The Road to Shalom

"What Color Is Your Passport?"

• Fran Sciacca • Season 2 • Episode 6

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     Fifty years ago, Richard Bolles wrote a book designed to help people find their way into the world of work. It was called, What Color is Your Parachute? The book has sold over 10 million copies in 22 languages. And...it has been updated 48 times since. Once each year, since 1975. Finding a career in a changing world apparently is a challenge.
     Unfortunately, many people seem to find themselves in the same dilemma regarding their own sense of identity. It has become accessorized. Something that has to be "updated" frequently, to fit what everyone else is saying about themselves.
     But what if what works for your "parachute" doesn't work in the world of personal identity? What if who I am isn't supposed to change? What if knowing who I am is supposed shape the "color of my parachute"?
     Playing off of Bolles' book title, Fran Sciacca takes us on a deep dive into the world of personal identity and the role it plays (or is supposed to play) in the life of a Christ-follower, in an era of racial tension and political confusion.
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OTHER  RESOURCES BY FRAN SCIACCA:

Hi, welcome to the Road to Shalom, a podcast founded on the belief that God has some thoughts about the way things are supposed to be, how and why they’re not, and what’s involved in restoring them. “Things being the way they’re supposed to be” is our best English translation of the ancient Hebrew word, “shalom.” And, it’s no surprise that that’s where this podcast’s name came from I’m Fran Sciacca, the show host. I suppose I need to start this episode with another apology. I started a series way back before COVID and George Floyd’s murder, and have been wondering how to get back to it. Especially now that our current cultural climate is the closest it’s ever been to the era I was focusing on back in March — the Sixties. But, as a guy who lived through the Sixties, and lived the Sixties…this ain’t the Sixties. We sorta moved on after the Sixties. There won’t be any moving on of that type from this present hour. America’s cultural landscape has changed forever.

Unfortunately, I think this is also a memorial stone moment for God’s people. I’m pretty sure that the future of those of who call ourselves Christ-followers will be different from this point out. And…what that difference turns out to be will have a lot to do with whether we see what’s happening around us and miss what should be happening within us. Within us as individuals and within us as sons and daughters of God.

What you’re about to hear is about 20 minutes of an old man, pacing in front of a webcam in a bedroom office, speaking to about a hundred college students from a bunch of universities on the topic of “Living As an Exile.” You need to know that this talk is my attempt to redraw the circle of concern around the right issues and ideas for believers. It’s a call to reexamine our core belief of who we are as individuals, who are true family is, and what should be in our minds when we say we are a Christian. I am so bold as to say that these ideas are vital for racial healing, for repentant humility, and for God to dwell with power among his family.

Let’s step into that small office with the pacing old man…

"I’ll be 70 years old in 3 ½ weeks. In those 7 decades, I’ve lived through the Sixties, the Viet Nam war, the Civil Rights Movement, three impeachment trials, and the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy. I was your age when four college students were gunned down on the Kent State University campus in 1970 by the Ohio National Guard. An event that made it into a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, “Ohio.” But, two years earlier, in 1968, the spring of my senior year of high school, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, There were riots in 120 cities across the U.S.. So…this all is a bit deja vu for me. It’s also the perfect time in history for me to share with you somethings that have become part of my spiritual DNA. Stuff I would die for, if I had to. Unfortunately for me, I came to see it late in life. You don’t have to wait that long. And maybe our time together will help.

I want to set the table for what I have to say with two quotes. Both are from dead guys who loved God, and also thought deeply about what it meant to be a Christ-follower. The first is from Richard Neibuhr.

I want you to listen to this carefully: "The great Christian revolutions come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when somebody takes radically something that was already there.” The thoughts I’m going to share with you tonight aren’t new. They’ve always been in front of you. If you want to be part of a genuine Christian revolution, tonight could be helpful.

The second quote is by C.S. Lewis, he says, “When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy.”

Taking the two statements together, in other words, seeing and embracing something that was always there—about being what God wants you to be—puts you on the road to your own happiness, AND a to becoming a genuine Christian revolutionary. I have been praying that the summer of 2020 will be a time of revolution for each of you. A revolution in how you see yourself. And a revolution in how you need to live in light of that.

The first thing we need to do is tweak your summer theme, “Living in Exile.” We’re changing the preposition in that title from “IN” to “AS.” Not “living IN exile,” but “living AS an exile.” We’re not going to talk about WHERE you are, and how you should live in this moment. I want to help you see something in scripture that’s always been there, about WHO you are, and I’m going to ask you—in the words of Neibuhr—to take it radically. So…are you in? Okay, here’ we go…

I believe there are a number of very important questions people who call themselves Christ followers need to have sound answers for. Especially at this moment in history. Not answers to other people. Answers for ourselves. One of them is: “Who do I say that I am?” I mean, if someone asked you that questions (which I’m doing right now), what would say to tell me who you are? Now, this is going to sound extreme, but I am totally convinced that what we’re seeing among ourselves right now, the confusion, the division, and the paralysis that is characterizing much of the Christian sector, is because we don’t have a shared answer to that question. And in most cases, the question has never been asked or put before us. We don’t know who we are, because we don’t know who’ve we’ve always been…or always were supposed to be. And beloved, this is true of us as individuals AND corporately as the people of God.

So, who are you? Who am I? And, very importantly, who are we…together? I’m going to give you seven words that I believe should be in your mind, in your heart, and on your lips in answer to the question, “Who do I say that I am?” And…look up here…I’m going to be so bold to say that these seven words should be first on all of your lips, regardless of your skin color, your family history, your gender, or your zip code. These seven words ARE who we are. I’m going to go through them quickly, then I am going to camp on one of them that lines up with your summer theme: “Living as an exile.” Don’t bother writing these down. This is being recorded, so you can grab them later. Just listen. Listen hard. I’ve chosen words that all start with the letter, “A” to help us remember them.

FIRST: According to the Genesis account, you are “Adamic” — Your family tree goes back to Adam. That means you have a shared ancestry with every other human being on this planet. You and them were created in the image of God on one hand, and also bear the image of sinful Adam on the other. We have a shared Creator. That’s where our human dignity comes from. And, we have a shared ancestor, that’s where our selfish and sinful behavior comes from. Make no mistake. There is only one race. Different flavors. Same ice cream.

SECOND: According to the Apostle Paul, you are “Abrahamic.” He told the early Christians, “If you are Christ’s you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” You are part of something that is immensely bigger than you, older than Jesus, and much more comprehensive than just keeping people out of hell. You’re now part of God’s Story, his plan to bless the nations and turn sin on its head.

THIRD: You are also “Adopted” — You weren’t born into the family of God. You weren’t even “born again” into the family of God. You’ve been adopted by God Himself! Yahweh has adopted you. You have a new family and share a Father with everyone else in that family. And, this family dismantles the distinctions that divide us. In Christ, there’s neither Jew nor Gentile—no racial bias; there’s neither male nor female—no gender bias; there’s neither slave nor free—no social bias; This should create a deep sense of gratitude and humility; You didn’t earn this.

FOURTH: Jesus calls you his “Apprentice” — It’s the meaning of the Greek word, mathētēs, which we translate, “disciple.” Jesus said “Everyone when he is fully taught will be just like his teacher.” Part of being in this Story, being in God’s family, is that you are being changed to resemble and represent Jesus to the world.

FIFTH: According to Paul you are Christ’s “Ambassador” on foreign soil. You now carry a message from your King. You are first a subject in a Kingdom, currently in a foreign land, representing your King. And of lesser importance, you are a citizen of a democracy. And what people think of your King, and hear him saying, will depend on how you represent Him. It’s a sobering privilege and responsibility.

SIXTH: Like Jesus, you are to be an “Advocate” — You have a responsibility to those who can not speak or care for themselves. When God was talking about King Josiah, he said, “He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well with him. Is not this what it means to know me, says the Lord?”

And finally, you are an “Alien” — Peter said, “I urge you has sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” Beloved, you are “just visiting this planet.” You are passing through on a mission from your King to restore shalom—to make things the way they’re supposed to be. You are not on furlough. This is not your best life now.

Each of these seven descriptors could be a separate talk. I realize that. But, given the time we have, I want to camp on the last one. Seeing yourself as an “alien.” Or as Peter puts it, seeing yourself as an “exile.” So instead of helping you live in exile, I want to help you live as an exile. Because when this storm has passed—look up here—you’ll still BE an exile, even when you’re no longer living IN exile. Because you were already an exile before this whole thing happened. Your situation and location will have changed. But, you will still be you. Make sense?

Okay…let’s take a brief but deep dive into this alien/exile aspect of our identity. There’s three beautiful Greek words that together paint a sort of 3-D description of who you are—your identification, and what you’re called to be—your vocation.

All three of them appear in Hebrews chapter 11, the chapter about people who knew who they were, and how it affected how they lived. The first word is paroikos, and it’s in verse 9. “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.” That entire phrase, “live in the land of promise as in a foreign land” is pretty much the attempt of English to translate, paroikos. The word carries within it the idea of being from “someplace else.”  Sort of a “resident alien”; who lives one place, but his citizenship is someplace else. In Hebrews 11:13-16, we get the other two words. In that chunk is says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and greeted them from a distance, and admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.” Those two words…”aliens” and “strangers” are the words, peripidemos and xenos. You should recognize that second word. It’s the root of our word,“xenophobia”—the fear of strangers. It’s been in the news a ton lately. The xenos was someone who by definition, acted differently than the regular folks, and was always viewed with suspicion for being different. Probably the best English word we have for xenos, is a “refugee.” Have you ever thought of yourself as a “refugee” before? Well…you are one. Where you are, isn’t where you’re truly from. Your citizenship, according to Paul, is in “heaven.” And wherever you find yourself, from today until you die…it’s not going to be where you’re really from. The last word, peripidemos, or “stranger” is the word for a pilgrim, a sojourner, someone who’s always on their way. Someone who’s a transient. Just visiting this planet.

You know beloved, a guy living over 1,800 years ago wrote a letter to another Christian, explaining what a true Christ-follower looks like. The whole thing is called the Letter to Diognetus. Here’s an Instagram post from it: 

“Christians are distinguished from the rest of men neither by country nor language nor by customs. For nowhere do they have their own cities…While they dwell in both Greek and barbarian cities…and follow the customs of the land in dress and food and other matters of living, they show forth the remarkable and admittedly strange order of their own citizenship. They live in fatherlands of their own, but as aliens. They share all things as citizens, and suffer all things as strangers. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and every fatherland a foreign land…They are in the flesh, but do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they have their citizenship in heaven.” 

I want to make sure you understand something vital about that quote. These early believers PROVED where they were from NOT by withdrawing from the world, but by living in it AS EXILES. Not withdrawing from their world, or clustering just with each other. But by engaging it, loving it, serving it. It was their difference IN the world that made people want to be a part of them. It wasn’t what they DIDN’T do, or what they were AGAINST. And you know something else? The watching world had its mind blown because the people who were doing this…they were of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, different social status, and different genders and ages. But they were acting the same. And…they were acting together. Why? Because they were in the same family. They had the same Father. And they reflected their Father’s heart while alive. Beloved, you ARE exiles. You ARE strangers. You ARE refugees. All of you. And, when the canopy of quarantine begins to lift, and life begins to look familiar. Are you going to talk about what you went through, or are you going to talk about what you learned about yourself and others in your true family? And, if you DO begin to think of yourself AS an exile, you’ll find yourself soon asking the question: “If I really am only passing through this life, then what really matters?”

Beloved, getting this right is so vital. I didn’t get this until I was 50. If you accept who God says you are, it will affect how you live, wherever you live. It will affect who you believe your true family to be. It’ll make you realize you have more in common with a believer of another color, another country, another political party, another zip code, than you do someone who looks like you, but who’s NOT a Christ-Follower. There is no other way for the racial divide we’re seeing to be healed. The children of God need to start acting like who they say they are…children of their heavenly Father. But…you get this WRONG, then WHERE you live will dictate HOW you live, and that will eventually determine who you are. And that, beloved…would not only be tragic, it is the OPPOSITE of what God made you to be, and why He brought you into His family in the first place. Please give some thought to this. Don’t let being IN exile become more important than BEING an exile. God has our attention. We can’t waste this moment in history. Shalom.

In talking to those college students, I tried to build a case from God’s Word that getting our identity right—as individuals AND as a family—is vital. Perhaps more so than any other time in history. At least in my own lifetime, for sure. I made a bold statement in that talk that a true Christ-follower has more in common with another Christ-follower of a different ethnicity, a different country of origin, a different denomination, a different political party, or zip code, than they do with the neighbor next door who’s outside the family of God. Do you believe that? Do you? Jesus said, “blessed are the peace makers—the shalom-makers—for they will be called sons of God.” Like I said in the intro to this episode, shalom is the biblical word for things being the way they’re supposed to be. Things being “very good” like God declared them to be before Adam and Eve’s sin. I think it’s time for shalom-making to start within God’s own household. And the first step needs to take place in each of our minds regarding that question: “Who do I say that I am?” What’s YOUR answer going to be?