Challenges and Opportunities

As this year draws to a close, and we enter a new year that promises to be very different, Christians in America will be faced with many challenges. Along with the challenges, there will be plenty of opportunities.

This year has been hard on the church as a whole. Deep divisions have been revealed. Along with that, there is a growing distrust of Christianity. While some of these problems are a part of the way the world naturally views followers of Jesus, others are of our own making. One challenge is to be agents of healing where there is division. For too long, we have worried more about the things that make us different rather than the things we share. I know that there are issues that are important that must be dealt with and may be cause for separation. That is not what I am talking about. Much of the time, the things we divide over have more to do with preference and style than substance.

Another challenge we face is the way we are perceived. Jesus said that we would be hated and persecuted. That is true, and I think it could very well be worse than it is now. We need to make sure that we are really being persecuted, and then if we are, that it is because we belong to Jesus and not because we are arrogant jerks. We should be known more by our love and grace than by the size of our protests or the condemnation we speak. We should be known for our allegiance to the King of Kings, and not who we voted for.

I believe that our faith itself is going to be challenged. The days of Christendom are gone. I really don't think the incoming president will keep his promises to make Christians influential again. If he does, I think it will end up hurting the church. We can no longer expect to have government enforce our beliefs. We can probably expect to be looking more and more at a society that is indifferent to us at best, or hostile at worst. The time may be coming when we will be forced to consider whether our faith is worth all of the stuff that will be happening.

The future may be quite challenging, but it will also present the church with opportunities. As we face more hostility, we will have the opportunity to examine ourselves for the reason behind it. If it is truly because of Christ, then we can rejoice that we have been counted worthy to suffer for the gospel. If the hostility comes as a reaction to our own hostility, then we will have the opportunity to repent and become the disciples we can be. We will have the opportunity to show the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus. As the face of the church changes and those who are not committed to following Jesus fall away, we will have have the opportunity to show who we belong to, not by our stands on issues, or our style of worship, our our doctrinal statement, but by our love to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to our neighbors. As our influence wanes, we will have the opportunity to affect culture by speaking and living the gospel.

May God give us the grace to be people who love, who are willing to live as a spiritual family which puts others first, and who show the world that the gospel is indeed Good News.

Book Review: Undiluted by Benjamin L. Corey

This is my first attempt at a book review, so be gentle.

Benjamin Corey and I grew up in very similar environments. The difference between us is that he had his evangelical fundamentalist paradigm turned upside down while in seminary, while it didn't happen to me until I was a few years older. Corey begins his book with this statement:

As Christians in America, we're often lulled into the false belief somehow we have a monopoly

  on the pure and undiluted version of the message of Jesus. Unfortunately, we don't. Christianity

     by nature has a tendency to blend in and become obscured by the cultural influences that surround      it ---such has been the case for nearly 2,000 years of Christian history.

     Our experience is no different.

He then proceeds to tell how his world was turned upside by what he calls the undiluted message of Jesus. 

Corey's premise is that Christianity as we know it is not what it was meant to be in the beginning. He makes the case that we have watered down the message of Jesus into something that fits our lifestyle, our economics, our politics and our personal comfort. In each chapter we find an area where our version of Christianity has lessened the original message and how going to back to what Corey calls the undiluted message of Jesus changed his life. 

This is not an easy book to read. As the author states, "In doing so (recovering the undiluted message of Jesus), you might experience a few deaths." How many deaths will depend on how tied to cultural Christianity one may be. I found myself challenged to think about where I wasn't simply following Jesus, and reaffirmed in ways I had already left diluted ways of thinking behind. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to take a good hard look at what they believe and why. Some may not like what Corey has written. Some may even dismiss him as another one of those "liberals." I have found through the years that it is best not to dismiss things out of hand, but rather to see what is there that is worth keeping and depending on the Spirit to guide me. You may not agree with everything in this book, but there is much there that is worth keeping. At the very least, Corey will make you think. And that's good. 

Blast From the Past: Gluttony

I went to an all you can eat pizza place today with the kids I work with today. It reminded me of this post from January 24, 2011. In the interests of full disclosure, I ate fair amount of pizza myself.

One night a couple of years ago we went to Ci-Ci's for dinner and I realized that one of America's biggest sins is gluttony. In the traditional sense of overeating yes (I admit I was rather stuffed when we left), but also in the larger sense of over consuming and wasting. As we were eating, Jan pointed out the amount of crusts and entire pieces of pizza that were left on plates. People go into a place like Ci-Ci's and see the tremendous amount of food displayed before them. So they load up their plate and begin to eat. Since this is an all-you-can-eat buffet, they go back for a second plate. Then, if they don't go back for a third plate of regular pizza, they have a few pieces of dessert pizza. The problem is many of those people find that they can't eat all they have taken. So they leave it. They leave it to be thrown away and wasted.

Then I thought about our culture. Gas prices keep going up, and how many really change their driving habits. There are many examples of wastefulness in our society. Most of you could come up with a few.

My question is: What does this say about our culture? More importantly, what does this say about those of us who claim to belong to Jesus? Are we doing what we can to conserve and not waste the things God has given us? These things include gas, food, natural resources, time, talents, relationships. Christians should be the best environmentalists. Not in a worship Mother Earth, man is a virus type of way, but in a way that recognizes that this world was created by God for us to wisely and compassionately use for the Kingdom. God didn't give man the right to abuse creation. We are stewards and are to take care of the gift we have.

Yet Another Political Post (Sort Of)

If you've been reading this blog for awhile (is there anyone really?), you know that I rarely post anything political. Sometimes things get to a point where I just have to break with tradition and say something. This is one of those times.

The air is hot with political goings on. A congressional district in South Carolina has elected a former congressman/former governor who has been the fodder for late night television comedians. At least four storms have hit the current administration, and any number of controversies continue to pop up from time to time.Conspiracy theories abound on both sides of the political aisle, and the gap between "left" and "right" continues to widen. Facebook posts range from support of "our side" to almost wishing the other side would die horribly. To be honest, some of the things that are said and put on-line are sad.

In all of this I am reminded of one thing. Jesus is the King, the one we who call ourselves Christians owe our allegiance to. I am reminded that the United States, while it may be the best nation on earth (and you're free to think otherwise), is still a kingdom of this world. As such, it will never be God's kingdom on this earth. The President, no matter who they may be will never be perfect. And everything they do will not be "God's work."

Christians in America have fallen into the trap of thinking that we can bring the Kingdom to earth using human means. Of course, this is nothing new. It started with Constantine, and has continued through the centuries. As Dr. Phil asks, "How's that working for you?" (I can't believe I just quoted Dr. Phil!) We have somehow bought into the notion that political power is the way to save society. We have embraced the sword while claiming to follow the Prince of Peace who gave his life. We have believed that we can change people through legislation, forgetting that true change can only come from within.

Many Christians live in fear, not really believing that our God is sovereign. God is the one who sets up and takes down kingdoms. All of the kingdoms of this world, including the United States, belong to Christ and are under his rule. He uses them as he sees fit, and moves on when he is finished with them. We have nothing to fear. Even if this country becomes just like the European nations, or just like an old time banana republic, our God is in control and is working to bring about the renewal of all things. Our hope is in God, not in kings or princes, congressmen or presidents.

I don't believe we have to totally stay away from the political scene. We are told to seek the good of the city where we are. We are told to be good citizens and obey those whom God has placed in power. We live in a nation where we have the right to participate in the political process. I'm not saying we should all sit on our hands. All I am asking is that we remember where our allegiance lies. We are citizens of a kingdom that does not operate by the ways of this world. The Kingdom of God does not come with a sword, but with a basin and a towel.

God help us to focus on what Christ has called us to do. Make disciples by showing the love and grace of the Father to others. Anything else is not our task.

Church the Way It Used to Be?

The other day I was traveling down the interstate here in the sunny South, and I saw a billboard that advertised a certain church that also had a Christian school. The sign proclaimed that this particular ministry was "Church and school the way it used to be." I got to thinking about this sign, and wondering what they meant.

Did they mean church the way it used to be when the American culture gave lip service to Christianity with blue laws and other vestiges of Christendom? Maybe they longed for the days when some churches in the South defended racism with Scripture proof-texts. How about going back to the days when the differences between churches were enough to start a war? Or perhaps, the folks in this church wanted to go all the way back to the first century, when churches argued over which teacher to follow, or treated the poor in their congregation with disrespect.

It doesn't really matter what they meant by "church the way it used to be." We are not living in any point of time during the last 2000 years. We are living today, in the 21st Century. While human nature is still basically the same, there are so many things that have changed. While some of us would like to be able to gather daily with the church as they did in the early church, that may be impossible today. Attitudes toward the church in America have changed in the last 50 or 60 years, so a different approach is necessary. In other parts of the world, the church faces an entirely different set of challenges. Their "good old days" may be a time when there was no church in that land. Should they long to go back to that?

Instead of looking back to an imagined time when "things were better," and striving to get those days back, we should be looking for ways to be followers of Jesus in the time and place we are in. Although I can think of one way we can do things the way they used to be done, or at least should have been done all along. The first command that Jesus gave his church was to love one another as he loved us. That command has never changed.

Gluttony

One night a couple of years ago we went to Ci-Ci's for dinner and I realized that one of America's biggest sins is gluttony. In the traditional sense of overeating yes (I admit I was rather stuffed when we left), but also in the larger sense of over consuming and wasting. As we were eating, Jan pointed out the amount of crusts and entire pieces of pizza that were left on plates. People go into a place like Ci-Ci's and see the tremendous amount of food displayed before them. So they load up their plate and begin to eat. Since this is an all-you-can-eat buffet, they go back for a second plate. Then, if they don't go back for a third plate of regular pizza, they have a few pieces of dessert pizza. The problem is many of those people find that they can't eat all they have taken. So they leave it. They leave it to be thrown away and wasted.

Then I thought about our culture. Gas prices keep going up, and how many really change their driving habits. There are many examples of wastefulness in our society. Most of you could come up with a few.

My question is: What does this say about our culture? More importantly, what does this say about those of us who claim to belong to Jesus? Are we doing what we can to conserve and not waste the things God has given us? These things include gas, food, natural resources, time, talents, relationships. Christians should be the best environmentalists. Not in a worship Mother Earth, man is a virus type of way, but in a way that recognizes that this world was created by God for us to wisely and compassionately use for the Kingdom. God didn't give man the right to abuse creation. We are stewards and are to take care of the gift we have.

Change is Coming

Change is coming
You can hide from it
You can try to ignore it
You can fight it
You can preach against it
You can try to control it
Or
You can welcome it
You can embrace it
You can learn from it
You can ride it
You can grow from it
But,
You can't stop it
Change is coming
Change is here.

Another Political Post (Sort Of)

There's a lot of words flying around the airwaves, the internet, and in public. Some of them are good words, some of them are not good. Some of the good words are spoken by Christians and, unfortunately, some of the not good words are spoken by Christians. The cause of all these words is the debate over the health care bill recently passed by Congress. Everyone from Glen Beck to Jim Wallis has weighed in on the debate.

I'm not going to get into the debate over whether or not the bill that was passed is a good one. I do have my doubts and reservations about anything that is pushed so quickly, with so much arm twisting and back room dealing. And of course, there's always the law of unintended consequences. I have friends and relatives on both sides of the debate, and my relationship with them is far more important than which side is right.

What I do feel strongly about is the way folks who claim to follow the King of Kings have forgotten that we are citizens of a kingdom that is not of this world, a kingdom that has an agenda that is far different than that of any kingdom of this world, including this one. Christians on the right and on the left have invested far too much emotion in ensuring that their side is in power and their agenda is pushed. There is nothing wrong with folks supporting and working for whatever party fits their political views, but when that causes them to call opponents names, to angrily shout down those on the other side, or to even bring into question their spiritual life, then there is something wrong.

We are Christians before we are Republicans or Democrats. We are God's children before we are conservative or liberal. We are citizens of Christ's kingdom before we are citizens of any country on this earth. We are part of the same Body. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, would the eye scream at the foot across a barricade? Would the ear call the elbow a racial slur? Would the nose tell the knee that it's not part of the body? This little toe has a hard time hearing parts of the Body belittle and disparage other parts because of their view of what this part of the kingdoms of this world should look like. Didn't Jesus say that the world would know that we are his because of our love for one another?

I believe that whatever happens in the coming years because of the health care bill should ultimately make little difference in how followers of Jesus conduct their lives as citizens of heaven. We are called to spread the Gospel and make disciples who will follow King Jesus and in turn make more disciples. Christians through the centuries have done that regardless of the government in power, whether the Roman Empire, the Soviet Union, China, or an Islamic dictatorship. If they can do that, surely we can do what we are called to do whether a liberal Democrat or a conservative Republican is in charge.

Follow your political persuasions. Be passionate about your ideas. Just remember that your first allegiance is to the One who told Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world. The agenda of the kingdom of God is not the agenda of earthly governments.

Check out some of the writings by Stanley Hauerwaus and Greg Boyd. They put it far better than I can.

El Nino

The other day, Jennie and I were chatting on-line, and the conversation wound its way to the weather. Here in the sunny South, we've had an unusually cold and wet winter, the coldest in about thirty years. Jennie said that there in Los Angeles, they had a greater than normal amount of rain the past few months. Every part of the country has been affected by weather patterns that come from a strong El Nino. I remarked to Jennie that El Nino had really disrupted things this winter.

The more I though about it, the more I realized the parallels between the weather pattern known as El Nino and its namesake. El Nino begins around Christmas and the term is Spanish for "the male child," a reference to Jesus Christ. We often think of the Christ child as simply a meek and mild little baby who, according to one popular song, never cried. We love the picture of a baby surrounded by furry farm animals and shepherds, and of course, we miss the point. I think the fact that the name "The (Christ) Child" was given to a weather system that is disruptive is significant.

Jesus Christ did not serenely stride through first century Palestine like some ethereal figure untouched by the world around him. He did not come proclaiming a gospel of escape into another world after death. From his birth, he threw a money wrench into the machinery of the kingdoms of this world. When Herod learned of the birth of this new "king of the Jews" he became so afraid for his own throne that he ordered all of Bethlehem's male children under two years old to be killed. Herod was not just a child abuser. He was a king who was trying to eliminate a rival.

After this, we don't read a lot of Jesus' life growing up, although there was that incident where his parents had to hunt for him in Jerusalem. That caused just a bit of a stir in their lives. Jesus began his ministry by calling people to drop what they were doing and follow him .He then traveled around the country challenging the traditions of the religious leaders. Not only did he challenge tradition, he also took the whole system and interpreted it as pointing to him. That ruffled more than a few feathers.

Jesus didn't exactly make Pilate's life easier when he told Pilate that he was indeed a king, but that his kingdom was not of this world. Even Pilate's wife had a nightmare because of Jesus.
After Jesus left, his followers spread throughout the Roman Empire with the message that the Kingdom of God had come, that Jesus Christ was Lord, not Caesar. They refused to sacrifice to the Emperor, and were persecuted and killed because they were considered treasonous. It was said of the early Christians that they "turned the world upside down."

Just like El Nino, Jesus Christ was a disruptive figure during his time on earth. His followers, if they take seriously the words of their Master, continue to be disruptive. It's hard for us in America to understand living in a hostile environment. America has been a part of Christendom for years, and we have had it easy in a culture that gave lip service to our faith. That is no longer the case. Followers of Jesus are being pushed to the margins, and it may be only a matter of time until we are seen as dangerous because of our allegiance to another King.

Time will tell if the church will strive to keep Christendom together, or will once again be subversive and disruptive, and turn our world upside down.

Political, Cultural, Whatever Question: Part 2

On Tuesday I asked for opinions on what it would be like if the phrases "In God We Trust" and "under God" were removed from our money and from the Pledge of Allegiance. I received a number of good and interesting comments. Tonight, I'll tell you what I think.

Some of the commenters stated that they thought removal of the phrases would further inflame the culture wars as those on the right see it as another sign of how far down America has come. Others said that it would be a good thing. Still others wrote that it really wouldn't matter.

I do agree that those who believe that America is, or at least has been, a Christian nation would have their worst fears realized. They would see it as another step on the road to perdition for America, and would increase their preaching and efforts against those they see as responsible. Those who say it wouldn't matter have a valid point. America is not a nation that currently honors God and removing those phrases would not change it.

I believe that in the final analysis, removing the phrases could be a good thing for the Church. For too long the Kingdom of God has been confused with the United States of America . That has caused a number of problems, including other nations seeing some of the crap that America exports and associating that with Christianity. There are many in this country who believe that they are Christian because they are American. Add to this the bad theology that equates America with ancient Israel.

We are citizens of the Kingdom of God as well as citizens of the United States. Our first allegiance is to be to Jesus Christ. He is Lord. There are citizens of God's Kingdom in every nation on earth, and not only are they fellow citizens with us, they are our brothers and sisters. We can and should do what we can to make this country the best it can be, we need to remember that America is not the Kingdom of God. If taking certain phrases off our money and out of the Pledge will help the Church to remember who we belong to, then let them be removed.

Political, Cultural, Whatever Question

While I was reading The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd, something he wrote intrigued me. Boyd suggests that it might not be a bad thing if the words "In God We Trust" were removed from our money and the words "under God" stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance.

I wonder what the effect would be if that happened. Would the effect on the Church be positive or negative? What about American culture in general? What would the short term impact be? Long term?

I would like to know what you think. Don't give your first gut reaction. Think about it and give me your reasoned answered. Thanks in advance.