that they will only blow it on booze. The second gives anyway.

The first attitude looks down on others in need as bringing it on themselves. The second gives anyway.

The first attitude judges others based on their circumstance, the car they drive (or don’t), the size of house they live in (or don’t), or even the church they go to (or don’t). The second gives anyway.

Now which of these attitudes is most like Jesus?

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.

Furious about Radical

Frank

(I need to keep this short as I suffered an injury to my hand which makes it really hard to type. I originally wasn’t going to post this week, but a couple quotes from the book jumped out at me which will help me kill two birds with one stone- or two subjects with one blog post.)

David Platt is no stranger to making waves. From stirring up trouble at the Southern Baptist Convention by calling into question the merits of the Sinners’ Prayer, to the critical reaction to his first book Radical. He didn’t shy away then, and he’s not shying away now with his newest book, Follow Me. Since reading Radical, I have had several conversations covering the same ground as some of his critics- in general the question boils down to “how radical is radical enough?” Doctrinally, this question could be taken further asking if Platt is advocating sanctification by works. His call to “radical discipleship” makes people uncomfortable, as it should. In the most recent issue of Christianity Today, Matthew Lee Anderson brings these questions to the fore. Over at The High Calling, they have been having a weekly discussion on the book, and based on the comments alone many are squirming in their seats as they read Follow Me. Other blogs hitting on this point include Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum and Skye Jethani at Out of Ur from a couple of years ago.

Wait, I thought this post was supposed to be about Brennan Manning’s book The Furious Longing of God?

Well, it is. As he closes the chapter titled ‘fire’ Manning states, “It is natural to feel fear and insecurity when confronted with the radical demands of the Christian commitment. But enveloped in the lived truth of God’s furious love, insecurity is swallowed up in the solidity of agape, and anguish and fear give way to hope and desire. The Christian becomes aware that God’s appeal for unlimited generosity from His people has been preceded from His side by a limitless love, a love so intent upon a response that He has empowered us to respond through the gift of His own Spirit.” (pg 119, emphasis added)

In his closing questions Manning quotes Henri Nouwen driving the point further, “When the imitation of Christ does not mean to live a life like Christ, but to live your life as authentically as Christ lived his, then there are many ways and forms in which a man can be a Christian.” (pg 121)

And on that point, I believe Platt and his critics would agree.

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion.

Courage to be a Big Mouth

Frank
Chutzpah – supreme self-confidence, boldness, nerve, sometimes an obnoxious aggressiveness

In the eighth chapter of Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God titled ‘boldness’, Manning follows up this definition with a couple of examples from the book of Hebrews:

Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (4:16, NASB, emphasis added)

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. (10:19-22, NASB, emphasis added)

Although the Hebrew word ‘huspah‘, from where we get today’s word chutzpah, is not the word used here (the Orthodox Jewish Bible uses the word ‘bitachon‘) these verses do uncover an interesting word in the Greek: parresia. This word shows up a few other times in the New Testament. A sampling:

  • When they saw the courage of Peter and John… –Acts 4:13
  • …enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. –Acts 4:28
  • …were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. -Acts 4:31
  • …in Christ I could be bold and order you… – Philemon 1:8
  • I have spoken to you with great frankness… -2 Corinthians 7:4
  • In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. –Ephesians 3:12
  • …if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. –Hebrews 3:6
  • Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. -2 Corinthians 3:12
  • He spoke plainly about this… –Mark 8:32

What is interesting is how most of these verses are about speaking out. Note the last definition of chutzpah above- obnoxious aggressiveness; in other words, having a big mouth.

Do you have a big mouth when it comes to God?

Recently in our recovery ministry someone was sharing about a business opportunity and how unnatural it was to be assertive. (Our group is as much a counseling session, if not more, as it is a sobriety program. Recovering addicts often don’t have the tools to function ‘normally’ and confidently, so we counsel one another on life issues just as much as we help each other with addiction.) This opportunity was everything this brother had been praying for, but there was still this nagging feeling that there was a catch.

For many of us, being assertive- having chutzpah- just doesn’t come naturally. In some church environments we are even made to feel guilty for not being “bold”. We want to speak up, but there always seems to be an underlying fear- that there is a catch, that we won’t be accepted, that maybe we just aren’t good enough.

Remember Moses’ whining (yes, I said whining) about not being able to speak? He lacked chutzpah.

Now me saying, “be bold!” isn’t likely to change your character. In fact, this is something I continue to pray about regularly because I struggle with it as well. But there is a biblical basis for such a change in attitude: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV)

Brennan Manning closes his chapter by asking, “What do you want? Today, right now? Boldly ask.” This is a hard challenge for me. Is it for you?

Consider this:

If Jesus were to ask you, right now- what do you want?- what would you say? Seriously, what would your answer be?

Bartimaeus had to drop his security blanket. What represents security for you? How is Jesus asking you to drop it?

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.

One Person at a Time

Frank

The driver’s license- symbol of freedom and instant status symbol for a teenager. And once we obtain one, we go and do the most foolish things like volunteering to go grocery shopping for the family. Of course that’s just an excuse to get out on our own, listen to our own music, drive how we want where we want. Naturally when I was a teenager I would take advantage of that as much as I could. I look back on the freedom, the independence, the… selfishness.

I remember distinctly one such outing making a simple grocery run. I was minding my own business, doing my own thing. In and out. I didn’t have to slow down; I didn’t have to talk to anyone. And I probably didn’t. But as I was leaving the store an older woman was coming in. Instinctively I stopped and held the door for her. “Thank you so much, that’s the nicest thing someone has done for me all day.” I was speechless. Holding a door? Remember, she was on her way in, so it wasn’t as if her hands were full. And as I recall it was a typical day- it wasn’t raining or cold. It didn’t mean anything. But it meant something to her.

The reaction to this “random act of kindness” has stuck with me in the 20-ish years since. And it came to mind as I was reading the seventh chapter of Brennan Manning’s The Furious Longing of God, titled ‘healing’.

Manning shares several stories of random (and not so random) acts of kindness- some positive, some negative- but each impacting on my heart. Hearkening back to Jesus’ “new command” Manning writes,

“If we as a Christian community took seriously that the sign of our love for Jesus is our love for one another, I am convinced it would change the world.” (pg 88)

And how to you change the world? One person at a time.

I like how Chip Ingram describes love: “Love is giving someone what they need the most, when they deserve it least, at great personal cost.”

We can all probably come up with a story serving one of the “least of these“. Religiously we may go out of our way to serve the most visible needs in our community. We might even pat ourselves on the back for going above and beyond.

But service- truly loving others- shouldn’t be limited to those opportunities most likely to get our picture in the paper. There was nothing special about the woman I held the door for. She wasn’t in any visible physical need, she wasn’t in a hurry. It was just the nice thing to do. No, scratch that. There was something special about her. She, just like you and I, just like the most wealthy and the most impoverished, just like the most beautiful and the most despicable, was created in God’s image and is worthy of His love.

Manning concludes his chapter asking:

“The question is not can we heal? The question, the only question, is will we let the healing power of the risen Jesus flow through us to reach and touch others, so that they may dream and fight and bear and run where the brave dare not go?” (pg 104)

Consider This

Ask the Father to bring to your mind one person in your life who has administered the healing touch of Jesus to you. Spend a few minutes in gratitude.

Now ask the Father to bring to your mind one person in your life who needs that same healing touch. Take some time and decide on a tangible way you can return the favor.

(Addendum: I wanted to add these links about our inherent value and preconceived perceptions but didn’t have the links handy this morning. The first is a great summary of our identity in Christ by Frank Viola, and the other is an observation on how our perspectives change by Wade Hodges.)

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.

Unconditional is not Cheap

Frank

The other night I was browsing books at my local Family Christian store when I struck up a conversation with a guy in the same aisle. He was eagerly hunting for a book by a particular author. “Man, you gotta check this guy out! He’s on channel 9 at 6:30 in the morning. I was washed out on being a Christian, man. But this guy, he opened my eyes to grace!” The conversation continued about the fine line between law and grace and the failure of organized religion. I told him I was happy for him and I’d check the author out.

I meant what I said. I was genuinely happy to see his joy in Christ. His face was like many I’ve seen before rising from the waters of baptism into a new life. The Holy Spirit was definitely doing something in his life.

But there’s a risk. We desire structure and order, so we invent religious traditions. Yet we have an inner conflict to rebel, so cheap grace is an easy temptation. Not all grace is cheap of course. But there is a risk to worshiping grace rather than the giver of that grace. We easily turn blessings into idols- our families, financial prosperity. If you don’t believe me, look no further than the story of Isaac and Abraham. Isaac wasn’t just a blessing, he was an answered prayer, a miracle announced by an angel! And God needed Abraham to prove that he hadn’t become an idol.

I thought of this as Brennan Manning was describing God’s unconditional love and how we have such a hard time grasping the concept. This comes on the heels of Manning discussing “union” with God as His ultimate desire, so unconditional love is the means to that end. Yet how easily we twist it such that God’s unconditional love becomes the means to unlimited, cheap, grace. Manning writes,

“Unconditional love as a concept has transported me to intellectual nirvana, motivated the reading of at least fifty books on related themes, and deluded me into believing that I was there. Until along came a day when I was appalled to discover that nothing had changed…
Until the love of God that knows no boundary, limit, or breaking point is internalized through personal decision; until the furious longing of God seizes the imagination; until the heart is conjoined to the mind through sheer grace, nothing happens.” (pgs 74-75)

Nothing changed. Nothing happened. Why? Because we confuse God’s unconditional love as Him showering blessing upon blessing on us rather than His desiring to be with us. How hard we try to ascend to the level of Jesus, forgetting that he forsook all to come down to our level.

As I was reading this chapter, I made this note: Unconditional love is not giving your child unlimited undeserved gifts on Christmas morning- that would be spoiling. No, unconditional love is even after your child misbehaves you get down on your knees to and play with those gifts together.

It is Jesus, loving us as we are where we are, that brings about change. That is unconditional love.

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.

Intimate Union

Frank

Brennan Manning makes the point in the fourth chapter of The Furious Longing of God, ‘Union’ that unity is part of God’s design for his creation. Jesus prayed for it and the perfect image of this union is God walking alongside Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Jesus’ mission was to restore this unity. Manning writes:

“the outstretched arms of Jesus exclude no one, neither the drunk in the doorway, the panhandler on the street, gays and lesbians in their isolation, the most selfish and ungrateful in their cocoons, the most unjust of employers and the most overweening of snobs. The love of Christ embraces all without exception.” (pgs 59-60)

Why is that so hard to embrace? It sounds nice and looks good on paper. But living this out? Our fallen nature likes to draw lines in the sand that divide us for any number of reasons- skin color, politics, denomination. This division, this disunity is never what God planned for us. It does not reflect the love of Christ.

But in order to be united with one another, we must first enjoy union with God.

Ultimately, it is God’s furious desire for us to be one with him, and all the rest of our relationships hinge on that. The father in the parable of the Prodigal Son saw his son returning “while he was still a long way off” implying that he was keeping watch for him. Paul taught in Athens that God places us exactly where we need to be so that we can “seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27)  James, the brother of Jesus promised that if you “come near to God… he will come near to you.” (James 4:8) In fact, the Bible is often described as ‘God’s love story’ where the repeated cycle of rebellion, repentance, and restoration shows God’s love never giving up on his creation, always longing to be reunited with his people.

God is pursuing union with you. Let that sink in for a moment. The creator of the universe wants a intimate relationship with you.

Even more dramatic, every one of your relationships relies on this. Marriage, friendships, family, even strangers- how we approach each of these depends first on our relationship with God. Selfishness, pride, mistrust, hurt- all of these are symptoms of missing out on God’s perfect union and the consequences can be seen in our broken relationships, hurt feelings, and bad memories.

It is no coincidence (there are no coincidences in the Kingdom of God, one of my friends is fond of saying) that this chapter falls right before Valentine’s Day. The best Valentine you can give the one you love is to love Him first. Manning writes, “love by its nature seeks union.” (pg 68) So he offers this sage advice, again perfect timing for Valentine’s Day, “if I had to do it all over again?.. I would simply do the next thing in love.” (pg 66)

God seeks intimate union with you. Welcome Him.

Consider this:

How often do you monitor your spiritual growth-Several times a day? Once a month? Every thirty days? Twice a year?

Would you, could you, devote not one more minute to monitoring your spiritual growth? If so, it’s possible you just might find you like green eggs and ham.

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.

Furry or Fury?

Frank

I’ve been a fan of the comic book character Nick Fury as long as I can remember reading comics. I have a small collection of the Silver Age title Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos which was followed by Jim Steranko’s brilliant work on Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. So obviously I was geeked out seeing Sam Jackson’s post-credit cameo in the first ‘Iron Man’ movie.

But no matter how many times I’ve read the name in print, I struggle every time I hear his name in the movies. In my head, his name was always Nick ‘f-uh-ree’ not Nick ‘fe-yur-ee”. What a difference an extra r makes.

Just as jarring to me is describing the love of God with that word- fury. I think of the fury of a storm and picture its wake of destruction. I consider being furious in my heart and I see myself losing my temper. Yet I imagine the love of God and think of furry bunnies.

Imagine that little fuzzy bunny. It makes you go oooh and aaah. You want to squeeze it, pet it, snuggle with it. We treat God that way sometimes (and that level of intimacy is not necessarily a bad thing- I squeeze and snuggle my kids and I consider that one of the highest forms of affection). But we seldom describe God as Rich Mullins is quoted in Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God, “the reckless raging fury.” (pg 29)

Instead of ooohs and aaahs, what reaction should we have towards a furious God? Logic would answer fear and trembling. And the Bible does talk about approaching God in such a way. But God typically defies logic. Would you approach this fury with tears of joy?

I’m not a very emotional person (except for the wrong kind of fury) yet I was moved to tears reading how Manning came to experience God’s furious love- waking up on the street, reeking of vomit, hungover and in about as far from a state of grace religion could imagine for this former priest. And God still loved him.

 
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

God never stopped loving Brennan Manning as he was enslaved in his addiction. He never stopped loving you or me when we wander far from his loving embrace.

Manning writes, “The furious love of God knows no shadow of alteration or change. It is reliable. And always tender.” (pg 34)

Always tender that furious love. God’s fury is furry.

Consider this:

There is the “you” that people see and then there is the “rest of you.” Take some time and craft a picture of the “rest of you.” This could be a drawing, in words, even a song. Just remember that the chances are good it will be full of paradox and contradictions.

[Manning] listed some fictitious gods presented to [him] in the past: the splenetic god, the prejudiced god, the irritated god. Come up with at least one more, from your history, to help round out the list.

This post continues discussion on Brennan Manning’s book, The Furious Longing of God. Please check out Jason Sasyzsen’s and Sarah Salter’s blogs for more discussion. The “consider this” questions come straight from the book- use them as a springboard for your own thoughts and feel free to share them here.

Furiously Taking Baby Steps

Frank

The last book study go-around with hosts Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter covered A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. As we went through the book week by week we identified some of the roadblocks that we put between ourselves and a relentless pursuit of a fulfilling relationship with our Creator. I wish I could say after that study my relationship with God has never been better, that I am maturing spiritually by leaps and bounds, and I am living a life that brings ever increasing glory to God the Father.

I wish I could say that.

Truth is, life happens. We forget lessons. We get distracted. And what we hope to be great strides are really only baby steps.

So I was excited when Jason and Sarah picked Brennan Manning’s book The Furious Longing of God because, while it hits on the same theme, it approaches it from the other direction: God’s Pursuit of Us. Plus, I have been wanting to pick Manning up, hearing so much about The Ragamuffin Gospel. His chapters are short, somewhat poetic, and straight to the point. He doesn’t craft arguments of logic like Tozer (which appeal to those who are left-brained like me) and instead goes straight for the heart. I know already I am going to struggle coming up with anything to write about as I need to listen to my heart an not rely solely on my head. Thankfully, Manning helps me cheat by providing discussions at the end of each chapter. I’ll get to those in a moment.

You don’t want to oversell a promise right out of the gate in your first chapter, but Manning does just that. Based on Song of Songs 7:10 which reads, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” (NASB, emphasis added) he promises that when we truly embrace that truth, this furious longing, our lives begin to transform. One way in particular that stood out to me reads, “In a significant interior development, you will move from I should pray to I must pray.” This would indeed be a significant development.

It is hard for me to imagine God pursuing me. I can picture God as the father keeping watch for his prodigal son. but I struggle to see Him in furious pursuit of me. Such a love would in fact bring me to my knees.

I’m not a prayer warrior by any means. I know I should pray. I feel it when I need to pray. But I struggle with the words. It’s not that I don’t believe God hears my prayer or that he has my best interests at heart. It is more that I let life discourage and distract me. I can’t furiously pray because I’m typically too furious about something else to pray.

Meanwhile God is chasing after me, like a beloved after his lover. Shame on me for playing so hard to get!

If I took baby steps towards God following Tozer’s Pursuit, then God took leaps towards me. This book may still be baby steps for me but hopefully I begin to toddle. And you know toddlers, once they get started, they’re off and running before you know it!

So please join me, Jason, Sarah and others as we dig into this book. We will lean on each other, learn from each other, and prayerfully all grow together.

Consider this:

When you read that phrase- the furious longing of God- what emotions or images does it evoke?
 
“… I should pray to I must pray.” How would you describe the difference between the two?