All good stuff here. I am with you on the points, except it feels like you took it to an extreme. I totally agree with the bits about seeing God and meeting with Him through the gathering of believers and caring for others in His name. However, I would disagree about not meeting with Him through study of Scripture.
Like all things in life, there is a balance to find. Perhaps Jesus didn't specifically address Torah study or whatever because He didn't need to. Perhaps it was assumed. There could be several reasons why. There are many references to Jesus quoting Scripture and reading the Torah in the temple so clearly it was important to Him.
I would say that God is always here, we just sometimes choose to ignore Him. It's when we recognize His already-here presence that we "spend time together" or whatever you want to call it. That can come in so many different forms, including buying Karen her Diet 7-Up (and yes, that is her name), as well as spending time reading the Bible. Also, it is how we come to know about Jesus and who He was and is as the fullness of God. Quite simply, Jesus reveals the Father, so if we are to know Him, one way of doing that is to read what was written. Again, balance.
I believe in the value of solitude, prayer, contemplation, etc., as well as social justice, fighting for the oppressed, etc. The two go hand in hand and cannot be separated. There seems to always be some type of pendulum swing in thinking about this issue, and people much smarter than I have disagreed about it for hundreds if not thousands of years. You are right in rebuking the swing that has caused Christians to callous their hearts to "the least of these." But I don't think we should devalue the "inner disciplines" either.
Michael said the same thing to me last night on the phone. I am not in any way denigrating the study of the Bible or saying that serving is necessarily more important than study. However, I am saying that we should be specific about the teachings in the New Testament, and it is my contention that the role of Scripture has been exalted beyond it's proper bounds. Of course the Torah was important to Jesus, and he quoted it because he saw it as the word of God. Nonetheless, this was not seen as serving the same function as the presence of God in the temple. Likewise, we should approach the Scriptures as the word of God, and we have to read them to learn about Jesus, but at no point is it indicated that it is a place where the earthly and heavenly realm join.
In addition, saying that God is always "here" and that we realize that at certain times is different than the actual meshing of earthly and heavenly dimensions in a physical locus (ie, the temple, a gathering of people, or a singular person).
I agree with you that things cannot be separated, but I am saying that each thing should be understood in its specific role, and we need to stop being so sloppy with our terms, and letting ourselves off the hook of our disobedience with vague terms and concepts such as a quiet time.
Like all things in life, there is a balance to find. Perhaps Jesus didn't specifically address Torah study or whatever because He didn't need to. Perhaps it was assumed. There could be several reasons why. There are many references to Jesus quoting Scripture and reading the Torah in the temple so clearly it was important to Him.
I would say that God is always here, we just sometimes choose to ignore Him. It's when we recognize His already-here presence that we "spend time together" or whatever you want to call it. That can come in so many different forms, including buying Karen her Diet 7-Up (and yes, that is her name), as well as spending time reading the Bible. Also, it is how we come to know about Jesus and who He was and is as the fullness of God. Quite simply, Jesus reveals the Father, so if we are to know Him, one way of doing that is to read what was written. Again, balance.
I believe in the value of solitude, prayer, contemplation, etc., as well as social justice, fighting for the oppressed, etc. The two go hand in hand and cannot be separated. There seems to always be some type of pendulum swing in thinking about this issue, and people much smarter than I have disagreed about it for hundreds if not thousands of years. You are right in rebuking the swing that has caused Christians to callous their hearts to "the least of these." But I don't think we should devalue the "inner disciplines" either.
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In addition, saying that God is always "here" and that we realize that at certain times is different than the actual meshing of earthly and heavenly dimensions in a physical locus (ie, the temple, a gathering of people, or a singular person).
I agree with you that things cannot be separated, but I am saying that each thing should be understood in its specific role, and we need to stop being so sloppy with our terms, and letting ourselves off the hook of our disobedience with vague terms and concepts such as a quiet time.
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