Interests:Christianity is more. More than what? Well, more than we ever imagined.
In contemporary America, Christianity and social justice have become seemingly opposite concepts. This is an unfortunate outcome of a highly politicized and polarized world. In actuality, social justice lies at the heart of Christianity, and perhaps cannot even be separated from it. Christianity is not democratic, republican, liberal, or conservative; it follows no ideology. It is not limited to the rich or the poor, to any particular race, gender, or ethnicity, and certainly not to location.
The fact is- the only ideology that Christianity can be attached to is Christianity itself. Christianity is unique and loving. And so is the real social justice. I specify the “real” social justice because this term has become loaded. “Real” social justice is not political, not divisive--it is what God has put inside each and every one of us that we choose to accept or deny. Human beings load these terms and make them
I have been thinking a lot about the role of media, television, movies, sports, etc. in our walk, culture, and our lives. A theorist that I have been studying, Theodor Adorno, makes the argument that the culture (think of pop-culture) industry is the opiate of the twentieth (and now twenty-first) centuries, and that we easily accept injustices because of its dominance. In other words, we see suffering on our televisions, in the newspaper, internet etc., but it becomes easier to ignore because we can lose ourselves in a movie, sporting event, or television.
I have been thinking a lot about this, and about how if Americans boycotted the movie industry for one week a year, or sporting events for one week, and instead donated that money to the poor, we could easily solve global poverty, the lack of clean drinking water, AIDS, and many other problems. Of course, this will not happen any time soon because we live in a fallen world where it is easier to numb ourselves through entertainment, than to fight for justice for the "least of these."
I also have been thinking about a different aspect of the affect that the culture industry has on us on a daily basis. Recently, I read a story on how the amount of scenes of torture on television each day has risen dramatically over the past five years. I am ashamed to admit that even I, who refers to myself as a pacifist, often watch television that show torture in irresposible ways: 24, Alias, and Lost are the shows that jump immediately to my mind. So, I began thinking about the way that we are beseiged with these images on a daily basis in the movies, television, etc. and how this numbs us to the reality of the situation.
Matter of fact, recently, the army has admitted that they had to discipline soldiers that were caught torturing prisoners and when they were confronted, the soldiers said they had learned their techniques on the television show 24.
Then, in the recent Republican debates, the candidates were given a scenario where there was a ticking bomb and asked what they would do to find out information. Every Republican nominee, with the exception of John McCain, answered in some outrageous manner that they would torture prisoners in any way they could to obtain information. One of the candidates even mentioned needing to find a Jack Bauer (main character on 24) to do their dirty work. Interestingly enough, John McCain who was the only person to be against torture in these debates was the only person that experienced torture first hand (in Vietnam). That is, unless you consider being a Republican in itself torture.
I think that when there is a specific instance such as this, where entertainment is not merely reflecting culture; instead, culture is following the lead of fiction, we really have to consider the impact that the entertainment industry plays in our lives. Especially as Christians who are supposed to "seek justice."
Another example of this problem occurs with violence itself. While I have to admit that I am an advocate for the first amendment and that violence should be on television if people want it, i am extremely concerned with the affect that it has on us as individuals and a society as a whole. I guess my biggest hope is that we will stand together as a society and call for less violence, not by law, but by not buying products that promote violence and making shows with less violence.
Think about your weekly consumption of violence - do you watch violent sports (football, hockey, boxing, wrestling), violent movies, violent television, etc.? What impact do you think that this has on you? In a culture that has horror movies that make tens of millions of dollars, and even action movies filled with violence that make houndreds of millions of dollars, what does our spending say about us? What about the nightly news? If the first ten minutes of the news were not filled with murder, murder, rape, drugs, suicide -- would you still watch? This is not the nature of the news everywhere in the world. Many other nations start their news with local politics, world politics, and calls to be active in the world to promote change.
I think that as Christians, we need to ask ourselves these important questions on a daily basis and continue to seek ways that reflect the way Jesus walked in our world.
Recently, I read a great article on God's Politics by Becky Garrison entitled "Christian vs. Atheist: Celebrity Death Match" that was both entertaining and insightful. It described a debate on the existence of God between Atheists and a God Squad including Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, and others. Garrison pointed out the flaws in the reasoning of the debate and then went on to come to a great conclusion where she quotes Brian McClaren in saying: "much of the appeal of today’s popular atheists - from Richard Dawkins to Sam Harris - lies in the corruption of religion." Garrisson explains this notion in a powerful way:
Through my travels and travails covering this unique phenomenon called Americana Christianity, I’ve learned that many of those with a deep hunger to be fed spiritually are those souls for whom "church" is not in their vocabulary. Often they’ve been burned by one too many toxic church settings, or they grew up in a household where religion was inconsequential at best. They can embrace the universal message of Jesus but they balk at how his teaching gets corrupted by those prayer warriors who are engaging in some very public and tawdry biblical battles waged in the religious-political arena.
I think that this is a powerful argument, basically, that many people are pushed away from Christianity by those that act as prayer warriors ready to fight "celebrity death matches" to prove Christ's love. That instead, we need to live a life that reaches out to those people in a kind, merciful and Christ-like manner. Of course, I do want to make the caveat that there are many prayer warriors that are not confrontational and do immitate God's loving nature, but I am referring to those that are both confrontational and often make use of false doctrine.
In regards to this, I recently heard an interview with Richard Dawkins, reknown physicist and Athiest and author of the "God Delusion", on Fresh Air. He discussed his new book with Terry Gross and explained that before 9-11 he pitched it to hundreds of publishers and had absolutely no interest. The publishers did not think that a book about atheism could sell. However, five years after 9-11, there is an increasing backlash against the pseudo-religious fundamentalism that pervaded our society for these years. The Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells, George Bushs, and others had exploited a false Christianity to sell a war and push other horrific agendas, to the point that atheism seemed a much more rational idea.
In other words, the false teachings of these prayer warriors actually pushed people away from Christ. I think that this is a major reason why blogs like God's Politics, ChristianityisMore, and many others are important. We need to demand truth, uncloak the false prophets, and create a dialog. Most importantly, this needs to be done in love and with humility - or our message will be lost. We need to trust in Christ and the grace he gives us that through our love and humility the Gospel will be spread, instead of resorting to our own selfish, confrontational, self-glorifying methods. For instance, I mention Jerry Falwell in this entry as in many other entries. It is because I feel that his message was off-base, not because I disrespect the man. I especially would like to make this a point as he passed away two days ago, because while I write against his teachings, I love and pray for the man. I hope and pray that he found his way to peace and is with God as I write these words.
Today, I am sitting in an empty classroom, sipping on some water and eating an apple. I decided not to give my students an exam, but there is a rule in our university that we must still remain in the classroom for the entire two hour exam period. As i have been sitting here, I have been reflecting on the past semester and how many times and ways God has blessed me. I have an amazing wife, a great apartment, a great family, friends, a career outlook that looks promising, and of course, health coverage - It does not sound all that glamorous, but take it from someone that has not had it most of the last ten years - it is a huge blessing! However, that is just the beginning. I have a fully stocked fridge, clean drinking water, electricity, indoor plumbing, a car, a computer, and many, many more things! And i fully realize that because of all of this it puts me in the top .01 percent of the world as far as wealth, if not higher. I am humbled and greatful just thinking about it.
I think one of the strangest things about all these blessings is that I am not thankful every minute of every day of my life. Matter of fact, i find it quite astounding that I do not thank God with every breath I take. But, my heart often falls into sin and selfishness, and many, many days I am not thankful. So, i am extremely thankful for this quiet two hours to sit back and reflect. More specifically, i would like to reflect more on the role that God plays in my everyday life. Or, as David would say in the Psalms: "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me" (Psalm 3:5) and "I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." (Psalm 9:1,2)
Looking over the past ten years of my life, I know that i could not have made it through without the Lord by my side. Even as I felt like everything in the world was being ripped away from me, I knew He was walking beside me. I felt much like Peter in Matthew 14:30 - "But when he (Peter) saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!" Of course, I now know that I was staring into the waves and not keeping my eyes on Him, but at least I did call out to Him and of course, He responded. I know that I did not always think of Him in the way I do now, but I knew He was there. Now, after many years and much reflection, I now know that He is my Lord completely and that I will surrender everything to Him:
Matthew 28:18 - "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'"
Collossians 1:15-20 - "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Acts 10:36 - "You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all."
I know that Christ is Lord, and that all things are for His glory. Because of this, it makes me want to turn away from my sins and turn to Him. Of course, I fail often. Really often. But, I know that as long as each time I fail, I turn to Him, He will continue to conform me to His image and I will sin less. I will grow increasingly to hate sin:
Romans 5:21 - "Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
I can already see the effects of this in my everyday life. I used to complain regularly about everything; whereas, now I can see that i more often turn towards my blessings than complaints. This has occurred by His grace over much time. I still complain, but much less often. This has also occured in the area of sinful judging as well. Now that I am dedicated to everything being for His glory, I realize that this does not honor Him and that everything that I do, needs to honor Him. God has also given me continuous grace in the form of helping me to be angry less often, to let fewer idols stand in the way of my relationship with Him, and many other areas as well.
Of course, there are still areas that I need to drastically ask for His help and forgiveness, like: humility, pride, and patience, but I know if i keep looking towards Him, He will continue to conform me to His image.
This is not the end of the road though, by any means. I do not just have to wake up, confront my sin, pray and go to bed each day. Being a Christian means so much more! After all, we are called to "immitate" Christ, which is something that each of us could work on for the rest of our lives, and never finish. In a similar manner as the disciples throughout the New Testament, we are called to follow Him and put into practice what he teaches us (Mark 1:16-20; and Luke 6:46-49). We are also called to have the "mind of Christ" including His attitude of humble, sacrificial servanthood (1 Corinthians 2:16; Phil 2:5-8). Basically, we are not just to "sin no more" and turn to Him, we are also supposed to "follow," "imitate," and "conform" to Him. Meaning, as new beings in Christ, we need to act in the manner that He would act: caring for the lepers, healing the sick, helping the poor, and giving our entire life for God.
As immitators, we need to live a missional life of sacrafice, where we seek out those who are lost, we love them, care for them, share the Word with them, and give our lives to bring them to God. Or basically, "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (Lk. 6:31; Mt. 7:12). This is a tough thing to do and as of yet i cannot say that I have done this; however, this is my goal. I would like to spend the rest of my life trying to make this happen - and in that I have to trust God to help me along the journey.
After all, in instructing us on how we are to live our lives, Jesus said: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31). I love these lines because it does not just command us to love Him with all of our hearts and sould - but also our "mind(s)" and "strength." So we are asked to love Him by using our minds - through thinking, studying, consulting with other Christians, etc. And we are to love Him with all of our strength as well - through good works and a and having servant heart.
Well, my two hours are just about up, but i am very thankful that God allowed me this opportunity to reflect on the many blessings that He has bestowed upon me and look towards the future as well. Of course, there is a lot of uncertainty, but at least I can have complete confidence that He will make my "pathways straight."
As I have explained on this blog site in the past, I left the Church
for about 3 years because of events leading up to the War, the war, and
differences in politics that I felt affected ideology and theology.
During that period I found myself highly critical of certain
denominations. I would often say things to the effect of: this Church
only believes in the gospel of money, or a Church that supports murder
(the war) is a Church that has wondered far away from God, or a Church
that ignores poverty is ignoring the Bible and therefore God. A couple
of years later, I wonder why it took me so long to become more
loving...and to lose my harsh attitude towards other Christians. As I
continue to work on this, I thought writing this blog as a meditation
on the importance of compassion would help me with this…
A few years ago a good Christian friend of mine said to me "You need to
lighten up in regards to your rhetoric against ." To be honest I
remember thinking he was brain-washed and that he had truly bought into
the false Christianity that permeates capitalist America. In
retrospect, I think that I honestly enjoyed tearing others down with my
more “socially responsible” theology. I've shifted a lot since then. I
still have a long way to go in loving others and showing grace, but
sometimes I wonder what kept me so long with a spirit of judgment,
instead of love and leadership.
The fact is, it was pride. One of the things that the Bible teaches against the most is pride:
Matthew 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil
thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting,
wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
I think that I honestly believed that I would bring enlightenment to
those that thought differently than me through criticism and harsh
judgment, when in reality this just pushes people away. I now realize
that it is only God that can bring about this Enlightenment and His
main tool for this is through love, compassion, encouragement,
especially through the use of Christians. Of course, God can use
judgment and tough rhetoric for change, but I think that where I have
changed the most over the last few years is that I refuse to go that
root unless I am sure that is what God is guiding me towards. I am now
a full believer that judgment and criticism should only come directly
through God’s guidance.
An example of this has been my view of Wal-mart and people who shop
there. I have strong opinions about how socially destructive Walmart is
and think that they have played a large role in the break down of the
family in the United States. I think a quick explanation is in order
here:
By making people work for almost nothing, no benefits, and driving
competition so intensely, creating a survival-of-the-fittest form of
social Darwinism, that other companies have been forced to follow their
example or be eliminated (Thousands of US factories have had to move
overseas within two years of signing a contract with Walmart) – I think
that all of these things have contributed to the current state of the
workplace where the Average American works 47 hours a week – yeah, that is right, the Average American works 47 hours a week--
which deteriorates the family structure. After all, countries that have
lower workweeks (Like France, average 32 hours a week) have lower
divorce rates, lower crime rates, lower rates of unwed mothers, etc.
Anyways, the fact is for a large portion of the past ten years I have
harshly criticized Walmart and anyone I knew that shops there. Luckily,
that has changed.
In looking back at those years of harsh criticism, I realize one thing-
I cannot think of one mind that I had changed through all of that time.
That fact completely shocked me. Over the past year and a half, I have
completely changed my outlook. I now do not judge others for shopping
there – knowing that my sins are much worse than theirs (I have to say
I have extreme view that shopping there is a sin, although I admit that
I could be wrong and I do not normally advertise this view) – I merely
pray for them and lead by example. I also focus on getting to know
people and loving them rather than judging them for their actions (at
least I try my best to). I have to say that I have now noticed a big
change in results as well. I can think of well over ten people off-hand
that either do not shop there or shop there less because of knowing me
and what this cause means to me. In other words, through patience,
love, humility and understanding, God has revealed himself to them and
answered my prayers. For me, this has been a much more effective
approach to affecting people and would urge others to trust God more in
the areas like this that are important to them, whatever they may be.
Of course, this outlook is one of the most difficult things for me to
adhere to because of my pride. I often struggle when I see Christians
living in a very non-Christian manner, or being extremely hypocritical,
but now I take the perspective that we are all sinners, so I should
deal with their sin in the way that I would want others to deal with my
sin – through care, encouragement, understanding, and most of all
trusting in God.
I have been very contemplative over the past week about all the amazing things that God has been doing in my life. I would like to share a little bit of this in hopes that you will take time out of your day today to meditate on all the amazing things God is doing in your life.
I have been teaching an English composition class and have to say that although i was trying my hardest to trust God with it, I was not trusting in Him as much as I would have liked. I had been warned that 18 year olds would be very apathetic and the class would most likely be quite a trial. The fact that 23 out of the 25 students are male also would bring a few extra challenges. Add to all this that I always get nervous speaking in front of groups, and it all adds up to a very difficult semester. As I was thinking about the challenges that this semester would bring, I began to look back to my first time teaching, and this was what i found:
I spent a lot of time in the word and praying, but I still felt unsettled. Jess (my wife now) pointed me to a few scriptures including this one of Moses talking to God in Exodus 4:
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
---I found this incredibly encouraging to think that Moses had the same anxieties that I did, and yet God used Him for so many amazing things.
I also found solace in many of the Psalms:
Psalms 31
1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.
--I have to say that heading up to the class I did not feel all that trusting, I felt like the prayers and scripture helped, but only a little. As i walked into the room I was sweating and nervous, and then a peace came over me. I remember standing at the front of the room and the passage from Romans that has impacted my life the most over this past year came to mind:
Romans 12:1
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I began thinking about making myself a living sacrafice to Him and that as much as i wanted to do well, I had worked hard and it was in His hands.
Slowly the nervousness dissolved and the class went amazingly! The students were very talkative, open, seemed to enjoy what I was doing with them, and most importantly laughed at my jokes (well, I guess it helps that they know i will be responsible for their grades)...
Basically, my point is that I kept trying to give it over to God all weekend, and yet i still did not feel at ease, but in the end God amazingly helped me through it.
So this morning, i am thinking about how amazing God has been to me, how thankful i am for all that He has done, and how much i want to keep just giving my worries and problems of this world over to Him.
I urge you to do the same this morning - think about all the things you are thankful for, and anything that you are anxious about hand over to Him.
----Looking back at how far I have come since then has really helped me this semester, showing me how far I have come, and how the only way that I can do anything is through Him.
